Hamond Motsi

Background: Underutilised crops play a critical role in enhancing food and nutrition security, especially considering increasing disruptions in global food systems because of an overreliance on a few major crops. Despite their resilience to harsh environments, these crops remain vulnerable to pest and disease challenges.Aim: This systematic literature review (SLR) examined the pest and disease management strategies used by indigenous African farmers in cultivating underutilised crops.Setting: The SLR focused on pest and disease control practices in underutilised crop systems across various African countries.Methods: The study followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to ensure a transparent, replicable process. Data were collected from Scopus, Web of Science, CAB Abstracts, Google Scholar and manually searched reference lists. After de-duplication and screening using Mendeley, 30 relevant articles were included in the final review.Results: There is a general scarcity of literature addressing pest and disease control in underutilised crops. Publications peaked in 2023 and 2024 (n = 4). Tanzania and Kenya produced the most research output. Common pests include aphids, armyworms, grasshoppers and legume pod borers. Identified management strategies include cultural methods (intercropping, crop rotation), chemical control (insecticides) and mechanical approaches (hand picking, traps).Conclusion: Despite the importance of underutilised crops, pest and disease management remains understudied, highlighting a need for further research and innovation.Contribution: This review contributes to understanding how African farmers manage pests and diseases in underutilised crops and encourages broader adoption of integrated pest and disease management (IPDM) practices.

The adverse effects of long-term usage of synthetic fertilizers such as eutrophication, weed infestation, opportunistic diseases, and declining yields have been established. However, the fact that soil fertility declines because of continuous cropping to meet the demand for feeding the ever-growing population, coupled with the high cost of chemical fertilizers, has left little option. This mainly affects resource-poor smallholder farmers, who heavily depend on their production for sustenance and economic well-being. Current research efforts have underscored the urgency of mitigating this trend by seeking a cost-effective and eco-friendly alternative to avert impending global food crises. Biochar has gained attention as a possible alternative to meet the soil requirements on many fronts, such as improving soil functioning and restoring degraded lands. Biochar is also known to reduce heavy metal mobility and inorganic contaminants, mitigating salinity and drought stress as well as greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture. However, these studies need to be harmonized to draft a more pragmatic approach to policy formulation and establish an enhanced paradigm. In this paper, we review several studies on biochar and synthesize its possible use as an alternative or supplement to synthetic fertilizers to enhance crop productivity under standard and stressful growing conditions. The ability of biochar to sequester carbon and its impact on soil properties are highlighted. We emphasize its potential for soil nutrient management and the possibility of adopting it as an alternative to synthetic fertilizer in smallholder farming. We also point out several critical research gaps that call for attention and serve as pointers for future research.