Overview of the forum

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Orphan crops are also commonly known as underutilized, lost, under-researched or disadvantaged crops. They contribute to the diet of a large portion of resource-poor consumers and at the same time generate income for subsistence farmers in developing countries, particularly in Africa. These crops perform better than major crops of the world under extreme soil and climatic conditions prevalent in Africa today. However, most of these crops produce low yields or some of them produce a variety of toxins which affect the health of consumers. Although orphan crops are vital for the livelihood of millions of resource-poor Africans, research in these crops is lagging behind that of major crops. To boost crop productivity and attain food self-sufficiency in Africa, research on orphan crops should get more attention.

This discussion forum is created due to the request of participants at the first International Conference entitled 'New Approaches to Plant Breeding of Orphan Crops of Africa' held in Bern, Switzerland from 19 to 21 Septemeber 2007. The link to the conference website is available at: http://www.botany.unibe.ch/deve/orphancrops/index.htm
The main goals of the conference were, i) to address the major crop productivity problems related to orphan crops in Africa; ii) to introduce modern crop improvement techniques developed for major crops in the North and to propose the strategy of implementing these techniques in the South for orphan crops; iii) to discuss the prospects and feasibility of modern crop biotechnology in African agriculture in general and orphan crops in particular through round-table discussions involving prominent scientists; and iv) to build the foundation for establishing research collaborations among scientists in the North and South regarding orphan crop improvement.

At this particular forum scientists or other interested individuals will discuss on how to raise awareness of these under-researched crops to the world scientific community. Although orphan crops are many in number, we will focus on the most important cereal, legume, root and fruit crops interms of the area they are grown or population they feed.

Zerihun Tadele
Institute of Plant Sciences
University of Bern, Switzerland