According to the latest State of Food Security in the World report (FAO 2018), 820 million of people still go to bed hungry every day and, sadly, this figure has been on the rise for the last three years. Whereas major international efforts are continuing to boost the production of staple crops, there is huge scope to look beyond the 30 or so crops and the few animal breeds that today feed the world.

What about leveraging the vast diversity of edible plant, animal, and fungi species that exists in countries where food insecurity is rampant? This is the argument taken up in our chapter, recently published as part of the Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, which points out that many crop and livestock species are important in traditional diets but due to their marginalization in research and development, they have become irrelevant in mainstream agriculture and food systems. The chapter makes the point that these untapped resources can unlock potentials for greater productivity and use for achieving diversified, sustainable and nutritious food systems.

In the chapter, Bioversity’s scientists together with experts from the University of Salford (UK), the Nordic Food Lab (Denmark) and Slow Food International (Italy) share an indicative estimate of the diversity of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) among both vegetal (plants, algae and mushrooms) and animal (meat and poultry, seafood and insects) sources. Findings confirm that for each food source there are many species that can be better harnessed and put to work to fight malnutrition. Authors point out, that compared to major crops and livestock, these local species are often more stress tolerant and nutritious and have low input requirements and efficient energy conversion.

More effective use of NUS can accordingly support nutrition-sensitive, resilient and sustainable food systems but action is needed to address the many challenges limiting their use, including  poor consumer appeal, low market prices, difficult processing, domestication, and conservation of these species, which are threatened by habitat degradation and diminishing use on farm. The chapter concludes by emphasizing that citizens, in their capacity as consumers, can act as key drivers in the process of shaping more sustainable food systems: through their demand for nutritious foods sourced from agriculturally biodiverse systems, the production of these local products among small-holder farmers can drive up, benefiting people and the planet.

Full details on the chapter are as follows:

Stefano Padulosi, Donna-Mareè Cawthorn, Gennifer Meldrum, Roberto Flore, Afton Halloran, Federico Mattei, Leveraging Neglected and Underutilized Plant, Fungi, and Animal Species for More Nutrition Sensitive and Sustainable Food Systems, Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability, Elsevier,2018.ISBN 9780081005965 doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.21552-7.