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040 _aMX-TxCIM
041 _aeng
100 1 _avan Zonneveld, M.
_938284
245 1 0 _aImproving healthy diets in a changing climate :
_bPolicies for mainstreaming the inclusion of neglected ‘opportunity crops’ in seed systems
260 _a[Place of publication not identified] :
_bVACS,
_c[2024].
300 _a26 pages
500 _aOpen Access
520 _aFood insecurity and malnutrition undermine human health, livelihoods, and aspirations. In 2023, 2.8 billion people, more than a third of the world’s population, could not afford a healthy diet, while 733 million were chronically undernourished (FAO et al., 2024). In addition, diet-related health costs could surpass US$1.3 trillion per year by 2030 (FAO et al., 2020). Climate change further exacerbates the problem of achieving zero hunger. Promoting the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, oil crops, pulses, and grains enables a nutritious food supply for healthy diets with crops from different food groups that complement each other in nutritional content. Many of these are called ‘neglected,’ ‘underutilized,’ or ‘orphan’ crops and are adapted to harsh environmental conditions. Many are rich in micronutrients, produce in off-seasons, and are strongly connected to local customs and traditions (van Zonneveld et al., 2023). Supporting healthy diets in a changing climate has led these to be called ‘opportunity crops’ because while neglected in agricultural research and development, and suffering from underinvestment, they have a huge unrealized potential to improve food and nutrition security in the context of climate change (Fredenberg et al., 2024). Unfortunately, limited access to quality seed for these crops is a major bottleneck to more widespread production, as the existing policy environment does not currently support farmers to broaden their crop portfolio (McMullin et al., 2021). This paper identifies four major conditions that need to be met to scale farmer access to quality seed of opportunity crops. These are to (i) include the diversity of opportunity crops in policy strategies, (ii) make it available for selection and breeding, (iii) use it in breeding and agricultural extension, and (iv) make it accessible to farmers, especially women and other disadvantaged groups. To meet these conditions, eight policy actions are proposed with a high chance of short-term impacts, plus a multiplier effect for longer-term investment in developing more nutritious crop varieties in a changing climate. Adopting any or all of these policy actions would contribute to a more enabling policy environment for scaling the supply and delivery of quality seed of opportunity crops to farmers worldwide. Page 3 of 26 The eight proposed policy actions in this paper are as follows. 1. Prioritize and incorporate opportunity crops in national and regional strategies and policies. 2. Establish a global task force to support governments in priority setting and targeting investments in opportunity crops. 3. Encourage countries to use the Multilateral System of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to share genetic resources of opportunity crops. 4. Develop and implement regional roadmaps to rescue, conserve, and use the genetic resources of opportunity crops. 5. Strengthen capacity for breeding and sed production of opportunity crops. 6. Develop innovation networks to expand agricultural extension services for opportunity crops. 7. Increase the rate of registration and release of opportunity crop varieties. 8. Enhance seed delivery of opportunity crops to farmers, especially women and other disadvantaged groups. As described in this paper, these eight policy actions recognize the value and role of the wide range of people and public, private, and societal organizations involved in the maintenance, development, and deployment of quality seed. Implementing these policy actions will help mainstream opportunity crops in seed systems as part of a broader strategy to diversify our food systems from seed to plate.
546 _aText in English
591 _aSperling, L.J. : No CIMMYT Affiliation
650 7 _aTherapeutic diets
_2AGROVOC
_938285
650 7 _aClimate change
_2AGROVOC
_91045
650 7 _aCrops
_2AGROVOC
_91069
650 7 _aSeed systems
_2AGROVOC
_919811
650 7 _aNutrition
_2AGROVOC
_94292
650 7 _aSeed quality
_2AGROVOC
_96102
650 7 _aBreeding
_2AGROVOC
_91029
650 7 _aPolicies
_2AGROVOC
_94809
700 1 _aCastañeda-Álvarez, N.P.
_938286
700 1 _aAchigan-Dako, E.G.
_934143
700 1 _aAlmekinders, C.
_93844
700 1 _ade Haan, S.
_938287
700 1 _aHugo, W.
_938288
700 1 _aOtieno, G.
_938289
700 1 _aOrtiz, R.
_95322
700 1 _aRaneri, J.
_94359
700 1 _aRoa, C.
_938290
700 1 _aSperling, L.J.
_8001713651
_gSustainable Agrifood Systems
_920106
700 1 _aSpielman, D.J.
_9318
700 1 _aVon Wettberg, E.
_910342
856 4 _yAccess only for CIMMYT Staff
_uhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12665/4643
942 _2ddc
_cBR
_n0
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_d68631