Just three plant species, wheat, maize and rice, account for 60% of all food eaten globally. Crop science expert, Prof Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, argues that many of Africa’s 30,000 edible plants must be revived.
#Food #Farming #Agriculture #Crops #Africa #Wheat #Rice #Maize #PlantScience

60% of Africa's food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent's crop treasure trove is being neglected
theconversation.com/60-of-afri…

60% of Africa's food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent's crop treasure trove is being neglected

Just three plant species – wheat, maize and rice – account for 60% of all food eaten globally. A crop science expert argues that many of Africa’s 30,000 edible plants must be revived.

^{The Conversation}

"A handful of companies own the #patents on virtually every #seed planted in the US. Now, a new crop of unowned seeds is bringing #biodiversity back to #farming."
worldsensorium.com/open-source…

#agriculture #food #monopoly #ossi (Open Source Seed Initiative)

FYI, I link to two earlier reports on this problem (2017 and 2019) in a tweet from 2020.
twitter.com/petersuber/status/…

“Open Source” Seeds Loosen Big Ag’s Grip on Farmers

Alexander Klepnev CC BY 4.0 “Open Source” Seeds Loosen Big Ag’s Grip on Farmers A handful of companies own the patents on virtually every seed planted in the US. Now, a new crop of unowned seeds is...

^{World Sensorium / Conservancy}

I'm supporting @opensourceseeds in their crowdfunding campaign to develop an #OpenSource rye variety.

Why do we need open source seeds?

Over the last few decades seed variety has decreased dramatically due to commercial pressure and most are owned by only a handful of companies.

In many countries (including the EU) small farmers are unable to sell or even pass on heritage seeds without obtaining prohibitively expensive paperwork.

A 🧵 1/n

#sustainability #farming #OpenSourceSeeds @plants