Indigenous and underutilized crops can play a vital role in building climate-resilient systems. Moringa oleifera is an indigenous and widely recognized medicinal plant known for its high levels of bioactive chemicals, including total phenols and total flavonoids. These chemicals play an important role in a plant’s adaptation to drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures. Climate variability, because of climate change, exacerbates biotic stressors such as soil salinity. This study investigated whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can enhance phytochemical accumulation and improve salt stress tolerance in M.oleifera. Two experiments were conducted at the University of Mpumalanga utilizing a 4x4 factorial arrangement in a randomized complete block design. Treatments included 4 salinity levels (0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0,75dS/m. and for AM inoculum levels (0, 10g, 20g, and 30g). The Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were quantified 110 days after treatment initiation using standard colorimetric methods. Data were analysed using ANOVA, and total treatment variation was partitioned to assess the contributions of each treatment. The results revealed that the interaction between AMF and Salinity treatments had a significant effect on TFC in experiments 1 and 2, with TTVs of 4.07% and 15.17%, respectively. While the TPC was influenced with a TTV of 6.25 and 4.60% in Exp 1 and 2, respectively. This highlights the role of AM fungi in mitigating the effects of salinity stress and stimulating secondary metabolite synthesis

Drought is a major environmental factor limiting crop production worldwide, threatening food and nutrient security in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In SSA, drought caused over 50% yield loss in commercial crops, with severity intensifying due to climate change. Exploring neglected underutilized crops offers a sustainable strategy to diversify food systems, eradicate hunger and improve nutrient security. Amaranthus, a C4 highly nutritious crop, rich in antioxidants, holds potential to serve as a climate-smart alternative crop. However, cultivation practices and underlying drought tolerance mechanisms in amaranth remain poorly explored. This study screened six amaranth genotypes, including vegetables (A. tricolor: Ames1980, PI702915 & VI044431) and grain (A. caudatus: Love-lies-bleeding, Ponytail & Red garnet) amaranth under greenhouse conditions. Sixty days-old plants were subjected to well-watered [~80% field capacity (FC)] and 7-days drought stress (~20% FC) conditions, followed by assessing morpho-physiological, biochemical and recovery traits. Results showed genotype-specific responses to drought, through reduced growth, and relative water content, and induced oxidative damage. The genotypes demonstrated drought resilience through osmotic adjustment, achieved by the over-accumulation of proline, which increased by over 5-fold in vegetable amaranth and by 2-fold in grain amaranth. Similarly, total amino acids and total soluble sugars increased by approximately 4-fold and 2-fold in vegetable, and by about 6-fold and 3-fold in grain amaranth, respectively. Among vegetable amaranth Ames1980 and PI702915 demonstrated enhanced tolerance, maintaining higher fresh leaf weight and reduced lipid peroxidation, while VI044431 was moderately tolerant. For the grains, Love-lies-bleeding exhibited a higher fresh leaf weight through better osmotic adjustment, whereas Ponytail and Red garnet were more sensitive as seen by higher oxidative stress levels. Additionally, all genotypes recovered immediately upon rewatering, indicating amaranth’s potential as a drought-tolerant crop for sustainable agriculture. Therefore, preliminary, the study recommends Ames1980 and Love-lies-bleeding as an alternative crop for cultivation in drought prone regions.

Indigenous and underutilised crops (IUCs) offer significant potential to strengthen agroecological transitions, diversify diets, and build climate resilience in southern Africa, yet their cultivation and value chains remain constrained by limited spatial planning under climate change. This study assesses current and future climatic suitability and distribution shifts of priority IUCs across southern Africa to inform targeted investment in seed systems, extension, and resilient value-chain development. We modelled the potential distributions of two widely referenced IUCs representing grains (sorghum and cowpea). Occurrence records were compiled from GBIF, national herbarium databases, and published agronomic surveys, then filtered for geospatial error, sampling bias, and spatial autocorrelation. Species distribution models (SDMs) were fitted using an ensemble approach (MaxEnt, Random Forest, and Boosted Regression Trees) with bioclimatic predictors (temperature and precipitation seasonality and extremes), soil proxies, and topographic variables. Models were evaluated using spatial block cross-validation, AUC, TSS, and Boyce index, and projected to mid-century and late-century climates under CMIP6 scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5).

Ensemble SDMs performed robustly (median AUC > 0.85; TSS > 0.60), identifying present-day suitability hotspots concentrated in semi-arid to sub-humid zones spanning parts of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, northern South Africa, Malawi, and Mozambique. Future projections indicate heterogeneous responses: drought-tolerant grains and legumes generally maintained or expanded suitability into higher elevations and poleward margins, while several leafy vegetables exhibited localized contractions in hotter, drying lowlands. Across taxa, suitability tended to shift southeastward and upslope, with increasing fragmentation under SSP5-8.5. Priority “no-regret” corridors, areas stable across scenarios, were consistently detected in the central plateau and selected riverine/agro-ecological transition zones.

These results provide a spatial evidence base for climate-smart scaling of IUCs, guiding where to strengthen seed multiplication, climate-resilient agronomy, and localized processing. Embedding SDM-informed targeting into agroecological value-chain redesign can accelerate sustainable food futures while safeguarding biocultural diversity in southern Africa.

Cassava(Manihot esculenta) is widely recognised for its tolerance to drought, low soil fertility, and climatic variability. However, research and utilisation remain predominantly root-focused, leaving cassava leaves comparatively underexplored despite their nutritional potential. Limited compositional data on locally adapted varieties restricts their integration into agroecological diversification strategies and climate-resilient food systems. This study addresses this gap through a detailed nutritional evaluation of leaves from two Ethiopian varieties (Qulle and Kello) cultivated under controlled greenhouse conditions at the University of Hohenheim. Fresh leaves were analysed using AOAC (2006) standard methods and results expressed on a dry-matter (DM) basis. The ash content ranged from 11.37 ± 0.09 to 12.81 ± 0.55 g/100 g DM, and total solids reached 23.63 ± 0.25 g/100 g FM (Qulle) and 20.40 ± 0.22 g/100 g FM (Kello), indicating substantial mineral concentration. Crude protein levels were also high (28.52 ± 0.36–30.90 ± 0.88 g/100 g DM), confirming both varieties as strong plant-based protein sources. Vitamin C concentrations were (745.22 ± 17.53–948.67 ± 10.57 mg/100 g DM), while β-carotene values (107.59 ± 18.38–131.37 ± 31.33 mg/100 g DM) demonstrate significant provitamin A potential. Total phenolic content (12.21 ± 0.05–15.62 ± 0.16 mg/g DM) further indicates antioxidant functionality. Fibre fractions (ADF 14.42 ± 0.09–17.70 ± 0.11; NDF 20.60 ± 0.12–22.00 ± 0.19; ADL 2.99 ± 0.02 g/100 g DM) highlight contributions to dietary fibre. However, Phytate (4.14 ± 0.02–5.16 ± 0.12 g/100 g DM) and total cyanide (1264.57 ± 7.92–1772.82 ± 4.23 µg/g DM) emphasise the need for appropriate processing and informed varietal selection. Overall, Ethiopian cassava leaves emerge as a nutrient-dense, underutilised component of resilient cropping systems. Their strategic inclusion in agroecological value chains can enhance dietary diversity, optimise resource use, and strengthen climate-resilient food systems without expanding cultivated land, provided safe processing practices are applied.

Plants are sessile organisms; thus, they are affected by environmental factors including drought, salinity and extreme temperatures. These factors pose as a threat to crop growth and agricultural yield, widening the food insecurity gap. It is therefore crucial to devise strategies to mitigate the effects of salinity to improve plant growth. Biliverdin (BV IXα), one of the products of heme oxygenase have potential to serve as a phyto-protectant in stress adaptive responses. This study investigated the role of BV in mitigating the effect of salt stress on sorghum seedlings during germination and its mechanism of stress tolerance. Sorghum seedlings were germinated under 0 mM and 200 mM NaCl conditions, with and without varying concentrations of BV (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 μM) and the elicited responses were assayed based on physiological, biochemical and molecular traits. Salt stress negatively impacted germination index resulting in a 28.4% decrease, and 30% decrease in root length, while increasing hydrogen peroxide (149.3% increase) and proline (494% increase) contents. Treatment with BV increased germination index by 10% (0.25 μM BV), 31% (0.5 μM BV) and 25% (0.75 μM BV), whereas root length increased by 22% (0.25 μM BV), 37.2% (0.5 μM BV) and 18% (0.75 μM BV) under salt stress. While H₂O₂ decreased in the presence of BV by more than 20%, non-significant changes were observed in proline content under salt stress. Furthermore, BV upregulated genes involved in ion transport, including Sorghum bicolor vacuolar Na+/H+ exchanger antiporter (SbNHX4) and potassium ion transporter (SbKT1) and the antioxidant defense genes including Sorghum bicolor heme oxygenase 1 (SbHO1), Iron superoxide dismutase (SbFeSOD), manganese (SbMnSOD), and catalase (SbCAT). Overall, this study demonstrated the potential of BV to enhance salt stress tolerance in sorghum through various mechanisms, including osmoregulation, upregulation of ion transport genes, and activation of antioxidant systems.