Working group on Underutilized Fruits and Vegetables Consultation Workshop Rome Chair: Remi Nono-Womdim, FAO, Italy Rapporteur:Uli Schurr, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

Briefing Note Current status of indigenous fruits and vegetables in developing countries Ongoing large scale initiatives Current key constraints facing indigenous fruits and vegetables Plant science opportunities for improving impact of indigenous fruits and vegetables on poverty and food security Expected outcomes & follow up

Status of Working Group (reflecting also some special issues of the topic) Early phase of development of the project Very heterogenous with respect to Plants Environments Role in countries Stakeholders Relevant and necessary technologies but …. high potential many options for specific improvement and significant impact in developing sustainable food system

Status of Working Group (reflecting also some special issues of the topic) Workgroup composition very heterogenous Science disciplines: Molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, entymology, plant pathology, ruit physiology, tree physiology, seed physiology, post harvest physiology, horticulture, conservational biology, biodiversity, breeding, plant pathology, biodiversity, ecology, carbon relations Stakeholder groups: Academia, funding agencies, industry, regulatory bodies, media and communication Implementation size: Smallholder, (relatively) large industry, trade Diversity is needed to address the multitude of issues of relevance Will be focussed by identification of specific project objects and objectives

Current status of indigenous fruits and vegetables in developing countries “under-recognized” crops with respect to e.g. nutritional value and opportunities for food security food and nutrition security policies have largely ignored fruits and vegetables but high potential with respect to micronutrients, fibers, bioactive substances huge diversity of indigenous crops, often undeveloped crop production system, with little attention in systematic genetic resources as well as knowledge about crop biology ….in contrast to large diversity and opportunities to develop these crops (domestication and on farm diversity)

Current status of indigenous fruits and vegetables in developing countries (additons) Great potential (with best practice examples available) for Rural development Reforestation (e.g. fruit trees) Income by export/ trading “these crops are often the last option in stressful environments, as they have very special physiological properties” Options and needs to identify and build on traditional knowledge Gap in systematic knowledge generation about these crops Need to make all stakeholders aware of options and challenges (policy, strategy, etc.)

Prioritization of crops, research topics, options, … Developing categories of similar challenges (e.g. leafy, perennial, …) Building on existing prioritization exercises from African organization (examples given for regions, crop types, challenge (research) topics, ….)

Prioritization of crops, research topics, options, … (Examples) Crops Amaranthus, Balanites, Irvinga, Jujube, Moringa Topics Seeds (conservation of diversity, quality of seeds) Evidence on real nutritional value Post-harvest losses (in vegetables and fruits) Options in the context of urbanization and food systems Link to sanitation and (grey) water utilization Whole system optimization (including socio-economic, market issues, etc.)

Prioritization of crops, research topics, options, … (Examples) Aims and goals to achieve Health, nutrition and diet diversification Rural development and urban-rural interaction Ecosystem services and climate change (adaptation) Sustainable and resilient (risk reduction) food system etc. Great and new option to leverage for political support in African politics Potential to attract funding from donors Innovation Nutrition/biodiversity conserved Market perspective Capacity building, education and training Active participation of local communities

Outcomes Increase farm income Improved livelihood Wide acceptance/ uptake of resilient and nutritious crop Maintained, knowledge about and improved agro-diversity Improved food diversity and quality Improve health of community Supportive policy environment Enhanced NARES capacity

Outputs Knowledge/ information management (incl agricultural statistics) Technology generation and adoption Enhanced germplasm Public and community appreciation Policy documents revised and improved Capacity building, training and education Market share increase by 20%

The way forward Utilize the prioritization exercises done by African stakeholders to identify most relevant (by vision and low-hanging fruit) Target crops Technology and science themes ( pathology, stress, seed, postharvest, …) Regional specific champions Align challenges and competences for specific projects Technical Socio-economical Political acceptance and awareness Funding opportunities Identification and alignment of demands and competences of stakeholders in Africa and Europe

First steps in competence alignments for fruitful partnerships Acceleration of orphan crop development (presentations) Non-GM improvement of underutilised fruit and vegetable crops by tilling Fast Track Molecular Breeding of orphan crops by sequencing Development of sustainability traits in vegetables Integrated microbial systems with and in vegetable production Key to successful horticultural research and partnership Best and motivated people Strengthen capacity and interaction Outcome – oriented, but open to curiosity for novel solution

Next steps Continuation of the small committee and the workgroup Initiation of further communication and exchange on Dialog workshop to inform about specific demands and technological opportunities (aligned to a conference in 2013) Action plan and first discussion with stakeholders (potentially aligned to meetings in 2013) Development of information platforms for interaction (e.g reports, whitepapers, IT-based communication, etc. ) Join the discussion ! Bring in your competence!