Marketing underutilized plant species for the poor: A conceptual framework

Modern crop production is based on only a few plant species (Prescott-Allen and Prescott-Allen 1990). Ethno-botanic surveys have documented that many less well-known species continue to be grown, managed and collected, particularly by poor people in marginal environments of developing agricultural economies (IPGRI 2002). Numerous terms have been employed to characterize them, including “minor crops,” “underutilized” species, “neglected species,” “orphan crops,” “underexploited” or “underdeveloped” species.