Creating markets for orphan crops: Bioversity International supports marketing link in food value chain

In India, children may soon have school lunches that include finger millet instead of their usual rice. In Bolivia, a popular restaurant chain is offering its customers a menu containing a variety of dishes made from cañahua, an ancient Andean grain. Though on different sides of the world, these two activities are connected – both are outcomes of a Bioversity International initiative focused on using and conserving orphan crop species and varieties. These plant species and varieties are often highly nutritious, locally adapted and highly resilient crops that, for a variety of reasons, have been left out of the agricultural advances of recent decades, neglected by scientists who concentrate on only a few major staples and no longer used by farmers. The initiative is not just focusing on saving the seeds of these crops; it is encouraging farmers to grow them in their fields. Establishing market outlets for their harvests encourages the farmers to grow these orphan crops, resulting in improved school lunches in India and diverse restaurant offerings in Bolivia.