CNN
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There are 300,000 edible plant species but in 2018, just four crops made up half of global production, and three — rice, maize, and wheat — accounted for 86% of all exports.
Christoph Langwallner, co-founder and CEO of WhatIf Foods, wants to change that. His startup is on a mission to diversify the food system with an environmentally-friendly crop that Langwallner says can restore degraded land, cut water consumption, improve our diet and increase food security: the Bambara groundnut.
Hardy and drought-resistant, the Bambara groundnut is a type of legume — the same food family as peanuts, peas, and beans — that originates from West Africa, but is now cultivated across the continent and in Asia.
As a legume, it enriches the soil with nitrogen, which helps to fertilize other crops. It’s also a…