The renaissance of an ancestral staple crop in a time of climate change

Probably no other plant has played such a vital role in the ecologies, and among the human populations of the arid and semiarid regions of Mexico and the US, as the multifunctional mesquite tree. This extremely resilient and adaptable tree has a rich ethnobotanical history and holds great potential to become a major staple food crop for drylands throughout the world, while supporting climate change mitigation efforts and providing food security in the face of desertification, water stress, and climatic instability.

The Ecology of Mesquite

Mesquite is a nitrogen-fixing member of the legume family in the genus Prosopis. This genus includes around 44 species, distributed mainly throughout the Americas with a few species from Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Some species native to the American continent are now naturalized around the world after being introduced either as a source of livestock fodder or as part of erosion control programs.