Conference Agenda

Globally, food systems depend heavily on a narrow range of staple crops, exposing agricultural production to climate risks, biodiversity loss, and supply chain vulnerabilities. This requires adaptation in the agricultural system, such as focusing on indigenous or underutilized crops, including hemp, heritage grains, and legumes (McClatchie et al., 2025).

This project focuses on the consumer side and the challenges related to the duality of foods produced from underutilized crops. On the one hand, food made from underutilized crops draws on a long tradition. On the other hand, these crops have long been forgotten about, thus presenting today’s consumers with unfamiliar ingredients and novelty (McClatchie et al., 2025). This duality of tradition and future has already been investigated for traditional food products (Benninger & Roosen, 2025). Still, more research is needed for the special case of foods produced from underutilized crops, as they are novel in their ingredients and thus less tangible for consumers. To make the past component of these ingredients more accessible to consumers, this project considers nostalgia, a sentimental feeling for the past, as an essential mechanism for consumer acceptance. Prior research has shown that nostalgia and nostalgic labels can foster a sense of security, thereby enhancing the consumption of traditional products (Zhou et al., 2019) and agricultural heritage products (Tang et al., 2023).

This research project builds on these prior findings and aims to test the effects of nostalgic priming, labels, and information treatments on foods produced from underutilized crops. The experimental setting is embedded in an online supermarket to better understand how these food products can stand out amid the extensive product selection in a realistic retail environment. The project aims to develop clear marketing implications for promoting food products produced from underutilized crops to help transform the food system for the future.

Neglected legumes are fundamental to global food systems, contributing to agricultural sustainability, enhancing food security, and strengthening the resilience of smallholder farming systems. However, they remain underutilized and have historically received limited attention in terms of cultivation, research, and market development, despite their significant nutritional, agronomic, and environmental potential. This study assessed socioeconomic factors influencing farmers’ willingness to cultivate neglected legumes and their selection of suitable planting dates in South Africa. A simple random sampling procedure was employed to collect data from 150 farmers specializing exclusively in crop production. An action research design was implemented, comprising structured training sessions on neglected legumes and trial demonstrations. Data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis, and a multivariate probit model was employed to determine the socioeconomic factors influencing farmers’ willingness to cultivate neglected legumes including Bambara groundnut, cowpea and pigeon pea, and their selection of suitable planting dates. Findings confirmed that most smallholder farmers primarily focus on vegetable cultivation, followed by cereals, while a smaller proportion engage in legume farming. The results also revealed that limited knowledge and resources, along with the lack of training programs and extension services specifically targeting neglected legumes, are significant barriers hindering their adoption and cultivation. Furthermore, the study showed that training on legumes, marital status, farm size, market access, and water sources for irrigation were significant socioeconomic factors influencing farmers’ willingness to cultivate neglected legumes, while household size, legume training, and water sources for irrigation had a significant effect on farmers’ selection of suitable planting dates. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions, including tailored training programs, improved access to resources, and enhanced extension services, to overcome these barriers and promote the adoption of neglected legumes into smallholder farmers’ cropping systems.

Historically, Zambia’s food system has been shaped by several factors, such as structural dependence on maize and consumption patterns. While maize remains central to national food security strategies, its dominance has led to dietary homogenisation and increased nutritional vulnerabilities. This has shaped food preferences and practices around maize, leading to poor dietary diversity and nutrition insecurity. That is, high dependency on a maize diet has led to minimal consumption of alternative staples. Zambia currently faces a “serious” hunger situation and continues to face significant nutritional challenges, with rising cases of child malnutrition and stunted growth remaining above regional targets.

Opportunity crops such as sorghum and cowpea are widely recognised for their climate resilience and nutritional value. However, scholars have largely focused on production and agronomic performance, with limited attention to consumption patterns. This study addresses this gap by examining the integration of these crops into the Zambian food system. Hence, analysing how perceptions, preferences, affordability and nutrition awareness shape the consumption of both crops.

Using mixed methods, the study draws on cross-sectional consumer surveys in urban Lusaka, complemented by semi-structured expert and key informant interviews. The findings indicate that although both crops are perceived to be healthy food alternatives, their consumption remains limited. While taste and nutritional benefits motivate consumption, non-consumption is influenced by affordability, unawareness and insufficient knowledge of preparation methods. Additionally, perceptions showed mixed signals, implying both positive and negative associations of both crops.

These findings suggest that food system diversification in Zambia is not only a production issue but rather a socio-cultural and institutional issue shaped by the historical dietary policies and legacies. Efforts should prioritise awareness creation around their nutritional value and their broader significance. Alongside diversification of product offerings through blended flours and institutional procurement channels to increase consumption and awareness.

Smallholder vegetable value chains are characterized by substantial post-harvest handling constraints and heterogeneous marketing practices, yet limited empirical evidence exists on how food safety practices, packaging innovations, and shelf-life extension methods translate into economic returns across value chain actors. This study analyzes the relationship between these practices and profitability using cross-sectional data from 445 African Indigenous Vegetable (AIV) producers and 320 retailers, while controlling for socio-economic, structural, and institutional characteristics. Descriptive evidence indicates widespread adoption of basic hygiene practices but relatively low use of advanced packaging and storage innovations. Regression results reveal that among producers, packaging and shelf-life extension practices are positively associated with profitability, whereas reliance on fresh sales and longer transport times are negatively related to earnings. For retailers, routine hygiene practices show no statistically significant association with profits, while selected packaging methods and storage technologies exhibit positive and economically meaningful effects. Access to credit is positively correlated with retailer profitability, whereas market type and location are associated with systematic differences in returns. The results imply that not all post-harvest and food safety practices generate comparable economic returns, and that profitability effects differ systematically across value chain nodes and types of innovation.