Successful conservation strategies require that taxa are prioritized because resources for planning and implementation are always limited. In this study, we created a partial checklist of crop wild relatives (CWR) that occur in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and identified the taxa of highest priority for regional conservation planning based on their importance for food and economic security. We found that the region contains over 1900 wild relatives of species cultivated for food, beverages, ornamental, forage/fodder, forestry, medicinal, environmental and other uses. Prioritization of these species was based on two criteria: (i) the value of the related crop for human food and economic security in the region and/or globally, and (ii) the potential or known value of the wild relatives of those crops for crop improvement. The region contains 745 CWR species related to 64 human food and beverage crops that are of high socioeconomic importance and 100 of these are of immediate priority for conservation action. The results of this study show that the SADC region contains a wealth of CWR diversity that is not only of value for food and economic security within the region but also globally. Furthermore, this study represents the first step in developing a CWR conservation and sustainable use strategy for the region, where its implementation would contribute to food security and well-being.

Every research project is an investment, on the part of the individual and the institution, and as such it involves a risk. Whether it will return dividends, and when or how much, is problematic but not entirely beyond estimate. In some cases the risk is quite speculative; in others it is sound and conservative. The degree of security depends primarily upon the leader, his scientific attitude, the depth of his motive, and his conception of the problem and its requirements.A research project ought to commend its~lf in the prospect it merits as well as in the desirability of the thing sought. The prospect is indicated by the purpose or objective of the project and the means sought to attain it. If it can not qualify under reasonable examination, it may be regarded as an undue risk.There is advantage in looking at the matter from this materialistic point of view, for there sometimes is disposition to regard lightly the obligation which a project implies, and to overemphasize the uncertainties of the outcome in research. The weighing of expectations is considered by some as unreasonable and in a sense unscientific, because of the very nature of research. But a project can not succeed unless it deserves to; and the measure of its prospect is a proper matter for institutional concern. The proposal originates with the leader, but acceptance or continuance is an administrative responsibility.Membership on a research staff implies more than doing something; it implies doing the desirable things in the right way. For a project is part of a program, often a link in it. It is expected to be scientifically sound no matter how practical its aim. Not all "research" is necessarily good. Merely because it is dignified with that name does not make it commendable or worthy of support. I do not intend to speak with disparagement when I say that I know of no field where there is greater opportunity for misdirected effort and waste than in the field of experiment, unless there is well prepared planning with discriminating follow up. Waste in the sense 'Contribution from the Office