Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-03-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70990-3
Primary Topic
Agricultural pest management studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops

Nature Communications
Agricultural pest management studies
article

Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops

article en

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.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 17(1)
World Vegetable Center (TW), National Root Crops Research Institute (NG), Cornell University (US), Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz Y Trigo (MX), National Horticultural Research Institute (NG), AVRDC - The World Vegetable Center (TW), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (BJ), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (NG), Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (TZ), Department of Research and Specialist Services (ZW), International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (KE), Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (SN), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (IN), Clemson University (US)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Agricultural pest management studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Steps to transform African opportunity crops into reality crops · Nature Communications (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS