The conservation and sustainable use of tree biodiversity the range of variation found within and between tree species to support livelihoods and the environment is central to the Tree Productivity and Diversity research theme at World Agroforestry (ICRAF).
that make up 75% of the world s food.
The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 842 million people suffer from chronic hunger yet at least 30,000 of the 350,000 known plant species on our planet are edible.
Researchers like Dr Prasad Hendre from the African Orphan Crops Consortium know that these often neglected food sources, known as ‘orphan crops’, are mostly locally domesticated and cultivated, with strong potential to become significant sources of nutrition for more people and reduce hunger and malnutrition.
‘Almost all the local African food crops are a storehouse of nutrition, energy and health-promoting substances,” he said.