Climate change fuels disappearance of traditional African vegetables

A wide range of African vegetable varieties are threatened with extinction, while others have already disappeared, as climate change, urbanisation and poor eating habits take their toll. Speaking at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Kigali this week, experts said many indigenous African vegetable varieties are already extinct and others will soon disappear if nothing is done. “The most endangered species are the African indigenous vegetables. Due to many historical events, many of the indigenous vegetable varieties have been replaced by exotic breeds and the challenge now is where to find these materials,” said Dr Sognigbe N’Danikou, Scientist and Traditional Vegetable Conservation and Utilisation expert at the World Vegetable Center, a non-profit organisation dedicated to vegetable research. He said, for instance, that a certain type of okra (Abelmoschus manihot), which was widely consumed in West Africa, and traditionally used for medicine, is now very difficult to find. ...