Neglected and Underutilized Species: Promoting Valuable Crops in Organic Agroforestry Systems

Since the 1960s, global food systems have become increasingly reliant on a small number of species, particularly on a select number of carbohydrate-dense crops. These crops, such as corn and wheat, have been subject to decades of investment and research. While these varieties provide sufficient calories, excessive reliance on them has resulted in less consumption of vitamin- and mineral-rich foods. Additionally, increasingly unpredictable climate conditions call for cultivating plants that are adapted best to a local environment, which in many cases do not include cash crops. This large but underrepresented category of plants is called neglected and underutilized species (NUS). “Neglected” refers to a lack of investment in research in these species, and “underutilized” refers to the untapped potential of these species to improve livelihoods. NUS can provide a myriad of nutritional, biodiversity, socioeconomic, and climate benefits. This chapter presents a summary of the benefits and challenges of implementing NUS, with an emphasis on potential implementation in agroforestry systems (AFS). Six NUS—quinoa, teff, cowpea, mung bean, sacha inchi, and moringa—are included to showcase examples of high-potential, underutilized plant varieties. Successful NUS and AFS systems require biodiversity, and thus examining NUS as components of AFS may reveal their suitability in AFS systems. The main challenge facing both NUS and AFS are gaps in sufficient research, which hinders the ability of these species to be scaled. Increasing investment into research will be imperative in encouraging the adoption of NUS and AFS, and in turn fostering biodiverse food systems.