Neglected species

August 5, 2026August 5, 2026

The flour of Kenyan agrobiodiversity marketing

Here’s the latest in my continuing series of posts on interesting approaches to marketing agricultural biodiversity here in Kenya.

I was pleasantly surprised by this product, which seems to add finger millet and cassava to your basic maize flour for making ugali. A nice way to add taste and nutrients. And support some minor crops.

And this line of porridges is quite impressive, in the range — and presentation — of both their composition and consumer targeting.

August 3, 2026August 3, 2026

Kenyan tradition, served fast

I want to put up another quick post on the theme of innovative marketing of so-called “opportunity crops” in Kenyan supermarkets. Yesterday it was nicely packaged frozen amaranth leaves that struck me. Today it’s pre-cooked single portions of traditional dishes. No need to refrigerate. Just heat. And eat.

August 2, 2026August 2, 2026

Frozen amaranth and warm memories

Coming across this new (at least for me) frozen amaranth product in a Nairobi supermarket yesterday…

…reminded me that the Amaranth Institute Symposium 2026 is coming up soon.

It really is amazing the progress in the marketing and consumption of traditional vegetables that Kenyans have made in the 30 years since I made my infinitesimal contribution.

July 28, 2026July 28, 2026

Nibbles: Tigray grapes, Latin American opportunity crops, Hawaii & Cayman coconuts, North Macedonian collecting, South Korea seed vault, Eswatini seed hub, Expensive healthy diets

A North Macedonian professor’s 15-year rescue mission for landraces and crops surviving only in remote villages. Why bother? Stay tuned…
Ancient grapevines in Tigray represent a unique genetic lineage with potential value for breeding varieties adapted to dryland conditions.
Hawai’i Public Radio checks in on Maui’s coconut genebank. Useful to breed varieties adapted to really wet conditions, presumably.
The Cayman Islands are also hoarding coconuts, along with lots of tasty fruits.
A USD 400,000 boost from Taiwan for the Eswatini national genebank. Indigenous vegetables get much-needed love.
A regional survey of 25 orphan crops across 13 Latin American countries finds quinoa and amaranth well-catalogued, but characterization budgets are the real bottleneck. Collecting and conserving in genebanks is great, but not enough.
South Korea puts 330,000 seed accessions under “double lock”, hedging against both climate change and war. Conserving in one place is not enough.
FAO warns that nearly a third of the world can’t afford the USD 4.28 a day that a healthy diet costs — nearly three billion people, and rising. That’s why we need al the above, I guess.

July 20, 2026July 20, 2026

Brainfood: Collaboration edition

Dietary diversity, food security, and development projects in low- and middle-income contexts: Findings from 24 countries. Development projects are most effective at improving dietary diversity and food security when they bring together agriculture, nutrition and local communities.
Enhancing farmers’ access to neglected crop seeds for healthy diets in a changing climate: six recommendations for policy action. Improving farmers’ access to opportunity crop seeds requires coordinated action across seed systems, with researchers, policymakers, seed producers and farming communities all playing complementary roles.
The effects of seed policies, laws and regulations on farmers’ ability to access and use diverse, locally adapted farmers’ varieties and landraces. Seed policies shape collaboration between farmers, communities and formal seed systems, and regulations can either enable or constrain the exchange of locally adapted varieties that keeps agricultural diversity alive.
Studying vanishing dietary diversity before it is lost: the World Diet Initiative. The World Diet Initiative brings together nutrition science, ecology and cultural knowledge to understand disappearing food traditions, showing that protecting dietary diversity requires collaboration across disciplines and communities.
The Spanish Network of Genetic Conservation Units: a cooperative tool for the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources under a changing environment. The Spanish Network of Genetic Conservation Units show how sharing expertise and responsibilities can strengthen forest conservation.
Strengthening national genebanks through genomics and regional collaboration: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean. A regional community of practice is helping national genebanks overcome technical and institutional barriers through shared genomic approaches, turning isolated collections into connected systems for conserving and using crop diversity.