Progress and Future Prospects for Neglected and Underutilised Species
Authors: Titilayo D.O. Falade 1, Olapeju O. Phorbee 1, Carline C. Santos 2
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, West Africa Hub, PMB 5320, Oyo Road, Ibadan 200001, Oyo State, Nigeria
- International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, 08 BP 0932 Tri Postal Cotonou, Republic of Benin
Introduction
Neglected and underutilised species (NUS), both crop and livestock species form an integral part of societies, particularly indigenous people. With increased rural-urban drifts in several African communities and globally, the knowledge and production of indigenous species is waning. It is important for institutions of government, research, development and private sector, especially those promoting agriculture and nutrition to consider NUS in order not to lose the biodiversity that these crops provide and their contributions to the food systems.
Documentation and Knowledge Products for the Development of NUS
Documentation is one of the ways that knowledge can be preserved and attribution given to indigenous communities that are contributing to the protection of species. By developing knowledge products including docuseries and print material of their propagation via a catalogue of these species and information about their propagation with images, the awareness about these species can be generated, including the taxonomy, agronomy of the species as well as their nutritional information and benefits that can be profiled. It is important that the indigenous communities are acknowledged when information is generated from their contributions. Where funds are generated by these products, the mechanisms of benefit sharing need to be made clear and agreed in a consultative manner. Furthermore, to promote the attribution to community members, it would be beneficial if journals or publishing organisations that are responsible for disseminating these knowledge products mandate acknowledgements of the indigenous communities. Research and development bodies (stakeholders) should see indigenous communities of NUS as a key stakeholder for collaborations. While the research bodies contribute modern innovative technologies on NUS, the communities contribute indigenous knowledge & technologies, which are usually prerequisites to the final products. Understanding local food processing using local technologies can pre inform modern, innovative technologies/approaches to advance the products in the context of urbanization, friendly ecosystem, nutrient retention, safety, improved food and nutrition security. For instance, indigenous knowledge can use some local ingredients/preservatives to ease processing, reduce cooking time of a crop but with little or no retention of nutrients in the crop after processing/cooking. Meanwhile, with that background, modern technology can develop novel technologies like high temperature short time to achieve same purpose and still retain nutrients. Collaboration with indigenous communities on the NUS and recognition of their contributions can strengthen commitments and sense of belonging on the part of the communities, which can motivate them to contribute more and share vital information on the NUS at no cost. The research/development partners can in turn easily access local intelligence to further research on the NUS, generate more information on their nutrient contents and processing techniques that are protective of nutrients and safe for consumption. In these circumstances, the shared contributions of knowledge generation need to be documented in an open and transparent manner. These practices can encourage shared learning for the benefit of humankind and biodiversity in our shared ecosystem.
Biodiversity Through Preservation of Forests and in Conservation Collections
Some practices and strategies that are being implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, CGIAR and partners that can enable cross-cultural understanding of these NUS, include contribution to maintaining biodiversity in Forests, such as via secondary forests like the IITA Forest Reserve in Ibadan, Nigeria https://www.iita.org/research/facilities/biodiversity-conservation/ and the Drabo Forest in Republic of Benin https://www.iita.org/news-item/drabo-forest-reserve-a-haven-for-birds-and-biodiversity-conservation/ that protect a range of plant and animal biodiversity. Agreements made with the community enable access to the IITA grounds by community members at no cost and for their continued benefits. Additionally, the Genetic Resource Centre at IITA holds diversity of crops with capacity to be propagated in diverse agroecologies. Access to these resources is provided at no cost for research and development purposes. Research is encouraged for the preservation of these genetic resources.
Integration of NUS in production and processing systems
It is important that as we explore the use of NUS that we expand our understanding of, and capacity scope to include these species in production systems. This can be via integrating them into agriculture and nutrition including existing or adapted cropping systems, processing into diverse foods for healthy diets, targeting diverse demographic groups, and studying their nutrients and bioavailability of nutrients, as evidence to their importance in food and nutrition security. Some of these species may also have therapeutic properties that can be explored for the benefit of humans and animals. By working with both community and research/development partners, visibility of these neglected crops and the nutritional benefits that they provide can be enhanced and food preparation can be explained in ways that resonate with the younger audiences and populations that are unaware of these indigenous crops.
Indigenous intelligence in crop processing and food product development is traced to history in Africa. Crops are processed into diverse food products using indigenous technologies, which research and development bodies add value in preservation, improved processing for nutrient retention, improved packaging, drudgery reduction through automation and other novel technologies. NUS should not be an exception here. Most of the NUS exist mainly because of poor knowledge of their nutritional benefits, no/low processing or technological know-how, cultural and religious beliefs about them. Working with relevant indigenous communities will enable in-depth understanding of the crops and reasons behind the neglect, which research and development partners can leverage, to further research across their value chain-study and educate on nutritional benefits, develop innovative processing and appropriate technologies that can enhance their popularity, availability, access, improve nutrient bioavailability, ensure safety, debunk myths around them where necessary and promote their consumption. Contributions of the partners at the bottom of the pyramid is vital and should be brought to the fore, in recognition and documentation when such knowledge products are developed and published. Their intellectual property right should be protected with rewards taking back to them.
Also, food safety matters particularly related to mycotoxins, pesticide and heavy metal contamination are important across the value chain from production through postharvest management and consumption. It is important that in doing these, the visibility and value that indigenous people have provided by being the custodians of knowledge of these crops, preserving them and their traditional practices or propagation, postharvest management, preparation for consumption, management of waste are acknowledged and valued. It is also important to acknowledge and document their customs and systems in a manner that is fair and gives attribution to them. Where the traditional practices expose the communities to harm, it is important to develop systems or machinery that minimise exposure to such harm. These could come from the practices of production or processing that may not have evolved with the changes to the social and environmental systems that can expose communities to food safety or occupational risks. For example, in areas where mining of mineral has increased or pesticide use for agrochemicals is expanding, it could be that traditional practices would expose consumer to higher risks of heavy metal or pesticide contamination for example. Furthermore, with advancing technologies, it is important that systems, equipment and processes that are shared with these communities do not deprive them of their independence or create a dependence on external parties in a way that it takes away their autonomy from them.
Mechanisms for shared benefits to these populations are critical to maintain ethical and fair utilisation of the knowledge and practices of indigenous people and ensuring that the communities are not exploited in an unwholesome manner. While upscaling of these commodities may be thought about and advanced, interest in the protection of the environment is critical to ensure that biodiversity loss is not reintroduced and that communities are not exploited and lose their independence or autonomy for self-sustenance or improved livelihoods.
博士 Titilayo Falade