So, What Is A Lost Crop Anyway?
So, What Is A Lost Crop Anyway?
We’re glad you asked!
Lost Crops are essentially undervalued plants that grow abundantly in many regions around the world. Indigenous people understand these incredible crops and use them in everyday life, while the rest of the world goes unaware. Lost Crops are undervalued because they grow in such abundance that the local communities consume a mere fraction of what’s available. These people have not had the ability to bring their resources to market and so the leftover plants become firewood, or are left to rot.
Turning these remaining Lost Crops into products creates a new, sustainable source of income for the local people.
Just this one shift in economic activity has an immense impact on Lost Crop communities. More children are able to go to school, healthcare improves significantly, and overall quality of life is boosted.
Dr. Luc Maes says it best:
“Kaibae uses wild crafted plants, as nature intended, not modified by man. Nature shaped these plants in the wild, concentrating vital nutrients, making them hardy and beautiful, ensuring longevity in the harsh environments of the Ocean, the Amazon and the Savanna. There is a wisdom within plants that organize their nutrients to live long. It is that wisdom that Kaibae is bottling to make people healthy and beautiful. These ancient plants will disappear if we do not capture that wisdom and vitality. We can only save these plants by supporting communities to use these plants wisely, by creating sustainable harvesting opportunities which ultimately protects the environment. These plants once lost now are found, and they are precious to the survival of the planet and humanity.” —Dr. Luc Maes, Kaibae Co-Founder
