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The armed conflict that erupted in Sudan in April 2023 has had severe implications for the country's economy. With disruptions in infrastructure, trade, and agricultural activities, the conflict has led to scarcity of goods, increased food prices, and reduced economic growth.

Over the next few decades, farmers in sub-Saharan Africa will need to produce more food on less land and under increasingly difficult climatic conditions. The use of climate-smart agricultural practices and improved technologies such as higher-yielding and drought-tolerant crop varieties are thought to be at least part of the solution. Unfortunately, concerns are rising that the use of improved inputs and technologies across the region now seems to be stagnating—or at least advancing at a slower pace than required.

Limited access to nutritious food has been a perennial problem for many in Somalia, and the country faces great challenges in sustaining improved nutrition for the most vulnerable. Increasingly frequent climate change related droughts and floods, locust infestations, the global COVID19 pandemic and persistent conflict have all resulted in Somalia having some of the highest rates of acute malnutrition and worst levels of micronutrient deficiencies in the world.

The twelfth annual Malabo Montpelier Forum was held on June 8 and centered on a new report from the Malabo Montpelier Panel: Bridging the Gap: Policy Innovations to Put Women at the Center of Food System Transformation in Africa. According to the report, nearly two-thirds of African women play a role in the region’s agrifood system.

As the food and climate crises continue to cause suffering around the world, one under-appreciated solution—neglected crops—could be a powerful tool to alleviate both crises in one of the worst affected regions: Africa.