Global food systems are currently dominated by only three crops - rice, wheat and maize - providing more than 50% of the world’s daily caloric requirement. While the focus on high yielding crops has driven remarkable productivity gains, it has not always translated into improved food security or nutrition outcomes. Instead, it has increased the vulnerability of food systems and contributed to the erosion of agrobiodiversity, ultimately reducing the resilience of food systems.

Against this background, Neglected and Underutilised Species (NUS) have gained attention as a viable option to address these challenges and.  This knowledge review synthesises evidence on NUS’s potential to contribute to food security, farmers’ income and the transition to more sustainable food systems. It is based on 64 sources including several literature reviews.

Key messages:

• Neglected and Underutilised Species (NUS) are an essential part of agricultural systems in the global south and of daily eating habits for many rural communities. However, several drivers led to their neglect and underutilisation
• NUS can contribute to food security by increasing food availability during the lean period, improving production under harsh conditions and on marginal soils; enabling communities to engage in diversified income-generating activities; buffering seasonal, social and climate driven variability; the early maturation and shorter growth cycle of some NUS also contribute to food security.
• Many NUS are rich in essential macro and micronutrients. Several NUS have also antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties and deliver other health benefits.
• Many NUS exhibit higher tolerance to stresses such as drought, pests, and diseases compared to mainstream crops. Several NUS can thrive in poor soil conditions. They can thus play an important role in making food systems more resilient to climate change.
• NUS are well suited for environmentally friendly farming practices and agroecological approaches, such as crop rotation, intercropping, green manuring, and agroforestry systems. These contribute to soil health and can bring other environmental and climate benefits.
• Women play a central role in preserving, cultivating, and marketing of NUS. They act as custodians of traditional knowledge, seed systems and are innovators in the kitchen. Promoting NUS can contribute to women’s empowerment.
• NUS are largely produced and sold by smallholder farmers in informal markets; hence, their availability to consumers is often limited to the region where they are grown, and only when they are in season The high market value of certain NUS presents an opportunity for rural communities to generate income. However, this is hindered by the underdevelopment of value chains and processing methods.
• Investments in adequate seed systems (in-situ and ex-situ) and inclusion in extension services are needed to make seeds and knowledge available and to scale the uptake.
• There are still big knowledge and research gaps on the agronomic traits, nutritional value, breeding, production, processing technologies and market potential of NUS. Investment in Research and Development is crucial to address these gaps.
• NUS should be mainstreamed into food/agricultural policies, plans and programmes, adopting a holistic approach that considers simultaneously nutrition, income generation and environmental/climate benefits.
• NUS can play a role in emergency situations as alternative ingredients for locally-produced, cost-effective Ready-to-use therapeutic and supplement foods (RUTF-RUSF). Building on promising experiences, additional research is needed on this.
• NUS value chains should be developed, through capacity building, training, improved storage and packaging, improved transportation, targeted investments in rural infrastructure and investing in processes with added value.