African Orphan Crops under Abiotic Stresses: Challenges and Opportunities

Table 1

Major crops grown in Africa with their global area of cultivation, total production, and productivity. indicates the top 10 globally important crops in terms of total production. refers to finger millet, pearl millet, and proso millet and others. Source: [8, 9].

Crop		Center of origin	Area cultivated in Africa		Total production in Africa		Yield (t ha^−1)
Common name	Botanical name		(000′ ha)	% of global	(000′ tons)	% of global	Global	Africa
Cereals
Barley	Hordeum vulgare	Ethiopia	4,997	10.1	6,022	4.5	2.7	1.2
Fonio	Digitaria exilis		566	100	587	100	1.0	1.0
Maize	Zea mays	Mexico & Central America	33,710	19.0	69,636	7.9	4.9	2.1
Millets	Diverse species	Ethiopia	19,977	62.9	16,083	53.8	0.9	0.8
Rice	Oryza sativa	India	10,538	6.4	26,823	3.7	4.4	2.5
Sorghum	Sorghum bicolor	Ethiopia	23,169	60.7	23,312	40.9	1.5	1.0
Tef	Eragrostis tef	Ethiopia	3,000	100	4,700	100	1.6	1.6
Wheat	Triticum spp.	Middle East	10,216	4.7	24,710	3.7	3.1	2.4
Food legumes (pulses)
Bambara beans	Vigna subterranea		232	100	159	100	0.7	0.7
Beans, dry	Diverse species	Diverse	7,829	26.7	5,069	21.5	0.8	0.6
Chickpea	Cicer arietinum	Central Asia	593	4.8	696	5.9	0.9	1.2
Cowpea	Vigna unguiculata	India	10,402	92.1	5,402	94.5	0.5	0.5
Pigeon pea	Cajanus cajan	India	754	14.1	632	14.9	0.8	0.8
Vegetables
Cabbages	Brassica spp.	China	124	5.2	2,805	4.0	29.3	22.6
Okra	Abelmoschus esculentus	Ethiopia	516	47.4	1,833	21.9	7.7	3.5
Tomato	Lycopersicon lycopersicum	Mexico & Central America	1,010	21.0	17,937	11.1	33.7	17.8
Oil seeds
Castor seed	Ricinus communis	Ethiopia	250	14.8	90	4.6	1.1	0.3
Sesame	Sesamum indicum	Central Asia	3,283	41.5	1,708	42.3	0.5	0.5
Soybean	Glycine max	China	1,637	1.5	1,986	0.8	2.3	1.2
Sunflower	Helianthus annuus	North America	1,790	7.2	2,223	5.9	1.5	1.2
Roots & tubers
Cassava	Manihot esculentum		13,662	67.0	149,479	52	12.9	10.9
Enset	Ensete ventricosum		312	100	728	100	2.3	2.3
Potato	Solanum tuberosum	North America	1,894	9.9	28,169	7.7	18.9	14.8
Sweet potato	Ipomoea batatas	Mexico & Central America	3,506	43.3	17,999	17.4	12.7	5.1
Taro	Colocasia esculenta	India	1,127	85.7	7,367	73.8	7.6	6.5
Yam	Dioscorea spp.	India	4,801	95.3	56,500	96.1	11.7	11.7
Fruits
Banana	Musa spp.	India	1,493	30.1	15,863	15.5	20.6	10.6
Mango	Mangifera indica	India	691	13.4	7,135	16.9	8.1	10.3
Papaya	Carica papaya	Mexico & Central America	134	30.8	1,330	10.7	28.5	9.8
Plantain	Musa spp.		4,368	80.8	26,545	71.4	6.9	6.1
Others
Cocoa	Theobroma cacao	Mexico & Central America	6,337	63.8	3,289	65.7	0.5	0.5
Coffee	Coffea spp.	Ethiopia	1,990	19.8	1,000	11.3	0.9	0.5