The Exploitation of Orphan Legumes for Food, Income, and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have become major concerns in recent times. The effects of climate change, drought, and unpredictable rainfall patterns threaten food production and sustainable agriculture. More so, insurgency, youth restiveness, and politico-economic instability amidst a burgeoning population requiring a sufficient and healthy diet remain front-burner issues in the region. Overdependence on only a few major staple crops is increasingly promoting the near extinction of many crops, especially orphan legumes, which possess immense potentials as protein and nutritional security crops. The major staple crops are declining in yield partly to their inability to adapt to the continuously changing climatic conditions. Remarkably, the orphan legumes are climate-smart crops with enormous agronomic features which foster sustainable livelihood. Research efforts on these crops have not attained a reasonable comparative status with most commercial crops. Though many research organizations and scientists have made efforts to promote the improvement and utilization of these orphan legumes, there is still more to be done. These legumes’ vast genetic resources and economic utility are grossly under-exploited, but their values and promising impacts are immeasurable. Given the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) of zero hunger, improved nutrition, health, and sustainable agriculture, the need to introduce these crops into food systems in SSA and other poverty-prone regions of the world is now more compelling than ever. This review unveils inherent values in orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, as well as the application of genome editing techniques, could significantly enhance the genetic improvement of these useful but underutilized legumes. Efforts made in this regard and the challenges of these approaches were also discussed.

Dataset on estimate of intra-specific genetic variability of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Harms.) based on rbcL gene marker

“…belong to the Order: Fabale and Family Fabaceae. It is one of the nutritionally, and medicinally important orphan legumes in Central, Western, and Eastern Africa [ 1 , 2 ]. Its low cholesterol and high-quality protein make it a suitable source of food for obese, diabetic, and hypertensive patients [3] , [4] .…”

Improving field legume nodulation by crushing nodules onto seeds: implications for small-scale farmers

“…Moving forward, nodule crushing has the potential to decentralize rhizobia inoculants, catalyze farmer experimentation, improve the yields of traditional crop landraces which often receive little attention from breeders (Li et al, 2020;Popoola et al, 2022), improve farmer access to indigenous microbial biodiversity (Vanlauwe et al, 2019), and empower farmers by enabling microenterprises. Ultimately this technology can reduce the need for fossil fuel requiring synthetic nitrogen fertilizers (Kebede, 2021), while improving the nutrition, income and resilience of subsistence farmers globally.…”

Genetic and Metabolite Variability among Commercial Varieties and Advanced Lines of Vicia faba L.

“…Legumes are considered an excellent source of nutrients and bio active primary and secondary metabolites belonging to various classes, i.e., amino acids, fatty acids, organic acids, phenolic compounds, etc. [ 58 ]. Additionally, non-GM legume crops, which are locally produced and can be protein alternatives and nutrient-rich sources, are in great demand for the improvement of the self-sufficiency and sustainability of farming systems [ 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 ].…”