Developing countries need access to a range of alternative crops in order to enhance livelihoods and biodiversity. AGPC supports projects for the introduction of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices and medicinal plants, with accompanying information on production, processing, marketing technology and nutrition.
These projects are often linked to FAO's Special Programme for Food Security and TCP programme, as well as the GTZ-funded Global Facility for Underutilized Species. Examples include:
 Development of sweet sorghum for grain, feed, fibre, and value-added by-products in saline/alkaline and arid regions of China.
Transfer of sweet sorghum technology from China to Zimbabwe
Transfer of cold-tolerant oil palm technology in Africa through initial trials in Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia
Work on cactus, date palm, mushrooms, floriculture and protected cultivation
FAO's multidisciplinary approach and global networking capacity are used to identify and match new crops, novel cultivars and their production systems with particular agro-environments.
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Themes
Alternative crops
