Developing a Research Agenda for Promoting Underutilised, Indigenous and Traditional Crops
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Developing a research agenda for promoting underutilised, indigenous and traditional crops Report to the WATER RESEARCH COMMISSION by A.T. Modi and T. Mabhaudhi Crop Science School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of KwaZulu-Natal November 2016 WRC Report No. KV 362/16 ISBN 978-1-4312-0891-3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Over the past two decades, the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa, through its Key Strategic Area (KSA) on Water Utilisation in Agriculture, has championed research on underutilised crops. This was driven by the realisation that the complexity of challenges related to water scarcity, climate variability and change, population growth, and changing lifestyles required innovative solutions and paradigm shifts. In order to propel underutilised crops from the peripheries of subsistence agriculture in niche agro-ecologies to the promise of commercial agriculture there was a need to support robust and comparable scientific research. To this end, the WRC formulated an underutilised crops research strategy that was informed by three themes, namely, (i) drought and heat tolerance of food crops, (ii) water use and nutritional value, and (iii) nutritional water productivity. Under these themes, the WRC has supported the generation of a significant body of information on underutilised crops in South Africa (cf. Appendix 3). The objective of this WRC directed call was to conduct a state-of-the-art literature review on past, present and ongoing work on underutilised, indigenous and traditional crops and their status, potential, challenges and opportunities along the value chain in South Africa with the objective to develop a draft agenda for future funding on underutilised crops research. As part of developing the draft strategy, a three phased approach was adopted. Firstly, a diagnosis of challenges, obstacles and opportunities was conducted to aid in the formulation of objectives (cf. Chapter 1). This also included developing recommendations and a guiding framework for addressing identified challenges and opportunities. Secondly, for successful strategy development, there is always a need to set priorities. The second phase thus included developing a list of priority underutilised crops based on drought and heat stress tolerance and nutrient density. The list of priority underutilised crops and the criteria applied to develop it were consistent with the WRC’s current strategy. In addition, this also included outlining coherent actions and activities and identifying key stakeholders and partners (cf. Chapter 2). Thirdly, the research value chain approach was adopted to outline a draft strategic framework for funding future research, development and innovation (RDI) for underutilised crops in South Africa (cf. Chapter 3). Consistent with the existing strategy, the draft agenda paid particular attention to drought tolerance and nutritional value of underutilised indigenous crops. i Despite emerging interest on underutilised crops, research on them remains scanty and scattered. Several underutilised crops have been reported to be drought tolerant, adapted to low levels of water use and thus suitable for cultivation in most rural areas. Some underutilised crops would be suitable for promotion during drought periods such as the 2015/16 drought. Existing South African research on drought and heat tolerance and water use of underutilised crops has mainly been funded by the WRC and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). However, despite these efforts, there are still significant gaps on information describing basic aspects of underutilised crops production. These include information on seed systems, crop improvement, agronomy and ecophysiology, post-harvest handling and storage, and agro-processing (cf. Section 1.5.1). While gaps still exist, significant progress had been made with regards to agronomy and eco-physiology of underutilised crops. In addition, a significant amount of existing literature on underutilised crops focused on particularly one group of crops – traditional vegetable crops. While there is ongoing research on cereal and grain crops (WRC K5/2272//4), there is a need to ensure that future research focusses on all crop categories, i.e. cereals, legumes, vegetable crops, and root and tuber crops. In addition, in order to achieve rapid gains, there is a need to prioritise research on those crops that show the best prospects of success for addressing the poverty-unemployment- inequality nexus. Thus, there is a need to prioritise underutilised crops that are drought and heat stress tolerant as well as nutrient dense. A total of thirteen (13) underutilised crops were identified as priority underutilised crops, based on their drought and heat tolerance as well as nutritional value (cf. Section 2.3.3). To ensure diversity going forward, priority underutilised crops were categorised according to cereals, legumes, root and tuber crops, and traditional vegetable crops. It was noted that the list of priority underutilised crops was a draft and should be subjected to further scrutiny by experts on underutilised crops. The draft strategy proposes that priority underutilised crops be promoted as alternatives, especially in marginal production areas where they may have competitive and comparative advantages due to their tolerance to drought and heat stress. The draft strategy acknowledges that several underutilised crops hold potential for addressing pressing national challenges such as the poverty-unemployment-inequality and water-food- nutrition-health nexus. It proposes that future research, development and innovation for underutilised crops should focus on supporting and developing value chains for the identified ii priority underutilised crops. This will lead to the development of new value chains and open new opportunities for employment creation for previously disadvantaged communities, women and youths through participatory action research and formulation of priorities. The draft strategy acknowledges the need to integrate scientific and indigenous knowledge as part of a knowledge management strategy. This should also include the development of a database for archiving available information on underutilised crops in South Africa. Lastly, the success of any strategy also depends, to an extent, on the presence of champions. Similar to how the WRC has been championing underutilised crops research in South Africa, there is a need to identify and promote individual researchers and/or institutions that have demonstrated passion and capacity to drive RDI on underutilised crops in South Africa. In this regard, several researchers and institutions were identified as possible champions based on consistency of publications on underutilised crops (cf. Section 2.3.2). These should be targeted and supported in future in order to ensure continuity, capacity development and retention of research skills on underutilised crops. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER 1: CURRENT STATE OF UNDERUTILISED CROPS IN SOUTH AFRICA .......... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Fitting Underutilised Crops ............................................................................................ 2 1.2 METHODS ............................................................................................................................ 3 1.3 ALIGNING DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 SMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AFRICA ................................................. 8 1.4.1 Overview of Land Suitability ......................................................................................... 9 1.4.2 Overview of Farming and Cropping Systems in South Africa ..................................... 11 1.5 STATUS OF UNDERUTILISED CROPS IN SOUTH AFRICA ...................................... 17 1.5.1 Underutilised Crops Value Chains ............................................................................... 18 1.5.2 Potential of NUS in Smallholder Farming Systems ..................................................... 26 1.6 OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR NUS IN SOUTH AFRICA .................... 27 1.6.1 Opportunities ................................................................................................................ 27 1.6.2 Challenges .................................................................................................................... 29 1.7 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 30 1.8 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 31 iv CHAPTER 2: PRIORITY UNDERUTILISED CROPS FOR SOUTH