Originally published August 19 2005
Forgotten grain crops return to Africa
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
For decades, farmers have ceased to grow essential grains that provide essential nutrients to African communities, but local farmers have started to grow the crops again, doing away with the need for government subsidies.
For many centuries, farmers in southern India's Kolli Hills grew nearly 30 varieties of millet.
But during the past three decades, the cereal fields were replanted with cassava and sago palms, as more and more farms agreed to supply starch for local producers of processed food.
Today, millet is not grown there, and local communities instead eat government-distributed rice, which although sold at a discount price is less nutritious.
Far away in the Andes of South America, traditionally cultivated grains such as quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus) are a natural source of protein and iron.
Nor have any of these crops featured much in modern agricultural research, even though --- given their nutritional value --- they could contribute to food security and poverty alleviation.
According to the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) based in Rome, Italy, at least 7,000 plant species could be cultivated for food, but only 150 crops are grown commercially.
"The world increasingly relies on a shrinking food basket of a few crops to fulfil the dietary needs of its people," agrees M. S. Swaminathan, a leading Indian crop expert and chair of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), which focuses on sustainable agriculture and rural development.
The current focus is on millets in India and Nepal; medicinal plants in Egypt and Yemen; grains in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru; and leafy vegetables in Africa.
Participants agreed that increasing research on neglected crops could improve nutrition among poor people and help achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people suffering from hunger by 2015 (see Neglected crops 'crucial' to beating hunger).
One partner, Bolivia's Foundation for the Promotion and Research of Andean Products (PROINPA) is working with farmers to improve crops, food security and sustainability.
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