Banana is one of the most ancient fruit crops. It originated in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region and is believed to have first been domesticated more than 7000 years ago. East and Central Africa are secondary centres of domestication and diversity.
Barley was first domesticated in the area called the Fertile Crescent, where its wild progenitor *Hordeum vulgare* subsp. *spontaneum* still grows. Other centres of diversity of cultivated barley are found in Ethiopia and Morocco and parts of Asia. Wild relatives are distributed widely in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Beans of the genus *Phaseolus*, like all pulses, are an important source of protein for many people around the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 200 million people depend on beans as their most important staple. Beans are grown for their green leaves (often fed to livestock), and immature pods and seeds, but it is the dry seeds -- which are nutritious and store well -- that are the primary end product.
The most important crops globally are the common bean, *P. vulgaris*, and the runner or kidney bean, *P. coccinea* with *P. lunatus*, the lima bean, and *P. acutifolius*, the tepary bean, playing a locally important role in the Americas.
