A crop wild relative inventory for Southern Africa: a first step in linking conservation and use of valuable wild populations for enhancing food security

Successful conservation strategies require that taxa are prioritized because resources for planning and implementation are always limited. This study created a partial checklist of crop wild relatives (CWR) that occur in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and identified the taxa of highest priority for regional conservation planning based on their importance for food and economic security. The results of this study show that the SADC region contains a wealth of CWR diversity that is not only of value for food and economic security within the region but also globally. Furthermore, this study represents the first step in developing a CWR conservation and sustainable use strategy for the region, where its implementation would contribute to food security and well-being.