Data from: Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide

Research into the origins of food plants has led to the recognition that
specific geographical regions around the world have been of particular
importance to the development of agricultural crops. Yet the relative
contributions of these different regions in the context of current food
systems have not been quantified. Here we determine the origins (‘primary
regions of diversity’) of the crops comprising the food supplies and
agricultural production of countries worldwide. We estimate the degree to
which countries use crops from regions of diversity other than their own
(‘foreign crops’), and quantify changes in this usage over the past 50
years. Countries are highly interconnected with regard to primary regions
of diversity of the crops they cultivate and/or consume. Foreign crops are
extensively used in food supplies (68.7% of national food supplies as a
global mean are derived from foreign crops) and production systems (69.3%
of crops grown are foreign). Foreign crop usage has increased
significantly over the past 50 years, including in countries with high
indigenous crop diversity. The results provide a novel perspective on the
ongoing globalization of food systems worldwide, and bolster evidence for
the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource
conservation and exchange.