Indigenous and improved seeds may be the key to addressing malnutrition, experts flag
31 Aug 2022 --- A new study reveals that the current efforts to fight global hunger and malnutrition will be unable to overcome looming challenges like climate change, continuing conflicts, economic shocks and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts assert that supporting seed access and improving seed quality may help overcome these difficulties.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Alliance of Biodiversity and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), found that advancing seed systems may help improve food security, nutrition, diet and food system resilience.
“By strengthening seed systems – in other words, increasing the access farmers have to diverse, high-quality seeds – it is possible to improve food and nutrition security,” a spokesperson from the Alliance of Biodiversity-CIAT tells NutritionInsight.
Seeding the future with the past
The researchers state that indigenous seeds and foods may be the key to facing the current challenges like climate change.
According to the study published in Global Food Security, 2.37 billion people are experiencing moderate to severe nutrition and food insecurity, with the majority of those suffering living in Africa and Asia. The researchers hold that one of the best ways to combat this may be through improving crops by ensuring more people have access to indigenous seeds as well as adopting seeds that have been adapted to grow well in specific areas.
Other organizations have also recently highlighted the coming wave of malnutrition-related crises, including UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Moreover, other researchers have also highlighted the role indigenous foods may play in combating malnutrition.
“The researchers emphasize the importance of working with farmers to understand their local needs and include them in efforts to make seeds and planting material more affordable, accessible, and available,” says the spokesperson. “This includes taking into account local indigenous seeds, which are often overlooked.”
More than just the basics
Relying on staple foods is an unsustainable practice according to the study.
The researchers define seed systems as a collection of interacting factors such as tools, technologies, market institutions and non-government or non-profit entities that allow for the exchange and utilization of seeds.
The study found that in order to ensure that seed get to those who need it most – such as those in low and middle-income areas or countries that are most vulnerable to shocks and challenges – interventions must be developed and instituted.
They warn that continuing to focus on staple foods, as has been done for decades, is unsustainable. The researchers advise breeding for improved seed varieties and enhancing farmers’ access to seeds, both financially and systemically.
The researchers further found that of the 43 studies surveyed in their own study, very few looked at the ability of indigenous and traditional seeds and indigenous seed systems, nor did they look at how to integrate those traditional and existing systems into areas dealing with food and nutrition insecurity.
They also noted that most interventions rely on staples such as rice and corn, which works against diet diversity and can make people vulnerable to deficits within those staples, such as the grain shortage being experienced due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
By William Bradford Nichols
