neglected local plants, countries can reduce their reliance on imported crops and their carbon-heavy supply chains.
Bringing back the variety of crops humans once ate also boosts food security at a time warming climates threaten existing crops.On top of that otten crops are among the most climate-resilient（气候区） and nutritious, argues Azam-Ali. His summary is plain: "Dietary diversification（多样化） is critical to the future of humanity."
{F} Food security experts （食品安全专家）agree."There is no food insecurity in the world, there is food ignorance," says Cecilia Tortajada, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy at the National University of Singapore."Whenever we have native crops we tend to disregard them as if they were not valuable but they are," she adds.
{G} Azam-Ali knows that scepticism （怀疑）firsthand.（直接的）He came across alternative crops in the 1980s through the work of women farmers he met in Niger.The then-PhD student remembers marvelling （惊奇