About this Research Topic

Background

Adequate nutrition for everyone at all times remains a major global concern as nations strive to achieve zero hunger (SDG #2) in all its forms, and by extension, SDGs #3 - good health and wellbeing, #12 - responsible consumption and #5 - life on land. Hunger is the leading cause of death worldwide, with over 842 million undernourished [representing 1 in 8 people], nearly half of deaths in children under five years attributed to undernutrition, and 582 million people estimated to be chronologically undernourished by 2030. The menace is exacerbated in the Global South, where extreme effects of external shocks, including climate change, increasing population, and urbanization, weaken food systems and heighten malnutrition and food scarcity issues, rendering more populations vulnerable.

Mainstreaming [the food use of] indigenous food crops is a recommended paradigm for immediate and sustainable food and nutrition security, especially in vulnerable populations. Several studies postulate their nutrient density, health-beneficial properties, and resilience to external shocks. Recent efforts have exploited a few as ‘Superfoods’ where researchers and the food industry develop novel products exploring the inherent nutrients and health-beneficial properties. Others have researched the unique functional properties and bioactive constituents of some indigenous crops to augment processing protocols in the food industry. Also, scant and sparsely distributed publications have investigated the use of indigenous crops to replace non-indigenous base ingredients of popular food products in the Global South. The impact of the exploration of indigenous crops, however, cannot be accelerated/ achieved without enhanced concerted efforts in technological advances and processing innovations for value-added and shelf-stable outcomes along their food chains. Also critical to such endeavors is investigating the bioavailability of nutrients obtained from such crops and/ or value-added products. Bringing together new research and practice in this wise on a common platform is crucial for cross-regional knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary collaboration to upscale efforts and drive collective action for sustainable nutrition in the Global South.

In this Topic, we broadly refer to Indigenous food crops (IFCs) as crops with large genetic diversity and are native to a bioregion and/or its consumption is linked to culture and heritage; spanning vegetables, nuts/ oily seeds, root and tuber crops, cereals and leguminous crops. For example, Bambara groundnut, Cowpeas, Millet, Cucurbit seeds (egusi), Amaranth, and Fonio from Africa; Foxtail millet, Fenugreek, and Taro from Asia; and Tannia, Chia, and Quinoa from Latin America and the Caribbean. Technological innovations resulting in new and improved versions of such crops (for example, “Kernza”) are also inclusive.

We invite contributions from original research, systematic and scoping reviews, methods, policy and practice reviews, and technological transfer endeavors encompassing the following:
• Adaptive technologies and preservation techniques to expand the food use of IFCs
• Value-addition interventions and technological advances, including novel product development from IFCs and the resulting contribution to nutrition and health
• Socioeconomic studies on the commercial viability of value-addition interventions and mainstreaming IFCs
• Compositional analysis of IFCs towards exploring their food use and for new markets
• Agronomy/ resilience of IFCs to climate change and impact on nutritional composition
• Knowledge of Indigenous processing and preservation techniques and the underpinnings [including gender and cultural values] to the food use of IFCs

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Nutrition, Food Processing, Food Security, Food Processing Technologies, Consumer Choices, Food Systems, Functional Foods

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