FAO: Expert nutritionist highlights plans to revive Africa’s “forgotten crops”
17 Apr 2024 | UN Food and Agriculture Organization
Dr. Mphumuzi Sukati is a senior nutrition and food systems officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Ghana. He discusses the FAO’s recently released compendium identifying 100 underutilized crops, also referred to as the “forgotten foods of Africa,” which have the potential to boost nutrition security on the continent. Dr. Sukati elaborates on the significance and nutritional benefits of some of these crops, which are indigenous or well-suited to the local environment.
Hello, everyone.
This is Milana for Nutrition Insights.
Today I'm speaking to Doctor Sukcachi, a senior nutrition and food system officer at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, and we will be discussing the FAO's new report on the integration of Africa's so-called forgotten foods into local food systems.
Doctor Sukcai, can you briefly introduce yourself and your role?
Yes, thank you so much for, for, for having me, Milana.
My name is Mpumuzi Sukati.
I work for the Food and Agriculture of the Organization of the United Nations.
I am based in Accra, Ghana, and I am the senior Food and Nutrition Officer there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And what is the new FAO compendium?
How is it significant for nutritional security in Africa?
The, the, the compendium is, is basically a, a document that is meant to, to start animating the talks around the promoting investments in the, in the so-called foods that are called the marginalized or Or sometimes they are called orphan crops, but it's not, the, the, the nomenclature of what they are is, is still not been agreed upon, but these are the crops that are probably not finding, a widespread, , the consumption at the level of the, of the household.
So, It, it, it is, this compendium is, is trying to cartograph some of these foods based on their nutritional values and also on their geographic availability.
Great.
And can you give us examples of some of these underutilized crops?
What are their nutritional benefits?
There are many of, of, of, of, of these crops.
In fact, I think as, as, as you might be aware, Milana, a lot of the investments now are, are, are, are, are, are growing into your usual crops like wheat, maize, and rice.
But we are forgetting a lot of of crops that are probably stand to play.
A very big role in food and nutrition security, including crops like cassava, fio, millets, and, and, or for example, I can even think of turf, which is , common in, in, in, in Ethiopia, for example, but there's no need that it, it shouldn't be widespread all over the continent because they offer a lot of calorie, calories, nutrients, and, and also vitamins.
Right.
And are there any concrete steps that can be taken right now to integrate these crops into agricultural and food policy frameworks on the continent?
There are a lot of steps that are already happening because, the, the African Union, for example, has, has come up with a common position on the, on promoting these, these crops.
We have various consortiums that are working on, on, on, on these crops, including of recently, the vision for adapted, adapted crops that is being driven by the African Union together with the, with, with FAO and the, and the United States Department.
So, there are already a lot of initiatives that are happening.
It's just to probably strengthen the, the awareness and they also influencing policy and investments to to target these marginalized commodities.
Mm, makes sense.
And how do you envision the collaboration between the FAO and other stakeholders in furthering the objectives you've outlined in the Caegium?
The good thing about, about it is that FAO is present in many countries in the, in the continent.
Probably, almost all the countries they have got FAO represented rep representation.
So, because of, of that, , we believe it will be, , effective for FAO to start facilitating discussions around tables around promoting these crops, and also influencing national policies and, and strategies to be more, more oriented towards promoting these crops, including the bringing in the private sector and the, the, and the investments because I think those are critical actors in making sure that These crop commodities are, are, , have, have the right investments in place and also to create consumer awareness for the demand pool, for, for, for these, for these commodities.
And are there any specific challenges or obstacles that you anticipate in promoting these forgotten foods, and how do you plan to address them?
There, there, there, there are, there are challenges, what you see, I think that's a good question because what we see is that the name itself, forgotten foods, you know, you might find that in one country.
They will say, no, this food is not forgotten.
How do you classify it as forgotten?
And, and in other country, it, it, it, it will be forgotten, you know.
So I think the nomenclature around it, you know, is, is what as experts, we need to agree on, on what we call these crops.
In fact, in fact, in some other schools of thought, they, they, they are saying that they should be called potential crops, you know, instead of forgotten, indigenous, native, you name it, because some of them are not necessarily native, but They are just crops that are receiving underinvestment.
So, I think all the talks around the wedding and the, and, and what, what they are, I, I can give another example.
Cassava, for example, is eaten widely here in West Africa, so it could, it cannot be a forgotten food here in West Africa.
But in the Southern African region, cassava is basically the non-existent.
It's, it's, it's not that eaten, but it doesn't necessarily mean that It shouldn't find a table, , a place in the table of consumers even in Southern Africa.
So, the, the, the, the whole harmonization of the ideas around these crops, what are we talking about, and also the probably diversifying into other livestock, , animal products as and non-wood forest products which are also part of the, of the talk.
So, I think the, the coordination and the harmonization is still a little bit of a challenge.
Mm.
Interesting.
And is there anything else you would like to highlight on this topic?
Yes, , what I can kindly highlight is that, we, we, we will really encourage stakeholders to come and support this initiative, probably in, in building constructive, constructive ideas going forward, you know, because, what we have produced with FARA is, is, is probably a document that is, meant to start the, the talks going, probably to strengthen, because I know there have been talks that are going to strengthen the coordination.
And probably coming up into agreements of what really are we talking about and how can we make the whole continent stand up to, to, to, to, to move together in this initiative.
That's amazing.
Thank you so much.
