For centuries, neglected and under-utilized species (NUS) have been grown for their food, fiber, fodder, oil, and medicinal properties. Sometimes known as forgotten foods, they include cultivated, semi-domesticated and wild species and traditional varieties. Their roles have been increasingly undervalued, and their importance increasingly neglected by researchers, policymakers, and markets. This report presents a case study that focuses on the uses of NUS in Hoima, Western Uganda, grown in two contrasting agro-ecologies (semi-arid, and sub-humid), both characterized by rising maximum temperatures and precipitation, decreasing minimum temperatures, and an increasing aridity index.  

In recent years, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and partners, have worked on improving smallholders’ livelihoods through participatory action research on agrobiodiversity (e.g., crop improvement, establishment of community seedbanks, value chain development, empowerment of women and youth). This study builds on this work using action learning via i) Longlisting NUS and their reasons for use; ii) Assessing NUS diversity status; iii) Drafting seasonal NUS calendars; iv) NUS grouping; v) Diversity analysis; vi) Identifying NUS custodian farmers; vii) Identifying well-known local food recipes and status; viii) Assessing climate-change factors influencing NUS.  

The final step involved identifying available priority NUS with the greatest potential to contribute to: i) healthier, more diverse diets; ii) income generation; iii) more resilient production systems; iv) a more dynamic local food culture; and v) community empowerment.  

Key findings:  

The study characterized individual species in terms of their uses (cultural, medicinal, dietary, fodder, emergencies), seasonal calendars, and gender perspectives within the following plant groups: groundnuts; cowpeas and pigeon peas; yams; fruits; finger millet; sorghum; vegetables; medicinal plants; herbs and spices; wild fruits and roots.  

The study’s diversity analysis findings indicate that for several crops, farmers are substituting local/traditional varieties with improved varieties, for several reasons including low yield, poor resistance to pests and diseases, limited seed availability and/or access, and poor market value or potential value of the local/traditional varieties.  

The seasonal calendar analysis shows the risks of seasonal shortages are minimized by the very large diversity of crops cultivated, with harvesting periods of “seeds” (grains), fruits, stem, roots, and tubers, and leaves and shoots distributed over all almost all the months, with only February appearing as a “lean” month in terms of harvest. Certain crops are harvested throughout the year such as banana, yam, and some herbs and spices. Some are based on particular seasons such as beans, but the consumption periods are sometimes short, when harvests are poor.  

Most products are for home consumption. Different parts are used for food, such as fruits, leaves, stems, and tubers. The crops grown in Hoima have a good distribution across the different main types. In principle, this could contribute to a balanced, nutritious and healthy diet. Smallholder farmers in Hoima consume NUS for different and varied reasons, the most common reasons being for their medicinal and nutritional benefits. Taste and availability are also important factors that determine the frequency of use.  

Some crops are very climate-resilient including the banana variety, Bogoya; the groundnut variety Ebinyobwa; the bean variety Tintina basezi, and almost all yam varieties (therefore making it a famine survival crop). Wild fruits also show high stress resilience.  

Farmers collectively prioritized varieties for scaling research and development activities, including the brown variety of cowpea; Kanyunyuzi, and Kibobo finger millet varieties, and the white variety of sorghum.  

The study has highlighted that some NUS varieties are grown only by “few households and in small areas of the farm,” which could mean that they are under pressure of becoming lost varieties and thus offer a red-flag for their conservation.