Legumes are important components of sustainable farming systems. They are useful to diversify and intensify cropping systems; fix atmospheric nitrogen and improve soil health; act as rotation crops; increase and diversify smallholder incomes; and lower the carbon footprint, mitigating climate change. Legumes can therefore play a critical role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. However, as this publication points out, their production is challenged by various policy, regulatory, institutional and technical factors, including a lack of attention from the public sector and limited opportunity to attract private sector investment.

In most developing countries, good quality seed is hard to obtain and farmers struggle to save seed from one year to the next. This title takes a people-centred look at the companies, public agencies and family farms that are taking on this role and making a difference to food security across Africa.

Improved food security, led by increased productivity among Africa's many small-scale farmers, has been the aim of significant national and international effort in recent decades. It has proved to be one of the most critical challenges facing humankind. This book grew out of a two-year exploration conducted by the food security theme of The Rockefeller Foundation focusing on the potential for crop genetic improvement to contribute to food security among rural populations in Africa. It provides a critical assessment of the ways in which recent breakthroughs in biotechnology, participatory plant breeding, and seed systems can be broadly employed in developing and delivering more productive crop varieties in Africa's diverse agricultural environments. It also presents an analysis of current plant breeding and biotechnology strategies for the key crops in Africa including: maize, sorghum, cowpea, rice, and cassava. The book will appeal to plant breeders, biotechnologists, and seed distributors as well as policy-makers in the area of agricultural development.