In 1995, TAC commissioned an Inter-Centre Review of Root and Tuber Crops Research in the CGIAR, and that group's final report was submitted in April 1996. Among its findings, the review recommended that the Centers working on these crops prepare, in consultation with non-CGIAR members, "a comprehensive, documented text that sets out a vision for root and tuber research employing inter-Centre collaborations and institutional partnerships ... "(TAC, 1997). At International Centers' Week 1996, representatives of CIAT, CIP, IFPRI, IPGRI, and IITA met, formed an informal committee, and established a task force to prepare such a report, with CIP and CIAT representatives acting as co-convenors. This document synthesizes the principal findings of the subsequent work. Roots and tuber crops have myriad and complex roles to play in feeding the world in the coming decades. Far from being one sort of crop that serves one specific purpose, they will be many things to many-very many-people.

Synthesizes a significant amount of data and information on roots and tubers in an effort to provide a clearer vision of their past, present, and future roles in the food systems of developing countries. How the production and use of these commodities have changed and will continue to change over time are all the more important to understand because of the contribution they make to the diets and income-generating activities of the rural and urban poor in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Provides a fuller understanding of the prospects of roots and tubers for food, feed, and other uses in developing countries.

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.

This study addressed the question of future food challenges and how these may play out. Part of the analysis focused on the question as to how we may enhance our understanding of the effects of climate change, increased population growth and rising incomes worldwide on future food systems. The worldwide food system is vulnerable to many influences. The approach used in this study focused on the most significant possible influencers of drivers, or the elements having the most effect on how drivers will develop. This approach was employed due to our understanding that the system’s complexity cannot be reduced to the drivers alone. The applied research method however allows us to look at the different aspects while recognizing their interlinkages.