The Alliance: Workshops to Scale Opportunity Crops

A workshop on chayote brought together stakeholders to review how the crop is produced, used and marketed – and where its potential is being held back. Discussions highlighted that chayote is at an early stage in terms of market positioning, with limited recognition beyond local use. Participants identified chayote’s untapped diversity and culinary potential. They also shared constraints, including weak value chains and limited uses in the market. Workshop participants underscored a key point – familiarity with a crop does not necessarily translate into viable livelihoods for those who produce it.

Another workshop on peach palm focused on a crop deeply embedded in Colombia’s food culture, particularly along the Pacific coast. For peach palm, emphasis shifted to strengthening and scaling existing systems. Stakeholders pointed to challenges that include pest and disease pressures, high transport costs and price volatility. They also identified clear opportunities. Products such as chips and bread stood out with potential to expand peach palm markets.

In both workshops, stakeholders largely agreed on challenges and the potential of the crops. What’s missing is coordination to turn that shared understanding into action.

For the Crop Trust, the takeaway is clear – identifying opportunity crops is only the start. Real impact depends on sustained investment across the full value chain, from conservation and research to processing, markets and policy.