On a November morning in Chikwawa, a district in southern Malawi, 75 farmers laid out their produce at a seed fair. The star attraction were biscuits made from flour of sorghum and cowpeas — crops that Malawian farmers had grown for generations before mainstream, agricultural markets favoured other staples like maize.

Drawing over 200 people, including government researchers, private sector representatives and community leaders, the Diversity seed fair represented an economic proposition as much as an agricultural one. Cakes, cookies and flours, all laid out to demonstrate the versatility of crops that fields knew well put people forgot. With opportunities like this, though, farmers are beginning to rediscover sorghum and cowpea, crops that had been neglected over the years but have much to offer in terms of climate adaptation.

The fair was part of an initiative led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to revive what is known as "opportunity crops" or, more plainly, forgotten crops: indigenous, drought-resistant varieties naturally adapted to dry environments and rich in nutrients, yet attracting little research, investment or policy attention.

The gradual dominance of a handful of global staples, such as maize, wheat and rice, has left these "opportunity crops" under-researched and commercially marginalised. They were further held back by limited policy support, fragmented supply chains, the variability and short supply of traditional seed stocks, among other issues.

Both sorghum and cowpeas were widely cultivated in Malawi within living memory, particularly through the 1950s and 1960s: sorghum as a staple in low-rainfall years and cowpea intercropped with cereals for household nutrition and soil fertility. Their decline accelerated after independence as agricultural extension services, research investment and marketing systems increasingly centred on maize, a shift reinforced from the mid-2000s by input subsidy programmes that improved smallholder access to hybrid maize seed and fertiliser. Sorghum and cowpea were not abandoned outright but became marginalised in formal systems as farmers reallocated land toward the crop most supported by national policy and market infrastructure.

As water scarcity threatens agricultural productivity across the region, traditional varieties built to survive without reliable rainfall are now taking on new global significance.

FAO together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development of Malawi is supporting communities in coping with water scarcity by promoting indigenous drought-resilient and nutritious crops that improve biodiversity while creating jobs and income opportunities.

Running a pilot in Malawi, this initiative, Addressing Water Scarcity in Agriculture and the Environment (AWSAMe), began with a capacity development training for 20 government researchers and extension officers, strengthening their skills in collecting and analysing high-quality agricultural data alongside field water management techniques for drought screening.

Government experts evaluated 24 cowpea varieties and 30 sorghum varieties under both irrigated and dry conditions, drawing seeds from rural communities and the national gene bank to draw data about which perform best under drought.

The evaluation unfolded in three stages. Researchers first characterised and assessed the varieties under both irrigated and dry conditions. At the maturity stage, farmers joined for a participatory selection, prioritising varieties based on practical criteria: cooking time, taste, quality and early maturity. The varieties farmers preferred were then carried forward into drought screening experiments.

"In the past we used to plant many maize seeds in one planting station but now we have been trained in conservation agriculture," says Elda Saliva, a farmer from Thimba village in Makanda. "With these new methods, our yields have increased, allowing us not only to feed our families, but also to earn income from the surplus."

FAO also organised cooking demonstrations and training sessions for farmers to learn how to prepare various recipes of nutritious meals using sorghum and cowpea, while exploring, at the same time, opportunities for value addition and establishment of small businesses.

The cooking demonstrations produced, among other things, the biscuits on display at the November fair.

Displaying the results of the cooking demonstration he had attended, Lameck Mofati, a farmer from nearby Matchangani village, says, "These lessons will help me teach my family and my community and they will also help us improve our nutrition. We have also learned business skills."

This project is part of FAO's Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG), which brings together FAO Members and more than 80 partners, including government agencies, international organisations, research institutions, advocacy groups and professional organisations from around the globe, to tackle the collective challenge of using water better in agriculture.

The FAO WASAG Team Leader, Ruhiza Jean Boroto, sees scaling potential in the initiative's design. "The beauty of such an initiative is when the community sees the benefits; they become the first ambassadors. They will, by themselves, actively look for these crops and their seeds to ensure that they enjoy the benefits that these crops offer; this in itself, will accelerate their adoption."

As farmers experience the benefits of these indigenous crops and the techniques that improve their production, they become ambassadors for change, sharing knowledge with neighbours and helping scale adaptation, building resilience in their community and reviving the crops that are at home in their fields.

The story and photos can be found here: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/the-return-of-the-forgotten-crop/en