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Crop demonstration plots at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL). [Juliet Omelo, Standard]
As droughts and erratic rains intensify across the continent, Africa is losing the crop diversity that has long allowed farmers to adapt, raising concerns that future food systems will have fewer options to withstand climate stress and safeguard nutrition.
The warning comes after the release of the Third State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture for Africa, by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
According to the report, crops, their traditional varieties and wild relatives are disappearing faster than they can be conserved, steadily reducing Africa’s ability to adapt to climate stress and protect food security.
“This report shows clearly that Africa is losing plant genetic diversity at a pace that threatens food security, nutrition and the overall resilience of agrifood systems,” said Chikelu Mba, FAO’s Deputy Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division.
Vegetables planted in plots at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories. [Juliet Omelo, Standard]
At the centre of the decline is the quiet disappearance of farmers’ locally adapted crop varieties, commonly known as landraces.
These varieties, developed and passed down over generations, have enabled farmers to cope with poor soils, unreliable rainfall and shifting local preferences, yet they are increasingly being replaced by commercial seeds less suited to local conditions.
Staple crops such as sorghum, millet, yam and rice are among those affected.
In sub-Saharan Africa, about 16 per cent of more than 12,000 locally adapted crop varieties recorded across 19 countries are now considered threatened, narrowing farmers’ choices just as droughts and heat stress intensify, the report says.
“Crop diversity is about options. When those options disappear, the ability of farming systems to adapt disappears with them,” said Mba.
The loss extends beyond farms into forests and wild landscapes where communities harvest food plants that supplement diets and incomes.
The report shows that wild food species such as baobab, shea, marula, tamarind and African bush mango are in sharp decline, alongside indigenous leafy vegetables including amaranth, spider plant, African nightshade, cowpea leaves and jute mallow.
More than 70 per cent of assessed wild food plant diversity in Africa is now threatened, mainly due to habitat loss, land-use change and climate stress, a rate of decline that is double the global average, according to the report.
For many rural households, these plants act as nutritional buffers during food shortages, and their decline removes a critical safety net.
“Africa’s food security and nutrition depend on the widest possible diversity of crops, trees and wild plants that communities have relied on for generations. As climate change accelerates, losing this diversity means losing the very options that allow agriculture to adapt,” said Eliane Ubalijoro, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry.
She warned that the erosion of crop wild relatives, wild plants related to major food crops such as sorghum, millet, rice, yam and cowpea, poses an additional risk.
More than 70 per cent of those assessed in Africa are under threat, yet African genebanks conserve only about 14 per cent of the collected material, leaving critical genetic traits vulnerable to loss.
“Climate-driven emergencies are accelerating these trends. Drought now accounts for nearly two-thirds of emergency seed interventions across Africa, with more than 100 responses recorded in 20 countries, according to the report,” she said.
While such interventions help farmers resume production, repeated reliance on external seed aid can weaken local seed systems and further displace locally adapted varieties.
The report also raises concerns about the security of Africa’s seed collections.
Around 220,000 seed samples from nearly 4,000 plant species are conserved in 56 genebanks across the continent, but only about 10 per cent are safely duplicated elsewhere, leaving collections vulnerable to conflict, flooding, power failures and chronic underinvestment.
“Plant genetic resources are the foundation of sustainable agri-food systems,” Mba said, noting that without stronger policies, investment and coordination, Africa risks losing irreplaceable diversity that supports livelihoods, food security and nutrition.
Despite the risks, the report identifies signs of progress where fourteen African countries report that nearly half of their seed collections have been studied and documented, exceeding the global average, while 21 countries are actively breeding improved varieties of 81 crop species, including underutilised crops such as African eggplant, moringa and indigenous vegetables.
The findings underscore the need for urgent, coordinated action to strengthen policies, invest in seed systems and genebanks, build scientific and technical capacity, and support farmers and communities as custodians of plant genetic diversity.
Without decisive action, the report warns, Africa risks entering a future with fewer food choices and reduced resilience in the face of a changing climate.
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Crop demonstration plots at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL
). [Juliet Omelo, Standard]
As droughts and erratic rains intensify across the continent, Africa is losing the crop diversity that has long allowed farmers to adapt, raising concerns that future food systems will have fewer options to withstand climate stress and safeguard nutrition.
The warning comes after the release of the Third State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for
Food and Agriculture
for Africa, by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
According to the report, crops, their traditional varieties and wild relatives are disappearing faster than they can be conserved, steadily reducing Africa’s ability to adapt to climate stress and protect food security.
“This report shows clearly that Africa is losing plant genetic diversity at a pace that threatens food security, nutrition and the overall resilience of agrifood systems,” said Chikelu Mba, FAO’s Deputy Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division.
Vegetables planted in plots at the National Agricultural Research Laboratories
. [Juliet Omelo, Standard]
At the centre of the decline is the quiet disappearance of farmers’ locally adapted crop varieties, commonly known as landraces.
These varieties, developed and passed down over generations, have enabled farmers to cope with poor soils, unreliable rainfall and shifting local preferences, yet they are increasingly being replaced by commercial seeds less suited to local conditions.
Staple crops such as sorghum, millet, yam and rice are among those affected.
In sub-Saharan Africa, about 16 per cent of more than 12,000 locally adapted crop varieties recorded across 19 countries are now considered threatened, narrowing farmers’ choices just as droughts and heat stress intensify, the report says.
“Crop diversity is about options. When those options disappear, the ability of farming systems to adapt disappears with them,” said Mba.
The loss extends beyond farms into forests and wild landscapes where communities harvest food plants that supplement diets and incomes.
The report shows that wild food species such as baobab, shea, marula, tamarind and African bush mango are in sharp decline, alongside indigenous leafy vegetables including amaranth, spider plant, African nightshade, cowpea leaves and jute mallow.
More than 70 per cent of assessed wild food plant diversity in Africa is now threatened, mainly due to habitat loss, land-use change and climate stress, a rate of decline that is double the global average, according to the report.
For many rural households, these plants act as nutritional buffers during food shortages, and their decline removes a critical safety net.
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“Africa’s food security and nutrition depend on the widest possible diversity of crops, trees and wild plants that communities have relied on for generations. As climate change accelerates, losing this diversity means losing the very options that allow agriculture to adapt,” said Eliane Ubalijoro, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry.
She warned that the erosion of crop wild relatives, wild plants related to major food crops such as sorghum, millet, rice, yam and cowpea, poses an additional risk.
More than 70 per cent of those assessed in Africa are under threat, yet African genebanks conserve only about 14 per cent of the collected material, leaving critical genetic traits vulnerable to loss.
“Climate-driven emergencies are accelerating these trends. Drought now accounts for nearly two-thirds of emergency seed interventions across Africa, with more than 100 responses recorded in 20 countries, according to the report,” she said.
While such interventions help farmers resume production, repeated reliance on external seed aid can weaken local seed systems and further displace locally adapted varieties.
The report also raises concerns about the security of Africa’s seed collections.
Around 220,000 seed samples from nearly 4,000 plant species are conserved in 56
genebanks
across the continent, but only about 10 per cent are safely duplicated elsewhere, leaving collections vulnerable to conflict, flooding, power failures and chronic underinvestment.
“Plant genetic resources are the foundation of sustainable agri-food systems,” Mba said, noting that without stronger policies, investment and coordination, Africa risks losing irreplaceable diversity that supports livelihoods, food security and nutrition.
Despite the risks, the report identifies signs of progress where fourteen African countries report that nearly half of their seed collections have been studied and documented, exceeding the global average, while 21 countries are actively breeding improved varieties of 81 crop species, including underutilised crops such as African eggplant, moringa and indigenous vegetables.
The findings underscore the need for urgent, coordinated action to strengthen policies, invest in seed systems and genebanks, build scientific and technical capacity, and support farmers and communities as custodians of plant genetic diversity.
Without decisive action, the report warns, Africa risks entering a future with fewer food choices and reduced resilience in the face of a
changing climate
.
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channel
on WhatsApp
By Juliet Omelo