Devex Dish: US bets on the future of indigenous seeds in Africa

An idea that has been circulating for years in Devex’s coverage of food sustainability is getting a bit more sunlight: The United States is planning to help African farmers shift away from staple cereals to more traditional plants, such as millets and cassava.

The initiative, spelled out in a recent New York Times feature, is designed to spur the development of a variety of nutritious, indigenous crops that might also prove more resilient to climate change. The transition could also improve soil health while making farmers less dependent on commercial seeds for maize, wheat, and rice, which can come with heavy fees.

The face of the United States’ efforts is Cary Fowler, who has been armed with $100 million by the U.S. State Department to begin assisting farmers in shifting their food production. It’s a chance to revive what are known as “orphan crops” — or as Fowler calls them, “opportunity crops” — a passion he discussed with Devex last year.

Launched a year ago, the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, as the initiative is called, is a State Department partnership with the African Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization. It’s currently focused on about 60 crops that are among the most nutritious available in Africa’s five subregions, supporting efforts to breed and improve the plants — both for human consumption and to weather a changing climate.

Those include crops such as millets, which were long a staple in Asia and Africa but fell out of favor as cereals like maize and rice came to dominate the market. Boosting millet production in places where they were traditionally grown could assist smallholder farmers and diversify diets.

Fowler’s not the only one involved in this effort. Devex recently featured four chefs from around the world who are striving to feature long-abandoned traditional crops in their culinary creations. It’s a food revolution, driven by both necessity and taste.

ICYMI, explore the visual story: How bringing back indigenous crops can help solve the food crisis

Background reading: Doing away with ‘orphan’ crops vital for global food security, says US envoy

A world away

Forty years ago, a hunger crisis in Ethiopia that brought 1 million people to the brink of starvation generated a $100 million response in the form of Live Aid concerts.

East Africa — and other parts of the world — continue to experience hunger crises. An estimated 49.3 million people are currently food insecure in the Horn of Africa. Yet their plight no longer draws the same global attention — nor the same funding. In 2023, only 12% of global hunger-related programs drew even half of the financial resources they required, according to an analysis of United Nations funding.

Tigray, a war-affected region in northern Ethiopia, is in particularly dire straits and on the brink of descending into famine, according to the United Kingdom’s minister for development and Africa Andrew Mitchell. On a visit to the region this week, Mitchell pledged £100 million ($125 million) in aid to tackle malnutrition and improve health services, while calling on the rest of the world to step up.

Mitchell is the first official from a donor country to warn of a possible famine in the region, writes Devex U.K. Correspondent Rob Merrick. Famine is a technical designation that carries significant political weight, and the Ethiopian government has denied that famine conditions exist in Tigray.

Read: How the response to hunger crises has changed since Ethiopia’s famine

More reading: UK urges world to ‘act now’ to avert Ethiopia famine, pledges $125M

From our archives: Are slow famine declarations costing lives? (Pro)

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Number munching

Speaking of food crises, that’s the estimated number of people the World Food Programme now warns are facing acute hunger in Sudan. That includes nearly 5 million people who are experiencing emergency levels of hunger as a result of the ongoing conflicts in the capital, Khartoum, and the Darfur and Kordofan regions.

The problem is not food availability, WFP officials say, but the lack of access to people who are in desperate need of it. As a result, WFP can only reach about one out of every 10 people who need support.

Related reading: Effects of Sudan conflict could spill into region, says USAID official

You are what you eat

To change the diets that are leading to increased morbidity and mortality, is it time for a culture shift? That’s what Lawrence Haddad, Gunhild Stordalen, and Dan LeClair argue in an opinion piece for Devex.

Trends in producing and eating healthier, more sustainably produced foods are emerging, but the people who participate are the ones who have the resources to afford access to the global health and wellness markets.

Shifts in food culture could increase demand for healthier, more sustainable products and help drive down the price of these foods. But those changes are dependent on finding levers to change people’s values, thinking, and preferences around what they put on their tables.

Opinion: Food culture holds key to a nutritious, sustainable future

Chew on this

With the winter rainfall in Pakistan far below expectations, farmers are warning that key crops like wheat, lentils, and barley could fail, even as water shortages could plague future harvests. [DW]

Farmer protests across European Union countries have led to concessions, even as the International Monetary Fund warns those may not be the best steps for the countries’ long-term economic health. [France 24]

The EU and Switzerland have invested more than $220 million in a program to help Zimbabwean communities pursue more sustainable production and overcome the effects of climate change. [swissinfo.ch]