The World Wide Fund for Nature defines a food system as “the complete set of people, institutions, activities, processes, and infrastructure involved in producing and consuming food for a given population.” (WWF, 2017). The food system has a bearing on human capital development, provision of jobs, industrial growth, structural transformation and ecosystem services. As in many other parts of the world, the landscape of African food systems is fraught with fragility and fails to deliver on these key developmental outcomes. Transforming food systems in Africa is an imperative for the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which now has a delivery timeline of less than a decade. A sustainability framework must underguard any attempts at food systems transformations. For example, Africa must provide food and nutrition security to its rapidly expanding population in perpetuity without engendering adverse environmental, social and economic externalities. The massive endowment of the continent with extensive arable land and diverse agro-ecosystems teeming with rich flora makes sustainable food systems a realizable dream. Indeed, Indigenous communities across Africa have used a number of locally adapted crops for millennia mainly for nutrition, medicinal and ornamental purposes. Unfortunately, many of these crops, have been progressively substituted with imported genotypes favoured by industrial agriculture. Pervasive monoculture of the exotic crops and increasingly standardized diets have contributed in part to utter denigration of the indigenous crops, earning them the appellation of "forgotten crops.”

Africa is home to a diversity of indigenous food crops that are locally adapted and less fastidious than exotic cultivars. Indigenous foods are foods of plant and animal origin that naturally exist in specific agro-ecological domains and are produced and consumed as part of traditional diets. Although indigenous foods have the potential to sustainably provide the much needed dietary nutrients to various communities across Africa, they have suffered progressive loss of cultural image, denigration, and utter neglect, being largely substituted with exotic foods. Consequently, they have earned the unenviable appellations of "forgotten", "neglected" or "orphan" foods due to the fact that they have received relatively little or no policy and research attention – especially towards their genetic improvement and value chain development.

Starting a new life in a different country comes with great and hidden challenges. However, one crucial aspect many people don't even think about is the impact of a complete nutritional change on our health which migration-process can trigger. Geography, habits, and culture are only a few factors that affect the way we eat in different parts of the world. Abandoning or substituting old, healthy, nutritional patterns without care and professional health counselling can be fatal."African Healthy Food Secrets" published in full colour with many graphic images, is an important course on the tremendous, unreported African assets on Health and Nutrition. It suggests a healthy balance between dominant foods of the new host-country and the waning healthy food-cultures of the immigrant's home country. "The needed mix on food, faith and ancestry" could provide solutions to the modern versus rural nutrition-clash-dilemma and modern chronic diseases. The African Continent is the "World ́s Biggest Home Pharmacy Store" full of rich medicinal plants, foods, nutrients and resources. However, our lack of awareness of these riches may cost many their health. Explore and discover African, century-old; nutrients adapted and passed on by our ancestors. There is so many tips, much knowledge, medicine, art and literature in the African food culture out there - unseen and unreported. Learn more about what we have, keep and harness these resources. A professional reflection on new ways to fix diversity-induced, nutritional health-problems with researched information and intercultural health awareness. It showcases how "cultural barriers" can be broken via culinary understanding. It is from our long human history and experience that the saying in German "Liebe geht durch den Magen" (The way to a man's heart goes through his stomach) is true in all cultures. Food is a wonderful "peacemaker"."Eat Yourself Healthy, because the right food is the best medicine" A useful Guide for all people wishing to journey through the "African Century-old Nutrition Secrets" to discover and make great changes in their lives. Knowing your genetic code and choosing the adequate nutrition is the key to controlling your body and keeping illness afar. What and how you eat defines your health and the image you see in the mirror every morning.

The present edition of Nature & Faune journal emphasizes the role of natural renewable resources within the framework of Africa’s agricultural transformation. Central to the transformation agenda is achieving greater prosperity which can improve peoples' lives and livelihoods. These improvements of lives and livelihoods cover their economic well-being; their environment; socio‐cultural and political sphere of influence. The conditions for modernizing Africa’s agriculture entail transforming not only production processes but also the products. This issue of the Journal highlights the unique features of Africa’s agriculture, including (i) the urgent need for improving productivity; (ii) the importance of the agricultural sector in Africa’s economies in terms of employment; and (iii) the climate-resilient opportunities within agriculture to cope with climate change challenges. It draws attention to the fact that the agriculture sector offers possibilities for increased productivity while also adapting to and mitigating climate change thus safeguarding also future production.

This report is the second in a series of three evaluating underexploited African plant resources that could help broaden and secure Africa's food supply. The volume describes the characteristics of 18 little-known indigenous African vegetables (including tubers and legumes) that have potential as food- and cash-crops but are typically overlooked by scientists and policymakers and in the world at large. The book assesses the potential of each vegetable to help overcome malnutrition, boost food security, foster rural development, and create sustainable landcare in Africa. Each species is described in a separate chapter, based on information gathered from and verified by a pool of experts throughout the world. Volume I describes African grains and Volume III African fruits.

Nutritional and Health Aspects of Native West African Foods is part of an ongoing series that continues to build out Elsevier's Nutritional and Health Aspects of Traditional and Ethnic Foods series. Written by a gender diverse team of experts, this book explores native and wild West African foods from Cameroon, Ghana, and Nigeria where 60% of West Africa live. Through valorization trials, the book analyzes nutritional components and the processing and safety of native plants and botanicals and shows how indigenous foods such as grains, fruits, tubers, fungi and cheese make a global impact on diet-related health claims and disease.From handling and processing methods to regulatory issues and sustainable farming, this book presents a framework to discover the influence of historical eating habits on today's diets.• Promotes global availability and insight into native West African foods available in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria • Reviews the safety, processing and health benefits of these foods • Explores both scientific and anecdotal diet-related health claims • Analyzes nutritional components of native plants through valorization trials for global market • Presents framework to determine if these foods meet local and international regulatory requirements and presents strategies to remedy non-compliance