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Interdisciplinary Approaches to Mainstreaming Underutilized Crops

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 1947

Special Issue Editors

Centre for Transformative Agricultural and Food Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, Scottsville 3201, South Africa
Interests: crop responses to abiotic and biotic stresses; agricultural water management; agricultural diversification; smallholder farming systems; water use and crop climate modelling; sustainable food systems; global environmental change; water-energy-food nexus; science–policy–practice interface
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Centre for Transformative Agricultural and Food Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, Scottsville 3201, South Africa
Interests: seed science and technology; sustainable agriculture; indigenous knowledge; food security; rural development
University of Nottingham in Malaysia, Jalan Broga, Semenyih, 43500 Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Interests: capacity development; agricultural biodiversity for food and nutritional security; climate change and crop adaptation; food environments; sustainable food system; genetic analysis of crop traits and breeding; agriculture-environment-health nexus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Science for Society Directorate, Science Foundation Ireland, Dublin D02 FX65, Ireland.
Interests: sustainable food systems; agricultural diversification; smallholder systems; capacity development; science-policy interphase
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Metro Manila 1301, Philippines
Interests: natural resource management; sustainable food systems; carbon sequestration; soil fertility management; agricultural diversification
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Plot 47, Sector 44, Gurgaon, India
Interests: agricultural sustainability; food security; rural development; groundwater; natural resource management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Underutilised crops can sustainably address challenges such as increasing drought, food and nutrition insecurity, loss of ecosystem services, and environmental degradation under changing climates, and ultimately strengthen local food systems. They also enhance agro-ecological diversity, ecosystem services, and opportunities for low greenhouse gas (GHG) agriculture as well as terraforming (planting new ecosystems). Their status as a subset of biodiversity provides a nature-based solution to address socio-economic and environmental challenges while enhancing human wellbeing through multiple dimensions such as social cohesion, dignity, equality, and livelihoods derived from use of natural capital.

In response to the need to transform existing agriculture systems, one strategy that is rarely explored is the use of neglected and underutilised species (NUS) as a transformative response to climate change and food and nutrition insecurity. We propose a transdisciplinary approach to mainstreaming indigenous crops into the food system, which includes researchers together with strategic stakeholders working with policy-makers to generate and translate existing evidence to inform policy. This creates opportunities for developing sustainable and healthy food systems, improving livelihoods, health and wellbeing, creating jobs, enhancing agro-biodiversity, and improving environmental sustainability. This would contribute towards the fulfillment of several sustainable development goals (SDGs): SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 13 (climate action), and SDG 15 (life on land). With research and development, and policy to support them, indigenous crops can play an important role in climate change adaptation and transforming food systems while enhancing human wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

Therefore, the aim of this Special Issue is to attract researchers and practitioners to highlight inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that focus on the following topics related to NUS

  • how NUS can contribute to transforming agricultural systems, especially in marginal environments
  • topics linkings NUS to systemic issues related to:
    • biodiversity – NUS NUS constitute a large portion of agrobiodiversity and promote functional biodiversity that allows for better ecosystem services
    • Climate variability and change/climate change adaptation/transformative adaptation
    • Water use efficiency/productivity/increasing resource use efficiencies
    • Food and nutrition security/enhancing dietary diversity/sustainable diets
    • Human health and well-being
  • The contribution of NUS to the tranformative agenda/transforming food systems/strengthening local food systems
  • Policies and their role in supporting and positioning NUS as part of a transformative agenda

Prof. Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi
Prof. Albert T. Modi
Prof. Dr. Festo Massawe
Dr. Maysoun A. Mustafa
Dr. Pauline Chivenge
Dr. Sukhwinder Singh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate resilience
  • ecosystem services
  • food systems
  • underutilised crops
  • sustainability

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
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