I am Dr. Ethelyn Echep Forchibe, an early career scientist, Entomologist, researcher and educator who leverages advanced training from diverse international institutions to drive agricultural innovation across Africa. My work is deeply rooted in integrated crop protection, sustainable pest management, and biodiversity conservation. I am equally passionate about empowering and mentoring the next generation of agricultural scientists; thus, I serve as a lecturer at The University of Bertoua (Higher Institute for Agriculture, Wood, Water Resources and the Environment – ISABEE) and the Catholic University of Cameroon, Bamenda (School of Tropical Agriculture and Natural Resources – STANR).

Beyond the lab, my perspective is shaped by my role as an agribusiness entrepreneur dedicated to processing indigenous foods, to ensure that my scientific findings translate directly into practical, real-world food systems.

The Spark: A Mentorship Built on Indigenous Foods

My journey to the continental stage in Accra truly began a few years ago. In 2023, driven by a desire to bring traditional crops back into the spotlight, I together with Dr. Nkafu Therese organized a DAAD-Alumni seminar titled “African forgotten foods: should we eat local?” I was honored to have Prof. Wole Fatunbi, the Director of Research and Innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), join as our key speaker. Prof. Fatunbi has been an incredible mentor to me since my Master’s degree, providing steadfast guidance that has continuously yielded fruit in my professional life. True to his mentorship, he reached out to follow up on my progress in the underutilized species sector. Impressed by my ongoing findings, he personally extended an invitation for me to present our recent research at a major continental gathering in Ghana.

The Selection: From Invitation to the Big Stage

Thanks to that recommendation and the relevance of our research, I received an official, fully sponsored invitation from FARA and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to attend the Continental Conference on the Integration of Neglected and Underutilized Crop Species into the Food System in Africa, held from June 9–11, 2026, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, Ghana. I was selected to make a scientific intervention under the young professionals’ poster session, and my poster theme was: Diversity and consumer perception of Neglected and Underutilise Crop Species (NUS) in the North West Region of Cameroon. The challenge was exhilarating: having to condense our intensive field research into a single poster and deliver a high-stakes, rapid-fire 5-minute pitch to a room of leading experts.

The Experience: High-Level Synergy in Accra

Arriving at the Alisa Hotel, the atmosphere was charged with a shared urgency and purpose. The event brought together high-level agri-food leaders, policy makers, and scientists from all corners of the continent, all focused on a critical mission: halting rapid genetic loss and mainstreaming Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) to secure climate resilience and food security. Participating in this hybrid, multilingual forum allowed me to engage deeply with the current continental situation of NUS, regional roadmaps and policy frameworks. Reviewing national value chains, cultivation strategies alongside brilliant minds from both English and French-speaking delegations was an unforgettable masterclass in cross-border scientific collaboration.

The Award and Way Forward: A Validation and a Vision

The absolute pinnacle of the conference came during the awards ceremony. I am incredibly proud to share that I was awarded 1st Place for the Best Poster Pitch Presentation in the Young Researcher Category. Receiving a certificate signed by leaders from both the FAO and FARA including Prof. Fatunbi himself was a deeply validating moment for my research path. While our study highlighted important insights regarding NUS, overall awareness of these crops sits at just 33%, heavily restricted by barriers like lack of availability, preparation knowledge and deeply rooted cultural beliefs. This recognition acts as fuel for the journey ahead to address these perceptual and practical barriers. Moving forward, my goal is to expand our research across wider regions and keep advocating for policy makers to incorporate NUS into national agriculture strategies and nutrition policies to build resilient food systems.

My Deepest Appreciation

An achievement like this is never a solo effort, and my heart is full of gratitude: To FARA and the FAO, thank you for the full sponsorship, your trust, and for creating a platform that amplifies the voices of young African researchers. To Prof. Wole Fatunbi, thank you for your years of invaluable mentorship, for believing in my work since my days as a Master’s student, and for opening the door to this incredible milestone. To my co-authors and research team, a massive thank you to Glenn-Neuville Akwenui (my first undergraduate student), Akwa Nerine Kecha, and Dr. Ignatius Azeteh, as well as our field assistants whose hard work during data collection made this insight possible. Above all, I thank my family. Balancing the demands of professional life while serving as a wife and mother is only possible because of your boundless love and unwavering support. This win belongs to all of us!

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Accra, Ghana, 16 June 2026

Ghana has taken a bold and potentially transformative step towards building a knowledge-driven economy, with the official launch of the Ghana National Research Fund at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.

I had the privilege of representing the Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Dr Aggrey Agumya, at this landmark national event. Dr Agumya leads FARA as Executive Director and Head of Mission, advancing the organisation’s continental mandate for agricultural research and innovation.

The launch, themed “Resetting Ghana: Financing Research for National Transformation,” was attended by the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama; the Minister for Education, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu; the Deputy Minister for Education, Dr Clement Apaak; the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Hon. Abla Dzifa Gomashie; and other high-level dignitaries.

Also present were representatives of the British High Commission, UNESCO, the World Bank, Parliament, Vice-Chancellors and senior members of universities and other research institutions, development partners, and other stakeholders in Ghana’s research and innovation ecosystem. The breadth of participation demonstrated that research financing is no longer the sole concern of universities and laboratories. It is increasingly recognised as a national development imperative.

From Commitment to Catalytic Investment

A defining moment of the launch was President Mahama’s announcement of an immediate GH¢100 million catalytic allocation to support the Fund’s operationalisation in 2026. The President further pledged his direct support for the Fund’s broader resource mobilisation agenda.

The allocation is expected to support competitive research grants, doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, digital grant-management infrastructure, and innovation initiatives aligned with Ghana’s national development priorities. The President also directed the Ministry of Education, GETFund, and the GNRF Governing Board to ensure the transparent, accountable, and results-oriented use of the resources.

This commitment is both significant and timely. For decades, research funding in Ghana has been fragmented, unpredictable and heavily reliant on external funding. Such dependence can distort research priorities, disrupt long-term programmes and weaken the ability of national institutions to investigate problems requiring sustained attention.

The Ghana National Research Fund, established under the Ghana National Research Fund Act, 2020 (Act 1056), provides a statutory framework for mobilising, managing and allocating sustainable funding for research, innovation, technology development and research infrastructure across the sciences, humanities and other fields of national endeavour.

The Fund’s governing documents appropriately characterise research financing as national infrastructure rather than a discretionary expenditure. They identify five national research missions for 2026–2030: food-systems transformation; climate and environmental sustainability; health innovation and biosecurity; digital and industrial transformation; and governance, policy and social systems.

These priorities recognise that research must ultimately improve productivity, livelihoods, public services, resilience and national competitiveness.

Strong Institutional Foundations

The Chair of the Governing Board, Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, highlighted the Fund’s institutional progress to date, including the development of its five-year strategic framework for 2026–2030 and the acquisition of office premises in East Legon, Accra.

The strategy sets out a vision for building a world-class research and innovation fund capable of powering Ghana’s transformation. Its priorities include research talent development, transparent, competitive funding, innovation and industry partnerships, evidence-informed policymaking, sustainable financing, and institutional strengthening.

These are strong foundations. However, the Fund’s long-term success will be judged not only by how much money it mobilises, but also by the quality, accessibility and practical utility of the knowledge generated through its investments.

Knowledge Management Must Be Built Into the Fund

For the GNRF to deliver sustained national impact, knowledge management must be embedded in its design and operations from the beginning.

Research funding should not end when a project report is submitted or a journal article is published. The Fund must support the entire knowledge-to-impact pathway: identifying national knowledge needs, generating and validating evidence, documenting findings, preserving research outputs, translating technical evidence into accessible formats, sharing knowledge with relevant users, and tracking its application.

A robust knowledge-management architecture would help the Fund avoid duplication, connect researchers working on related challenges, retain institutional memory, and make previous findings accessible to new research teams. It would also enable government, industry, farmers, civil society organisations, and communities to use research evidence more effectively.

This will require interoperable institutional repositories, national research directories, communities of practice, open-access publishing mechanisms, data-governance standards, and systems for capturing lessons from both successful and unsuccessful research investments.

Recognition and incentive systems will also be essential. Researchers should be recognised not only for publications in academic journals but also for data sharing, policy engagement, public communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, mentorship, and demonstrable contributions to social and economic transformation.

Connecting Science with Open Knowledge

The Fund should explore strategic collaboration between Ghanaian scientists and established open-knowledge platforms and communities, including the Wikimedia movement.

Such collaboration could make verified Ghanaian research more discoverable and usable for citizens, students, journalists, policymakers and practitioners. Researchers could collaborate with open-knowledge professionals to improve publicly accessible information on Ghanaian crops, biodiversity, health innovations, climate systems, cultural assets, technologies and historical scientific contributions.

This is not a call to replace scholarly publishing or to compromise research integrity. It is an opportunity to complement academic communication with carefully governed, multilingual, and publicly accessible knowledge products.

A publicly financed research system must consider how its outputs can benefit the widest possible range of users. Appropriate safeguards would, of course, be required to protect personal data, intellectual property, sensitive ecological information, national security and commercially valuable innovations.

The objective should be responsible openness: making knowledge as open as possible while protecting information that must legitimately remain restricted.

Indigenous Knowledge Must not be Marginalised

Ghana’s research future cannot be built solely around formal scientific institutions while neglecting the accumulated knowledge of farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, traditional healers, artisans, processors and local communities.

Indigenous and local knowledge systems have long supported seed selection, soil management, biodiversity conservation, weather interpretation, food processing, natural resource governance and community health. They are particularly important for climate adaptation and food systems resilience.

The GNRF should therefore support research models that bring scientists and communities together as partners in co-creation of knowledge. Indigenous knowledge holders should not merely be treated as respondents from whom information is extracted. They should participate in defining research questions, interpreting findings, and determining how resulting knowledge and benefits are used.

Clear ethical protocols will be required to ensure prior informed consent, appropriate attribution, protection against misappropriation, and equitable benefit-sharing. This would enable the Fund to strengthen scientific inquiry while respecting Ghana’s intellectual and cultural heritage.

Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Research Financing

The Fund also has an opportunity to address structural inequalities within the national research ecosystem.

Its competitive funding mechanisms should deliberately expand opportunities for women scientists, early-career researchers, people with disabilities, researchers outside the largest universities, and innovators working in underserved regions. Gender sensitivity should not be reduced to counting the number of women participating in research projects.

Funding assessments should examine whether research questions, methodologies, teams and intended benefits adequately reflect the diverse realities of women, men, young people and marginalised groups.

Transparent peer-review systems, mentorship programmes, career re-entry support, accessible application processes and disaggregated monitoring data would help the Fund build a more inclusive national research community. Excellence and inclusion should reinforce each other rather than compete.

FARA Stands Ready To Partner

The establishment of the GNRF is directly relevant to FARA’s continental mandate. FARA is Africa’s apex organisation for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research and innovation. It serves as a technical arm of the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency on agricultural science, technology and innovation.

FARA therefore applauds the Government of Ghana for this exemplary, bold and visionary initiative.

Of particular importance to FARA is the recognition of food-systems transformation as one of the Fund’s five national missions. Ghana’s agricultural sector faces interconnected pressures from climate variability, land degradation, post-harvest losses, shifting diets, youth unemployment, limited value addition and unequal access to technology. These challenges require coordinated, adequately financed research that links agriculture to nutrition, markets, the environment, digitalisation and social policy.

FARA stands ready to collaborate with the GNRF on areas including agricultural research priority-setting, knowledge management, institutional capacity development, foresight, research-to-policy engagement, innovation scaling, digital knowledge infrastructure, and the mobilisation of continental and international partnerships.

Through its relationships with national agricultural research systems, subregional organisations, universities, farmer organisations, development partners and the African Union, FARA can also help link Ghana’s experience to wider African learning and cooperation.

The objective should not be simply for Ghana to adopt models developed elsewhere. Ghana can build a credible national institution whose experience can serve as a learning point for other African countries seeking sustainable, nationally owned research-financing systems, similar to what the government of South Africa is doing through the National Research Fund (NRF).

A Continental Opportunity

Across Africa, persistent underfunding of research has constrained scientific sovereignty and reinforced dependence on externally developed technologies, evidence and policy solutions. President Mahama rightly emphasised that economic sovereignty cannot be separated from a nation’s capacity to generate knowledge and solutions to its own challenges.

The GNRF can help reverse this pattern, but sustained success will require more than an initial allocation. Government financing must be predictable. Industry must invest in research partnerships. Philanthropy and development partners must align with nationally defined priorities. Universities must strengthen accountability and interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers must communicate beyond academic audiences. Communities must have a meaningful voice in shaping research agendas.

Equally important, the Fund must be protected from political interference and short-termism. Competitive awards should be governed by transparent criteria, rigorous peer review, public reporting, and credible conflict-of-interest safeguards.

Turning a National Milestone into Lasting Transformation

The launch of the Ghana National Research Fund marks an important national achievement. The President’s GH¢100 million commitment provides vital initial momentum, while the Fund’s strategy, governance arrangements and national missions set a promising direction.

The next task is to convert this momentum into a durable institution that supports excellent research, values all legitimate knowledge systems, and ensures that evidence reaches the people and institutions able to apply it.

By embedding knowledge management, responsible open knowledge, indigenous knowledge, gender equality, accountability and strategic partnerships into its operations, the GNRF can become more than a financing institution. It can become a central pillar of Ghana’s national transformation and a model for the African continent.

FARA congratulates the Government and people of Ghana, the Ministry of Education, and the Governing Board and management of the Ghana National Research Fund on this historic milestone. We stand ready to contribute to the Fund’s success and to help translate Ghana’s experience into shared learning on agricultural research, innovation and knowledge-driven development across Africa.

About the author

Benjamin Abugri is the Lead Specialist for Knowledge Management, Digitalisation and Learning at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa. He represented FARA’s Executive Director, Dr Aggrey Agumya, at the official launch of the Ghana National Research Fund in Accra on 16 June 2026. The views expressed reflect a knowledge-management and agricultural research-for-development perspective.

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By ⁠Kingsley Adusei Amakye

A three-day conference jointly organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has concluded with a renewed commitment to unlock the potential of Africa’s opportunity crops through stronger policies, research, investment and regional collaboration.

A few Opportunity Crops on display at the Regional Consultation Meeting

The initiative also builds on growing continental momentum following the Kampala Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Declaration, which calls on African Union Member States to promote the production and consumption of nutritious traditional and indigenous crops through supportive policies, regulatory reforms and targeted financing mechanisms.

Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director, FARA

Hon. John Setor Dumelo, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ghana

Dr. Chikelu Mba, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division

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The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has urged African countries to intensify efforts to diversify its crops and adopt sustainable agricultural production systems in order to meet a projected 50 percent increase in food demand by 2050.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day ‘Regional Consultation on Opportunity Crops in Africa’ in Accra, Dr Chikelu Mba, Deputy Director of the Plant Production and Protection Division at the FAO, stated that global food production must increase significantly to ensure food security for a growing population.

Dr. Chikelu Mba, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division

According to him, FAO estimates indicate that the world will need to produce 50 percent more food than 2012 levels, equivalent to about 9 billion tonnes, to feed the global population adequately by mid-century.

“Every year, FAO, IFAD, the World Food Programme, and UNICEF come together to take stock of the state of food security and nutrition in the world. Isn’t it sobering that in Africa, food insecurity and malnutrition continue to go up?” Dr Mba assessed.

He stressed that achieving food security and improved nutrition on the continent requires the transformation of Africa’s cropping systems to make them more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive.

“At least 80 per cent of all food consumed globally is plant-based, making crop production central to food security,” he said.

Dr Mba explained that the FAO’s strategy is built on three key pillars: seed systems, agronomy, and plant health, supported by innovations, biotechnology, and sustainable agricultural mechanisation.

Focus on Opportunity Crops

The regional consultation, organised by the FAO in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), brought together policymakers, researchers, development partners, private-sector actors, civil society organisations, farmer groups and regional institutions.

The meeting aims to accelerate the integration of neglected and underutilised crop species into Africa’s food systems.

A few Opportunity Crops on display at the Regional Consultation Meeting

These crops, increasingly referred to as “opportunity crops”, include millet varieties, sorghum landraces, fonio, bambara groundnut, indigenous vegetables, and other traditional crops deeply rooted in African food cultures.

Despite their nutritional value and climate resilience, they remain under-researched, underfunded, and poorly represented in formal seed, research, and market systems.

Scientific Investment Required

The Executive Director for the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Dr Aggrey Agumya, advocated for stakeholders to embrace science as a pivotal point in leading the transformation of the sector, thereby moving away from “promise to prosperity through sentiment alone.”

Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director, FARA

“Opportunity Crops require robust scientific investments in germplasm conservation, breeding, seed systems, agronomy, mechanisation, value addition, nutrition science, market intelligence, and digital advisory systems. We must generate evidence that demonstrates not only their climate resilience and nutritional superiority but also their economic viability. Science provides the bridge that transforms these crops from being locally admired to becoming globally competitive, from subsistence commodities to profitable enterprises.”

Addressing Key Challenges

Dr. Mba cited findings from FAO’s Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources, which revealed that only 13 underutilised crop species have been prioritised for commercialisation across sub-Saharan Africa.

He identified several barriers hindering the development of these crops, including the absence of national strategies, poor documentation, inadequate investment in human and institutional capacity, limited postgraduate training opportunities, and persistent skills gaps.

“Our native foods matter because of their high nutritional value, climate resilience, and potential to drive economic empowerment,” he said.

He called for stronger policy support, increased investment in research and development, value addition, market development and strategic partnerships to unlock the full potential of opportunity crops across the continent.

Ghana Leveraging Indigenous Crops

Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, John Setor Dumelo, said Ghana is leveraging indigenous and underutilised crops to transform agri-food systems, improve nutrition and build resilience to climate change.

He noted that although African communities have cultivated nutritious and climate-resilient crops for generations, many of these crops have received limited attention in research, policy, investment and commercial agriculture.

Hon. John Setor Dumelo, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ghana

According to Mr Dumelo, “opportunity crops” offer significant benefits, including healthier diets, improved climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, increased farmer incomes and more inclusive rural development.

“For Ghana, this agenda is particularly important. The transformation of our agri-food systems requires that we harness the full potential of our agricultural biodiversity whilst creating opportunities for farmers, processors, traders, and agribusinesses,” he stated.

He highlighted Ghana’s contributions to the continental agenda through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), particularly the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI).

He further disclosed that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in collaboration with the FAO, has implemented the “Support to Women Fonio Value Chain Actors in Ghana” project. This initiative seeks to elevate fonio “from a neglected and underutilised species to a more competitive and commercially viable value chain capable of standing alongside established staples such as rice and maize.”

The consultation is expected to generate recommendations for strengthening policy, research, and investment frameworks to promote opportunity crops as a pathway to food security, climate resilience, and sustainable agricultural development across Africa.

Source: CitiNewsRoom.com

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African governments, research institutions and development partners have been urged to accelerate efforts to mainstream opportunity crops into food systems as part of broader strategies to improve food security and strengthen climate resilience.

The call was made at the opening of the Regional Consultation on Opportunity Crops in Africa, jointly organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in Accra.

The three-day consultation brought together policymakers, researchers, development partners, private-sector actors and farmer organisations to develop a regional roadmap for integrating neglected and underutilised crops into Africa’s agrifood systems.

A few Opportunity Crops on display at the Regional Consultation Meeting

The meeting forms part of broader continental efforts to elevate indigenous and underutilised crops that have received limited attention despite their nutritional value, climate resilience and potential contribution to food security.

These include fonio, bambara groundnut, millet, sorghum landraces, baobab, amaranth and a range of indigenous vegetables adapted to Africa’s diverse agroecological conditions.

Executive Director of FARA, Dr. Aggrey Agumya, said Africa’s rich but neglected crop diversity must be placed at the centre of efforts to build resilient food systems, improve nutrition and create sustainable livelihoods.

He noted that while attention to these crops has grown over the years, the objective of unlocking their contribution to sustainable food systems remains unchanged.

Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director, FARA

Dr. Agumya stressed that science must underpin efforts to transform the crops into commercially viable enterprises through investments in seed development, agronomy, mechanisation, nutrition research and market expansion.

“Science provides the bridge that transforms these crops from being locally admired to becoming globally competitive, from subsistence commodities to profitable enterprises,” he stated.

He further argued that opportunity crops could create new opportunities for Africa’s growing youth population through entrepreneurship in seed systems, precision farming, agro-processing, food innovation and nutraceuticals.

Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, John Setor Dumelo, said indigenous and traditional crops offer significant potential to address some of Africa’s most pressing development challenges despite receiving limited attention in research, policy and commercial agriculture.

According to him, crops such as fonio, millet, sorghum landraces, bambara groundnut and indigenous vegetables can contribute to healthier diets, biodiversity conservation and inclusive rural development.

Hon. John Setor Dumelo, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Ghana

“Our experience confirms that opportunity crops are not just simple crops, they are crops for the future. They represent an opportunity to build food systems that are more diverse, more resilient, more inclusive and better adaptive to realities of climate change,” he said.

Mr. Dumelo highlighted Ghana’s efforts to advance research on underutilised crops through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Also, the implementation of the FAO-supported project, Support to Women Fonio Value Chain Actors in Ghana, aimed at transforming fonio into a commercially viable value chain capable of competing with major staple crops such as rice and maize.

The Deputy Minister said governments, research institutions, development partners and the private sector must work together to strengthen policies, investments and markets while ensuring that women and young people benefit from emerging opportunities in the sector.

Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa at FAO, Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, said opportunity crops should be viewed as strategic assets rather than relics of Africa’s agricultural heritage.

He observed that the continent continues to grapple with a triple burden of malnutrition, climate change and biodiversity loss despite progress in agricultural production.

Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa

“These challenges call for a fundamental shift in how we think about agricultural systems, not simply producing food, but producing and consuming foods that are nutritious, resilient, diverse, affordable and culturally appropriate,” he said.

Dr. Haile-Gabriel noted that many indigenous crops are rich in essential nutrients and naturally adapted to drought, heat stress, poor soils and erratic rainfall, making them critical for building resilient food systems.

He said unlocking their full potential would require sustained investment across the value chain, from research and seed systems to processing and market access.

Also speaking at the consultation, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division official Dr. Chikelu Mba warned that Africa’s food systems remain vulnerable despite the continent’s rich agricultural biodiversity.

Dr. Chikelu Mba, FAO Plant Production and Protection Division

He noted that nine crops currently account for about 66 percent of global crop production, despite the existence of approximately 30,000 edible plant species worldwide.

“Our native foods matter because, as has been mentioned, the high nutrient density, climate resilience, possibility for economic empowerment,” he said.

He urged African countries to strengthen policies, investment and partnerships to support the conservation and commercialisation of opportunity crops.

Source: The Business and Financial Times (Ghana)

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The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), today opens the Regional Consultation on Opportunity Crops in Africa, a three-day conference taking place from 9–11 June 2026 in Accra, Ghana.

The consultation brings together policymakers, researchers, development partners, private-sector actors, civil society, farmer organisations and regional institutions to advance the integration of neglected and underutilised crop species into Africa’s food systems. These crops, increasingly referred to as opportunity crops, include millets, sorghum landraces, fonio, bambara groundnut, indigenous vegetables and other traditional crops that are deeply rooted in African food cultures but remain under-researched, under-invested and insufficiently represented in formal food, seed, research and market systems.

The conference comes at a critical moment for Africa’s agrifood systems. The continent continues to face interlinked challenges, including hunger, malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, rapid urbanisation and growing dependence on imported foods. According to the conference concept note, roughly one in five people in Africa faced hunger in 2024, while more than one billion people on the continent could not afford a healthy diet. At the same time, Africa’s rich plant genetic diversity, which underpins food security, nutrition, livelihoods and cultural heritage, is under increasing threat.

Opportunity crops offer practical pathways for addressing these challenges. Many are nutrient-dense, locally adapted, resilient to climate shocks, suitable for smallholder systems and capable of contributing to diversified diets, local economies and climate-resilient agriculture. However, their potential has been constrained by limited research investment, weak seed systems, fragmented value chains, low consumer awareness, inadequate market development and insufficient policy support.

Speaking ahead of the consultation, both organizing agencies underscored that opportunity crops should be repositioned as strategic assets for Africa’s food systems transformation, given their contribution to biodiversity, nutrition, resilience and cultural identity.

The consultation will also contribute to continental policy momentum following the Kampala Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Declaration, which calls on African Union Member States to increase the production and consumption of nutritious traditional and indigenous crops through appropriate policy, regulatory and financing mechanisms.

Over the three days, participants will review national and regional experiences with opportunity crops, discuss policy and institutional frameworks, examine approaches to conservation and sustainable use, and identify pathways to strengthen production, seed systems, value chains, research, capacity development, awareness-raising and market integration.

The programme will feature technical sessions on overcoming barriers to opportunity crops, strengthening knowledge and capacity, advancing regional action, promoting on-farm diversity and local adaptation, conserving crop genetic resources, improving breeding and pre-breeding systems, developing seed systems, and building the business case for opportunity crops. The consultation will culminate in working-group discussions to develop an action-oriented regional roadmap to integrate opportunity crops into Africa’s agrifood systems.

The consultation will include contributions from regional and continental institutions, including the African Union Commission, AUDA-NEPAD, CORAF, ASARECA, CCARDESA, CGIAR centres, Crop Trust, universities, farmer organisations, private sector actors, and other partners working to advance agricultural biodiversity and resilient food systems across Africa.

The event is expected to foster a shared understanding of the opportunities, gaps and priorities for mainstreaming opportunity crops in Africa, while strengthening partnerships among governments, research institutions, farmers, private-sector actors and civil society. A key outcome will be a regional roadmap and collaborative action plan to guide future investments, policy reforms and coordinated implementation.

The consultation will be held in a hybrid format with interpretation in English and French, enabling wider participation across Africa and beyond.

About FARA

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa is the continental apex organisation responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development in Africa. FARA works with African and global partners to strengthen knowledge, innovation, policy engagement and institutional capacities to transform Africa’s agrifood systems.

About FAO

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO works with countries and partners to achieve food security for all and to ensure that people have regular access to sufficient, high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.

Media Contacts

For further information, please contact:

Prof. Wole Fatunbi
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
ofatunbi@faraafrica.org

Mr. Mphumuzi Sukati
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
mphumuzi.sukati@fao.org

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Accra, Ghana, 28 May 2026

The Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development Community of Practice convened its third bi-monthly webinar of 2026, issuing a strong call to reposition Indigenous Knowledge as a credible, strategic and underutilised resource for transforming African agriculture.

Held under the theme “Demystifying Indigenous Knowledge and Myths in Advancing African Agriculture,” the webinar brought together researchers, knowledge management practitioners, extension actors, policymakers, development organisations, farmer-facing institutions and agribusiness stakeholders from across Africa and beyond. The session was hosted by the KM4AgD Community of Practice within the broader CAADP-XP4 knowledge management partnership framework, with FARA and its partners supporting the continent’s agricultural knowledge, learning and innovation agenda.

The webinar attracted 515 registered participants from 58 countries, highlighting growing continental and global interest in knowledge co-creation, Indigenous Knowledge systems and agricultural transformation.

Participation summary

The highest number of the registered participants were in Africa, led by Nigeria with 105 participants (20.4%), and followed by Ghana with 54, Kenya and Uganda with 39 each and, Ethiopia with 32. Other countries represented included Cameroon, Malawi, South Africa, Benin, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, among others.

The age profile showed a strong intergenerational mix. Participants aged 35–44 formed the largest group at 29.7%, followed by those aged 45–54 (24.1%) and 25–34 (23.5%). This suggests the discussion engaged both experienced professionals and younger agricultural knowledge actors likely to shape the future of knowledge systems, digital agriculture, research uptake and policy engagement across the continent.

The webinar addressed one of the most persistent tensions in African agricultural development: the tendency to dismiss farmers’ knowledge, community practices and local ecological intelligence as superstition, rather than examining them as knowledge systems shaped by observation, experimentation, adaptation and intergenerational learning. The webinar emphasised that Indigenous Knowledge has long informed seed selection, soil fertility management, weather prediction, pest control, water conservation, food preservation and community resilience across Africa, yet it is often misunderstood or marginalised because it is perceived not to be conceived and documented in formal scientific language.

Delivering the keynote presentation, Dr Benjamin Bilalam Jabik, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the National College of Defence Studies, Ghana, argued that local knowledge should be understood as social capital and as a systematic body of knowledge developed through lived experience, intimate environmental understanding and community practice. His presentation emphasised that Indigenous or local knowledge systems are not inherently superstitious; rather, they become vulnerable to misinterpretation when not viewed from their ecological, cultural and historical context.

A central message of the session was that context matters. Dr Jabik illustrated this with examples of the movement and presence of migratory birds being interpreted differently across societies. While one society may ascribe an unsupported predictive meaning to a natural sign, another may use the same ecological observation to guide practical decisions about seasonality. The difference, he explained, lies in whether the belief is grounded in repeated observation, community validation, practical relevance and contextual truth.

The session also challenged African research and development institutions to move beyond extractive or externally driven models of innovation. Indigenous Knowledge, participants noted, should neither be uncritically romanticised nor unfairly dismissed. It should be documented, interrogated, validated where necessary, and integrated with scientific knowledge in ways that protect communities, strengthen evidence, and improve agricultural outcomes.

Dr Jabik identified several areas in which local and indigenous knowledge continues to contribute meaningfully to agricultural resilience. These include agroforestry, soil management, intercropping, mixed cropping, crop rotation, traditional composting, water harvesting, biodiversity conservation, seed preservation and seasonal forecasting. His presentation highlighted the use of biological indicators, such as animal behaviour, bird migration and flowering patterns, to guide planting and climate-sensitive decisions.

The discussion underscored both the depth and urgency of the issue. Participants asked how to prevent the loss of Indigenous Knowledge, document farmer innovations more systematically, integrate local knowledge into curricula, and balance Indigenous crop varieties with improved varieties amid growing food security pressures.

A contributor from the policy and food security space warned against treating Indigenous Knowledge and improved technologies as competing agendas. Africa, participants agreed, must preserve local breeds, practices and ecological knowledge while also using improved varieties and scientific innovation to meet rising food demand. The webinar’s core message was clear: the future of African agriculture lies not in choosing between Indigenous Knowledge and science, but in building responsible bridges between them.

Another contribution from agricultural extension officer highlighted documentation as a central challenge. Scientific knowledge gains credibility because it is recorded, tested and shared, while Indigenous Knowledge often remains embedded in memory, practice and oral transmission. Participants therefore called for deliberate systems to document, validate and share local agricultural knowledge before it disappears with ageing knowledge bearers.

The discussion also highlighted the links between the effects of climate change on Indigenous Knowledge systems. Participants noted that some ecological indicators communities use for weather prediction and seasonal planning are becoming less reliable as climate patterns shift. Rather than making Indigenous Knowledge irrelevant, this heightens the need to study how these systems are evolving, how communities are adapting, and how scientific climate information can be combined with local indicators in meaningful ways.

In his closing reflection, Benjamin Abugri of FARA said the webinar should not end as a one-off conversation. He encouraged participants working on Indigenous Knowledge system to connect with the KM4AgD Community of Practice so their work can be documented, amplified and developed into future knowledge products, policy briefs, journal articles and learning engagements.

The session closed with consensus on four priorities: recognising farmers and local communities as legitimate knowledge bearers/holders; documenting and managing Indigenous Knowledge before it is lost; creating practical frameworks for co-creating knowledge between communities and scientists; and embedding local knowledge systems in African agricultural education, innovation and sustainability.

The webinar’s success reinforces the KM4AgD Community of Practice as a continental public-good platform for knowledge exchange, peer learning and evidence-informed agricultural transformation. It also underscores the growing importance of knowledge management within Africa’s evolving agricultural agenda and the need to make research, policy and practice more inclusive, context-responsive and grounded in African realities.

As the discussion showed, Indigenous Knowledge is not a relic of the past. When properly understood, documented and integrated, it remains a living knowledge system with practical value for climate adaptation, food security, biodiversity conservation, soil health and resilient livelihoods.

The message from the KM4AgD Community of Practice was unmistakable:

Africa’s agricultural transformation will be stronger when farmers are treated not simply as beneficiaries of science, but as co-creators of knowledge, innovation and sustainable futures.

[1] Benjamin Abugri is the Lead Specialist for Knowledge Management, Digitalisation and Learning at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa and Lead Convener of the KM4AgD Community of Practice Webinar Series

[2] Benjamin Bilalam Jabik (PhD), Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the National College of Defence Studies, Ghana

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The Forum convened 64 African university rectors from more than 30 African countries alongside over 70 Brazilian university leaders, policymakers, researchers, development institutions, multilateral organizations, and strategic partners. The gathering reflected a shared commitment to strengthening South–South cooperation grounded in solidarity, reciprocity, horizontal partnerships, shared knowledge production, and a common vision for inclusive and sustainable development.

Representing FARA and the broader African Union agricultural research and innovation ecosystem, Dr Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity for Future Scenarios Cluster Lead Specialist, participated in high-level engagements and panel discussions focused on advancing partnerships between African and Brazilian institutions in agricultural research, biotechnology, food systems transformation, innovation ecosystems, scientific mobility, postgraduate training, and institutional capacity development.

A major highlight of the Forum was the launch of the CAPES Move Africa initiative, through which the Government of Brazil announced an investment of R$47.4 million (approximately US$9.4 million) to support 2,600 scholarship opportunities for African Master’s and PhD students through academic exchange and postgraduate mobility programmes.

The initiative includes:

• 800 Master’s exchange opportunities
• 500 PhD exchange opportunities
• Two rounds of selection totaling 2,600 scholarships
• Academic mobility periods ranging from 2 to 10 months

The Forum underscored the strategic role of universities, science, technology, and innovation as critical pillars for Africa’s and Brazil’s shared development aspirations.

Discussions emphasized the need to strengthen academic and scientific networks, expand physical and virtual mobility, promote collaborative research and innovation, support youth employability and entrepreneurship, and deepen cooperation in priority areas such as tropical agriculture, food security, climate resilience, artificial intelligence, energy transition, blue and green economies, and inclusive innovation ecosystems.

The Forum also provided an important opportunity for engagement with His Excellency President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose leadership continues to reinforce Brazil’s commitment to strengthening partnerships with African countries in education, science, food security, innovation, and sustainable development.

His Excellency President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Participants reflected on President Lula’s strong reaffirmation of the deep historical, cultural, and human ties linking Brazil and Africa, and his call for renewed collaboration based on mutual respect, shared prosperity, and common development ambitions.

Drawing from his personal experience as a beneficiary of the PEC-PG/CAPES scholarship programme for both MSc and PhD studies in Brazil, Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim highlighted the transformative impact of sustained Brazil–Africa scientific cooperation and the importance of long-term investment in Africa’s next generation of scientists, innovators, researchers, and institutional leaders.

Dr. Ibrahim also reflected on his scientific engagement in Brazil, including research collaboration with EMBRAPA, globally recognized for its leadership in tropical agricultural research and innovation. He emphasized that Brazil’s remarkable transformation in tropical agriculture offers valuable lessons for Africa in areas such as seed systems, biotechnology, climate-smart agriculture, innovation delivery, agribusiness development, and agricultural modernization.

He further emphasized the importance of leveraging emerging Brazil–Africa partnerships to strengthen African Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) institutions, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES), universities, innovation platforms, and regional research networks as part of broader efforts to advance agrifood systems transformation, scientific capacity, and scientific sovereignty across the continent, in alignment with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Particular emphasis was placed on the Agricultural Research and Innovation Fellowship for Africa (ARIFA) as a strategic framework for deepening scientific mobility, institutional collaboration, postgraduate training, innovation transfer, and long-term partnership building between African and Brazilian institutions, including EMBRAPA and leading Brazilian universities.

The strong participation of the Association of African Universities (AAU), under the leadership of its Secretary-General, Professor Olusola Bandele Oyewole, further reinforced the importance of coordinated continental engagement, institutional collaboration, and inclusive internationalization in advancing Africa–Brazil academic, scientific, and innovation partnerships.

AAU’s engagement at the Forum underscored the growing recognition that sustainable Africa–Brazil cooperation must be anchored in strong university systems, continental networks, shared knowledge production, and long-term institutional partnerships capable of supporting Africa’s broader development and transformation agenda.

Dr. Abdulrazak also used the Forum to position FARA’s upcoming 9th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW9) and 10th General Assembly, scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria, as strategic continental convening platforms for advancing partnerships in agricultural science, biotechnology, climate resilience, innovation systems, food systems transformation, and South–South cooperation.

Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Institutional Capacity and Future Scenarios Cluster Lead Specialist

As part of this growing partnership agenda, discussions were initiated on organizing a dedicated Africa–Brazil Parallel Session and ARIFA Side Event during AASW9 to further strengthen institutional partnerships, scientific exchange, innovation collaboration, and long-term cooperation between African and Brazilian stakeholders.

The Brazil–Africa Rectors Forum demonstrated the growing importance of science diplomacy, collective institutional action, and strategic South–South cooperation in shaping a shared future of innovation, resilience, inclusion, and sustainable development between Africa and Brazil.

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Two international soil health initiatives, the Africa Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) and the Mediterranean Soil Health initiative (SOILS4MED), have signed a letter of agreement to advance knowledge exchange on soil health indicators and soil information systems in support of food security and sustainable land management.

AUSO is focused on building a comprehensive soil observatory for Africa, and SOILS4MED is working to harmonise soil health monitoring across the Mediterranean region.

Recognising the pressing need for comprehensive soil data and capacity strengthening to support protecting, restoring, and improving soil health, sustainable land management, and climate change adaptation, under the agreement, AUSO and SOILS4MED will exchange information and knowledge on soil health monitoring and indicator development, and collaborate on capacity strengthening activities and stakeholder engagement. The partnership aims to strengthen soil health monitoring and sustainable land management across both regions, with a particular focus on North Africa as a shared geographic interest.

Media contacts

AUSO – Africa Union Soil Observatory: Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Digitalisation & Learning Cluster Lead, babugri@faraafrica.org

SOILS4MED – Mediterranean Soil Health Initiative: Zucca Claudio, clzucca@uniss.it

About AUSO

The African Union Soil Observatory (AUSO) aims to establish a comprehensive soil information system for Africa to support the management of African soils. AUSO is being developed under the leadership of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), with support from the EU Horizon programme and in collaboration with 23 consortium partners.

About SOILS4MED

SOILS4MED aims to engage a broad platform of Mediterranean scientists and stakeholders in co-designing scientifically sound, policy-relevant soil health indicator sets and harmonised monitoring strategies across the Mediterranean, with a particular focus on non-EU countries, as an enabling condition for Sustainable Soil Water Management and for the protection, restoration, and improvement of soil health and land conditions in the region. SOILS4MED is being developed under the leadership of the University of Sassari (UNISS), funded by the European Union, European Commission – EU-EC, and in collaboration with 14 consortium partners.

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Speaking during the High-Level Roundtable on Science, Innovation, and Data for Food Systems Transformation at the 4th Africa Regional Food Systems Transformation Meeting in Accra, Ghana, Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Cluster Leader for Institutional Capacity and Future Scenarios (ICF) at FARA, highlighted the ongoing strategic foresight study titled “How Will Africa Feed 2.5 Billion by 2050?” being implemented by FARA in collaboration with the United Nations Food Systems Coordination Hub under a broader continental effort to strengthen evidence-based decision-making, anticipatory governance, and CAADP implementation across Africa.

Dr. Abdulrazak Ibrahim, Cluster Leader for Institutional Capacity and Future Scenarios (ICF) at FARA

The study, commissioned by the African Union Food Systems Envoy and supported through the EU-funded “Accelerating Food Systems Transformation through a Scalable Success Model” initiative, examines the structural barriers, leadership choices, and transformation pathways shaping Africa’s agrifood systems toward 2050. It applies horizon scanning, political-economy and institutional diagnostics, systems thinking, stakeholder consultations, and scenario development to assess how different policy and investment choices under CAADP could shape future agrifood outcomes across the continent.

Dr. Ibrahim noted that the study builds on the momentum generated during the December 2025 Nairobi consultation, which brought together AU institutions, Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and partners to co-design a continental foresight system aligned with CAADP. The consultation validated a roadmap for integrating foresight into policymaking, investment planning, and anticipatory governance processes within Agenda 2063 and CAADP implementation frameworks.

He stressed that Africa’s food systems challenges can no longer be addressed through reactive crisis management, fragmented interventions, and short political cycles.

According to Dr. Ibrahim, feeding Africa’s growing population under conditions of climate uncertainty, ecological stress, market volatility, demographic expansion, and geopolitical disruptions will require institutions capable of anticipating disruption, governing complexity, detecting risks early, and supporting coordinated action before crises escalate.

The intervention aligned closely with the broader African Union position articulated by H.E. Moses Vilakati on the importance of institutionalising foresight and anticipatory governance as foundational pillars for food systems transformation, resilience building, and CAADP domestication.

He also highlighted FARA’s broader work with Sub-Regional Research Organisations (SROs) through the Africa Foresight Academy (AFA) to strengthen African capacities in foresight, strategic intelligence, and evidence-based policymaking. Through this growing continental foresight ecosystem, activities have engaged stakeholders across more than 45 countries, supported over 200 institutions, and strengthened the capacities of more than 2,000 professionals in foresight tools and systems approaches.

The organisation further referenced the continental guide on quality foresight for food systems transformation, developed to support rigorous, participatory, policy-relevant, and actionable foresight processes capable of moving institutions beyond one-off studies toward sustained foresight systems embedded within governance and planning processes.

Dr Ibrahim further emphasised that while Africa has generated significant innovation in agriculture and food systems, including climate-smart technologies, resilient seed systems, biotechnology applications, digital advisory platforms, and sustainable land management practices, major constraints remain in scaling innovation due to weak financing systems, fragmented partnerships, weak science-policy interfaces, and limited institutional coordination.

He also highlighted the growing importance of integrated data systems, AI-enabled agricultural analytics, geospatial intelligence, climate-risk modelling, early warning systems, and digital extension services in strengthening evidence-based policymaking and improving resilience to future food systems shocks.

He reiterated FARA’s consistent call for stronger coordination among governments, research institutions, regional bodies, private-sector actors, development partners, and non-state actors to build integrated transformation ecosystems capable of delivering sustainable and scalable transformation of agrifood systems across Africa.

He concluded by emphasising FARA’s position that the future of African food systems will depend not only on technological advancement but also on the ability to combine innovation with inclusion, local intelligence, indigenous knowledge systems, and institutional resilience.

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