A wide range of African vegetable

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 species are already extinct and others will soon disappear if nothing is done…In the last 100 years, up to 75 percent of the global diversity of African vegetables has been lost, [Dr Sognigbe N’Danikou, a scientist and expert on the conservation and use of traditional vegetables at the World Vegetable Centre] argued…At the AFS Forum, the World Vegetable Centre launched the Vegetable Biodiversity Rescue Plan, which will act as a roadmap to address the threats stalking the vegetable species in order to reverse their disappearance…So far, achievements made through the pilot phase include two newly constructed and three upgraded African genebanks, in addition to training some 174 African genebank staff. (The EastAfrican)