The Role of Neglected Grain Legumes in Food and Nutrition Security and Human Health

Abstract

Increasing demand for nutritious, safe, and healthy food, including the need to preserve biodiversity and other resources, signifies a prodigious challenge for agriculture, which is already at risk from climate change. Diverse and healthy plant-based diets may significantly reduce food insecurity, malnutrition, diet-related diseases, and other health-related issues. More attention to agricultural systems diversity is mandatory to improve the economic, environmental, ecological, and social sustainability of food production in developing countries. In this context, neglected legume production could significantly provide nutritional and healthy benefits for people while adhering to sustainability principles. However, the contribution of neglected legumes to food and nutrition security is still limited due to socio-economic challenges faced by farmers that contribute to the underutilization of neglected legumes, leading to overreliance on a few legumes with poor resilience to climatic perturbations, thus posing a risk to sustainable food production. While major legumes offer higher economic returns and more developed value chains, they also contribute to environmental degradation and resource depletion. Neglected legumes, on the other hand, provide ecosystem services, promote biodiversity, and offer climate resilience but face economic challenges due to limited market demand and underdeveloped value chains. Consequently, food nutritional insecurity and human health concerns remain prevalent, especially in developing countries. There is an urgent need to promote neglected legumes in agricultural systems through policy change implementation, genetic improvement, and development, fostering international cooperation to share knowledge, technologies, and best practices in the production and utilization of neglected legumes. This review comprehensively explores the utility of neglected legumes for food, nutritional security, and human health. It identifies knowledge gaps that should be prioritized as part of research strategies for sustainable future food systems in sub-Saharan Africa.