Webinar on Neglected and Underutilized Crops

15 October 2025. Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS) - overlooked crops and edible plants - hold great potential to enhance food security, farmers' income, and livelihoods, particularly in the Global South. They can also contribute to women's empowerment and healthier diets and the production of local, accessible Ready-to-Use therapeutic foods to combat acute malnutrition.

This webinar brought together NUS experts to share the latest research findings and identify strategies to advance NUS research and policymaking.

You can download the report of the webinar here:
Report on the Webinar of 15 October 2025, organised by the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre on Global Food and Nutrition Security (KC-FNS) and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAiR).(2 pp) https://gfair.network/news/webinar-ne...


Moderator: Joanna Kane-Potaka – GFAiR's Executive Secretary (formerly at ICRISAT – Smart Food Initiative)

Policy Perspective

François Kayitakire - Head of Unit – Food Security, European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy.
Dana Le Roy - Policy Officer for Nutrition & Focal Point for the partnership with the World Health Organization, European Commission – Directorate‑General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), Brussels.
Christophe Larose - Head of Sector, Sustainable Agri-Food Systems & Fisheries, European Commission – Directorate‑General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), Brussels.

The Potential of NUS

Following opening remarks on policy perspectives from the European Commission’s Directorate-General INTPA and ECHO, the webinar presented the key findings of the Knowledge Review on NUS (19 pp) of the Knowledge Centre for Global Food and Nutrition Security

Carlo Rega - Scientific Officer, European Commission – Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Caroline Callenius - Scientific Officer, European Commission – Joint Research Centre (JRC) / Executive Director of the Hohenheim Research Center for Global Food Security and Ecosystems in Germany

Panel discussion

Hamid El Bilali - Senior Researcher at the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) – Bari, Italy.
Wole (Oluwole) Fatunbi - Director of Research and Innovation at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Accra, Ghana.
Arshiya Noorani - Agriculture Officer (Plant Genetic Resources), Plant Production & Protection Division, FAO, Rome, Italy.
Pierre Ferrand - Agricultural Officer (Agroecology & Ecosystem Services), FAO, Rome, Italy.
Nico Wilms-Posen - Project Coordinator, Crop Trust, Bonn, Germany.
Arno Bratz - Head of Sector Strategy, Knowledge & Learning / Institutional Donor Relations (depending on source) at Welthungerhilfe, Germany.
Katrin Glatzel - Director for Global Strategy & Programs at AKADEMIYA 2063, Africa.
Mady Cisse - Professor of Food Processing / Food Technology at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal; President of the African Nutrition Society.