Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops

Rutsaert, P and Achigan-Dako, E G and Ayenan, M A T and Chamberlin, J and Daudi, H and Houdegbe, A C and Kresovich, S and Gitonga, A M and Nas, T M and Ojiewo, C O and Sibiya, J and Gandhi, H and Banda, V R and Niang, M and Betran, J and Chisikaurayi, B and Egesi, C and Gangashetty, P I and Ibitoye, D and Mushoriwa, H and Muungani, D and Onyeka, J and Schafleitner, R and Tippe, D E and Yohane, E N and Pixley, K V (2026) Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops. Nature Communications (TSI), 17. pp. 1-12. ISSN 2041-1723

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Abstract

Reliance on a few staple crops makes global agriculture vulnerable to climate shocks, biodiversity loss and nutrition gaps. The Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS), a global initiative to build resilient food systems, addresses this imbalance by modernizing market orientation, breeding, and capacity for opportunity crops such as amaranth, Bambara groundnut, finger millet, okra, pigeon pea, sesame, and taro. We advocate for a business unusual approach characterized by market guided prioritization and long-term breeding strategy, led by grassroots science networks. VACS applies lessons from major crop programs to translate potential into scalable impact.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Global Research Program - Accelerated Crop Improvement
CRP:	UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	staple crops, resilient food systems, breeding, opportunity crops
Subjects:	Others > Plant Breeding Mandate crops > Pigeonpea
Depositing User:	Mr Nagaraju T
Date Deposited:	26 May 2026 03:16
Last Modified:	26 May 2026 03:16
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/13645
Official URL:	https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-70990-3
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	This work is part of the CGIAR/CIMMYT – FAO VACS Partnership hosted at CIMMYT and supported by a coalition of 10 government donors, 27 non-government organizations, and private sector champions, and 4 flagship implementing organizations. The contents and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the associated and supporting institutions. Only those who specifically contributed to this paper (see below) were included as authors; however, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of nearly 200 scientists and colleagues to the work of the seven crop teams described herein: 1) amaranth (INRAB, KALRO, TARI, UAC, WorldVeg), 2) Bambara groundnut (CSIR-CRI, CBI, IITA, TARI, UAC, UKZN), 3) finger millet (CIMMYT, CBI, DARS, EIAR, ICRISAT, KALRO, NARO, TARI, ZARI), 4) okra (CSIR-CRI, NIHORT, WorldVeg), 5) pigeon pea (ICRISAT, CIMMYT, IIAM, DARS, KALRO, TARI), 6) sesame (CIMMYT, ISRA, TARI, UAC) and 7) taro (CIP, IITA, NRCRI), as well as CIMMYT’s enabling unit working on market opportunities, capacity development, seed systems, data management, crop breeding, genomics and monitoring and evaluation. We thank Marcelo Ortiz Sánchez for developing the figures and Christine Mburugu for compiling background information about the VACS project.
Links:	Google Scholar

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