By Laura Vang Rasmussen

In this Comment, we call for transdisciplinary collaboration and participatory action research to bring back opportunity crops such as bambara nuts, pigeon peas, and amaranth that can diversify people’s diets, restore soils and strengthen resilience. The Comment was led by Kate Schneider Lecy (Arizona State University). It emerged from a workshop in 2024 bringing together diverse researchers and practitioners from across disciplines and areas of expertise. Emilie Vansant and I are grateful to have been part of this initiative – and I was particularly honoured to be given the opportunity to deliver one of the keynotes during the convening. Funding for the workshop was provided by the Sustainable Agrifood Systems programme of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Read the Comment here:

Agricultural research approaches for crops that nourish by improving nutrition, soil health, resilience and prosperity – Nature Food

Addressing nutrition and climate resilience together requires transdisciplinary participatory action research with clear impact pathways for systems change that starts from the ground up. The concept of ‘crops that nourish’ is proposed here to offer a new mode of pursuing agricultural development. It involves iterative co-creation between farmers and researchers that prioritizes local needs and agency, human health, resilience and sustainability through a focus on opportunity crops.

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By Laura Vang Rasmussen

I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to deliver the closing keynote at the second annual National Sustainability Society Conference hosted by the University of Notre Dame.

I presented our work on how to make the way we produce food more sustainable – published in Science in 2024: Joint Environmental and Social Benefits from Diversified Agriculture.” In the paper, we showcase how redesigning farming systems can simultaneously regenerate ecosystems and enhance human well-being.

I hope that our results can inspire new paths toward sustainability. The theme running through the conference was that a just and sustainable future requires the flourishing of both people and the planet. But to transform farming systems, we need new ways of thinking and new structures. Farmers need access to land, credit, training and, above all, community. Yet, there are lessons to be learnt from those places where farmers have managed to overcome structural barriers, such as The Soils, Food and Healthy Communities in Malawi.

Thanks to the National Sustainability Society, Frontiers Planet Prize, Dan Brown, Christopher Boone, Arun Agrawal, Cristy Watkins and many others! And of course to all collaborators of the research, especially Ingo Grass!

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