the potential of indigenous wild foods - u.s. agency for

April 2001

Funding provided by:USAID/OFDA

Implementation provided by:CRS/Southern Sudan

Proceeding compilation and editing by:Catherine Kenyatta and Amiee Henderson, USAID contractors

Workshop Proceedings, 22-26 January 2001

The Potential of Indigenous Wild Foods

The Potential of Indigenous Wild FoodsWorkshop Proceedings, 22–26 January 2001

Funding provided by: USAID/OFDA

Implementation provided by: CRS/Southern Sudan

Proceeding compilation and editing by:Catherine Kenyatta ([email protected]) andAmiee Henderson ([email protected]), USAID contractors

April 2001

iii

Contents

Setting the Stage: Southern Sudan Conflict and Transition v

Acronyms and Abbreviations ix

DAY TWO: JANUARY 23, 2001

Session OneChair: Brian D’Silva, USAID 1

Official WelcomeDirk Dijkerman, USAID/REDSO 1

Overview of the WorkshopBrian D’Silva 1

Potential of Indigenous Food Plants to Support and Strengthen Livelihoods in Southern Sudan,Birgitta Grosskinsky, CRS/Sudan, and Caroline Gullick, University College London 2

Discussions/comments from the floor 5

Food Security and the Role of Indigenous Wild Food Plants in South SudanMary Abiong Nyok, World Food Programme, Christine Foustino, Yambio County DevelopmentCommittee, Luka Biong Deng, Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association, and Jaden TongunEmilio, Secretariat of Agriculture and Animal Resources 6

Discussion/comment from the floor 9

Session TwoChair: Brian D’Silva 10

The Wild Foods Database for South SudanBirgitta Grosskinsky and Caroline Gullick 10

Discussions/Comments from the floor 10

Food Source Diversification: Poetntial to Ameliorate the Chronic Food Insecurity in Ethiopia,Getachew Olana 12

Discussions/Comments from the floor 30

DAY THREE: JANUARY 24, 2001

Session ThreeChair: Monica Opole, CIKSAP 31

Wild-Food Plants in Ethiopia: Reflections on the Role of “Wild-Foods” and “Famine-Foods”at the Time of DroughtYves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa, UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia 31

Discussions/Comments from the Floor 46

iv

Domestication of Indigenous Wild Food PlantsRudy Schippers, NRI 47

Indigenous Vegetable Species in TanzaniaDamas Marandu, HORTI Tengeru 48

Informal Discussion on the Role of Indigenous Wild Foods in SomaliaMahdi Kayad and Suleiman Mohamed, Food Security Assessment Unit/Somalia (FAO) 49

Discussion/Comments from the Floor 49

Non-Timber Forest Products in Central Africa: Issues of Conservation and CultivationLaurie Clark, Consultant in Non-Timber Forest Products 50

Session Four,Chair: Monica Opole 55

Traditional Food Plants of Bulamogi County, Kamuli District (Uganda): Preliminary FindingsJohn Tabuti, Department of Botany, Makerere University 55

Discussions/Comments from the Floor 56

The Nutritional and Medicinal Importance of Indigenous Food PlantsChristine S. Kabuye and Grace W. Ngugi, National Museums of Kenya 57


DAY FOUR: JANUARY 25, 2001

Session FiveChair: Brian D’Silva 61

Indigenous Wild Food Plants: Their Future in KenyaPatrick Maundu, Kenya Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge 61


Experiences with Indigenous Vegetables Conservation Through UseMonica Opole, CIKSAP 63


Indigenous Wild Food Plants in Coastal Regions of KenyaMohamed Pakia, Coastal Forest Conservation Unit 65

DAY FIVE: JANUARY 26, 2001

Session SixChair: Brian D’Silva 66

Vision and Goals of the IWFP Research and Development Activities 66

Workshop Programme 70

Participants List 72

v

Setting the Stage: Southern SudanConflict and Transition1

During the 45 years since independence Sudan haswitnessed relative peace for only 11 years between1972 and 1983. From 1956 to 1972, southernSudanese fought for independence from the North inthe Anyanya I conflict. From the time this conflictended with the signing of a peace agreement in AddisAbaba in 1972, the South experienced peace and acertain degree of self-determination in a federatedunion with the North. However, conflictemerged again in 1983 with the start of theAnyanya II insurrection.

Although the players and dynamics have variedthrough the different stages of conflict, the themesand matters of dispute have remained relatively con-stant. The issues have been freedom of religion for thenon-Muslim South, imposition of Islamic law in theSouth and economic underdevelopment and exploita-tion of the South by the North. Various peace effortshave been undertaken, but none have succeeded, andalthough it is clear that the war cannot continue indefi-nitely, there appears to be no end in sight.

What sets Sudan apart from other humanitarian disas-ters throughout the world is its duration, magnitude,and cost. Since the disaster began 18 years ago in1983, it has been estimated that more than 2 millionSudanese have died from war-related causes. In addi-tion, over 80 percent of southern Sudan’s estimatedpopulation of five million has been displaced at sometime since 1983. Currently, it is estimated that thereare four million internally displaced Sudanese—thelargest displaced population in the world.2 Over thepast 10 years, the U.S. Government alone has pro-vided more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistanceto Sudan, of which $834 million was provided byUSAID.3 It is estimated that the international commu-nity spends $1 million in humanitarian assistance toSudan each day, while the GOS is estimated to spendapproximately the same amount each day to financeits war effort.

These characteristics of the Sudan emergency arewhat led USAID to adopt a rehabilitation-oriented ap-proach for the zones of stability within southernSudan. Stability, which has increased over the pastfive years, has created the necessary conditions forthe provision of less traditional food aid and the provi-sion of more assistance aimed at economic recovery.(See Maps 1-3) The USAID approach differs fromother donors because of the size of the share of itsassistance that has gone toward rehabilitation-orientedactivities. Since it first began to fund these types ofactivities in 1993, USAID has contributed 4.4 percentof its total assistance (more than $24 million) to reha-bilitation-oriented activities in the West Bank. This fig-ure includes $3 million in development assistancefunds obligated as part of a total of $7 million for thethree-year STAR program, which started in 1998.

The indigenous wild food plant study in southernSudan is one of the projects supported by USAIDwhich is intended to provide better information on thetremendous resource base already existing in southernSudan and the potential for indigenous wild foodplants (IWFPs) to play a vital role in attaining food

1 The information in this section was taken from “Evolution ofa Transition Strategy and Lessons Learned: USAIDFunded Activities in the West Bank of Southern Sudan,1993 to 1999,” by Anne O’Toole Salinas, USAID/Bureaufor Africa, and Brian C. D’Silva, USAID/Regional Eco-nomic Development Services Office, East and SouthernAfrica. A copy of this paper can be found at http://www.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACF763.pdf.

2Millard Burr, “Quantifying Genocide in Southern Sudan andthe Nuba Mountains,: 1983–1998” (U.S. Committee forRefugees, December 1998).

3 Unclassified State Department Cable 107180, 092046Z (June9, 1999). “Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Commod-ity/Service Report (as of June 22, 1999)”. US OverseasLoans and Grants: Series of Yearly Data. “BHR/FFPFY98 Support for Programs in Sudan, as of September 30,1998.” “BHR/FFP FY99 Support for Programs in Sudan,June 2, 1999.”

vi

security. With more information about what people eatand when, donor agencies will have a better idea ofnutrition needs. In southern Sudan, the IWFPs studyincluded field surveys, data collection, and commu-

nity discussions. The Workshop on the Potential ofIndigenous Food Plants, held in Diana, Kenya, 22-26January 2001, was an effort to extend lessons and in-formation from the Sudan experience and to assesssimilar work in the region.

Map 1: Southern Sudan 1992

vii


viii


ix

Glossary of Acronyms andAbbreviations

AETFAT Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Tropical African Flora

ATI Appropriate Technology International

AVDRC Asian Vegetable Development Research Centre

CARPE Central African Regional Program for the Environment

CFCU Coastal Forest Conservation Unit

CIKSAP Centre Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Products

CRS Catholic Relief Services

CRTA Crop Resources of Tropical Agriculture

CTA Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation

DfID Department for International Development

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

EFC Ethiopian Food Corporation

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FSAU Food Security Assessment Unit

ICRAF International Centre for Research in Agroforestry

ICT Information and communication technology

IDEAS Institute for Development, Environmental and Agricultural Studies, south Sudan

IDRC International Development Research Centre (Canada)

IPGRI International Plant Genetic Resources Institute

IPR Intellectual property rights

IRSAT Insitut de Recherches en Sciences Appliquees et Technologiques, Burkina Faso

ITDG Intermediate Technology Development Group

IWFP World Food Programme

KENRICK Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge

KSE Kenya Society of Ethnoecology

MINEF Ministry of Environment and Forests, Cameroon

NAPRECA Network on Natural Product Research for East and Central Africa

NARO National Agricultural Research Organization, Uganda

NGO Non-governmental organization

x

NMK National Museums of Kenya

NTFP Non-timber forest products

PROTA Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

PTD Peace Through Development

REDSO Regional Economic Development Support Office

RELMA Regional Land Management Unit

Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities & People’s Region

SRRA Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association

SSI Semi-structured interviews

UGANEB Uganda Group of the African Network of Ethnobotany/Ethnoecology

UN-EUE United Nations Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia

USAID United States Agency for International Development

VSO Voluntary Service Overseas

1

Session 1: January 23Chair: Brian D’Silva, USAID

Official WelcomeDirk Dijkerman, USAID/REDSO

Mr. Dijkerman officially opened the workshop andexpressed his appreciation of the importance of indig-enous wild foods in the region. Fora such as theseprovide us with a good touchstone for what is hap-pening in the field. It is important that we take advan-tage of the opportunity provided by this workshop.Too often this area has been ignored, and often doesnot get as much attention as other food resources inthe region. In many ways the results of research onindigenous wild foods may be fundamentally morevaluable in the long term. We need to work with com-

munities to build on the existing knowledge on indig-enous foods, and play an educational role, helping todisseminate that knowledge more widely. This work-shop also provides us with the opportunity to showwhat can be done using foreign assistance for peoplein Africa, and hopefully assist us to increase the re-sources available for this work. The methodologicalapproaches used are highly participatory and by tak-ing our results back to the communities and countrieswithin which we are working bring in a more iterativeapproach to the whole research process.

Overview of the WorkshopBrian D’Silva, USAID

The objectives of the workshop:

1. To share the experience of the Sudan process withpeople in the region.

2. To learn and listen to what other people are doingin the region in the area of indigenous wild foods.

3. To identify where should this work lead us, not interms of networks or large programs, but whatpotentials there are for filling the gaps in ourknowledge.

In the context of the work in Sudan the processthrough which the research was conducted is ex-

tremely important. It stated with individuals workingin different areas, but it became apparent that therewas a lot of information and knowledge that we neededto systematize and make more widely available. Fromthis grew the concept of a database covering the in-digenous wild food plants of south Sudan. The mostimportant thing is that Sudanese participation was notneglected and was present throughout. The results ofthe June 1999 Lockichoggio workshop and informa-tion collected were taken back to the people and com-munities in Sudan who provided feedback and com-ments on the data collected.

2

The two researchers have been addressing the issueof indigenous wild food plants using a food economyapproach since 1994. The research process has beenundertaken in two phases — first, a phase of projectdesign, data collection and research and second aphase of dissemination and implementation. One prod-uct of the work on IWFPs (indigenous wild foodplants) has been the development of a database of theinformation collected on the resources of south Sudan.

The rationale behind the research project was that whilefood relief was being provided to the people in southSudan, there was little understanding of the foods thatpeople were eating and the nutritional value of theirdiet. The process began with assessments acrossSudan and combined these data with that collectedand analyzed in other African countries. The aim wasto collect baseline information, to make this informa-tion available to other organizations and communitiesto use in programme planning and implementation,and to understand the importance of IWFPs in foodand livelihood security.

Using a participatory approach, the researchers col-lected data through interviews (in different locations,across seasons, across socioeconomic and ethnicgroups, from both men and women). Participatorymapping was undertaken and seasonal calendars ofcollection and use determined. The data were collectedby both the researchers and the south Sudanese peoplethemselves. Specimens, drawing and photographswere taken of IWFPs and nutritional analyses of thefoods as eaten were conducted. This wascomplimented by a literature search on the issue ofIWFPs across Africa.

The main constraints to data collection were the largenumber of languages in the region; the stigma attached

Potential of Indigenous Food Plants toSupport and Strengthen Livelihoods in

Southern SudanBirgitta Grosskinsky, Catholic Relief Services/Sudan and

Caroline Gullick, University College London

to use of IWFPs (and the reluctance to recognize theirimportance); bias (the preference for organizations tofocus on livestock and other traditional sectors); lo-gistic difficulties in the field; the short window ofopportunity available for the collection of specimensand the difficulties of storing these correctly; and thelack of processing facilities for photographic film insouth Sudan, which meant that it was difficult to en-sure that specimens had been captured.

The main findings of the research were that:

1. IWFPS are primarily accepted by communitiesthrough custom, habit, and tradition as sourcesof food.

2. There are a large variety of different types offoods, which help to diversity the diet.

3. Many IWFPs are nutritionally equivalent, and income cases superior, to introduced varieties (interms of calories, fats, iron and calcium).

IWFPs are used commonly to improve the taste andtexture of other foods. It has further been shown thatthey can help with the metabolism of other foods,e.g., tamarind can be added to porridge to make itmore easily digestible.

IWFPs are crucial to people’s survival during timesof crop shortage. They are mainly collected by womenand children and are used to protect family assets.They have particular economic importance to women,children and the poor. Some of the plants are beingcultivated or semi-managed (protection and encour-agement of naturally occurring growth and re-growth). In contrast to exotic food crops, IWFPs areadapted to their environment and do not require in-puts to the same extent.

3

The second phase of the project involves implemen-tation and dissemination. After compilation of the datafrom a range of different sources the project aimed:

1. To make the knowledge and findings freelyavailable;

2. To raise awareness of the potential of IWFPs;

3. To integrate and mainstream the information intodifferent programmes; and

4. To hold discussions with stakeholders, commu-nities and agencies working in southern Sudan toapply the findings.

This involved a set of activities that included:

! Disseminating the findings of the study and rais-ing awareness of the potential of IWFPs at dif-ferent levels (household to policymakers)

Calories per 100 gCultivatedsorghumground nuts

Fat per 100gCultivatedground nuts

Protein per 100gCultivatedground nutscabbage

Iron per 100gCultivatedcabbageorkapumpkin

Calcium per 100gCultivatedmangopawpawground nut

Kcal353567

g49

g25.82.09

g1.310.8

mg102492

“Wild”Mixed wild grainsSclerocarya birreaNymphea sp.

“Wild”Sclerocarya birreaBalanites aegyptiacaButyrospernum par.

“Wild”Sclerocarya birreaAmaranthus sp.Gynandropsis gynandra

”Wild”Gynandropsis gynandraCorchorus sp.Amaranthus sp.Leptadenia sp.

“Wild”Sclerocarya birreaButyrospernum par.Sclerocarya birrea

Kcal380669389

g574749

g28.34.85.8

g10.87.88.813

mg2020-50120-200

Partgrainnutseed

Partnutnutnut

Partnutleafleaf

Partleafleafleafleaf

Partfruitfruitnut

Table 1: Illustrative Examples of the Nutritional Content of Introduced andIndigenous Foods

! Promoting dialogue within the communities

! Developing a IWFP database for south Sudan

In June 1999 there was an initial workshop for policyand decision-makers held in Lokichoggio, Kenya. Theaim of this was to share knowledge on the use andpotential of IWFPs and to develop recommendationson the future directions of the project. One major rec-ommendation was that the project should give feedbackto the communities where the work had been done.

Acting on this recommendation, 15 workshops wereheld in the areas where the main body of research hadbeen done (see Map 1), in total 1,500 people attended.The objectives were to share and discuss the find-ings; to create awareness of the diversity of IWFPs;to link vernacular information with the scientific in-formation; and to encourage discussion on the

4

Phou

Rumbek

Yambio

Tambura

Maridi

Raga

Tonj Wau

Kajo Keji

Yei

Mundri Juba

Torit

Kapoeta

Yirol Bor

Leec Latjor

Bieh

Aweil W.

Aweil E.

Pibor

Gogrial

Map of Southern Sudan Showing Workshop Locations

Map 1: Community Workshops in Southern Sudan

management and the utilization of the indigenous re-sources. The participants represented different areas,sectors and agencies in South Sudan.

Selected recommendations from these communityworkshops were:

1. Disseminate the knowledge and create awareness,

2. Review local policies on the utilization and man-agement of indigenous resources,

3. Further research,

4. Improve appropriate processing methods,

5. Provide training in appropriate processing meth-ods (including exchange of knowledge acrosssouth Sudan),

6. Encourage domestication of indigenous foodplants (propagation methods not known), and

7. Promote trade of IWFPs.

Constraints to the use and development of IWFPs wereidentified as:

1. People are not aware of the potential

2. Stigmas and traditional beliefs

3. Loss of knowledge

4. Insecurity limits access in some cases

5. Displacement

6. Marginalized because of preference for organiza-tions to apply external solutions

The data collected is now being put into a databasefor IWFPs in south Sudan, it includes:

! Names, descriptions and distribution

! Food and other uses

5

! Nutritional information

! Harvesting and consumption calendars

! Social context

! References

DISCUSSION/COMMENTS FROM THEFLOOR

1. The research process grew out of demand on theground — different solutions to the problems offood and germplasm supply. The researchers al-ways worked with the communities and peopleof south Sudan during the planning process, re-search and data collection. They also attemptedto integrate the communities in the disseminationand feedback process. There was significant in-teraction during the field workshops, which in-volved people across sectors, wealth groups, gen-der. Communities took control of the workshopsand interactions between ethnic groups, wealthgroups and men and women brought up issues ofknowledge sharing and the recognitions of thevalue of different group’s knowledge

2. Terminology is important, in some cases what werefer to as indigenous plants may have actuallyoriginated in other areas of Africa. What is im-portant is that these plants are present in the land-scape, and even if they have undergone some levelof domestication or are under management theyare covered by the project.

3. Detailed nutritional information is available froma number of resources. Although there are still alarge number of IWFPs that have never been ana-lyzed some information can be found in readilyavailable nutritional manuals, including “Nutritionfor Developing Countries,” Savage King and Bur-gess (1992).

4. The current situation in south Sudan means thatthere are a large number of displaced people.There are some positive interactions between thelocal and displaced populations in particular areasand knowledge on IWFPs is exchanged. How-ever, in a number of areas, knowledge is not re-ally shared, often due to stigma but also becausedisplaced people are seen as temporary residentwho would not manage the resource sustainablyand there is sometimes conflict between the com-munities. In some cases seeds are taken by indi-viduals from their homes when they are displaced,however these are mostly not IWFPs but the tra-ditional exotic staple foods.

5. It is often seen that as the market develops forindigenous food plants, gender conflicts can de-velop as men move into trading areas that hadbeen the prerogative of women and children. Landownership of south Sudan is not a major issue inIWFPs, as they are almost wholly planted aroundthe house garden. However, as commercializa-tion of products is encouraged (e.g., processingof shea nuts), activities led by women have beentaken over by more dominant members of thecommunity.

6. Although this study did not focus on the interac-tion between supply of relief food and the use ofIWFPs, there was a subjective impression thatagriculturalists use less IWFPs than other groups.It was also mentioned by communities that thelocal processing of lulu oil (shea nuts) has beenhampered by the sale of ‘relief’ oil, which is saidto decreases the prices of the oil in the market.There is definitely an interaction between reliefand IWFPs, however it is not a simple trade off.Although people may rely on relief foods for calo-ries when it is available, they often rely on IWFPsfor flavour, texture and strongly preferred foods.Usage of IWFPs is also different across gender,wealth group, age and areas.

6

At present it is thought that use of IWFPs is wellbelow that of the past. After the 1965–72 war, a lot ofindigenous knowledge was lost and there was a re-luctance to use IWFPs, as they were considered notthe food of educated people. Since 1972, there hasbeen a long period of struggle, especially for thewomen of the area. People have survived, using IWFPsas both food and medicine. Throughout south SudanIWFPs are primarily collected by women.

The community workshops held by CRS/Sudan, WFPand USAID have helped to bring back IWFP knowl-edge to the people in south Sudan. In the workshop,the possibilities for marketing and exporting IWFPsand IWFP products were noted and it is hoped thatpalm oil and lulu oil (amongst others) can be devel-oped as export commodities. The most important thingat present is how to develop policies and action plansto implement the processing and marketing of IWFPs

IWFPs (‘liim’ in Monjeng) are seen in south Sudan assomething you can get free from the environment.The community perception of IWFPs is that they arethere to help people through the ‘hunger gap’, andthere is little appreciation of the full value of thesefoods in terms of nutrition.

There are still a number of questions that are beingraised in south Sudan relating to the use and develop-ment of IWFPs.

1. What are the next steps for the development ofprocessing technologies to help market and ex-port IWFP oil products?

Food Security and The Role of IndigenousWild Food Plants in South Sudan

Mary Abiong Nyok, World Food Programme,Christine Foustino, Yambio County Development Committee,

Luka Biong Deng, Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association,Jaden Tongun Emilio, Secretariat of Agriculture and Animal

Resources2. What are next steps in the processing of IWFPs

that have been identified as nutritional and palat-able drinks?

3. What policies are needed to ensure that the ben-efits of increasing markets (especially for lulu andambiro) are equitably shared?

4. What should be done to build on the benefits ofmedicinal IWFPs (e.g. lang, thou, kei, ruuk, cum,apoor, ajuet, cuei , gor, tuuk)?

THE ROLE OF IWFPS IN FOODSECURITY IN THE NEW SUDAN

The Peace Through Development (PTD), Track IIIof the blue print developed by the SPLM set prioritiesin the agricultural sector as follows:

1. The development of food crops, livestock and fish-eries for provision of food needs for the peopleof the New Sudan

2. The development of food crops, livestock and fish-eries for cash within and without the New Sudan

3. The development and promotion of cash cropsfor internal and external markets

The use of IWFPs as food and medicine forms animportant part of the livelihood of the communities inthe New Sudan. Also the frequent and recurrent fam-ines in the New Sudan due to floods, drought, insecu-rity and displacements warrants an assessment andstudy of the role and contribution of IWFPs in thedaily diets of the communities.

7

Policy objective of promotion and utilization ofIWFPs

To promote active collaboration / participation of thelocal communities in promotion and utilization ofIWFPs in order to improve their livelihoods, reduceddependency on relief food and ensure food self-suffi-ciency and sustainable management of these naturalresources.

The strategies for the implementation of the policywill include:

1. Ensure development of the local capacity and at-titude shifts in favor of IWFPs,

2. Support the development of community institu-tions to ensure that these resources are protectedfrom illegal harvesting, pests, diseases and fires,

3. Ensure an adequate legal basis of ownership ofthe resources and other rights to the local com-munities with corresponding responsibilities,

4. Develop appropriate techniques for processing andstorage of IWFPs,

5. Ensure employment opportunities and access toprocessing and marketing opportunities for dif-ferent social groups, especially women and thepoor or vulnerable,

6. Promote value addition through secondary or ter-tiary processing,

7. Develop training programmes, field manuals andintegrate IWFPs information into schools cur-ricula, and

8. Support domestication of IWFPs with highpotential.

Result areas

1. Promote food security

2. Change attitudes towards IWFPs

3. Ensure the donors, NGOs and the communitiesrecognize the role of the IWFPs to increase pro-tection of the environment

4. Collect the existing information

5. Recognize what exists to better develop food se-curity

6. Develop self-dependency and coping strategiesduring times of disasters

Constraints/Challenges

1. Insecurity

2. Lack of awareness of the nutritional value ofIWFPs

3. Poor management of the ecosystem

4. Negative perception about IWFPs prevent mem-bers of households consuming these foods

5. Availability of IWFPs

6. Certain IWFPs risk extinction because laws donot exist to protect them

7. Research is connected to hunger foods

8. There is a risk that the research remains academic

9. Labor intensive preparation methods and lack ofknowledge and toxicity

10. Domesticated foods are more popular than IWFPs

11. Displaced people do not value the resources inthe areas where they are taking refuge

12. Collection of IWFPs can be dangerous becauseof wild animals

WILD FOODS AS A RESOURCE ANDINDICATOR OF FOOD SECURITY

In Bahr el Ghazal different counties had different lev-els of mortality during the 1998 famine. This appearedto be related to the level of knowledge of indigenousfood plants. Those communities dependent on live-stock experienced high levels of mortality, as did thosewho had to move from more urban areas to the ruralareas.

8

In south Sudan IWFPs are now being used as part ofthe early warning systems for monitoring livelihoods— data including the level of collection, who is col-

International Policy Environment

National Policy Environment

ENTITLEMENTS

FOOD PRODUCTION

NATURAL RESOURCES

Sustainable food entitlement

Food security

Sustainable environmental entitlement

Sustainable food production

lecting, and when they are collecting, all give indica-tions of the level of risk. This tends to be a very strongtool for predictions of food security.

Food Security Framework

9

CONFLICT AND FOOD PRODUCTIONIN AFRICA

! Cost in lives, livelihood and military spending

! Declining development assistance

! Food production forgone (average/growth)


1. Despite the importance of IWFPs and the policy/strategy design, unless land tenure is part of thisprocess there is a serious danger of exploitationof the more vulnerable. Property rights and theinstitutional framework is a crucial part of theprocess so that customary and de facto laws canbe determined and included in the planned Agri-

cultural and Natural Resource Management policydevelopment.

2. The monitoring system of food security usingIWFPs as an indicator has been in effect since1997. The report generated from the 1997 datapredicted the 1998 famine. The monitoring sys-tem has been active in 17 counties and is increas-ing to 21 counties, covering most of the NewSudan. There were some problems with credibil-ity with the international organizations and agen-cies, however they have now acknowledged theusefulness and relevance of this data. Monitoringis conducted within the communities and there-fore has low operational costs. The database de-veloped on IWFPs will become an important partof this programme and will be fed informationfrom the programme. There is strong potentialfor this system to be adapted for other countries/areas in the region (e.g. Northern Kenya and theIGAD countries).

10

The new wild foods database is an upgrade of previ-ous versions of the database. The main informationpage gives an introduction, acknowledgements, termsand definitions, methodology, bibliography, and a guideon how to use the database itself. It is possible toenter the database and make comments. Names areselected from a drop down menu, or searched for bytype of plant, vernacular name, sites, description,medicinal use, ethno-veterinary use or by other uses.A wide range of data are available for the species inthe database, including distribution, calendars (whenharvested, when consumed), who harvests, who con-sumes, what type of food type, preparation methods,storage methods, cultivation techniques, nutritionalsummaries, and photographs. Reports can be gener-ated by queries — area, vernacular language, species,foods used in a certain time period in a particular area,types of IWFPs used in a certain month, differentprocessing techniques, etc.

The database structure is now finalized and there willbe a period of data entry for approximately fourmonths. It is hoped that the database will become avail-able on the Web, CD-ROM and in hard copy by theend of May 2001.


1. The development of this database brings up anumber of issues related to intellectual propertyrights (IPR). Although it is planned that the data-base will be launched on the Internet, access toinformation and communication technology (ICT)is not possible across most of south Sudan. Whilethe local communities that contributed their knowl-edge to the database are explicitly acknowledged

Session 2Chair: Brian D’Silva

The Wild Foods Database for South SudanBirgitta Grosskinsky and Caroline Gullick

in it along with their rights to ownership of thedata contained in it, the researchers are also en-suring that hard copies of the data and CD-ROMswill be distributed to the communities of southSudan. The web launch is just one step in thesharing of this information and is not the onlymeans of dissemination. The database will bemaintained and updated as more information fromthe field and nutritional analyses become avail-able. By giving wide access to this database it ishoped that agencies will be able to better plan theiractivities and give a wider context for food secu-rity interventions. There are still issues related toplacing indigenous knowledge in an easily acces-sible format. While the capacity to manage IPRissues is still underdeveloped in southern Sudanand parallel to the dissemination of the IWFP workthere will be activities to ensure that the people’sproperty rights are not violated.

2. It was noted that Crop Resources of TropicalAgriculture (CRTA) have started a 15-year projectto produce a 16 volume series of the crop re-sources of Africa. This will include all the indig-enous food plants that are known. The volumeon the vegetable resources is in progress and anyresearchers, scientists or communities who fellthat they would be able to contribute to this areinvited to contact Dr. Rudy Schippers (see detailsin participants list).

3. The database fits in with food distribution sys-tems — looking at the foods people are eating indifferent areas and how these foods are accessed.To do this you need to know what foods they areeating and how much of each. If food access isrestricted by any means then the deficit needs tobe compensated by some other food type or byrelief. By working with the IWFP monitoring of

11

the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association(SRRA), then the WFP approach can work verywell. The baselines for IWFP intake monitoringbegan in 1994, and by 1997/8 the process hadbecome more refined. There is a lot of data that

now needs to be analyzed and disaggregated toprovide information for other sectors. The FoodSelf Sufficiency cut off point — which is theamount of cereals that people need given that theyhave access to other foods — now incorporatesthe use of IWFPs.

12

Food Source Diversification:Potential to Ameliorate the Chronic Food

Insecurity in EthiopiaGetachew Olana, Consultant

ABSTRACT

As some chronic and transitory factors that are prin-cipally related to poor performance of the climate,natural resource base degradation, institutions andpolicies have been considered as the root causes ofthe perpetual food insecurity status that prevails inEthiopia, solutions that address these factors have beenfrequently proposed and considered. Even though thesefactors are well acknowledged, the very fact that mostof the important, normal and cheap foods that the restof the world consumes are taboo, discouraged or notavailable in this country has not been reported. Con-sequently, no effort has been made with this regard.On the other hand, Ethiopia is endowed with availabil-ity of and natural potential for numerous plant andanimal food sources that are potentially edible.

In response to the more frequent food shortage inEthiopia, some worst coping mechanisms that havenegative consequences for future environmental de-velopment and socioeconomic wellbeing and stabilityare pursued. Though they are practiced to lesser ex-tent in some areas and in spite of their immense po-tential, diversification of the usual food sources havenot been encouraged and promoted. This country is aland of numerous nations, nationalities and groups thathave their own food materials food habits, culturesand values. Since these heritages, especially thosewhich are practiced by ‘minorities,’ have been dis-couraged and over time forgotten or ignored. Con-sumption of some foods that are efficient and popularfor the rest of world are taboo in Ethiopia. On theother hand, some of these consumables are amongfactors that cause food insecurity of this country.Therefore, it is reasonable to say that Ethiopians arefood insecure in the middle of plenty.

This conceptual paper argues that some factors, whichinclude religious, cultural, institutional, socioeconomicand political arrangements, personal behaviors, policyignorance, are factors that are behind this frequentfood shortage. The paper was incepted to provokediscussion on this issue among the people and to bringthis issue to the attention of the government and otheragencies. After forwarding some conceptual frame-works that are thinly evidenced by findings of a coupleof studies, this paper forwards some recommenda-tions for consideration by the public, government andother agencies. Diversifying food sources in Ethiopiacould be one way of reducing food insecurity. Strate-gies include diversification of contemporary foodmaterials and domestication, introduction and adop-tion of potentially available ones, sensitization and en-couragement of the public, pertinent research, devel-opment, promotional policy, institutional and advocacywork.

INTRODUCTION

Socioeconomic development indicators available forEthiopia, a country that leads one of the poorest econo-mies in the world, are unfavorably lower than the av-erage of sub-Saharan Africa. Each year, on the aver-age, about five million people have problems securingenough food for themselves and need assistance1.

Cereals supply 85% of the total calorie intake in Ethiopia(EFC, 1991). However, as population has grown from15 million in 1951 to 63.49 million today, the per capitaproduction of cereals has dropped by more than 35%— from more than 200 kg in the early 1950s (FDRE,

1 10.6 million for year 2000.

13

1996) to less than 130 kg by 1997 (table 1). Food aiddelivered to Ethiopia (including local purchases)amounted to about 11.1% of the food grain locallyproduced. Factors that are often mentioned as theprincipal causes of inadequate growth in food pro-duction and increasing food insecurity are: inadequateand variable rainfall, soil degradation, conflict, trans-port infrastructure, land tenure, storage, poor nutri-tion and health and heavy workloads on women.Though it is an important problem, the limited andselective food sources used by the people, togetherwith absence of effort to diversify, has not beenmentioned.

This conceptual paper is triggered, to provoke dis-cussion on this issue among the scholars and the pub-lic at large and to attract the attention of policymakers,implementers and non-governmental organizations andother agencies. This paper could also indicate areasof future research and could contribute to the wealthof information existing on the subject matter. In thenext section, the paper provides some backgroundinformation, while the third part raises some pointsrelated to the food security status and discusses strat-egies employed to cope with it. The ensuing partsprovide a comparison of food sources and food hab-its of Ethiopia and the rest of the world. Also, factorsthat have caused the highly selective food habits arediscussed. Finally, some concluding remarks are for-warded for consideration.

BACKGROUND

In Ethiopia, agriculture, characterized by low perfor-mance, is the main source of livelihood, especially forthe rural people who constitute more than 85% of thepopulation. Agricultural production grew by 3.8% perannum during the period 1990/91 to 1997/98. How-ever, this level is still inadequate when compared tothe 3% annual population growth in the country. More-over, agricultural production has continued to fluctu-ate with the rainfall patterns; growth rates are believedto have declined further in 1998/99 and 1999/2000(Tekie 1999, Mulat, 2000). The scope for increasingfood production through expanding cropland has be-

come drastically narrowed. In most parts of the coun-try, horizontal expansion of local food production tokeep pace with population growth is becoming in-creasingly difficult.

So far, no convincing evidence indicates the prospectfor a decline in the rate of population growth. Thishas resulted in an average population density of around60 people per square kilometer. This growing popula-tion has made it impossible to continue traditionalmethods to maintain soil fertility (fallow periods) andhas resulted in soil degradation. These situations un-derline the need for employing means to increase landand labor productivity. An important question, how-ever, is the possibility and effectiveness of the usuallyrecommended means, technological and biologicalchanges, in Ethiopian agriculture.

The Government of the Federal Democratic Republicof Ethiopia designed a food security strategy in 1996to ameliorate this chronic problem. The strategy isbased on two principles: food security should be soughtwithin the context of comparative advantage in inter-national trade of food crops and food security assis-tance should continue so as to enable the transition toself-reliance. The strategy addresses both the supplyand the demand sides of the food equation, which isinterpreted as availability and entitlement, respectively.It has three components: to enhance economic growthand employment, to create additional entitlement/ac-cess and targeting programs (like supplementaryemployment/income generating schemes, programstargeted for very poor and vulnerable groups, and nu-trition and health interventions), and to maintain andstrengthen emergency capabilities (FDRE, 1996).However, the strategy does not seem to have exhaus-tively addressed the causes and possible solutions ofthe case at hand.

An official target was also set for substantially nar-rowing the “food gap” existing in the country withinfive years. To this end, in 1994/95, an acceleratedagricultural development program was initiated. How-ever, this ambitious program has not been in a posi-tion to resolve the problem of food insecurity cur-rently facing many in the country. Nor does the me-dium-term prospect of a surge in food production imply

14

the establishment of sustainable agricultural growthfor the decades a head. Such a long-term sustainabilityentails deeper technological progress than possible atpresent, as well as a reversal of the population pres-sure on agricultural land (FDRE, 1996). Besides, asstated by Guinand, et al. (2000), it has not been plannedto study the potentials and possible contributions offood materials that are potentially edible, but usuallyreferred as ‘wild foods’ or ‘famine foods’. It has alsonot been planned to promote consumption of thesefood materials and to study and introduce new foodmaterials.

In 1998, based on the food security strategy, the gov-ernment issued a food security program for 1998–2002. The overall objective of the program was toensure access to food for the most vulnerable peoplein selected areas of the country and, at the end of theprogram period, it is expected that the current size ofvulnerable population in the target area will be foodsecured. The program, designed to address all foodinsecure social groups living in selected target areas,has the following components: agriculture (crop andlivestock), small scale irrigation, infrastructure/ruralroads, sustainable use of natural resources base, mar-ket and credit services, clean water supply and ca-pacity building (FDRE, 1998). Similar to the strategy,the program has also not included some complemen-tary possibilities like diversification of food sourcesand promotion and popularization of the food materi-als that are used during food shortage periods and theother potentially usable ones.

A National Disaster Prevention and Management Policyhas been issued so that relief assistance is provided tothe affected population in a manner which ensuresthat such efforts contribute towards disaster preven-tion and sustainable growth and development. ThePolicy was also designed to ensure that disaster pre-vention activities get due attention in the government’sdevelopment effort. The policy aims at a congruenceof relief effort and planned development to strengthenthe economic fabric of the disaster-prone areas so asto mitigate the suffering of the affected populationand enhance their capability to face the challenge ofsuch disasters in the future. The policy in general hasfailed to appreciate and further promote some of the

traditional and local coping mechanisms of the peoplesuch as limited food source diversification. With thisregard, historical facts of the country like domesticationof teff and enset could also have been appreciated.

In spite of the chronic as well as transitional foodinsecurity broadly confronting the people and the gov-ernment, and prevalence of multitude of problems thathinder its future improvement, in Ethiopia, a highlyselective and restricted food consumption habit is prac-ticed. Besides, not to contribute to bridging of thechronic food gap of the country, important foods ofthe world are not consumed in Ethiopia due to rea-sons that are not exhaustively investigated so far. Fur-ther, no visible effort has been made to introduce,domesticate or study new food materials. These areamong the important factors that threat the food se-curity status of the people and the country at large. Inspite of this fact, the case has been overlooked or hasnot been addressed by the policy makers, governmentaland non-governmental development workers and thescholars.

FOOD INSECURITY AND COPPINGMECHANISMS IN THE COUNTRY

Food Security Status

According to Human Development report of the WorldBank for 1995, Ethiopia is ranked 171 out of 174 poorcountries. Similarly, according to the World Bank(1998) report, with a GDP per capita of only US $110in 1997, Ethiopia has one of the poorest economies inthe world. EC/CTA (1997) puts Ethiopia as a firstpriority in the group of low income, highly food aiddependent and least advanced countries with a highfood insecurity index. The average calorie intake inthe country is only 73% of the required amount, whichis low – even for Africa. All available sectoral devel-opment indicators show that Ethiopia is faring far evenbelow the average level for sub-Saharan Africa.

Although Ethiopia is clearly not unique in its experi-ence of famine, its continued status as one of the mostfamine-prone countries in the Horn of Africa, coupledwith its recent history of drought, war, and political

15

Year

19811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000Average

Source: FDRE (1996), DPPC reports, CSA and EC/LFSU

Table 1. Proportion of Drought Affected Population, Food GrainProduction, and Food Aid

Total

31.9032.7741.0342.1843.3544.6546.1747.5247.6449.1450.7452.4053.0953.8154.6456.3758.1159.8861.6763.49

Disaster/droughtaffected

2.823.703.304.216.996.142.534.165.353.217.227.854.976.704.002.783.404.767.19

10.605.09

Proportionaffected

(%)8.84

11.298.049.98

16.1213.755.488.75

11.236.53

14.2314.989.36

12.457.324.935.857.95

11.6616.6910.27

Total(‘000MT)

1,272926277

1,096461657925840519980683295428545776847699

Proportion ofproduction

(%)

26.2017.134.14

15.886.909.97

13.0711.906.81

14.119.113.135.966.00

11.10

Total(‘000MT)

6,2127,6836,6034,3864,8555,4046,6846,9026,6766,5797,0787,0557,6196,9457,4929,4327,1799,010

6,915

Percapita

(kg)195234161104112121144145140134139134143129137167123150

136

Population (millions) Food aid Food grain production

turmoil makes it peculiar and exemplary. For instance,roughly 5 million of the 30 million Africans vulnerableto famine in the mid-1990s were located in Ethiopia(Webb, et al., 1994). The country’s crop productionis mainly rain-fed2, droughts have been followed byreduced agricultural output and reduced means ofsurvival, especially for the rural population dependenton agriculture. Available poverty assessments indicatethat the level of poverty is very high in the country.The FDRE (1998) estimates that the overall propor-tion of the population live under absolute poverty. Italso notes that poverty rate is 33% and 47% for theurban and rural of the urban population, respectively.

There are many degrees of food insecurity, depend-ing on the access to food by households. Consideringthe broadest level of average calorie needs, the Gov-

ernment set the minimal acceptable weighted averagerequirement per person per day at 2,100 kcal. On theother hand, in the late 1980s,3 it was estimated thatdomestic food production provided about 1,620 kcal.Total availability, including imports, was about 1,770kcal per person per day, or 16% below the minimallevel accepted by the government. Considering thislevel, an estimated 52% of the country’s population isfood insecure, or exist below the poverty line (FDRE,1996).

This document also discusses that both chronic andtransitory problems of food insecurity are severe in

2 For instance, only 0.6% of cereal production and 0.77 % oftotal crop production was irrigated in 1996/97 (Mulat, 2000)

3 There are no indications for favorably and significantly improvedstatus in the 1990s.

16

Ethiopia. The chronic food insecurity exists due tothe high ratio of urban unemployment and limitationof rural landholdings, where more than one-third ofthe households farm less than 0.5 ha4, which underrain-fed agriculture is inadequate for subsistence pro-duction of food crops. Lack of draft animals (oxen)intensifies the vulnerability associated with excessivelysmallholdings. One result of this chronic food insecu-rity is high levels of stunting in children, especially inthe 18 months immediately following weaning, andmore than one-third of children experience significantillness by the age of one year.

On the other side, there is transitory food insecurityarising from drought, displacement of people and refu-gee inflows. Drought in the case of Ethiopia, with itsrelatively high frequency, is, in fact, semi-structuraland quasi-chronic. Moreover, in many areas of thecountry, there is an overlap of both elements of foodinsecurity, chronic and transitory, which expands thesize of the vulnerable population.

As a result of these, in Ethiopia, there was no timewhen rural population has not been affected bydrought, then famine. Table 1 shows the number ofpopulation principally affected by drought since thebig famine of the mid-1980s: the highest figure is 10.6million in year 2000, and the lowest is 2.53 million in1987. Drought shocks, hence famine, have been arelatively common occurrences in Ethiopia. Currently,the probability of a drought shock occurring in Ethio-pia is as high as one out of three years. Moreover,with a growing population, the magnitude of food in-security is likely to increase with each event of drought.

Even during non-famine years, food consumption lev-els in Ethiopia are said to be extremely low. The fig-ures commonly cited lie in the range of 1,500–1,750kcal per person per day (Webb, et al. 1994). The samedocument, based on outcome of an empirical survey,

has identified variability in food consumption levelsand composition both within and across the study sites:lowlands and highlands. During 1989, the highest av-erage consumption levels were in the highland areas,which are more prosperous than the others: an aver-age of 1,932 kcal per person per day. However one ofthese sites showed 1,366; that was worse than theaverage of the poorest sample as a whole (1,693). Allof the lowland sites of the study, on the other hand,were at or below the sample average in recommendeddietary terms: an average of 1,755 kcal. Consumptionlevels of the poorest income group of the lowlandsites of the survey were below 1,600 kcal, indicatingextreme food deprivation even in the relatively goodrainfall year of 1989/90. As a result, 68% of house-holds were, on average, consuming less than 80% ofthe recommended daily allowance of 2,300 kcal. Inother words, in a good production year, at least 68%of the sample households in these communities couldbe classified as malnourished. Consequently, the au-thors comment that this amount compares unfavor-ably with outcome of a survey conducted in TheGambia and Rwanda, which found only 18% and 41%,respectively, of households as calorie-deficient.

In addition to the drought-prone and the chronicallyfood insecure parts of the country, seasonal food short-age is a common phenomena in every part of the coun-try, usually from July to September. Reports of IDCoF(1999) and Getachew (2000) confirm this fact. Thelatter, for instance, reports that about 80% of thehouseholds in the study area face this problem annu-ally, including in the climatically normal years.

Coping Mechanisms

Based on their experience in Ethiopia, Webb, et al.(1994) discusses three stages and actions taken tolimit damages caused by food crisis: risk minimiza-tion, risk absorption, and risk-taking. The first stageinvolves insuring against risk in an environment oflimited credit and insurance market. It involves mea-sures of savings, investments, accumulation, and di-versification. The next stage of coping involves a draw-down of investments, calling in loans, and searchingfor new credit. As capital for investment dwindles,consumption of food and non-food items becomesrestricted, stores of food are drawn down, and the

4 Mulat (2000) discusses that 63% of the rural landholdings areless than 1.0 ha and more than 37% cultivate less than 0.5ha. Number of the landless households is also considerable.For instance, Getachew (2000) reports it to be 19% inNorth Shewa of Oromia. Amazingly, one year after theregional land redistribution, this proportion was found tobe more than 17% in Simada district of the Amhara(Yohannes, et al., 2000)

17

5 From more than 80 wild-food species they have identified,about 30 were classified as typical “famine-food” plants.

6 The majority of the wild food species encountered in thestudy are could be classified into this category. Childrenconsume the fruits in normal times, but when food is short,they are consumed by the adults as well.

number and variety of potential income sources avail-able become crucial to survival.

The last stage of coping involves the collapse of nor-mal systems of survival and the adoption of abnormalones. At this point, the diet is dominated by unusual“famine foods” (roots, leaves, rodents), and house-holds sell their last assets, including their fields, homes,and clothes. If they are still able to do so, some house-holds break up and leave to search for assistanceamong distant relatives or at relief camps.

This sequence of events shows that many of the ac-tions taken to survive become increasingly irrevers-ible as conditions get worse. At the same time, house-holds that progress along this continuum become in-creasingly vulnerable to a condition of crises. Unlessconditions change or external help arrives, each cop-ing action at best delays the onset of the next stage.

In the drought-prone parts of Ethiopia, since famineis more frequent, measures adopted by households tominimize risk are effective for only limited periods oftime. Besides, not all of these measures are beneficialeither to the household or to its environment. Desper-ate actions such as cultivation of marginal land or fell-ing trees to sell as firewood have serious consequencesfor future environmental developments and incomegeneration. Of all, the sale of children or the abandon-ment of elderly relatives is a sad way to have to cope.

Webb, et al. (1994) discuss existence of three mainconsumption responses to absolute food shortage inEthiopia: the diet can be diversified to incorporate fooditems not normally consumed, the quantity of foodconsumed per meal can be reduced, and the numberof meals per day can be reduced. These authors havereported that their sample households have adoptedall these measures. The range of items and frequencyof consumption at these survey sites rose consider-ably during the crises. In some areas, more than 95%of households supplemented their diets with “faminefoods” such as roots, leaves, grass and rats. About58% of households in the relatively higher incomegroup have increased their consumption of “faminefoods”; compared with only 41% of those in the low-est group. This is because the poorest householdssupplement their diet with berries and fruits even in

normal years. In line with this, a study conducted inPawe, Western Ethiopia, indicates that in case of foodshortage, the native people consume more than seventypes of wild animals (Betru, et al., 1996).

Getachew (2000) reports that in North Shewa ofOromia, similar to the group discussants, his samplehouseholds have reported sale of livestock (50%),wage work/migration (12%) and borrowing with highinterest rate (10%) as their principal coping mecha-nisms. ‘Selling’ of one’s landholding was also reported.

Related to this, Guinand, et al. (2000) discuss that inEthiopia consumption of wild plants seems more com-mon and widespread in food insecure areas where awide range of species are consumed. These plantsare consumed only at times of food stress and there-fore an indicator of famine conditions. For instance,in parts of southern Ethiopia the consumption of wildfood plants seems to be one of the important localsurvival strategies and appears to have intensified dueto the repeated climatic shocks hampering agricul-tural production and leading to food shortages. TheKonso people, for example, still have and use a well-developed knowledge concerning which wild-foodplants can best provide a dietary supplement in peri-ods of food shortage. These people have managed tocope with severe food shortage caused by harsh cli-matic condition by increasing their consumption ofwild-food plants. Damaged, reduced or even lost cropharvests have been partly compensated by the collec-tion of wild-foods.

Based on the study they have conducted in the south-ern Ethiopia, these authors have also placed wild foodplants into four categories: typical famine food plants5,wild-food plants with famine-food components, wildfood plants attracting additional consumer categoriesduring food shortage periods6, and on-farm crops withfamine-food components like immature enset, sor-ghum husk, etc. They have further reported that incontrary to the prevailing assumption, people have the

18

opportunity to collect wild foods almost throughoutthe year. However, this potential has not been encour-aged and fully exploited.

There are some experiences of coping mechanismsof the pastoral areas as well. It is commonly said thatAfrica’s pastoral households derive more than 50%of their income from livestock products – home-pro-duced milk, meat, and blood. In Borana, south Ethio-pia, in 1984, a decline in milk availability forced a di-etary change. In 1982, milk contributed, on average,55% of total calories to the diet of Borana households;by 1985 the contribution of milk fell to only 15%.This was compensated for by an increased consump-tion of blood, meat and cereals. Even though amongthese people as much as 40% of the daily energy in-take of adults is obtained from blood, 42% of Boranahouseholds and 25% of Gabbra households sampledby Webb, et al. (1994) increased their consumptionof blood during the famine year.

In general, these reports and the day to day experi-ences show that asset devastation, encroachment onthe rapidly diminishing natural resources, leasing-outone’s landholding, household break-up, displacement,desperate migration, reduction in the number of mealsand in the amount of food consumed per meal, beg-gary and consumption of unusual foods are amongthe common forms of coping famine in Ethiopia. It isobvious that most of these mechanisms have irrevers-ible and harsh consequences. Even though they arefriendly to the environment and they can contribute tofuture sustainability, alternative coping mechanismslike food source diversification have been discour-aged or have not been encouraged in the country.

EXEMPLARY FOOD HABITS OF THEREST OF THE WORLD

People around the world in general have a lot of inter-esting food habits that can be lessons for Ethiopians.In Europe and America, people use 2,000 to 3,000food materials, mainly meat-based ones. On the otherhand, the food materials used by Asian peoples are farmore diverse and grains have an important position.

The number of their food materials is estimated atmore than 10,000 (Suzuki, 1997). On the other hand,it is commented that Africa in general is full of over-looked and under-developed food items that are notbeing fully exploited in the fight against hunger. Yet itis the home of more than 2,000 grains, vegetables,roots, fruits, and other foods that potentially couldfeed the continent and even other parts of the world.There is a good heritage that has fed people for gen-erations stretching back to the origins of mankind.Strangely, this tradition has largely been overlooked inmodern times (Ethiopian Herald, 1996). Even thoughresearch reports are not available for Ethiopia and inspite of the prevalence of this resource, the poten-tial food materials exploited do not to exceed a fewhundred.

Some populous countries like China, which once suf-fered from severe food security problems, haveadopted a food source diversification policy and de-signed a strategy for it and they were successful withit. Consequently still many years after the ‘Green Revo-lution’, the number of non-edibles is small in China.Perhaps the same holds true for Mongolia, Korea, In-dia, etc.

Domestic animals including equines and dogs are foodsources anywhere, especially for the Far East. Pigs,rabbits, rodents, birds (e.g., ducks), etc. are efficientand cheap food sources throughout the world. InFrance, some species of frog are endangered due tointensive human consumption, hence protected. In theequatorial Africa, wild animals like antelopes, cross-bows, monkeys and rodents are sources of food forhouseholds. Most of foods of animal origin still comefrom the forest, i.e., from wild animals, birds and fish(CTA, 1995). In the central part of Africa some wildanimals are at risk of extinction due to intensive hu-man consumption.

Different types of vegetables and fruits, numerous innumbers, are cheap, efficient, and healthy foodsources of most parts of the world, especially Asia,Europe, and North America. Some foods like mush-rooms are not affordable to the poor in the developedworld. CTA (1995) discusses that wild fruits, veg-etables and root crops are food sources in most parts ofAfrica as well. However, this is not a case for Ethiopia.

19

It is reported that there are over 2,000 recorded edibleinsect species in the world. Beetles, butterflies, moths,bees, ants, wasps, grasshoppers, and bugs are mostcommonly eaten. Although ‘entomophagy’, the eat-ing of insects, is recorded from France, Italy, Ger-many, and the United Kingdom to all countries in Af-rica, the Americas and the majority of Asian countriesand Australia, it is most common in tropical and sub-tropical countries. In some villages in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, it is reported that insects are thesource of up to 81% of ingested animal protein. Ofcourse, insects can be terrible crop pests, but, in somecases, these same pests are edible and could be usedas food sources and sometimes are. Nutritionally, in-sects can be good sources of protein, vitamins, min-erals and even fat. Their protein content, on a dry-weight basis, mostly varies from 30% to 81% (CTA,1998). Besides, agate snails, termites and the caterpil-lars of several species of moth are the other food items(CTA, 1995).

In Ethiopia, these foods are either taboos or not tradi-tionally consumed or consumption is discouraged. Onthe other hand, they are not only abundantly available,but some of them are also the principal threats to foodproduction in the country. For instance, monkeys, pigs,porcupines, warthogs and some birds cause signifi-cant crop loss. Termites are reported to cause dam-age on every plant and natural buildings and to haveseverely affected considerable number of householdsin some parts of the country like in West Wollega.Further, the amount of crops lost annually due to army-worm outbreaks is broadly known to be substantial.

AN OVERVIEW OF FOOD SOURCE INETHIOPIA AND ITS TREND

Latest comprehensive study on food sources used inthe country is lacking. In spite of this, attempts madeto review some fragmented works that appeared in acouple of reports. Guinand, et al. (2000) commentsthat Ethiopians generally are constrained to the con-sumption of the commonly cultivated crops and ne-glect wild plants some of which have clearly demon-strated their production potential. Unlike many other

African countries and especially many Southeast andeast Asian countries in general, Ethiopians do not con-sume animals like ducks, pigs, donkeys, horses,snakes, rabbits, rats, cats and dogs. And this meansthat the range of food available to people during timesof stress is narrowed considerably despite Ethiopia’srich biodiversity.

An FAO document, has categorized former Ethiopiaas a major consumer of wheat (FAO, 1996). How-ever, some reports put teff (cereal indigenous to andconsumed only in Ethiopia) as the principal food ofthe country. For instance, as to EFC (1991), teff pro-vides 50% of the total calorie intake of the people.Different from these two, (Webb, et al., 1994) re-ports that the most common sources of calories con-sumed by their sample households in the different partsof the country were maize and wheat, representing51% and 10% of total calories, respectively. Sorghumand pulses were next in importance at 8% each. Teff,barley and more expensive calorie sources, such asmeat, oil, and sugar, each contribute less than 5% tothe total of calories consumed.

EFC (1991-cited Ruth, et al., 1971a) reports that inthe northern part of the country (Tigray), leavenedbread (injera) made from teff and the sauce (wot)made from pulses are the main dishes in most parts ofthe communities. The food taboos in this region in-clude wild animals such as pigs and birds. After threedecades, this pattern does not seem to change thoughconsumption of wheat and vegetable oil has been in-creased due to the intensive food aid operation under-taken in the region since some two decades ago. Thesame document (cited Ruth, et al., 1971b) reportsthat cereals are the major staples in Arsi, in the centralpart of the country, Arsi. The food taboos includefish and most of the wild animals such as pigs andbirds. Other taboos include the front legs of animal,its hearts, tongue and intestine.

This document further indicates that in some parts ofthe country like the present Sidama, food taboos arevery strong and, fish, the heart, and liver of an animalare forbidden (EFC, 1991 — cited Ruth, et al., 1971c).Observations indicate that cereals like maize and ensetconstitute the major portion of diet of this part of thecountry.

20

Report of a research conducted in Ethiopia (Webb, etal., 1994) indicates differences between famine andgood year consumption patterns of the country: forinstance, observation of the consumption of the mostexpensive, teff, and the least expensive, maize. Morehouseholds consume teff during good years than thefamine ones. It is common knowledge that consump-tion of some of the important foods like cabbages,potatoes, enset, roots, tubers increased during famineand food shortage seasons, especially in the rural set-tings. During such times, foods reported as “faminefoods” are consumed. However, since their consump-tion is highly discouraged, the practice is kept as asecret.

It is common knowledge that cereals are the maindietary components of Ethiopians. However, preferredchoices of cereals vary. Though it is more expensivein all of its aspects teff is the most preferred cereal.One important reason is its suitability to prepare injera.On the other hand, production and processing of thecrop demands higher labor input while it is the leastproductive. Production of teff also contributes to soilerosion. In spite of these negative attributes, Ethiopi-ans prefer teff. As teff has color varieties, the whiteone is more prestigious, hence more expensive. There-fore, with increased income and social status peopleincrease their consumption of white teff. Historically,however, once teff by itself was a ‘famine food. Dueto the expanded production and due to the fact that itis food aid commodity, consumption of wheat is alsohigh in the country. The most productive and thecheapest crop, maize is broadly consumed by the lowincome Ethiopians. Due to increased poverty, reducedlandholding size, high productivity of the crop andease of its production and processing, production andconsumption of maize seem to have been increasingslowly. Production and consumption of sorghum andmillet, the two drought tolerant and better performingcrops have been declining, though sorghum is the mostpreferred cereal in the eastern part of the country(Hararghe).

Pulses in general are still required and preferred prin-cipally to prepare wot. However, as supply of thesecrops has failed to keep up with the need, attemptsare made to adapt different mechanisms. For instance,

Guinand, et al. (2000) report that, a grass pea alsocalled chickling pea or vetch (guaya/gayo), initiallyintroduced as fodder to the northern part of Ethiopiais now known as famine food plant and it is broadlyused for wot. Even though there are attempts, thepotential and possibility existing to substitute pulseswith vegetables has not been exploited. So far this ispracticed by the educated urbanites occasionally andthe tradition is developing very slowly. Especially, it isless developed among the rural people who are themajor consumers.

In spite of the immense natural potential existing forit, vegetable production and consumption is less prac-ticed in Ethiopia. With this regard, EFC (1991) dis-cusses that vegetables such as potatoes, onions, cab-bages, cauliflower and spinach are not commonly eatenin Ethiopia. For instance, in some parts of the south-ern region of Ethiopia like Sidama, local cabbage isthe only vegetable used. Mulugeta (1992) has also re-ported that pumpkin is the only vegetable availableand consumed by the Dasenech and the Hamer peoplein southern Ethiopia. Consumption of aleko, a treetastes like local cabbage, is limited to some parts ofsouth Ethiopia such as Males (Mulugeta, 1992) andWolaytas (personal communication). On the otherhand, this plant is a marketable food in some westernAfrican countries like Sierra Leone. Even though Webbet al (1994) report that these plants are famine foods,some grasses constitute diets of some people in thesouthern Ethiopia. Certain types of grasses, such asantara and donki, are regularly consumed by people inMales (Mulugeta, 1992).

In general, consumption of vegetables is not or lesspracticed by the majority (the rural). To this group ofsociety, in most cases, only the local cabbage, pump-kin and potatoes are broadly known. May be an ex-ception could be the enset which grows in areas wherethe local cabbage is consumed broadly. One impor-tant problem in this regard is that in Ethiopia, produc-tion, consumption and processing of vegetables is lessdeveloped. In the central and northern parts of thecountry, consumption of these food sources is tradi-tionally associated with famine and they are consid-ered to be foods of the lower class.

21

Similarly, production and consumption of fruits var-ies from place to place. In general, however, the dailyaverage intake is very low, providing only a smallamount of the total calories. Some exceptions are foundin areas where banana, mango and orange are grownin abundance (EFC, 1991). Even though there is con-ducive potential to grow these crops in many parts ofthe country, the potential growers, the peasants, arenot aware of them and wherever they are aware, theylack planting materials.

Starchy roots and tubers are next in importance tocereals in the diets of much of sub-Saharan Africa,particularly in the humid zone. They make up an im-portant part of the food basket in the sub-region andthey are the most competitive source of calories andprotein (Abalu, 1997). In Ethiopia, especially the south-ern and southwestern part, there appear to existunderutilized high potential in terms of production,consumption and knowledge of these crops. How-ever, in some cases they are emphatically used to copwith food shortage times rather than constituting theregular dishes. In the central and northern parts of thecountry, they are not/or less known and not or lessconsumed.

Enset7, unique to Ethiopia is cultivated in the southernand southwestern parts of Ethiopia as a food and fi-ber crop. An estimated number of 10 to 12 millionpeople depend on it as a staple and co-staple food. Inthis part of the country, it meets the productive andsecurity objectives of the farmers. Even under riskyand variable ecological and socio-economic conditions,enset has proved useful to a sustainable intensificationof agriculture. Reports and personal observations in-dicate that the populations that are dependent on ensethave never suffered from famine, even during the fam-ines of the 1970s and 1980s (Shiferaw, 1996). How-ever, in spite of its merits and potentials, productionand consumption of this crop has been limited to theabove mentioned parts of the country. No successfuleffort has been made to extend the crop to the morefood insecure parts of the country. Shiferaw (1996)and Mulat (2000) discuss that even in its home area,

cultural practices of production of this crop have notshown any improvement, and its performance hasbeen declining due to diseases, wild life attack anddeclining soil fertility.

In general, diversified production and consumptionof vegetables, fruits, root crops and tubers in Ethiopiahas been constrained by discouraging traditions/cul-ture, lack of awareness and lack of the materials (un-satisfactory performance of the extension).

The other area of food selectivity is coffee. Ethiopiais not only a producer, but also the homeland of cof-fee (Coffea arabica). Mulat (2000) discusses thatcoffee bean production in the country, although saidto have grown by only 1.6% during 1990/91 and 1997/98, has reached about 230,000MT in 1997/98. On theother hand, the country is also known to be the topconsumer of the crop. In spite of the fact that it con-stitutes about 60% of the country’s foreign exchangeearning, only about half of the total coffee productionis exported while the balance is consumed domesti-cally. Though it can grow in almost all parts of thecountry, coffee is produced in limited regions but con-sumed equally all over the country. This heavy con-sumption of the bean has been affecting hard cur-rency earning capacity of the country which other-wise could have been used to gain more access tofood and to enhance domestic food production andefficient utilization.

Some coffee consumption habits practiced in someparts of the country could contribute to reduced con-sumption of the exportable coffee bean. Mulugeta(1992) reports that the Gofas in south Ethiopia usecoffee leaves (tuke) while Males of the same regionuse both bean and leaf of coffee. Similar to this, ac-cording to personal communications, in Sheko thepeople use coffee leaf, not the bean, to brew coffeethat is locally called chemo. Further, in Hararghe thenative people do not use coffee bean. Instead, coffeeleaf (quti) is used to prepare hoja. The Somalis useexternal coat of coffee bean (ashara) that they importfrom coffee producing parts of Hararghe to brewcoffee. Similar experiences prevail in different partsof the country. Nevertheless, these useful traditionshave not been encouraged and promoted. Had this7 It is said that similar to teff, initially, it was domesticated in

response to severe famine.

22

been the case, consumption of coffee bean could havebeen reduced and this in tern could have increased theamount of coffee beans exported.

In spite of potential existing for it, production of tea islimited to two medium sized commercial farms. Teaconsumption is largely limited to the urban areas. Ifpromoted among and adopted by the rural people, thiscrop could reduce consumption of coffee.

The other big concern of this topic is the case of theanimal protein sources. EFC (1991) discusses that inprinciple, the daily intake of proteins should provide10%–15% of the total intake of calories. The averageEthiopian diets, however, are abundant in cereals, verypoor in vegetables and animal food. Consequently, suchdiets generally lack animal proteins which have thehighest biological value and are prerequisites for themaintenance of good health. The paper comments that,as a result, most Ethiopians suffer from a lack of pro-tein and vitamins, a fact that corroborates to the lownutritional status of the population and the high mor-bidity and mortality rates. On the other hand, con-sumption of some of the animals that are relativelycheap and efficient sources of protein like pig andfish are either taboo or discouraged.

It is commonly reported that Ethiopia stands first inAfrica and tenth in the world in the size of its live-stock population. However, recent reports indicate thatthe number of cattle, goats and sheep has declinedsubstantially principally due to the scarcity of grazingarea (such land is increasingly converted into crop-land) and drought (Mulat, 2000). This author furtherdiscusses that the quantity of livestock products, suchas milk, meat, and eggs, is not encouraging: annualgrowth rates have rarely exceeded 1%. The per capitameat production, which stood at 9.4 kg per head perannum in 1980/81, decreased to 7.4 kg in 1996/97.Similarly, per capita milk production declined from27.6 litters per head to about 22 liters over the sameperiod.

Among the rural Ethiopians and the poor urbanites,meat in general is consumed during major festivalssuch as important religious days, the end of fasting orother celebrations. In line with this, (EFC, 1991) re-ports that meat, including poultry and eggs, provide

only 3.4% of the total calorie intake while milk andmilk products provide about 2% of it. The same docu-ment reports that in southern Ethiopia (Sidama), forinstance, the intake of protein was far below the rec-ommended standard by about 60%. The supply ofanimal protein was only about 2% of the total proteinintake.

Some of the animals and animal products that are im-portant and affordable sources of food, which other-wise could have contributed to improvement of foodsecurity status in the country are taboo in Ethiopiadue to one or another reason. Among highlanders andthe northern Ethiopians, only cow’s milk is usable whilethat of the other animals is taboo. In some areas, how-ever, diversified milk sources are used. For instance,both goat and cow’s milk are used by the Dasenechesand the Males; in addition to these sheep milk is usedamong the Hamer people and the Guji Oromos in southEthiopia (Mulugeta, 1992). This author also reportsthat the Borana Oromos consume cattle, goat, sheepand camel’s milk. Similar to these, cow, camel, goat,and sheep’s milk are used in the eastern lowlands ofthe country by the Somalis and the Oromos. If suchdiversified milk sources are used in the highlands wherenumber of livestock (other than camel) is larger,the amount of consumable animal protein could beincreased.

The other animal product that is necessary is blood.Similar to some other parts of Africa, blood consti-tutes food material of several people in Ethiopia. Forinstance Mulugeta (1992) reports that extraction (har-vesting) of blood from healthy and strong live cattlefor consumption purpose is a common practice amongthe Dasenech, Male, Konso, Gofas and Hamer peopleof south Ethiopia. By this process, fresh blood is con-sumed either alone or mixed with fresh milk. Thisauthor also reports that the Aris, Konsos and Gamosconsume blood that is extracted from slaughtered cattlesheep or goat mixed with fat or alone. The authorfurther discusses that the Borana and the Guji Oromosconsume blood that is extracted both from life (healthyand strong bulls and heifers) and slaughtered cattle.Blood is used by these people during both normaland severe food shortage years as a coping mecha-nism (Webb, et al., 1994). Informal communications

23

indicate that blood was common food material forOromos and southern people. However, in spite of itsconsiderable advantages, as it is not consumed by the‘dominating’ nations of the country (the north), bloodconsumption has been discouraged. If it is encour-aged and promoted, potential contribution of this foodmaterial is immense in the highlands of the countrywhere number of livestock is higher.

Fish is the other important animal protein source thatis underutilized in Ethiopia. This country has got sub-stantial aquatic resources consisting of more than7,500 km2 of lakes and 7,000 km of rivers. In addition,minor water bodies such as crater lakes make up about400 km2 that are stocked with various fish species(Eshete, 1996). This document further discusses thatin spite of absence of comprehensive data related tothe size and composition of the present fish stock andthe inconsistency of the available ones, fish produc-tion potential of the country is in the range of 33,000–82,900MT per year. On the other hand, the annualnominal domestic production is approximately in therange of 3,500–4,500MT. This makes the utilizationrate only 5–10% of the potential, and this means thatper capita consumption has never exceeded 75g peryear. Compared to the case of the other African coun-tries, (8.4 kg per person per year) and the westerncountries (13.4 kg), fish consumption in Ethiopia isfar too low. If properly exploited, fish can substan-tially decrease the broader food gap prevailing inEthiopia.

This author also comments that the traditional foodhabit has adversely affected fish consumption in Ethio-pia. In line with this, a baseline survey conducted inAlefa Takusa, a district that borders Lake Tana in thewest, indicates that the huge potential existing for fish-eries development in the district has been constrainedby factors that principally include lack of awarenessamong the community and cultural taboos towardsfish consumption (IDCoF, 1999). Similarly, Webb, etal. (1994) have documented that the Afars and Arsisin Ethiopia had refused to eat fish during the 1973/74famine. In general, the consumption of fish is negli-gible even in the lake areas. For instance, around res-ervoirs like Fincha, to where fish was introduced lately,it is consumed, especially by the native people. Tradi-

tionally, in Ethiopia consumption of fish increasesduring the long fasting period of the Orthodox Chris-tians, these days it is forbidden or discouraged byleaders of the Church. This further reduces exploita-tion of this huge potential very significantly.

The food security program, issued in 1998, encour-aged fish production and consumption through en-suring access to necessary production inputs and dis-tribution networks. In the day-to-day life, however,efforts and achievements are not observable. Popu-larization of fish consumption could substantially im-prove the food security status of the country.

Poultry is another food source that is under-utilized.Poultry constitutes about 8.6% of the world’s meatproduction (Holness, 1991). Ethiopia is endowed withnatural environment that is conducive for differenttypes of birds. Only chicken and one or two huntedwild birds are edible in Ethiopia. Even chicken is notconsumed in some parts of the country. For instance,Mulugeta (1992) has reported that chicken is not con-sumed among the Dasenech, the Guji and the BoranaOromos, the Konsos, the Gofas, and the Hamer peopleof south Ethiopia. The principal reason given for thisis that chicken eats dirt and in some areas (Hamer) itis a newly introduced domestic animal. Among theKonsos, adults do not consume chicken eggs. Simi-larly, during interviews conducted in Gilo Abole inGambela in the mid-1980s, chicken was not consumedby the native people.

Poultry in general is an economic venture with rela-tively easy entry. This activity could be an affordablesource of animal protein. One problem in this regardis that in Ethiopia only a less productive species ofchicken is kept and consumed and no effort has beenmade to change this tradition. In other parts of theworld, chicken is only one of the many edible domes-tic and wild birds. Another problem in regard tochicken is that it is traditionally used in only one dish,doro wot. The resources required to prepare one dorowot are very high: estimated to be about Birr 50. In-troduction and promotion of the production and con-sumption of the more efficient types of birds and recipediversification and simplification could increase thecontribution of poultry to the country’s food economy.

24

Another important protein sources for both the devel-oped and developing countries are equines. In the de-veloped countries, it is an expensive source of food.In some Far East and Latin American countries, allequines are consumed. In Ethiopia, regardless of theirabundance, these food sources are taboo. Mulugeta(1992) however reports that donkey, the only equineknown to the area, is eaten among the Geleb people insouth Ethiopia. The Burjis on the other hand do noteat equines, because, reportedly, the flesh of theseanimals is sour. This indicates the possibility to pro-mote consumption of these animals among somepeople in Ethiopia during both normal and food scarcetimes.

Pigs are the most efficient and affordable sources ofanimal protein in the world. They constitute about 48%of the global meat production (Holness, 1991). InEthiopia, they are not only wild but they attack fieldand garden crops. In different parts of the country,though they are difficult, these animals are hunted forhuman consumption. Few individuals in few townsof Ethiopia keep some domestic pigs. Promotion ofthis activity, especially among the smallholders hasnot been considered. Consequently, although pork isrelatively cheaper in the developed world, due to thescarce supply, higher running costs and other rea-sons it is unaffordable in Ethiopia. For instance, porkcosts about Birr 30 per kg while beef ranges fromBirr 8 to Birr 20 per kg depending on place and qual-ity. One important constraint to promotion of pig hus-bandry and consumption in Ethiopia is religion, butthis is not the case for about 18% of the population.

In some African countries all wild animals are incor-porated in the diet. As to the recent edition of “Afri-can journal” on Ethiopian Television, monkey and apesare important and marketed food sources in someAfrican countries. This action has threatened exist-ence of some of these wild animals like baboons. Inaddition to the few commonly consumed wild ani-mals like antelope and pigs, warthogs, porcupines andhippopotamus are consumed in the south and south-western Ethiopia (Mulugeta, 1992). In rare cases,some of these animals, like porcupine and warthogare consumed in some areas of the eastern Ethiopia,while pig and warthog, are hunted for human con-

sumption in western Ethiopia. There are also indica-tions that some people ate apes, monkeys and somereptiles at least until the mid-1980s. Addis, et al. (1993)and IDCoF (1999) has documented that the minoritygroup called Weitos8, who settled around Lake Tana,ate some animals like crocodile and hippopotamus untilsome years ago. Though they were not consumed bythe surrounding majority, the Amharas, these are foodsin other parts of the world. For instance, as there isinternational demand for crocodile, both meat and skin,Ethiopia is undertaking small crocodile farm for ex-port market.

As to personal observation, in the mid-1980s, in thepresent Gambela, at an area specifically called GiloAbol, some items such as rodents and several wildanimals were important food sources of both normaland food shortage times, though the present situationis not known. Similarly, before and during the periodof state farm expansion, in the present East Wollega(Dhedhesa valley), the native people had numerousfood sources that included a number of wild animals,rodents, reptiles, wild roots and fruits. With the ex-pansion of state farms, cereals replaced the traditionalfood sources of the native people. The same situationholds true for some areas in Metekel and in southernand southwestern parts of Ethiopia.

One general truth, however, is that these wild animalsare important threats to food production. They causeconsiderable crop loss and their scaring requires con-siderable human labor. For instance, Shiferaw (1996)reports porcupines, pigs and moles to cause enset pro-duction problems for about 92%, 80% and 41%, re-spectively, of his sample households in North Omo.These animals, attacking the best quality enset plants,have limited enset farming to homesteads.

It seems that there is a possibility to promote domes-tic production of some of these animals, like pigs.Besides, if consumption of some others is encour-aged or at least not discouraged, they can be impor-tant sources of animal protein and can contribute to

8 Eshete (1996) reports that in Ethiopia, lake fisheries usinghand-made nets and traditional reed boats (tanquas) wasstarted on Lake Tana by the Weitos in the early 18th century.

25

mitigation of the prevailing food shortage. However,care still needs to be given to the endangered wildlife.

In general, Ethiopia is a country in which more than80 nations and nationalities and hundreds of ethnicgroups live together. These nations and nationalitiesand groups have there own food materials and foodhabits. Report of a study made by Mulugeta (1991)confirms this statement; although his work was lim-ited to food habits of a few nations, nationalities andethnic groups that live in the southern part of the coun-try. In spite of this fact, food habits and food materi-als used in the country are being narrowed down tofew food sources that are relatively expensive andcomparatively less efficient. From the cereals, teffand from the animal food sources occasionally beefand usually mutton are more preferred by the “haves”who the “have-nots” try to follow as role model. Fac-tors that are behind this problem have not been sys-tematically studied in the country.

FACTORS HINDERING FOOD SOURCEDIVERSIFICATION IN ETHIOPIA

Guinand, et al. (2000), based on the study they haveconducted in southern Ethiopia on wild food plants,comments that in this country, strong traditions, be-liefs and religious taboos still obstruct people’s psy-chological and mental willingness to domesticate andcultivate wild food plants. They further advise thatthis is the reality that cannot be denied and has to beconfronted if the full potential of the indigenous Ethio-pian flora be effectively exploited as a food source.

Religion

According to results of the 1994 census, 50.6% ofresidents of Ethiopia are Orthodox Christians, 32.8%are Muslims, 10.2% are protestants9, 4.6% are fol-lowers of traditional religions, 0.9% are Catholic Chris-tians while other 0.9% are followers of some otherreligions. In general, the majority of minority nationsand nationalities are followers of the traditional reli-gions10. In this country, as in others, religious beliefplays a dominant role in influencing when and what isnormally fit for human consumption. It is one of the

factors that causes significant variation in the normalfood habits and dietary patterns of the different re-gions of the country. Religions determine not only thetype of foods that could be eaten and that could not,but also when the edible ones could be eaten and whenthey could not. Among the Orthodox Christians, dueto regulation of the church, a number of foods are noteaten. These, among the others, include pigs andequines. Besides, consumption of every animal foodis forbidden on Wednesdays and Fridays and duringfasting periods. Even though it had not been the case,number of these fasting periods has increased evenfor the ordinary members of the church. Similarly,even though it had not been the case, lately, fish con-sumption on the fasting days is discouraged. Theserestrictions are very mild for the Catholics and do notexist among the other Christians. Related to this,Guinand, et al. (2000) comments that the OrthodoxChurch of Ethiopia represents a major non-negligibleconstraint to the use and consumption of wild plantsand animals.

Leaving aside the argument regarding whether the re-striction or the permission is biblical or not, the re-striction has contributed to the food insecurity statusof the country. The contribution has increased withthe increase in fasting periods. In case of famine, how-ever, these restrictions are hardly obeyed. For instanceWebb, et al. (1994) discuss that all of the householdsin Debre Berhan, Dinki, and Gara Godo (who are fol-lowers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) had sus-pended the Orthodox fasting rules, which dictate thatmeat and dairy products be avoided on 150 days ofthe year, during the 1973/74 food crisis.

Similarly, the Islamic religion forbids consumption ofsome food materials including pork, blood and somewild animals. Obviously, this affects nutritional statusof the people and it also limits the coping capacity ofindividuals in the case of food shortage. For instance,

9 Includes the Seven Day Adventist, Pentecost, Lutheran,Baptist, Anglican, Meserete Kiristos, Mulu Wengel, KaleHiywot, etc.

10 For instance, about 74%, 71%, 85%, 65%, 96%, 63%,74.4%and 98% of the Bench, Dasenech, Hamer, Konso, Mursi,Sheko, Male and Suri, respectively, are followers of religionslabeled as “traditional.”

26

among the pastoralists in southern Ethiopia, the Gabbra(Moslems) generally refuse to eat the meat of animalsthat have died of hunger or diseases. None of thehouseholds surveyed by Webb, et al. (1994) admittedto eating such meat during the famine, but 92% of theBorana, who are neither Moslems or Christians, diduse this source of food in 1984/85. Similarly, althoughthe Gabbra formerly drank blood as a regular part oftheir diet (as the Borana still do), a Gabbra council hasproclaimed that 20 years ago drinking blood was sac-rilegious. As a result, only 25% of Gabbra householdssampled increased their consumption of blood duringthe famine, compared with the 42% of Borana house-holds. In line with this, before the Islam became stron-ger in the area, blood and several wild animals wereeaten in different parts of Hararghe, eastern Ethiopia.

On the other hand, Guinand, et al. (2000) discussesthat in the southern part of Ethiopia, where there aremany nations and nationalities and tribes still livingwith their indigenous beliefs and traditions, there arefewer religious and external constraints than in theother parts of the country. In these areas, the dailydiet of most people still comprises an element of wild-food, both animals and plants, during certain periodsof the year. This indicates the possibility of relaxingthis constraint.

Lack of Awareness and Access

The other factor that has contributed to the limitedfood sources of the people in Ethiopia is their lack ofawareness about and access to existing and usablefood materials. Sometimes people lack informationregarding existence of some acceptable and poten-tially edible food materials and when they becomeexposed to it, they positively institutionalize it. At othertimes, they lack access to food materials that theyhave approved to be acceptable. In the case of tem-perate zone fruits and peasants in North Shewa couldbe an example for this (Getachew, 2000) 11. In manycases, people have accepted fruits and some vegetablesto which they are exposed. Nevertheless use of thesematerials is often constrained by absence or scarcityof the materials. In general, unavailability, inadequacyor high prices of foods and planting materials have

been problem. The higher price of pork could also bean example.

Absence of Encouragement, Promotional andAdvocacy Efforts

Absence of effort to promote and encourage con-sumption of the potentially and socioeconomicallyedible foods like fish both by the governmental andnon-governmental organizations are among factors thatcontributed to the problem. Such efforts have not beenaddressed by policy, program or strategy of any ofthe appropriate government institutions. Domestica-tion and consumption of the ‘wild’ food materials,which on the other hand have been used to cope withfood shortages, has not been advocated or encour-aged. Food habits of some people that at present arenot acceptable to the dominant ones has not been en-couraged and advocated. Some coping mechanismsemployed by people during food shortage times andnewly adapted food materials, like vetch, have notbeen encouraged. Undoubtedly, such activities coulddiversify the diet and reduce vulnerability.

Absence of research and extension

Research into the adaptability of potentially usable foodmaterials is lacking; this hinders food source diversi-fication. Extension efforts have also not been mean-ingful to introduce and disseminate new food materi-als that are efficient food sources and at the sametime compatible to circumstances of the producers.Fruits and vegetables, fish, pig, and poultry are ex-amples.

Social and Political Arrangements

In Ethiopia, since formation of the empire at aboutend of 1800, the northern settlers had political, reli-gious and cultural dominance over the center and thesouth. The same has been true for the food habits andfood sources. Consequently, it is obvious that foodhabits of the people inhabiting the northern part of thepresent Ethiopia, principally the Amharas and theTigrays has influenced and changed that of the otherpeople in the country. As a result of this, traditionalfoods of the south people like blood, roots and tubers,milk, some wild plants and animals were discouraged

27

and pushed to the borders. Maybe, it is due to thisthat some food habits and food sources are still pre-vailing in the most southern, southwestern and west-ern parts of the country.

On the other hand due to the political, religious andcultural pressures and as a strategy to cope with sub-jugation, the dominated nations and nationalities havedropped their traditional food habits and important foodsources that were not liked/approved by the dominat-ing. Therefore, it was not only dominance of northper se, but also failure of the south to resist the domi-nation and to maintain their traditional food habits andfood materials is the other reason for the current highlynarrow food sources.

Culture and Tradition

Cultures and traditions determine what people will orwill not eat and dietary patterns remain strongly influ-enced by the history of peoples and their culture. InEthiopia, it seems that next to religion, culture andtradition have caused people to narrow their food hab-its. For instance, there is no religious limitation onconsumption of roots, tubers, vegetables, some wildanimals, rodents, fish (for the non-Orthodox and non-fasting), insects, reptiles and birds. These have notbeen eaten in Ethiopia principally due to culture andtradition of the people. These food items are tradition-ally perceived to be of inferior quality and taboo. Ingeneral, the food habits of Ethiopians lack opennessto new food materials that are consumed by otherpeople. Still, culture and tradition of the north hasimpacted on this. This situation has been observed tohave a damaging effect on the people. For instance,during the tragic droughts, attempts made by faminerelief workers to substitute some foreign cereals likerice for teff, have failed, partly because the peoplewere suspicious of an unfamiliar food (EFC, 1991).Related to this Guinand, et al. (2000) commented thatin Ethiopia, wild foods are considered to be a low-status food and its consumption is regarded as a sourceof shame. On the other hand, there is a possibility topromote diversified food sources and food habits ofthe other nations and nationalities of the country.

Personal Characteristics

Personal characteristics like age and sex also deter-mine food habit of and food materials used by thedifferent members of certain community. Often tradi-tionally, children are forbidden to eat certain foodmaterials. Similarly, adults drop some food materialswhich they ate when they were younger. In the ruralareas children eat a number of wild fruits, roots, leaves,twigs or other plant parts, but they avoid all or mostof them when they grown-up. Further, in urban set-tings, children raise and eat domesticated pigeon, butthey avoid the practice when they become adults. Thisindicated that as people get older and are more ex-posed to the culture of their society, they avoid cer-tain foods. This also indicates that children and adultshave different coping mechanism to famine. For in-stance, in Girawa (E. Hararghe), to overcome hun-ger, children were observed consuming succulenttwigs of a perennial plant locally called dhangago, butthis was not the case for the adults who also onceconsumed this plant during their childhood. In linewith this, Guinand, et al. (2000) discuss that in ruralareas of Ethiopia, children consume wild-foods12 (usu-ally referred as famine-foods) very commonly. Evenduring famine times, first children and then womencollect wild food plants when the latter are respon-sible for the preparation. As the able (usually male)members of the victimized household migrate forwork, famine food collection and consumption is leftfor children and women.

Gender also determines the type of food that is con-sumed by members of certain community. In certainsocieties, for instance in some parts of Oromia, girlsare not expected to drink milk. Obviously, these situ-ations affect food security status and coping capacityof these particular members of the community.

11 As a component of its diversification of the local mixed farming,a project (GTZ/LUPO) has introduced such crops to thehigh altitude parts of the zone. Even though the fruits werenew to every one, they have been accepted by all and it hasbeen difficult for the project to satisfy the need for theplanting materials.

12 Such foods include fruits from Ficus spp, Carissa edulis andRosa abyssinica.

28

Exposure and Economic Growth

Actually, economic growth brings changes in foodhabits. Modifying diets depends on economic changesand societies’ levels of exposure to foreign ideas, goodsand peoples. Accordingly, some changes in dietarypatterns were observed.

Likewise, in Ethiopia, change of food habit has beenobserved together with economic development andexposure to the outside world. Mostly, cereal, beefand mutton consumption has influenced that of thebetter-off urbanites in Ethiopia. However, the diversi-fied food sources of the developed world like con-sumption of pig, frog, rabbit, and birds have not beenadapted.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The chronic food insecurity status of Ethiopia is along lasting phenomenon. In response to this disaster,different coping mechanisms have been employed.Food source diversification through domestication ofteff and enset, food materials unique to Ethiopia, isamong the many examples. It seems that the increasein the level of food shortage, the fast growth the popu-lation and the decline in the performance of the uti-lized food resources have necessitated further domes-tication and adoption of others. The diversified natu-ral endowment of the country on one hand and thedifferent food habits and food materials used by thenumerous nations and nationalities and ethnic groupsof the country on the other are indications for exist-ence of potential future domestication and adoptionand diversification of food sources. Some of thesematerials are already used to cope with the food short-age situations. Still, there is also a possibility to intro-duce foods of other parts of the world that are notknown or utilized in Ethiopia on a large scale. Thisclearly means that food source diversification is anuntapped potential that could substantially contributeto amelioration of the chronic food insecurity prevail-ing in Ethiopia.

However, this has been constrained by factors thatinclude religion (principally Orthodox Christian and

the Islam), lack of awareness about and access tousable food materials, absence of encouragement,promotion and advocacy efforts from concerned in-stitutions, social and political arrangements, and eco-nomic development.

Reversing this situation in order to reduce food inse-curity requires joint and synchronized intervention ofthe different agencies of the government, the non-governmental and other agencies, the elite and thepublic at large. Areas of the intervention could includethe following:

! Promotion and advocacy of ‘abnormal foods’ or‘famine foods’ during normal times so that theycould increase the stock of food available for thehousehold;

! Study the ignored and contemporary food mate-rials and food habits of the peoples of the coun-try, especially the minorities, and encourage thepeople to maintain their traditional food sourcesand food habits and to develop confidence in them;

! Consideration of food source diversification, adop-tion of new food sources and promotion of theuse of the discouraged (not encouraged) ones inpolicies, strategies and programs;

! Introduction of foods from other parts of theworld that are potentially usable and promotionand support of their use;

! Systematic study of the present ‘wild-foods’/‘famine foods’ and the traditional food sourcesand food habits of the people, especially theminorities.

! Arrange discussions regarding the issue of reli-gion, culture, food sources, famine and death.

REFERENCES

Abalu, G.I., 1997, Meeting Future Food and Agricul-tural Needs of Sub-Saharan Africa: PolicyIssues and Needed Orientations. EthiopianJournal of Agricultural Economics, 1(2), pp28-51.

29

Addis Betremariam, Botossa Kedida, Dub Gelma, 1993,Baseline Study, Alefa Takusa Child-centeredRural Development Project. Redd Barna,Ethiopia.

Betru Haile, Woldesilasie Abute, (1996), Diagnosticstudy on household food security in BelesValley, Pawe Special Woreda –Begnas, Ethio-pia.

CTA (Technical Center for Agricultural and RuralCooperation), 1995, Recognizing the Richesof the Forest. SPORE No 59. Wageningen,The Netherlands.

________, 1998, Reconsider the Lowly Bug. SOPRENo 77 Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Eshete Dejene, 1996, Open Access: A Threat to Ethio-pian Fisheries and Need for a Control Sys-tem: in Mulat, et al. (eds): Sustainable Inten-sification of Agriculture in Ethiopia, Proceed-ing of the Second Conference of the Agricul-tural Economics Society of Ethiopia, 3-4Oct.,1996, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, AESE, pp61-73.

Ethiopian Food Corporation (EFC), 1991, The Devel-opment of Food Processing Industry in Ethio-pia. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PP 62.

Ethiopian Herald (the), 1996, Vol LIII No 042.

EU/CTA, 1997, The EC’s Food Security Strategy andthe ACP Countries. Seminars on food secu-rity, Brussels.

FAO, 1996, Food Requirements and PopulationGrowth (Provisional Version)

FDRE (The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethio-pia), 1996, Food Security Strategy, A docu-ment prepared for the consultation groupmeeting of Dec. 10-12, 1996.

________, 1998, Food Security Program (1998-2002), Draft, Addis Ababa.

Getachew Olana, 2000, Land Tenure Arrangements,Potentials and Problems in the LUPO Inter-vention Zones (North Shewa). A consultancyreport to GTZ/LUPO, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Guinand, Y., Dechassa Lemessa, 2000, Wild-foodPlants in Southern Ethiopia: Reflections onthe Role of ‘Famine-Foods’ at a Time ofDrought. UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia.Addis Ababa.

Holness, D.H., 1991, Pigs. The Tropical Agricultural-ist. CTA and Macmillan.

IDCoF, 1999, Baseline Survey on the Economic Po-tential of Alefa Takusa Woreda in NorthGonder. Draft Version. Redd Barna-Ethiopia,Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Mulat Demeke, 2000, Ethiopian Agriculture Sine 1991:Its Performance and Challenges Faced. APaper presented on a symposium for review-ing ‘Ethiopia’s Socioeconomic Performance1991-1999’. April 26-29, 2000 Addis Ababa(draft version).

Mulugeta G/Meskel, 1991, Ethiopian Nations and Na-tionalities Culture and Food Habit (Part I) (inAmharic), Ethiopian Nutrition Institute, AddisAbaba. Pps 191.

Shiferaw Tesfaye, 1996, The Role of Enset (Enseteventricosum) in Sustainable Intensification ofAgriculture; In Mulat Demeke, et al. (eds):Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture inEthiopia. PP 49-60, Agricultural EconomicsSociety of Ethiopia. Addis Ababa.

Suzuki, T., 1997, Food Stuches on Health. FarmingJapan. Pp 10-13, 31(1)

Tekie Alemu, 1999, Land Tenure and Soil Conserva-tion: Evidence From Ethiopia. Ph. D. Disser-tation, Goteborg, Sweden.

Webb, P. and vonBraun, J., 1994, Famine and FoodSecurity in Ethiopia. Lessons for Africa. JohnWiley & Sons Ltd., England.

30

World Bank, 1998, African Development Indica-tors1998/99, Washington D.C.: World Bank.

Yohannes Mekonnen, Middlebrook, P., 2000,Microfinance Institutions and Food Security:Towards a Set of Policy Considerations.Microfinance Development Review, Associa-tion of Ethiopian Microfinance Institutions.1(1), pp. 5-12.


1. It appears that whilst religious taboos are flexiblein times of chronic food insecurity there are anumber of cultural beliefs that severely hamperthe diversification of food types and sources. Thetaboo of the consumption of blood by the Gabbra

people discussed in this paper is one example.There is a strong case for awareness programmesto address some of these issues.

2. The percentage contribution to the diet that IWFPsand other ‘wild foods’ make clearly differs notonly across gender, age and wealth groups butalso seasonally. In southern Sudan before the war,IWFP consumption was estimated in the rangeof 5–10%. During the famine of 1998 it rose to arange of 35–60%. Current estimates are of 20%,although in areas such as Yambio where there is acereal surplus, wild foods are consumed less.Fishing communities who eat mainly fish andwater lilies could characterize ‘wild foods’ asmaking up 100% of their diets. In many cases,insects make a significant contribution to the pro-tein intake of communities. For example, in north-east Zambia during the hungry season, termitesaccount for 40–60% of protein intake.

31

INTRODUCTION

Background

For many years the importance of wild plants to sub-sistence agriculture in the developing world as a foodsupplement and as a means of survival during timesof drought and famine has been overlooked. Gener-ally, the consumption of such so-called wild food hasbeen and still is being under-estimated. This may verywell be the case for Ethiopia, a so-called ‘biodiversityhot-spot’ and known as a centre of origin for a sig-nificant number of food plants (Bell, 1995).

Rural people of Ethiopia are endowed with a deepknowledge concerning the use of wild plants. This isparticularly true for the use of medicinal plants (Abebeand Ayehu, 1993) but also for wild plants some ofwhich are consumed at times of drought, war andother hardship. Elders and other knowledgeable com-munity members are the key sources or ‘reservoirs’of plant lore. Wild food consumption is still very com-mon in rural areas of Ethiopia, particularly amongchildren. Among the most common wild plant fruitsconsumed by children are, for example, fruits fromFicus spp, Carissa edulis and Rosa abyssinica plantspecies.

The consumption of wild plants seems more com-mon and widespread in food insecure areas where awide range of species is consumed. The linkage hasgiven rise to the notion of ‘famine foods’, plants con-sumed only at times of food stress and therefore an

indicator of famine conditions. Local people knowabout the importance and the contribution of wild plantsto their daily diet as well as being aware of possiblehealth hazards such as stomach irritation occasionallyoccurring after consumption of certain wild plants.

Nevertheless, whereas the rich indigenous knowledgeon the medicinal use of wild plants has been relativelywell documented, research, particularly concerningthe socio-economic, cultural, traditional, and nutri-tional aspects of wild food plants, still lacks adequateattention. In the case of Ethiopia little, if anything, hasbeen systematically documented on this subject. Thisshould raise even greater concern when looking at thefrequency of recent famine events in the country andthe extent to which subsistence agriculture is still thenorm.

In parts of Southern Ethiopia the consumption of wildfood plants seems to be one of the important localsurvival strategies and appears to have intensified dueto the repeated climatic shocks hampering agriculturalproduction and leading to food shortages. Increasedconsumption of wild foods enables people to copebetter with erratic, untimely rains and drought with-out facing severe food shortages, famine and generalasset depletion as in other areas of Ethiopia (see alsoMathys, 2000). The key to this strategy for survivalis the collection and consumption of wild plants inuncultivated lowland areas such as bush, forest andpastoral land as well as the domestication of a greatvariety of these indigenous plants and trees for home

Session 3: January 24Chair: Monica Opole

Wild-Food Plants in Ethiopia:Reflections on the Role of Wild Foods and

Famine Foods at a Time of DroughtYves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa,

UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia

32

consumption and medicinal use in the more denselypopulated and intensively used mid- and highlands.Southern Ethiopia, particularly Konso, Derashe andBurji special Woredas and parts of SNNPR (SouthernNations, Nationalities & People’s Region) may still beconsidered part of these so-called biodiversity hot-spots in Ethiopia.

Konso people, for example, still have and use a well-developed knowledge concerning which wild foodplants can best provide a dietary supplement in peri-ods of food shortage. Konso people, well known fortheir hard labour and sophisticated agricultural sys-tem (Lemessa, 1999b), have been stricken by droughtsince 1996. In this period they have faced repeatedsignificant harvest losses and even complete crop fail-ures. Nevertheless, until June 1999, most Konso peoplemanaged to cope with these harsh climatic conditionsand survived by increasing their consumption of wildfood plants. Damaged, reduced or even lost crop har-vests have been partly compensated by the collectionof wild foods. Unfortunately, three severe years withonly meagre harvests and yet another harvest failurein 1999, was just too much for many people in Konso,an ecologically fragile area, despite the people’s in-credible efforts to protect and conserve the localenvironment.

Objectives and Methodology

The reasons to initiate a study on ‘wild food’ plants,with an emphasis on ‘famine food’ plants by the UnitedNations Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (UN-EUE) havea largely practical and pragmatic basis. The initial ideawas to document indigenous knowledge on wild foods,more particularly on ‘famine food’, to identify andunderstand better the importance of wild food plantsin the survival strategies adopted by rural people infood insecure areas of the country.

Besides the collection of secondary data, of whichunfortunately very little exists on wild foods and re-lated subjects concerning Ethiopia, informal guidelineinterviews were conducted with selected key infor-mants. In the field, interviews and discussions wereheld with farmers, herders, children and women, bushand farm walks that were undertaken for tracking downspecific wild plants. The study team was guided by

local agricultural experts from Woreda agriculturaloffices who identified knowledgeable key informantsand also acted as translators. Whenever possible, back-ground information was collected on edible wildplants, vernacular names of the plants were registered,photographs of the plant were taken and a sample ofthe plants edible components was taken. Sixty differ-ent plant specimens were collected, mounted, labelledand submitted to the National Herbarium at Addis AbabaUniversity for identification and taxonomic classifica-tion.

Konso Special Woreda, Kindo-Koyisha, Humbo,Damot-Weyde and Kamba Woredas of North OmoZone and Bako-Gazar and Hamer-Bena Woredas ofSouth Omo Zone in the Southern Nation, Nationali-ties, Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia were se-lected for the initial field survey in January 2000. Theselocalities figure among the most chronically food in-secure areas of Ethiopia, periodically facing food short-ages due to their fragile environmental setting. Theyare located 400 to 700km south of Addis Ababa. Inaddition, following the initial survey, information onwild food plants has been collected during subsequentfield trips in other areas of Ethiopia such as Afar,Hararghe and its southern lowland areas towards So-mali Region, North and South Wollo, and Jimma andIllubabor in the Western part of Ethiopia. Furthermore,the Ethiopian Venture Project13 contributed significantly.Using the same methodology, approximately 40 addi-tional wild food plants were identified and describedin three different areas in northern Ethiopia, includingJana Mora Woreda (North Gonder Zone), ZiqualaWoreda (Wag Hamra Zone), and Ganta AfesumWoreda (East Tigray Zone).

Field Guide and Web Site

The UN-EUE compiled all the collected informationinto a field guide that aims to facilitate plant identifica-tion and enable field workers to make comparisonsacross different areas in Ethiopia where people mayhave different eating habits and knowledge of wild

13 For further information on the Ethiopian Venture Project,please refer to the following webpage, where all thenecessary information on this project can be found:www.ethiopian-venture.org.uk

33

food plants. The field guide is kept as database at theUN-EUE office in Addis Ababa, is updated regularlyand available on the UN-EUE web site14. For each plant,in addition to its general physical description, the spe-cific information on consumption, palatability andpreparation is central and most important. This is alsothe part that makes this guide different from othersimilar field guides.

UN-EUE would like to encourage active contributionssuch as samples of additional wild food plants forinclusion in the present field guide and it is hoping toobtain feedback from interested parties15.

One of the difficulties encountered is the confusionsome of the vernacular names create because differ-ent species may have identical vernacular names. Thisis because farmers or users of wild food plants use adifferent classification system or similar species thatare prepared, mixed with other foodstuff and con-sumed in the same way may all be given the samevernacular name.

The field guide is incomplete in many ways. For someof the species only very little information is yet avail-able. Formal identification of some specimens has yetto take place and scientific names of some species arestill missing. Furthermore, for some wild food spe-cies, especially seasonal herbs that were not in season

at the time of the field surveys, only an oral descrip-tion could be collected from key informants. Manyplant species could not be photographed because thespecimens found in the field were not representativeor simply not available. Some photographs are of poorquality, therefore do not tell much about the plant spe-cies, and hence may have to be replaced by moreappropriate pictures that may be taken during forth-coming field missions. The build-up of this field guideis an on-going process whereby data and species willcontinuously be added, improving its content and itsscientific value. Despite all the mentioned shortcom-ings of the present version, we feel the need to sharethe information we collected with other interestedparties to be able to improve and gain more knowl-edge on the importance of wild food plants and thepotential some of them may hide. This potential waitsto be discovered and improved so that some wild foodplants may become future indigenous staple foodcrops that may ease food insecurity in some of themost vulnerable areas in Ethiopia.

The field guide is primarily aimed at field workers,researchers, development and environmental special-ists involved or interested in food security issues at alllevels of intervention, i.e. international, national, re-gional, local.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WILDFOOD PLANTS

General Description and Classification ofDomestible Wild Plants

Wild Foods

The term ‘wild food’, though commonly used, is mis-leading because it implies the absence of human influ-ence and management. In reality, there is a continuumresulting from the development of co-evolutionaryrelationships between humans and their environment(Bell, 1995). People have indirectly shaped many ofthe plants and some have been largely domesticated inhome gardens and in the fields together with farmers’cultivated food and cash crops. Nevertheless, the term‘wild food’ is used to describe all plant resources out-

17 To access the famine food web site directly:www.telecom.net.et/~undp-eue/famine-food-web

18 Please contact UN-EUE office in Addis Ababa or contactboth authors directly:

Yves Guinand, phone 44-44-11, 44-41-48, 51-17-26, 51-37-25, e-mail [email protected],[email protected];

Dechassa Lemessa, phone 44-41-48, 51-10-28, 51-17-26,e-mail [email protected]

If you want to contribute directly to the field guidecompendium, please refer to the samples for the requiredinformation on each species and send, if possible, also twopictures of the species, a close-up and one that is showingthe entire species. Contributions can either be sent by e-mail directly to the UN-EUE office; e-mail [email protected], [email protected] or handed inor sent to UN-EUE, P.O. Box 60252, Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. Have a look at our webpage: (local)www.telecom.net.et/~undp-eue/ (international)www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/eue_web/

34

side of agricultural areas that are harvested or col-lected for the purpose of human consumption in for-ests, savannah and other bush land areas. Wild foodsare incorporated into the normal livelihood strategiesof many rural people, be they pastoralists, shiftingcultivators, continuous croppers or hunter-gatherers(Bell, 1995). Wild food is usually considered as anaddition to farmers’ daily food consumption pattern,generally based on their crop harvest, domestic live-stock products and food purchases on local markets.Fruits and berries from a wide range of wild growingplants are typically referred to as ‘wild food’. Wildfruits and berries add crucial vitamins to the normallyvitamin-deficient Ethiopian cereal diet, particularly forchildren.

Famine Foods

Various case studies in different parts of Ethiopia re-vealed that typical ‘famine foods’ consist of a varietyof plants of which leafy and tender parts of stalks,pseudo-stems, fruits, berries, seeds, husks and roots,i.e. tubers and corms, are mainly used for consump-tion. Plants classified as typical ‘famine food’ plantsare normally not consumed due to their limited sea-sonal availability, local taboos, offensive nature of theplants such as abundance of thorns and tiny spines(mostly not on the edible part of the plant), certainunpleasant characteristics and side-effects such as badtaste, complicated and prolonged preparation, and as-sociation with stomach complaints, constipation, di-arrhoea and even intoxication. On the other hand, cer-tain ‘wild foods’ which are liked and therefore col-lected and consumed at all times when ripe, may alsobecome very important ‘famine foods’ during peri-ods of food shortage. In certain areas of SouthernEthiopia some potential ‘famine foods’ are well knownas livestock fodder during normal times which willalso be consumed by humans at times of severe foodshortages.

Proposed Wild Food Plant Categories

Depending on the parts of the plants (fruits, leaves,roots etc.) consumed in certain circumstances (nor-mal time versus periods of severe food shortage) bydifferent consumers (adults, children, women, men),four major categories of ‘wild food’ plants can be

distinguished: (1) typical ‘famine food’ plants, (2) ‘wildfood’ plants with ‘famine food’ components, (3) ‘wildfood’ plants attracting additional consumer catego-ries during food shortage periods, and (4) on-farmfood crops with ‘famine food’ components. Eachcategory and some typical representative examples of‘wild food’ plants are described below.

Typical Famine Food Plants

From a typical famine food plant, leaves, stalks, inflo-rescence, roots (tubers and corms and rhizomes) orbarks (mainly of Acacia sp.) are edible. Many of theroot-type famine food plants are drought tolerant andcan stay in the soil intact for a long time. Therefore,they can be collected when the need is greatest. Mostof the leafy-type famine food plants are locally re-ferred to and classified as ‘weeds’, sprouting and flour-ishing after rains. They generally mature within a shortperiod of time (about two weeks). There are two mainperiods of maximum consumption of the leaves andtender parts of such famine food plants. The first pe-riod is while farmers are waiting for the upcomingcrop harvest. The second main period is when theyrun out of food stocks from the previous harvest, andare facing a food shortage. People try, whenever pos-sible, to add famine foods to local staple foods or tomix it with other foodstuff to mask the often offen-sive nature of the food and to reduce any characteris-tic and unpleasant side effects. At present approxi-mately 50 wild food plant species are listed and clas-sified as typical famine food plants from an approxi-mate total of 120 listed wild food species.

In Konso Special Woreda, in Southern Ethiopia,Amorphophallus gallaensis and Arisaema species(‘bagana’ in Konso language) and Caralluma sprengeri(‘baqibaqa’) are considered typical famine food plants.Bagana is a corm plant of which three varieties areused: the ‘normal’ bagana, the litota (some call italso ‘panshala’) and the romitta variety. All are grow-ing in farm fields. The litota variety is preferred to theother two because it has a relatively acceptable taste.Compared to normal bagana and the romitta variety,it can be prepared within a short time, is less perish-able, and can be stored for a longer period of time.But all three varieties have to be crushed and dried

35

prior to further preparation. The dried parts are thenground to powder. Finally the powder is mixed withwater and cooked like maize for approximately 30minutes. The process may take several days of prepa-ration before the other two bagana varieties can beconsumed.

Baqibaqa is a small stick-like drought tolerant plant“without leaves” of plastic-like constitution, propa-gating vegetatively by cuttings. In Konso, farmers dif-ferentiate three varieties of baqibaqa for which theyhave no specific names. The first variety is of browncolour and reaches up to 25cm in height, the secondis green and slightly taller, and the third is grey, shortand thick (approx. 10cm). Farmers explained thatbaqibaqa tastes relatively good without unpleasant sideeffects when boiled and consumed. In Konso it ismostly eaten together with kurkufa (in Konso lan-guage), locally prepared sorghum balls. Other examplesof typical famine food plants in Konso are Sterculiaafricana (‘qawureta’ in Konso language), Doberaglabra (‘karsata’ in Konso language), Portulacaquadrifolia (‘marayita’ in Konso language) andMaerua angolensis (‘kadhi’ in Konso language).

From a Balanites species named ‘kuze’ in Gamogna,farmers in Kemba Woreda, North Omo explained thatits fruits are only eaten during food shortage periodsbecause they need special treatment before consump-tion; the ripe fruits have to be boiled first, then theskin is removed and the flesh is edible. Furthermore,the skin of the kernel can also be removed; the re-maining inner part is then washed with ash, cookedand mixed with salt for consumption. Still after allthese processes the food tastes sour and unpleasant.

Opuntia ficus-indica is a cactus with edible reddishfruits when ripe. In Daro Lebu wereda, West Hararghe,particularly in the remote lowlands of Daro Abona,people are usually collecting and consuming availablefruits from O. ficus-indica that spreads widely all overthe lowland areas in the dry season. Children andwomen collect the ripe fruits with a long wooden stickwith a large nail at its end. The fruit is pierced by thenail and torn off the plant. It is then rubbed on theground to remove the spines. The upper end of thefruit is sliced-off with a knife and the remaining piece

sliced open on one side so that the thick skin can beeasily removed by hand to eat the inner part. Highconsumption of O. ficus-indica fruits, even thoughrather pleasant and tasty, causes intestinal problems.Opuntia species are spread all over Ethiopia and wellknown in most parts for their fruits as a ‘famine food’.In many parts of Tigray Region, the fruits are evensold on local markets, such as in Mekele town. In Konsopeople also eat the fruits in times of hardship.

Even though more commonly consumed in Ethiopia’sfood insecure areas, typical famine food plants arealso being consumed by people who face food short-age in other areas of the country such as Jimma Zoneof Oromia Region. Weeds like Sporobolus indicus(‘muryi/harataa’ in Oromiffaa), a grass weed withtiny seeds like teff grains, Guizotia scabra (‘hadaa’in Oromiffaa) and Bidens pachyloma (‘chuqii’ inOromiffaa), are considered typical famine food plantsand were consumed in 1999 when food shortage oc-curred in Seqa Choqorsa and Setema Woredas due toa prolonged dry spell (Lemessa, 1999c).

Wild Food Plants With Famine Food Components

Within this category so-called multi-purpose wild foodplants are represented. Fruits plus one or more addi-tional food products such as leaves and tender partsof stalks and/or root parts can be used at differenttimes of the year and at different stages of food short-age. At present only three species have been identi-fied that fit into this multi-purpose ‘wild food’ plantcategory.

Balanites aegyptiaca (‘bedena’ in Amharic), a smallevergreen tree, about 10 to 20 meters in height, is atypical representative of this category. Its fruits areeaten when ripe by children and by adults during foodshortage periods. The new shoots, which are alwaysgrowing during the dry season, are commonly usedas animal forage. But in periods of food shortagepeople cut the newly growing succulent shoots andleaves and cook them like cabbage. People in droughtprone areas of southern Ethiopia also apply these con-sumption habits to the fruits and young leaves ofSolanum nigrum (black nightshade), a small annualherb and Syzygium guineense (waterberry tree), a dense,leafy forest tree around 20 meters in height.

36

Wild Food Plants Attracting Additional ConsumerCategories During Food Shortage Periods

The majority of wild food species encountered duringthe field study in southern Ethiopia could be placed inthis category. For most species classified in this cat-egory people’s consumption behaviour is the same,that is, only the fruits or the berries are eaten or con-sidered edible. Children consume the fruits in normaltimes, but when food is short adults will collect andconsume fruits from wild trees and bushes. From anapproximate total of 120 identified and listed wild foodspecies, fruits are exclusively consumed from almosthalf of them, which are mostly tree and bush speciessuch as a variety of identified Ficus and Grewia spe-cies.

On the other hand, a series of semi-domesticated wildplants such as Amaranthus species and some othervegetable-like plants, i.e., Brassica carinata as wellas wild tubers (Vigna unguiculata) have been assignedto this category because they are consumed in normaltimes but have also been semi-domesticated to servethe purpose of bridging food gaps in times of drought.

On-Farm Crops With Famine food Components

On-farm crops with famine food components are fewand are likely to be perennial plants. The famine foodcomponents are normally not consumed because itmay imply the total destruction of the plant. Farmersconsulted in the different study areas mentioned sixon-farm crops bearing famine food components: ba-nana (Musa paradisica), false banana (Enseteventricosum), grass pea (Lathyrus sativus), cottonplants (Gossypium spp.), the cabbage tree (Moringaoleifera) and sorghum (Sorghum spp).

In Wolayta, North Omo Zone, the corm (root andstem juncture) and fleshy pseudo-stem16 (false-stem)of the banana plant is consumed when severe foodshortages occur. At times of hardship immature ensetplants are also harvested and used in a similar way. Asthe corm and the pseudo-stem are decorticated, thebanana and enset plants have to be destroyed. Enset,

commonly found in home gardens in parts of South-ern and Western Ethiopia, reaches maturity after abouteight years depending on the type of clones plantedand the local agro-ecology. But many farmers areforced to harvest and destroy the plant before it reachesphysiological maturity, which consequently leads notonly to the total destruction of the crop but also af-fects the quality and quantity of the food productsobtained. Sometimes, when there is an acute shortageof food, farmers may even consume seedlings andsaplings of enset (Shank & Chernet, 1996). In Konso,school children revealed the consumption of unripeboiled papaya (Carica papaya) fruits mixed withmoringa (Moringa oleifera) leaves during the 1999famine period in the Woreda (DPPC, 1999b).

In southern Ethiopia, cotton as a cash crop is verypopular among farmers. Cottonseeds are edible and ifavailable, consumed during periods of food shortage.In Konso, cottonseeds are boiled and eaten mixed withother foodstuffs. The consumption of sorghum huskmixed with other foodstuff such as cereals obtainedthrough humanitarian relief food distributions (per-sonal observations) is also practiced in times of se-vere food shortage.

In Northern Ethiopia grass pea, also called chicklingpea or ‘vetch’ (Lathyrus sativus), known in Amharicas guaya, is known as typical famine food plant. Grasspea has been introduced to the northern highlands asa fodder species for livestock, but humans consumethe plant extensively during food shortage periods.Grass pea is a drought tolerant, high yielding, nitro-gen-rich, leguminous crop with high-quality proteinand carbohydrate. Consumed excessively, grass peacauses irreversible crippling effects in humans, a dis-ease known as lathyrism (Tekle-Haimanot, 1994). Live-stock on the other hand, rarely show symptoms ofpoisoning (Raloff, 2000). The consumption of grasspea in the highlands of northern Ethiopia and the con-tinuous increase of cases of human lathyrism has re-peatedly been reported (Ahrens, 1997, 1998; Klingele,1998; Getahun and Haimanot, 1998). This livestockfodder and famine food crop is increasingly consumedin chronic food shortage areas. The disease occur-ring after excessive consumption affects particularlythe poorest and most active population segment. But

19 The pseudo-stem is “the ‘tree trunk’ formed by the bases ofthe leaves of the leaf sheaths adhering to one another inconcentric fashion” (Shank & Chernet, 1996: p.2)

37

poor people in famine stricken areas such as Wollomay not have to fear lathyrism from grass pea any-more. The International Centre for Agricultural Re-search in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Aleppo, Syria,succeeded in breeding virtually toxin free cultivars ofL. sativus. The research took 15 years until it becamepossible in the beginning of 2000 to produce strainsof L. sativus offering the yield, taste, and environ-mental ruggedness of the original plant (Raloff, 2000).

Local Drought Indicator Plant

Farmers and pastoralists in southern Ethiopia recog-nize a number of indigenous so-called drought indica-tor plants. In the lowlands of Konso special Woreda,along the Segen River, Dobera glabra (‘karsata’ inKonso language) is one such typical drought indica-tor. It is a much-branched evergreen shrub or tree ofup to 10 meters in height. New shoots always growduring the dry season. If rains are delayed or fail, thetree typically shows an enhanced production of newshoots, fruits and seeds. Local Konso people observeda significant D. glabra fruit production increase dur-ing the last four years (1996-1999) coinciding withthe climatic dry spell. Farmers observed that in nor-mal times, when rains are on time or abundant, D.glabra does not produce much fruit and seed. Whenthe tree is blooming abundantly, Konso people fearthat a drought may very well be under way and hence,food may become scarce. Besides its drought indica-tor qualities, D. glabra produces edible fruits and theseed is considered a typical ‘famine food’.

Low-Land Savannah: The Last RemainingCradle of Wild Food Plants

The lowland savannah of Ethiopia is among the re-maining and most important niche for many kinds ofindigenous plant species, notably wild food plants. Thisis partly because these areas are less impacted by theactivities of people, typically sedentary cultivation andpermanent settlements. Most of the wild food speciesidentified were collected from the lowland areas. Many,particularly trees and shrubs, are only found there.Nowadays, people collecting and using wild food haveto travel ever further from their villages in the mid-lands and highlands because more and more bush landis being destroyed and turned into arable land for cul-

tivation. Wildfire, deliberate burning - mostly to re-generate pasture grasses and control animal exo-para-sites, deforestation and bush clearing are majorthreats to the biodiversity of this unique ecosys-tem.

Many useful indigenous plant species are graduallydisappearing, being the unfortunate victims of defor-estation and the general destruction of land and trees.In southern Ethiopia, particularly in Konso, charcoalproduction was unknown until 1998. Road construc-tion workers, who use charcoal for cooking, are dis-seminating the skill of charcoal production. The con-struction of new roads, such as from Konso to BurjiSpecial Woreda, brings charcoal production to thearea. New roads also open new market opportunitiesand charcoal, being mainly used in urban households,is a welcomed off-farm income opportunity. But char-coal production is, no less than wildfire, an efficienttree killer. In places where charcoal production relieson open bushland and natural forests, indigenous treesare rapidly and irreversibly disappearing.

Mid-Lands: Where Wild Food Plants Grow inFarm Fields

The history of settlement in most parts of Ethiopiatells us that people first populated the highland areasfor security and protection and the more favourableclimate. The lowlands, on the other hand, were avoidedas much as possible mainly due to the threat of ma-laria. Today, land is in short supply due to the highpopulation density in most highland areas of Ethiopia.High population density has led to environmental deg-radation and many highland areas have lost their oncerich and unique biodiversity. Regarding trees andshrubs, indigenous species have largely been replacedby a few fast growing exotic species, notably euca-lyptus. This exotic tree, introduced to Ethiopia at theend of the 19th century, became important for farmersas a cash crop, for construction and as a source ofenergy, but eucalyptus cannot provide the same widevariety of different products as indigenous speciesand in addition has negative effects on soil fertility.

On the other hand, declining biodiversity and the de-pendence on a narrow range of crops for food pro-duction, increases vulnerability to food shortage.

38

Using for example improved and hybrid varieties ofmaize and sorghum, which have been bred for spe-cific characteristics, minimal variability (as opposedto the landraces) and with higher yield potential, hasalso increased the vulnerability of some communitiesto food insecurity as they lack drought, pest and dis-ease tolerance and are poorly adapted for long-termstorage, unless chemically treated. These problemsare further compounded by the lack of market facili-ties and the existing infrastructure problems in thecountry. In Ethiopia, with its extreme local variationsin ecological, climatic, soil and farming characteris-tics, the use of “improved” crops showing minimalgenetic variability (uniform crop varieties) does nothelp much, unless complemented with local crop va-rieties and landraces. Striking the balance between thetwo will help to bring the required food security im-provement.

The decline in biodiversity as observed in Welo andNorth Shewa in the northern part of Ethiopia, is apotential threat to food production, as crops becomemore vulnerable to pest attacks, diseases and dry spells(Guinand, 1999). Where forests and bush lands arecleared for cultivation, the rich indigenous biodiversityis gradually disappearing. Farmers have managed, toa certain extent, to preserve some of the more impor-tant indigenous species by either domesticating themon their farm plots, home gardens or by preservingand managing them in situ.

In southern Ethiopia, some wild food plants consid-ered as typical famine foods, i.e. Amorphophallusgallaensis and Arisaema species (‘bagana’ in Konsolanguage) and Caralluma sprengeri (‘baqibaqa’), arepurposely cultivated on farm fields to be available andused at times of food shortage. C. sprengeri is culti-vated on the stone walls forming the terraces in themidlands (weyna dega) of Konso Special Woreda. Byhaving chosen this particular niche, Pachycymbiumsp does not compete with other crops.

Amorphophallus gallaensis and Arisaema species arecommonly present in farm fields like many other fam-ine food plants, which usually are considered weeds.Therefore, farmers uproot and destroy them duringnormal cropping seasons. But when rains fail and thecrop harvest is endangered, these weeds, the famine

food plants, become an important food resource. Oneof the most common and well-known typical faminefood plants in southern Ethiopia is Portulacaquadrifolia, which was mentioned in all the surveyedareas as one of the most important species. Unfortu-nately, it is a noxious weed infesting farmlands anddifficult to control and eradicate once established in afield. Even though considered a crucial famine foodplant, the species can neither be tolerated nor domes-ticated on-farm due to its aggressive behaviour.

Most useful indigenous wild food herbs and tree spe-cies found on farmers’ fields have not been purposelygrown and domesticated in the proper sense. Someof them, like Amaranthus sp. and Solanium sp., aremostly wild, germinate in home gardens and farm-lands, and are usually not given much attention. Butthey are consumed like any other cultivated crop.These two plants are used and have the potential forbecoming useful staple crops and it is unclear whythese two plants are not given appropriate care andmanagement.

Farmers know how to make use of indigenous treespecies, but they have little knowledge about seedtreatment and other propagation methods. Most ofthe indigenous trees are not planted or raised purposely.But farmers know about the usefulness of certain treespecies. So, if it happens that a seedling, a so-calledwildling, germinates and grows somewhere on thefarm, it will be nurtured and protected.

Sequences of Food Availability: When WildFood Plants Fill the Food Gap

Wild food plants are able to fill a variety of food gaps.If, for example, the previous crop harvest was notable to provide enough food to last through to thenext harvest, wild leafy vegetables, cabbage and tu-ber-type famine food plants will be consumed to fillthe gap after the first rains, when farmers are prepar-ing their fields. These typical famine food plants growfast after the first rain showers and can be consumedshortly after. Wild tree fruits usually mature only oncea year, mostly coinciding with the growth cycle ofcereal food crops. Therefore, in a situation where adry spell exacerbates serious crop losses or even com-plete harvest failure, wild fruits will help fill the

39

immediate food gap after a failed harvest. Neverthe-less, in most of the areas surveyed it was observedthat different wild fruits are available at most times ofthe year. The first UN-EUE survey took place in Janu-ary. Usually the last cultivated crops are harvested inNovember, and yet the fruits of many identified wildfood species were ready to be tasted. Others were onthe verge of maturity, while some others were notavailable at all. Contrary to previous assumptions, thestudy team learned that people have the opportunityto collect wild food almost throughout the year. But inmost cases the biomass production from the faminefood plants is not bulky enough to cover the requiredneeds. For example, in Konso there are three fruitingperiods depending on the tree species. The main fruit-ing periods for most of the tree species are from Mayto June and from October to November. But farmersreported that Balanites aegyptiaca, and Balanites ro-tunda trees give fruits in December and January.

Economic Value and Marketing of Wild FoodPlants

A number of wild food plants are of economic valueand are traded in markets in certain areas of Ethiopia.One of the most prominent examples is coffee: in thewestern part of Ethiopia, in Illubabor and Jimma zones,part of the coffee production is still being harvestedfrom ‘wild’, non-domesticated coffee trees growingnaturally in the forests. Less prominent fruits and seedsfrom wild food plants are mainly traded on local mar-kets. Whether wild food plant products are traded forcash or are exchanged for other foodstuff or non-food items, remains to be determined. Nevertheless,in Southern Ethiopia, wild food plants are mostly usedfor home consumption and if traded on the market,they are most likely not traded for money but ex-changed for other goods and foodstuff. In WesternEthiopia (Jimma and Illubabor) as well as in remoteareas in the Tekeze River lowlands and in the SimienMountains of North Gonder and Wag Hamra, a con-siderable variety of wild food plants are offered onlocal markets. These marketed wild food plants in-clude a couple of teff-like grassy plants and seeds. Anexample of a traded and exchanged wild food plant isOpuntia ficus indica, a cactus plant. Its fruits aretraded for cash on markets in Tigray Region during

the rainy season. Also, the fruits of Borassusaethiopum, African fan palm, are marketed in AfarRegion. The fruits and pulp produce oil that has aneconomic value. The fruits themselves also representa considerable economic value in the lower Afar Re-gion near Awash town. Local traders are buying thefruits from the Afar and Karayu to sell in the marketin Awash town. The leaves, stalks and seeds of Bras-sica carinata are traded on remote markets such as inJana Mora Woreda in North Gonder. Fruits of Cordiaafricana and Ziziphus spina-christi are also offeredon markets in Jana Mora Woreda. Further investiga-tion will be necessary to evaluate the economic valueof comestible wild food plants in areas where they arebeing collected and consumed.

Preparation, Consumption and Side Effects:‘Edible’ Does Not Always Mean ‘Palatable’

Fruits from wild plants are usually consumed raw asthey are picked. Leaves and other tender parts of wildplants are prepared like cabbage and other vegetables,i.e., chopped into small pieces and boiled in water.Roots are either eaten raw or cooked. Some wild tu-bers are first dried and then crushed. Root parts areusually more complicated and need a longer prepara-tion time and process, especially those which are toxicand need special treatment. Kernels, seeds and nutsare also mostly cooked for a fairly long time beforeconsumption. The consumers revealed that, when-ever possible, they need to use more salt to mask thedistasteful feature of the foodstuff prepared.

Unpleasant side effects such as bad taste, complicatedand long preparation, stomach aches, constipation,diarrhoea and even intoxication are mostly observedwith typical famine food plants. For example the fruitsof Dobera glabra, the Konso people’s drought indica-tor plant, are edible and the kernel is considered atypical famine food. It has to be cooked for a longtime, i.e., up to 24 hours, and it produces a bad smell.According to farmers, excessive consumption causesstomachaches and other intestinal problems.

In some cases, variation in local consumption for thesame species has been observed. For instance, Konsopeople eat only the fruits of Balanites tree species.But in Kamba Woreda of North Omo Zone, the whole

40

fruit is boiled, the skin removed and the flesh eatenoff the kernel. The kernel is then broken and the innerparts eaten. Piliostigma thonningii (‘olofo’ in Hamerlanguage) trees are another example. In Alduba village(South Omo Zone) the Hamer people collect pods ofthe tree and eat the fleshy part around the small seedslike biscuits, whereas in Bedessa and Kindo-KoyishaWoredas of Wolayita, the same part of the tree is com-monly used as animal forage but not for human con-sumption. This variation in practices regarding theuses and edibility of parts of the same species mayhave a lot to do with the frequency of food shortagesin a specific area and/or people’s way of life. In semi-arid areas, where basic resources such as food arescarce anyway, people may have been under pressureto adapt to the harsh conditions of life and discover agreater variety of edible wild plants and their respec-tive parts. In highly populated areas where intensivecultivation is the norm, biodiversity is considerablyreduced and the possibility of finding wild food plantsminimised compared to the lowland areas.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF WILD FOODCONSUMPTION

Wild Food Consumption: A Source of Shameand Insult

Often wild foods are considered to be a low-statusfood and its consumption regarded as a source ofshame. In normal times only children, youngsters andthe poorest families regularly collect and consume wildfood. In Kayissa Kebele, South Omo Zone, farmersinterviewed stated that all the 10 wild food plant spe-cies collected are not consumed by the majority ofthe population except when there is a serious short-age of food affecting all strata of the population fromthe poorest to the richest. But for the poorest, collec-tion and consumption of wild food may make up animportant portion of their daily dietary intake.

Not all people encountered were willing to provideinformation about wild food and particularly faminefood. Some of the farmers when questioned obvi-ously felt ashamed and maybe offended by outsiders

asking questions about such sensitive issues as theconsumption of famine food.

Some of the wild food plants have such low valuethat their names are sometimes used as insults in cer-tain areas. In Jana Mora Woreda, North Gonder, forexample wild food plants called ‘wozber’, ‘nechelo’and ‘samma’ are insults when people quarrel. Theymight call each other ‘wozberchari’, ‘nechelochari’or ‘sammabele’, whereby a ‘chari’ is a person ‘whodigs with his hands’, which means that the person isso poor that he is not able to afford an ox or even torent one to prepare his fields. On the other hand, someof the wild food plants enjoy high esteem among localpeople. The Dobera glabra tree (‘garsa’ in Afargna)is abundantly found in Zone 4 and 5 of Afar Regionand can easily be recognised in times of drought be-cause of its deep green colour, which stands out inthe otherwise uniform grey-khaki coloured dusty aridlandscape. A settlement a short distance from the Mile-Bati road to Zone 4 and 5 is called ‘Garsa Gita’, whichmeans ‘the place where ‘garsa’ trees are found’. Afarpastoralists have a proverb saying: ‘the one who finds‘garsa’ is lucky and will not suffer’. Finding a ‘garsa’tree in times of drought is a good omen for somebodysuffering from hunger, a sign he will survive. On sev-eral occasions when interviewing Afar people nearwater points during an April (dry season) field tripand questioning them about wild food consumption,they immediately mentioned and also presentedsamples of cooked or fresh fruits of D. glabra thatthey were consuming.

In Wag Hamra Zone there is a wild food herb called‘hamle kulitch’ with large spinach-like edible leaves.There is a saying during food shortage periods: ‘If Isurvive until July and August, I will survive until thenext year17 thanks to ‘hamle kulitch”. The wild food‘hamle kulitch’ gets people through the food short-age period before their crop harvest during the ‘meher’rainy season. Caralluma sprengeri, ‘ango shahay’(Tigrigna), is one of the few ‘famine foods’ Tigrignanpeople use for compliments. To be told ‘you are like‘ango’ is to be told you are strong, determined per-son. Two handfuls of ‘ango’ is said to fill you up forthe whole day. It is therefore often carried on longjourneys.

41

Local Traditions, Beliefs and ReligiousConstraints

Unlike other many other African countries and espe-cially many Southeast-Asian and Asian countries ingeneral, orthodox Ethiopian Christians do not con-sume animals like ducks, pigs, donkeys, horses,snakes, rabbits, rats, cats and dogs. Religion, particu-larly of the Christian Orthodox Church of Ethiopia,represents a major constraint to the use and consump-tion of wild plants and animals. For the believers, theconsumption of wild plants and animals does not con-form to their system of traditional and religious be-liefs. This means that the range of food available topeople during times of stress is narrowed consider-ably despite Ethiopia’s rich biodiversity. As a matterof fact, wild animals as a research subject were ex-cluded from this study. Therefore, we will not go fur-ther into detail concerning wild animals for food.

Ethiopians generally are constrained to the consump-tion of the commonly cultivated crops and neglectwild plants like Amaranthus sp. and Solanium sp. thathave clearly demonstrated their production potentialin pocket areas of the country. These and other simi-lar plants could have been fully domesticated and cul-tivated like any other food crop. Strong traditions,beliefs and religious taboos still obstruct people’s psy-chological and mental willingness to domesticate andcultivate wild food plants. This is a reality that cannotbe denied and has to be confronted if the full potentialof the indigenous Ethiopian flora as a source of foodis to be effectively exploited.

In the southern part of Ethiopia, where there are manydifferent tribes still living with their indigenous beliefsand traditions, there are fewer religious and externalconstraints than in other parts of the country. In someof the areas studied the daily diet of most people stillcomprises an element of wild food, both animals andplants, during certain periods of the year.

Gender and Age-Specific Differences RegardingCollection, Preparation and Consumption ofWild Food Plants

Mostly children collect and consume the fruits of wildplants. Other wild food and famine food plants are

collected by children and women and prepared by thelatter in all the areas surveyed. Women frequently col-lect wild food when they are on their way to fetchwater, collecting firewood, going to the market andwhen walking home from their fields.

Able-bodied male members of the community usuallymigrate for daily labour opportunities elsewhere dur-ing periods of food shortage. Women and children areleft behind to manage as best they can. Therefore,women and children are the main actors concerningthe collection, preparation and consumption of wildfood plants. Children forage and climb trees for collec-tion while women do the preparation and the cooking.

Young boys consume more wild foods than older onesin normal times. At times of food shortage, however,all ages and both sexes consume equally. But youngboys do not eat wild food simply to satisfy their needfor additional sustenance but also because there ex-ists a traditional obligation and social group pressureat a certain age (from the end of childhood to thebeginning of teen age) to collect and eat wild fruits,for example, with children of the same age.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Despite Ethiopia’s long history of cyclical famines,civil war and ethnic feuding during which many peoplerepeatedly endured hardship and deprivation and wereforced to collect and consume wild plants to survive,little is known about these wild plants either withinthe Ethiopian or within the international agriculturalresearch community. Evidence was uncovered in thecourse of the field study and from the additional in-formation gathered and from contributions by otherinterested parties that edible wild plants indeed com-prise a major part of the dietary intake of rural peopleduring times of food shortage. Hence, the consump-tion of wild plants is a necessary part of the strategiesadopted by people in order to survive in a harsh andunforgiving environment.

17 ‘Next year’ means in Ethiopia mid-September and onwards asaccording to the Ethiopian Gregorian calendar New Year(‘Meskel’) is in September.

42

There is a need to document, describe and publishsuch information to enable specialised research insti-tutions to carry out specific studies on a variety ofissues concerning the prevalence and use of ediblewild plants in Ethiopia. For example, little is knowneither about the nutritional value or possible undesir-able side effects such as toxicity of food originatingfrom wild, non-domesticated plants18. Therefore, itseems imperative to carry out applied research on thenutritional values of these plants and their potentialimpact on human health as a result of prolonged con-sumption. It is still unclear if over time some of thewild food plants have long-term positive or negativeeffects on the consumer’s health.

As initial research on wild food plants reveals, someof the species locally used for consumption at timesof food shortage, have the potential to become valu-able staple foods and important alternatives to the usualcultivated food crops. National as well as internationalagricultural and food policy research institutions maybecome interested and may want to initiate further in-depth research regarding the domestication potentialof some of the species used as sources of wild food.Wild plant species that farmers highly value and ap-preciate when it comes bridging a food gap should bestudied in more depth. For some, modern agriculturalresearch may improve their biophysical performancesimilarly to what has been achieved with commonstaple crops. Research may very well be undertakento improve the palatability of wild plants. The studyteam identified a number of useful indigenous food-producing tree species that farmers could easily do-mesticate if the proper propagation methods could beacquired and applied, instead of farmers relying onthe uncontrolled occurrence of wildlings. It has to bestressed however, that where environmental degrada-tion is accelerating, such as in many highland areas ofEthiopia, germplasm collections of wild food plantsshould be initiated before potentially valuable traits arelost forever.

We strongly believe that wild food plants should beconsidered as a serious issue when developing strate-gies to fight rural food insecurity and develop inte-grated development programmes for chronic food in-secure areas in Ethiopia as well as in other parts of theworld.

Relying to a greater degree on wild food plants duringperiods of food shortage does not mean that wild foodplants are a substitute for cultivated staple food crops.They are rather a supplement. The promotion andpropagation of wild food plants, however, may be analternative to modern and artificial ways of boostingfood availability such as using gene-technology, forinstance, to increase crop yields and enhance produc-tion. The option to improve food production throughexploiting the potential of wild food plants is a natu-rally sustainable, cheap and locally available alterna-tive to resolving at least part of the food shortage prob-lem. At the same time, an emphasis on the develop-ment of wild food plants will help enhance and main-tain biodiversity. Modern tropical agricultural researchtends to rely too much on too few a number of variet-ies of staple crops which are being improved by highlyadvanced technologies, going as far as to change thegenetic make-up of plants in order to improve theirperformance. Research is underway to geneticallychange the composition of rice to enable the produc-tion of vitamin A; the absence of this vitamin amongrice-consuming populations causes a number of seri-ous diseases. Gene-technology may be one solution,but a very risky and costly one. A possible alternativeto addressing the vitamin A problem might be researchon indigenous edible wild plants for their vitamin Acontent. Promising plant species and varieties maythen be selected by careful screening and propagationand finally disseminated to farmers.

Ethiopia is endowed with a wide range ofagroecological zones and conditions. The initial UN-EUE field study included parts of southern Ethiopia,one among many other potential areas where wild foodplants exist and are consumed. Subsequent UN-EUEfield missions covered parts of Afar Region, theHararghe northern and southern lowlands, parts ofSouth and North Wollo as well as parts of Jimma andIllubabor zones in the Southwestern part of the country.

18 Studies on nutritional content of a variety of wild comestibleplants are on-going in Southern Sudan and the UN-EUEhopes to obtain this information to be able to compare withthe species found in Ethiopia. There may be similarities,and very likely, along the common border areas betweenSudan and Ethiopia, the same species are being found inlowland bush areas.

43

We now know that there is more information avail-able from other parts of Ethiopia that could be re-corded.

As the UN-EUE field guide intends to raise awarenessamong interested parties for further in-depth research,it is hoped that other research, development and hu-manitarian bodies such as national and internationalresearch and development institutions that may be in-terested in initiating research and development activi-ties regarding wild food and famine food plants, willpick up issues discussed. In this regard the presentarticle may also be taken as a research idea or pro-posal.

DISCLAIMER

The designations employed and the presentation ofmaterial in this document do not imply the expressionof any opinion whatsoever of the UN concerning thelegal status of any country, territory, city or area of itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation of its fron-tiers or boundaries.

REFERENCES

Abebe D and Ayehu A (1993) Medicinal Plants andEnigmatic Health Practices of Northern Ethio-pia. Monograph, Addis Ababa

Abegaz D and Demissew S (1998) Indigenous Afri-can useful plants: medicinal plants in Ethio-pia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The UnitedNations University/The Institute for NaturalResources in Africa (UNU/INRA), surveyreport presented at the regional workshop forAfrican academics and scientists, 2 to 5March 1998, Accra

Ahrens J D (1997) Beneficiary numbers to be in-creased: Amhara Region after the failed Belg.UN-EUE Field Mission Report, 20 to 26 July1997, Addis Ababa

Ahrens J D (1998) South Welo expects a bad Belgseason. UN-EUE Field Mission Report, 18 to23 May 1998, Addis Ababa

Bekele-Tesemma A, Birnie A, Tengnaes B (1993) Use-ful trees and shrubs for Ethiopia; identifica-tion, propagation and management for agri-cultural and pastoral communities. RegionalSoil Conservation Unit/SIDA, RSCU, Nairobi

Bell J (1995) The hidden harvest. In Seedling, TheQuarterly Newsletter of Genetic ResourcesAction International, Webpage: www.grain.org/publications/

Bukenya-Ziraba R (1996) The non-cultivated edibleplants of Uganda. NAPRECA MonographSeries No.9, published by NAPRECA, AddisAbaba University

CSA (1998) The 1994 Population and Housing Cen-sus for Ethiopia, Results at Country Level.Central Statistical Authority, Volume I, Sta-tistical Report, Addis Ababa

Dania Ogbe F M, Egharevba R K A, Bambidele J F(1998) Indigenous African useful plants inEdo and Delta States of Nigeria. The UnitedNations University/The Institute for NaturalResources in Africa (UNU/INRA), surveyreport presented at the regional workshop forAfrican academics and scientists, 2 to 5March 1998, Accra

DPPC (1999) South Omo Zone Food Situation Re-port December 1999. Unpublished Team Re-port from the National Harvest Assessment1999, Addis Ababa

DPPC (1999) Relief Needs Assessment in Konso Spe-cial Woreda of SNNPRS. Unpublished TeamReport from the National Harvest Assessment1999, 28 to 30 November, Addis Ababa

DPPC (1999) Harvest Zone Level Report DerasheSpecial Woreda. Unpublished Team Reportfrom the National Harvest Assessment 1999,30 November, Addis Ababa

DPPC (1999) The 1999 Meher Crops and Needs As-sessment, North Omo Zone, SNNPR. Unpub-lished Team Report from the National Har-vest Assessment 1999, 14 to 28 November,Addis Ababa

44

Edwards S, Tadesse M, Hedberg I (eds) (1995) Floraof Ethiopia and Eritrea, Volume 2, Part 2,Canellaceae to Euphorbiaceae. The NationalHerbarium - Biology Department - ScienceFaculty - Addis Ababa University - Ethiopia,and The Department of Systematic Botany –Uppsala University – Sweden, Addis Ababaand Uppsala

Edwards S, Demissew S, Hedberg I (eds) (1997) Floraof Ethiopia and Eritrea, Volume 6,Hydrochritaceae to Arecaceae. The NationalHerbarium - Biology Department - ScienceFaculty - Addis Ababa University - Ethiopia,and The Department of Systematic Botany –Uppsala University – Sweden, Addis Ababaand Uppsala

EMA & GDE (1995) Agroecological Map of Ethiopia.Ethiopian Mapping Authority (EMA), SoilConservation Research Programme (SCRP),Group for Development and Environment(GDE), University of Berne, Swiss Develop-ment Cooperation (SDC), Addis Ababa &Berne

Farah A Y (1996) Preliminary Examination of MajorFactors Affecting Subsistence Economy ofSouth Omo Zone and Konso Special Woredain South-western Ethiopia. UN-EUE FieldMission Report, 30 April to 7 May 1996, AddisAbaba

Fichtl R, Admasu A (1994) Honey bee flora of Ethio-pia. Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst (DED),Weikersheim, Margraf

Getahun A (1974) The Role of Wild Plants in the Na-tive Diet in Ethiopia. In Agro-Ecosystems No1, p. 45 – 56, Amsterdam

Getahun H and Haimanot R T (1998) Report on newLathyrism epidemic in Ethiopia. Report sub-mitted to WHO, Department of Internal Medi-cine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa.

Guijt I, et al (?) The hidden harvest – The value ofwild resources in agricultural systems – asummary, IIED, London

Guinand Y and Dechassa L (2000) Wild food Plantsin Southern Ethiopia; Reflections on the roleof ‘famine foods’ at the time of drought, UN-EUE Survey, January 2000, Addis Ababa

Guinand Y F (1999) North and South Gonder – FoodSecurity Assessment in Part of the TekezeRiver Watershed. UN-EUE Assessment Re-port, 26 May to 7 June 1999, Addis Ababa

Hedberg I, Edwards S (eds) (1989) Flora of Ethiopia,Volume 3, Pittosporaceae to Araliaceae. TheNational Herbarium - Biology Department -Science Faculty - Addis Ababa University -Ethiopia, and The Department of SystematicBotany – Uppsala University – Sweden, AddisAbaba, Asmara and Uppsala

Hedberg I, Edwards S (eds) (1995) Flora of Ethiopiaand Eritrea, Volume 7, Poaceae (Gramineae).The National Herbarium - Biology Department- Science Faculty - Addis Ababa University -Ethiopia, and The Department of SystematicBotany – Uppsala University – Sweden, AddisAbaba and Uppsala

Isoum M (1998) The extent of use of indigenous Af-rican food crops in South-eastern Nigeria. TheUnited Nations University/The Institute forNatural Resources in Africa (UNU/INRA).Survey report presented at the regional work-shop for African academics and scientists, 2to 5 March, Accra

Kelecha W M (1976) A glossary of Ethiopian plantnames. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,First Edition, Addis Ababa

Klingele R (1998) Looming Crisis in South Welo. UN-EUE Field Mission Report, 11 to 18 Novem-ber 1998, Addis Ababa

Lemessa D (1999a) Field Assessment Mission Re-port: Wolayita, North Omo Zone. UN-EUEField Mission Report, 17 to 21 August 1999,Addis Ababa.

Lemessa D (1999b) Rapid Assessment Mission Re-port: Konso Special Woreda, SNNPR. UN-

45

EUE Field Mission Report, 29 to 31 August1999, Addis Ababa.

Lemessa D (1999c) Prosperity Fades: Jimma andIlubabor Zones of Oromia Region. UN-EUEField Mission Report, 5 to15 October 1999,Addis Ababa.

MacLachlan M (1999) Ethiopian trees with edibleproducts. An unpublished listing and descrip-tion of trees growing in Ethiopia that containedible parts. No organisation mentioned, au-thor known only...

Mahony (1991) Trees of Somalia: a field guide fordevelopment workers. OXFAM ResearchPaper 3, Oxford.

Mashingaidze K, Madakadze R M, Masarirambi M T(1998) Indigenous African food crops anduseful plants in their preparation for food inZimbabwe. The United Nations University/TheInstitute for Natural Resources in Africa(UNU/INRA), Survey report presented at theregional workshop for African academics andscientists, 2–5 March 1998, Accra.

Mayhs E (2000) Assessment of the impact of foodaid on household economics of North Wollo,South Wollo and East Hararghe, Ethiopia.Food Security Unit, Save the Children (UK),Nairobi.

Okafor J C (1998) Indigenous African useful plantsin home gardens of West and Central Africa:coordination report. The United Nations Uni-versity/The Institute for Natural Resourcesin Africa (UNU/INRA), survey report pre-sented at the regional workshop for Africanacademics and scientists, 2 to 5 March 1998,Accra

Parker B (1993) South Omo Field Trip Report. UN-EUE Field Mission Report, October 1993,Addis Ababa

Parker C (1992) Weeds of Bhutan. National Plant Pro-tection Centre Simthoka, Royal Governmentof Bhutan, Department of Agriculture,Thimphu, Essen and Exeter

Peters C R, O’Brein E M & Drummond R B (1992)Edible wild plants of sub-saharan Africa: anannotated checklist, emphasising the wood-land and savannah floras of eastern and south-ern Africa, including plants utilized for foodby chimpanzees and baboons, Royal Botani-cal Gardens, Kew

Pursglove J W (1979) Tropical crops; Dicotyledons.Longman Group Ltd., London

Raloff J (2000) Detoxifying Desert’s Manna; Farm-ers need no longer fear the sweet pea’s dry-land cousin. In Science News, The WeeklyNewsmagazine for Science, Vol. 158, No.5,Webpage: www.sciencenews.org/20000729/bob1.asp

Shank R, Chernet E (1996) Enset crop assessment.UN-EUE, WFP, Ministry of Agriculture,Addis Ababa

Stroud A, Parker C (1989) A weed identification guidefor Ethiopia. Food and Agricultural Organi-zation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome

Tekle-Haimanot (1994) Lathyrism. In Tropical Neu-rology, eds. Raad A Shakir, Peter K Newmanand Charles M Poser, p. 365-374

UNICEF, (1999) An Interagency Mission on non-foodneeds of the drought affected people in NorthOmo Zone and Konso Special Woreda.UNICEF Internal Field Mission Report, 17 to24 June 1999, Addis Ababa.

Webb P and von Braun J (1994) Famine and FoodSecurity in Ethiopia; Lessons for Africa. TheInternational Food Policy Research Institute,Chichester.

46


1. It was again noted that IPR is an issue for theinformation posted on the web. The aim of theEthiopian project is to reduce the reliance on ‘tra-ditional’ food relief and interventions. Commu-nity rights are acknowledged, but there is a strongsense of urgency to bring IWFPs into the main-stream of food security policy and planning.

2. The issue of terminology also needs to be revis-ited and it was discussed as to whether foodswere stigmatized further by labeling them as ‘fam-ine foods’. Although some IWFPs are only usedin periods of food shortage, the label itself is notimportant. What needs to be highlighted is thevalue of the plants to the communities facing foodand nutritional shortages.

3. There is a 15,000 year history of crop domesti-cation in Ethiopia and the issue of external assis-tance to domestication projects was debated. Al-though there may be farmers who would want tolead such activities the people in Ethiopia havebeen disempowered by the relief food activitiesof international organizations. Food delivery is notplanned in consultation with local communitiesand this distorts markets and the driving forcesfor local domestication activities. In addition, thereis little encouragement from government or ex-ternal agencies for such activities.

4. The species discussed as a drought indicator —Dobera glabra — is found in areas with low wa-ter tables. D.loranthifolia is then found in areaswith higher water tables. If the water table raisesthe D.glabra becomes dormant, reductions in thewater table with then stimulate fruiting and flow-ering. This would account for the indicator signsdiscussed in the paper.

47

Domestication of IndigenousWild Food Plants

Rudy Schippers, NRI

DOMESTICATION

Over the millennia people in Africa managed to do-mesticate about 125 species of vegetables out of theapproximately 850 species that are known to be col-lected from the wild. Many of these domesticateshave become scarce at present but there are some 25species left that are currently cultivated across thecontinent and their popularity is on the increase.

Once the list of approximately 120 species of edibleplants that are known from south Sudan and southernEthiopia has been narrowed down to a limited numberwith a high priority, the next step will be to establish alist of desired properties for each of these priorityspecies.

This “wish list” should be prepared after extensivediscussions with representatives from both potentialfarmers and consumers, in which especially womenand elderly people should participate. Such a listcould include aspects of taste (bitterness, draw char-acteristics or sliminess, absence of prickles, spines ornettles, sweet or sour etc.) aspects of ergonomics,aspects of nutritional value or medicinal value andmany others. People are usually asked: what do youlike about this plant and what do you not like.

The establishment of key selection criteria will thenbecome a tool to evaluate the diversity of germplasmthat has been especially collected for this purpose.This selection of germplasm is usually a participatoryprocedure whereby people who know the relevantspecies quite well will be asked to select the plantswith the most promising features. These features in-clude yield potential, size, quantity and taste of fruitsor other relevant plant part such as stems, roots, leaves,flower buds, etc. Features could also include the po-tential for preservation or its use in a mixture withother plant products.

Ideally, seeds should be collected from at least 10 dif-ferent plants belonging to the same species, comingfrom localities with diverse ecological conditions.These seeds should then be sown in separate lines,each representing a single accession. The more di-versified the accessions are, the easier to make a choiceduring the next round when a selection will need to bemade about the most promising line. The non-selectedplants should be maintained because they could wellcontain elements that are desirable and these could beused in follow-up activities.

From each species one should select a limited numberof different lines and the seeds of those should betested for their performance, both in a central unitand with individual people, to be compared with treat-ments “on-station” and “on-farm”. The best of theseshould then be purified and multiplied so that theirseeds could be made available to the community.

Such seeds could be sown near the homestead andthe crop could be harvested for consumption by thehousehold. People should however have to ensurethat the plant will not be harvested altogether in orderto produce enough seeds for the following season. Intraditional agriculture such plants will disperse theirseeds naturally and the crop will not be weeded outlike most wild species that are considered as weeds.Instead, such new crops will establish themselves andspread around the house and the village. If success-ful, such new crops may well be taken along when-ever a member of the community moves from thevillage, thereby spreading the newly selected crop overa wider area.

This participatory approach of understanding selec-tion criteria, evaluation of local germplasm and devel-opment of household cropping systems should en-hance food security through greater use of localknowledge and resources.

48

Indigenous Vegetable Species in TanzaniaDamas Marandu, HORTI Tengeru

There are more than 11 species of indigenous veg-etables in Tanzania that are currently being harvestedcommercially (if not fully domesticated). These in-clude: Amaranthus; African nightshade; Brassica spe-cies (B. carinata); cowpeas; garden eggplant(Solanum aethiopican); spider plant; Corchorus spe-cies; Galinsoga paruiflora; Bidens pilosa; Commelinabengalensis; and bitter lettuce (Launca cornata).

In the past cultivation of indigenous vegetables wasrestricted to backyard gardens and most collectionfor food was from the wild (with the possible excep-tion of Amaranthus and S. aethopican). The collec-tion was done by women and children and indigenousvegetables were regarded as food for the poor. Thecommercial value of these foods was negligible.

However, over the past five years there have been bigchanges in Tanzania. Production has increased dra-matically, particularly with respect to Amaranthus,African nightshade, cowpeas (for leaves) and gardeneggplant. The increase in production has mainly beenattribute to a sharp increase in demand, particularly inthe urban areas (Dar, Arusha, Dodoma). The reasonsfor the increase in demand were:

! Affordability — as the economy in Tanzania wentthrough a bad period, IWFPs became more com-petitive as they require few, if any, inputs.

! Increased nutritional education — an increasedemphasis in the primary school syllabus; increasedgeneral knowledge on value of balanced diets;more information on the higher nutritional valuesof some traditional foods as compared to exotics,such as cabbage.

! Lower levels of pesticide and input residue — in-tensification of production of a number of exot-ics has been accompanied but an increase in chemi-cal inputs in Tanzania. There is a general concernamong Tanzanians about these chemical residuelevels.

This increase in production has highlighted a numberof issues. First, there are increased gender conflictsas men move into a trade traditionally dominated bywomen. Second, there is not enough knowledge aboutpreservation methods for these crops. Third, therehas been a lack of research into techniques to im-prove the cultivation of these crops (including spac-ing, input requirements, harvesting regimes) and ag-ronomic packages are required to help farmers pro-duce IWFPs more economically). Finally, the lack ofgermplasm is a serious constraint to increases in pro-duction and increases in the genetic base of the semi-domesticated IWFPs.

49

Informal Discussion on the Role ofIndigenous Wild Foods in Somalia

Mahdi Kayad and Suleiman Mohamed,Food Security Assessment Unit-Somalia (FAO)

Northern regionsMareer — Cordia sinensisGobLiko — Hydnora abyssiniaGarad — Dobra glabraMoroh — Leptadenia hastateJaleed — Classica italicaKullan — Balanities aegyptiacaCentral regionsYe’eib — Cordeauxia edulisGo’oso — Cyperus esculentusHohobSouthern regionsKablo — Launeaea cornutaRaason — Amaranthus caudatus

At present there is scare information on the indig-enous wild food resources of Somalia and the extentof their use. Some data can be found in the 1988 Min-istry of Agriculture/FAO report and the Food Secu-rity Assessment Unit-Somalia records (although thisis not systematically classified). There are no current,on-going studies. It is clear, however, that there are alarge number of IWFPs in use in Somalia and that thepeople in Somalia also draw on the wild animal re-sources as a source of food.

The main recorded wild foods are:

Normally IWFPs are collected and eaten by herders(boys, girls, men, women) who may bring some hometo be used as snacks. It is estimated that they form 0–10% of diets cross the country. Data suggest thatpoor households consume more and that in hard timesconsumption increases and may rise to 10–20%.

The low percentages of consumption may be explainedby:

1. The pastural nature of the community

2. The stigma attached to wild foods (especially wildmeat) — poor man’s food

3. The difficulty of collecting such foods in sub-stantial quantities (to be significant as food value)

It is thought that non-food bush products play a veryimportant role in people’s livelihoods as these are soldin the markets.


1. As in southern Sudan, IWFPs are used as an indi-cator of the food security situation. Monitors usea questionnaire to track whether people are eatingmore than usual or less than usual levels of wildfoods as a means of tracking the food securitysituation. However, at present there is not thenutritional data to make full use of the knowledgethat is being collected on wild foods.

By region, wild foods can be broken down thus:

Southern regions, cont.LikoMareerBarde — Ficus sycamorusHohobKullan

Vernacular name Scientific nameFruits and Seedsgob Ziziphus mauritianaHohob Grewia pennicilhtaBawfw Ficus sycamorusLeaves and Vegetablesrasow Amaranthus sp.kable Launaea cornutaCarmo Cissus rotundifoliaGrains and Legumesye’eid (gud) Cordeauxia edulis

50

The Central African region contains the second larg-est contiguous tropical dense forest in the world (BSP1993), and the largest on the continent of Africa. Theforest is home to over 30 million people most of whomrely on the forest to restore the fertility of their farm-lands, and as a source of food, medicines, fuel, andconstruction materials.

The USAID-funded Central African Regional Programfor the Environment (CARPE) is a multi-partnerproject designed and implemented by US-based gov-ernment and non-governmental organizations, all ofwhich have experience in the Central African region.Through these partners, CARPE has engaged localNGOs, individuals and government agencies in activi-ties to evaluate threats to forest integrity and to iden-tify opportunities for minimizing resource degrada-tion while promoting human livelihood security.

CARPE’s core philosophy is to facilitate the meaning-ful involvement of African partners and to ensure thatAfrican decision makers have access to, and the ca-pacity to use, information critical to rational forestresource management.

The expanded knowledge base and enhanced individualand institutional capacity that result from the imple-mentation of CARPE will serve as the essential foun-dation for a longer term (15–20 year) effort tosustainably manage forest resources, thus conserv-ing the region’s biodiversity and averting potentiallynegative changes in regional and global climate. Ac-tivities are focused on Cameroon, Central AfricanRepublic, the Republic of Congo, the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

In the first phase of CARPE (1995-2000), the UnitedStates Department of Agriculture Forest Service (For-

est Service) served as team leader for the sub-com-ponent dealing with non-timber forest products(NTFP). The Forest Service sought to determine thepossible contribution of the NTFP sector to achievingoverall CARPE goals. The basic question posed bythe Forest Service was summed as “Can the develop-ment of the NTFP sector contribute to the conserva-tion of biodiversity and the reduction in rates of de-forestation in the Congo Basin?”

After several years work with CARPE, the answer tothis initial question can be summarized as “the man-agement of NTFP is one of many tools available toforest land managers.” The question now posed tothe NTFP community is “Should NTFP be consid-ered primarily as an avenue for forest conservation oras a source of supplementary income and insurancefor rural and urban families?”

WHAT ARE NON-TIMBER FORESTPRODUCTS?

Non-timber forest products are materials derived fromforests, excluding timber. NTFPs include bark, roots,tubers, corms, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, sap, res-ins, honey, fungi, and animal products. NTFPs arecollected from the forest or fields. They are used forfood and medicine, and as a source of income. NTFPsare consumed in both rural and urban homes, and aretraded in local, regional, and international markets.

NTFPs provide small but significant sources of in-come, particularly for women and for families lack-ing access to markets. School fees, festivals and othercustomary rituals, and other extra expenses are oftenfunded through the sale of NTFPs.

Non-Timber Forest Products inCentral Africa:

Issues of Conservation and CultivationLaurie Clark, Consultant in Non-Timber Forest Products

51

NTFPs provide food during periods when agriculturalcrops fail or are scarce. The forest serves as a secu-rity backup to agriculture and cash economies.

Many NTFPs are not marketed, and yet play a vitalrole in livelihoods. Many of the spices used in tradi-tional cooking are not interesting from a market de-velopment perspective — their demand is constant —yet play important social and dietary roles. Use of wildherbs and perennials in traditional medicine providesaround 80% of their primary medical care.

MARKET VALUES OF NTFPS

CARPE supported field-testing of a NTFP valuationmodel in the South West and North West provinces ofCameroon and estimated the value of NTFP produc-tion and marketing at over US$19 million in 1999, andcontributed 2.8% to the regional economy. In con-trast, timber, in this predominantly logged-over area,contributed 5%, and agricultural crops 27% (van Dorpet al, 1999).

Though harvested primarily by rural people, urbandwellers and the African Diaspora in Europe and NorthAmerica drive market demand for NTFPs. In urbanmarkets Gnetum africanum leaves, called eru inCameroon, sell for US$ 0.8/kg which is less than theprice of dried cassava and fresh plantains, and equiva-lent to the price of a cultivated alternative called bitterleaf (Vernonia amygdalina – ndole). Although AfricanDiaspora is willing to pay US$ 50/kg for eru, the vol-ume of trade is tiny relative to that supplying the na-tional markets.

Cross-border trade is significant, with Cameroon serv-ing as a “bread basket” for Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea,Gabon and the Central African Republic. Differentcultural practices (Cameroon has more of an agrarianhistory in many of its ethnic groups), as well as politi-cal issues (Equatorial Guinea experienced internal strifefrom independence) have essentially prevented a gen-eration of people from learning about the traditionalways, and many young to middle aged adults are sim-

ply not aware of what products grow in their ownforests. Gabon neither had a particularly agrarian cul-ture, nor has it pursued agricultural development withoil and timber revenues providing immense nationalwealth, for example.

Pharmaceutical uses of NTFPs generate the most sig-nificant revenues. Extracts from the bark of thePausinystalia johimbe (yohimbe) tree are consumedlocally as a ‘cure’ for many ailments, and is sold inNorth America and Europe as an aphrodisiac, and asa stimulant in soft drinks. The total value of yohimbebark exports from Cameroon was US $600,000 in1998 and is growing each year.

Similarly the bark of Prunus africana (pygeum) isused to extract a chemical cocktail used for the treat-ment of benign prostate hyperplasia in Europe andNorth America and was worth US $700,000 toCameroon, and US $200 million to the pharmaceuti-cal companies in 1999.

Root bark extracts of Tabernanthe iboga (iboga) areused in the Bwiti secret society from southernCameroon through Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, DRC,and Angola. Used in initiation rites, they put the ini-tiate into a drugged stupor where they can remain fordays. During this period, they are said to be in com-munication with their ancestors, and often emergefrom the experience with significant life changes. Drugaddicts from the West have found using iboga in drugaddiction to result in a complete halt to the addiction,with long-term success. Not legal in the North Americaor most of Europe, it is nevertheless under study andshows great promise for curing serious drug addiction.

NTFPs prized for their leaves, roots or bark are par-ticularly prone to unsustainable use; harvesting eitherdamages or kills the parent plant. Worse, for bothpygeum and yohimbe current “sustainable” harvest-ing practices that partially strip bark from live treesexposes them to stem-boring insects that can result in50–90% post-harvest tree mortality. Cameroon cansupply approximately 200 tons of Prunus africanabark sustainably. Yet, over 3,500 tons were harvestedand exported in 1999.

52

SUSTAINABLE USE OF NTFPS

Though NTFPs have been used for millennia, humanpopulation in Central Africa is higher now than it everhas been in history, and is likely to double over thenext 20 years. In addition, development in the form ofroads and other infrastructure open forests to large-scale exploitation, first for timber, then for valuableNTFPs such as Pausinystalia johimbe, rattans, andGnetum (eru). People move in and begin to farm,which affects the forest structure — benefiting someNTFPs and not others. The combination of increasedpopulations and increased forest use intensity sug-gests that wild harvest of NTFPs alone will not besustainable.

Many of the NTFP species are harvested for theirfruit or leaves; in theory sustainable, in practice if notmanaged, insufficient seedlings survive to maturity tosustain the population. As with any wild plant or ani-mal, if demand and harvesting exceeds annual pro-duction the resource will progressively be depletedand become locally extinct.

Though it is natural to want to select the most prom-ising NTFPs for market development, adding-valueto NTFPs should coincide with efforts to minimizeforest degradation, and ensure equitable access. Studiesshow that as NTFPs increase in value there is a trendtoward over-harvesting of wild resources, increasedon-farm production, and exclusion of resource usersby resource managers.

Of the 20 most economically valuable NTFPs in Cen-tral Africa, 11 are unsustainably harvested and 12 arenow cultivated. This trend suggests that few if anycommercially valuable NTFPs can be harvestedsustainably from the wild, given present resource ac-cess and ownership laws.

EXAMPLES OF CONSERVATIONINITIATIVES FOR NTFP SPECIES

Domestication and Ex-Situ ConservationPrograms (ICRAF, Limbe Botanic Garden)

Domestication and ex-situ conservation programs havebeen undertaken by ICRAF (International Center forResearch in Agroforestry) and the ConservationThrough Cultivation Programme at the Limbe BotanicGarden in Cameroon. Both have surveyed local farm-ers to identify the preferred NTFP species, which areusually the most valuable economically as well. Thesespecies have then been ranked, and work begun toestablish gene banks, collect seed and propagativematerials from desirable individuals, and carry outpropagation trials to establish effective and appropri-ate methods of growing the crops.

The Limbe Botanic Garden has made considerableprogress with its program addressing Gnetum. It isnot difficult to grow from cuttings, or to incorporateinto existing agroforestry cropping systems. One ex-ample of ICRAF’s work is to shorten the time to fruit-ing for Irvingia trees. Normally, that would take 15–20 years. Using the propagative technique of“marcotting”, which involves girdling a mature branch,wrapping the girdled area in a moist growing mediumthat encourages the development of roots, and thenthat branch is planted. The resulting “tree” begins tobear fruit as early as 5 years later.

Efforts to domesticate and bring into agricultural sys-tems different NTFP such as Gnetum and Irvingiashow promise. In fact, Irvingia and another tree,Dacryodes edulis, or bush plum, valued for its tartfruit and in-season forms a principal part of the diet,are under de-facto cultivation in that they are plantedaround compounds and in fields, and when clearingthe forest for farms, the farmers tend to leave thewild trees standing.

53

Domestication effort s will definitely assist in theconservation of economically important NTFP spe-cies. However, the process is expensive, and not allspecies can be domesticated. Further, it is not clearthat domestication in any way reduces the level ofwild harvest within the forest. Data on that should beforthcoming in the next few years.

Community Forest Establishment andManagement with Local Control

In the mid-1990s, Cameroon introduced substantialforest code reform. Among the new legislation wasthe provision for the establishment of CommunityForests. These forests would be allocated to commu-nities following the assessment of the forest resource,development of technically sound forest managementplans, and acceptance of the plans by the government.The Ministry of Environment and Forests, MINEFrepresentatives would then assist the communities tomanage and benefit from their community forests.One of the primary sectors that communities seek tocapture in developing community forests is that ofthe NTFP resource base. Similar forest code reformhas already taken place in Congo (Brazzaville) and isunderway in Gabon.

Conflicts between statutory law directing the use offorest products, and that of the various customarylaws, adds a layer of interest. In addition, traditionalor customary natural resource management systemsgive different results. An example of this is the caseof Massularia acuminata in two communities: one inNigeria and one in Cameroon. The wood of this shrubis used as a chewstick for brushing teeth, and is aprincipal item of trade. In the Cameroon community,strangers, usually Nigerian, come and pay a fee to thechief to access the chewstick resource, and their off-take is not charged. In Nigeria, outsiders are chargedto access the resource — and are also charged for thequantity taken out. The Nigerian community is able toaccrue more benefits from the exchange, and alsomaintains greater control over the resource (Malleson,1999).

Establishment of Conservation Zones withinNational Forest Code

The Mount Cameroon Project in Cameroon exempli-fies efforts at participatory biodiversity conservation.Mount Cameroon has one of the highest rates ofbiodiversity anywhere on earth, and is also an area ofhigh endemism. Within the Mount Cameroon Region,is Mount Etindé.

Through many years of effort, the Mount CameroonProject, together with local stakeholders, traditionalchiefs, and influential local people, as well as the dif-ferent government institutions, have worked to de-velop rational, functional management systems for thenatural resources of Mount Cameroon. Mount Etindéis one of the few undeveloped areas on the mountain.It also provides a globally rare strip of relatively un-disturbed native vegetation extending from the sea tosub-alpine conditions 4,000 meters above at the sum-mit of Mount Cameroon.

Currently, the different players in the region are work-ing to establish the Mount Etindé Forest Reserve withinnational forest code. The Reserve will have a Com-munity Forest built into it, giving local people incen-tive to manage and protect the reserve for themselves.NTFP, including bush meat and eco-tourism, are someof the important values this forest possesses.

CONCLUSIONS

! Non-timber forest products from the humid for-ests of Central Africa play an important role inthe livelihoods of African households, providinga source of food, medicine, spices, services andincome.

! For poor families, NTFPs are an essential safetynet, whereas wealthier households value them assubstitutable commodities such as preferred meat,spices, and native cuisine.

54

! As NTFPs increase in value there is a trend to-ward over-harvesting of wild resources, on-farmproduction, and exclusion of resource users byresource managers. Adding-value to NTFPsshould coincide with efforts to minimize forestdegradation, and ensure equitable access.

! Formalized NTFP-access rights, and those of landtenure, will be key in asserting the first steps to-wards actual forest management.

! For a time, NTFPs were seen as a possible “magicbullet” to solve deforestation issues. Experiencehas tempered that belief whilst reinforcing the factthat NTFPs are an important, ubiquitous, andculturally integral part of rural and urban lives inAfrica, and must continue to be considered inforest management decisions.

The work presented here was conducted under andfunded by the CARPE project. Laurie Clark wouldlike to acknowledge CARPE and the organizationsworking with the CARPE project. The views presented

are the Ms Clark’s own and do not represent the offi-cial position of USAID or United States Departmentof Agriculture Forest Service.

REFERENCES

CERUT and AIDEnvironment. 1999The Wealth ofForests in Cameroon: Results of Field Test-ing a Methodology for the Valuation of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in North-West and South-West Cameroon.

BSP 1993 Central Africa Global Climate Change andDevelopment: Technical Report, WashingtonDC Biodiversity Support Programme

Malleson, R. 1999 Community management of no-wood forest resources: A case study fromthe Korup Forest Cameroon. In: Non-woodforest products of Central Africa: Currentresearch issues and prospects for conserva-tion and development. Ed. Sunderland TCH,Clark L and Vantomme P. FAO/CARPE

55

The results presented in this lecture are those thathave been gathered in a project that was initiated todocument all data pertaining to traditional food plants.This research, which is part of a wider ethnobotani-cal study in the area of Bulamogi County, Kamuli dis-trict of Uganda, began six months ago (2000).Bulamogi County is a wooded grassland savanna ofmainly non-uniform small-scale farmland. The impor-tance of traditional food plants cannot be over-em-phasized. According to FAO (1988), among otherthings, they play an important role in food security,diversify the diet, are adapted to the environment, etc.

Participatory methods were employed to carry outthis research. These included semi-structured inter-views (SSI), guided interviews, and direct observa-tions. These methods are going to be supplemented inthe remaining part of the fieldwork with focus groupdiscussions and transect walks.

Results gathered so far indicate that in BulamogiCounty 98 different plant species that grow in thearea are used as food. Of these 98, only 40 plant spe-cies appear regularly in the diet. Therefore about 60%of the plants have been neglected. The communityexplained that the abandoned plant species were ne-glected because they possessed one or more of thefollowing negative attributes: poor taste, low yield,long growth periods, no cash value, or required mucheffort to harvest. Another reason that has had muchinfluence on the choice of plants to eat is change inlifestyle. Many of the different plant foods that werehitherto enjoyed as snack foods, were mainly used byherders or hunters. With the decrease in bush/brushfallow or forests, the practices of herding and hunt-

Session 4Chair: Monica Opole

Traditional Food Plants of BulamogiCounty, Kamuli District (Uganda):

Preliminary ResultsJohn Tabuti, Department of Botany, Makerere University

ing are steadily dying away. Another reason again isthat with people actively growing modern cultivatedfood plants, hunger periods are infrequent and theyno longer need to gather wild food plants for subsis-tence. The people are also confident in their ability topurchase food to overcome lean periods.

As mentioned earlier more plants have been abandonedthan are eaten. These abandoned food plants are thosethat grow wild. Of the 40 most preferred species only10 grow wild. With the majority of the plantsunderutilized, there is a danger that these plants arethreatened with extinction to some degree. When aplant is conceived to be useless, it attains the status ofa weed and accordingly becomes easier to destroy.Of particular note is Sclerocarya birrea, this plant isnot considered important and is therefore cut downto make charcoal.

Reliance on cultivated food plants, which have under-gone much selection to improve their genome, leadsloss in genetic diversity, which threatens food secu-rity. Food security is threatened in other ways. Fromdata gathered it has become clear that 14 plants aredepended on in times of food scarcity. Seven of whichare cultivated and 7 are gathered from the wild. Ofthe wild ones, Dactyloctenium aegyptium and Cannaspp. are neglected and are viewed as weeds and there-fore routinely destroyed. However, the Dioscoreaodoratissima Pax and Dioscorea schimperana Kunthare threatened with habitat destruction. It has againbeen mentioned that the people of Bulamogi believethat they can pass through lean periods by buyingfood. But as demonstrated by Luka Biong Deng inSouthern Sudan (see earlier sessions in the workshop),

56

when the people were hit by disasters of war andfamine, those communities that had retained their plantgathering local knowledge were better able to over-come the famine than the communities that had aban-doned wild food gathering and were used to purchas-ing their food.

Generally the people of Bulamogi depend on cultivatedfood plants for their nutrition needs. They are depend-ing on a narrow food base. This puts them at risk inas far as food security is concerned while threateningbiodiversity at the same time. It might be that loss ofsome of the plants through extinction might causesome cultural ceremonies to disappear. One such cer-emony for example is the ceremony of cleansing twins,in which several plant species are used.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The major findings from this study are that the foodsecurity and biodiversity of Bulamogi are threatened.This is because the people are neglecting some tradi-tional food plants due to their inferior qualities relativeto cultivated plants. The logical way forward is toimprove the quality of some of the plant species thatwill be chosen by the communities. This will raise

their status and thus make the people adopt them; thiswould be followed by domestication exercises. Thereexists some ignorance on the part of the people aboutthe nutrition quality and economic potential of someof these plants. One such plant over which people areignorant is Sclerocarya birrea. It is therefore impor-tant that awareness campaigns are carried out to popu-larize these plants with potential.


1. Marcotting can be used to shorten the period tofruiting and may be applicable for some UgandaIWFPs.

2. IDRC is supporting a project on the indigenousplants of Uganda. This project is trying to do asimilar study to that done in south Sudan and mayhave important linkages with the work presentedhere.

3. There is a subjective impression that in areas withfrequent food shortage people use more plant partsthan in areas that do not experience such regularshortages. This is an idea that could be exploredfurther in the ongoing research.

57

Nutritional and Medicinal Importance ofIndigenous Food Plants

Christine S. Kabuye and Grace W. Ngugi,National Museums of Kenya

INTRODUCTION

For people outside rural areas, indigenous food plants(or sometimes so-called wild foods) are usually con-sidered obscure, unpalatable, only eaten by the pooror eaten during times of famine. Moreover, the peoplewho eat these foods do not usually mention them innutritional surveys. In fact early anthropologists weresurprised that some communities did not show symp-toms that would have been apparent from lack of cer-tain foods in their diet. Fruits and nuts eaten as snacksduring herding or fruits and tubers used to quenchhunger and thirst on the way were not usually re-vealed for total daily food intake. Another factor couldbe that compared to what was accepted elsewhere asfood, these foods were inferior and thus not worthmentioning as part of their diet.

But, the use of these foods, which has evolved overthe decades, has served to provide food and maintaingeneral health among populations. In fact many of thefood plants are used for both nutrition and medicine:to satisfy the needs of an active individual and to pro-vide elements which act to prevent ill-health and havehealing properties.

It must be mentioned that in most traditional societ-ies, there is usually no clear demarcation between whatis taken for food and what is taken for medicinal pur-poses as the two generally overlap. Thus, the nutri-tional and medicinal importance of indigenous foodplants can be considered in the light of maintaininggood health and preventing ill health or healing.

This presentation briefly looks at the bio-medical im-portance of indigenous food plants, addressing boththe nutritional and medicinal aspects of the foodconsumed.

HEALTH NEEDS

While balanced diets are advocated, there are particu-lar nutritional requirements for different categories ofthe population that are usually emphasized. This isbecause of particular needs at different stages of de-velopment or categories of people with particular needs.For example:

1. Children have different requirements from adults.It is not surprising that children eat more wildfruits, nuts and tubers than adults. From thesefoods they get energy, gain minerals and vitamins,which they need for growth.

2. Expectant and nursing mothers require a goodsupply of minerals for the babies and for them-selves to replenish what is being used. Iron andfolic acid are often prescribed for these mothersin conventional medicine. Traditional foods givento them have been found to contain iron and folicacid. The hyacinth bean, Lablab purpureus, spi-der herb, Cleome gynandra, and a few others areoften mandatory for such mothers and have a highcontent of the required micronutrients. In con-ventional medicine, the mothers are advised toeat well in order to produce enough milk for thebaby, while in traditional health systems, there isa provision for milk production as mothers takeparticular foods, e.g., finger millet porridge, hya-cinth bean and roots of Clutia abyssinica.

3. The elderly and the sick more often take tonicsand soups made from various plants. Among theseis the famous Strychnos henningsii (muteta) incentral Kenya whose root and stem bark is boiledin soup for joint and general pains. Even those ingood health use this for general strength and well

58

being. Some of the food plants in this categoryare preferred for their medicinal applications.

4. The pastoral communities, whose main diet con-sists of meat, milk and blood, use various barksand roots in soup, which are believed to reducecholesterol. There are thus no incidents of coro-nary heart disease among the Maasai, for instance.

FOODS CONSUMED FORNUTRITIONAL AND MEDICINALAPPLICATIONS

Following are some examples of the indigenous ortraditional food plants with medicinal properties.

Grains

Finger millet, Eleucine coracana, is an indigenouscereal that is widely cultivated in East Africa with 72% carbohydrate (a high energy source), 6–11% pro-tein, 0.33% calcium and a reasonable content of phos-phorus, iron and a good content of methionine, anessential amino acid. The latter, not found in maize, isgood for preventing and treating kwashiorkor, and themillet is highly recommended as a weaning food forchildren. It is also good for expectant mothers, whilethe porridge from fermented grain is recommendedfor nursing mothers to increase milk production, andis easily digestible to the elderly.

Legumes

Hyacinth bean, Lablab purpureus, is a traditional le-gume whose pods and leaves are used as a vegetable,but the importance being more on the seeds. Thesehave about 24.9% protein, 60.1% carbohydrates andrich in iron, and thus are highly recommended forexpectant and nursing mothers. They are also givento increase milk production.

Vegetables

a. Spider herb, Cleome gynandra, is a leafy veg-etable rich in protein (about 35.8%), vitamin A(good for eyesight and cancer prevention), vita-min C and minerals, calcium and iron. Milk isadded to the vegetable to reduce the bitter taste

especially for children for whom it is recom-mended for the treatment of marasmus. The veg-etable is also recommended for pregnant and nurs-ing mothers due to its content of calcium and iron.It is also given to boys after circumcision. Aninfusion of the leaves is used to treat anemia. Adecoction of the boiled leaves is taken to facilitatechildbirth, treat stomach ache and relieve consti-pation.

b. Blacknightshade, Solanum nigrum, is a leafy veg-etable with protein at 29.3% and rich in Vitamin Aand C and minerals. Like C. gynandra, the veg-etable with added milk is given to children to pre-vent marasmus and kwashiorkor. Boiled with milk,it is also given to expectant and nursing mothersto boost health and help in recuperation after de-livery. The vegetable is also given to old people toprevent muscular and joint pains while increasingstrength in the weak. In Uganda, it is said to begood in the treatment of hypertension and fever.

c. Vernonia amygdalina, known as bitter leaf is avery important leafy vegetable in West Africa. Itis also of limited use as a vegetable in westernKenya and Uganda where an infusion of the boiledleaves is drunk to treat malaria.

Fruits

a. Baobab, Adansonia digitata. The fruit pulp is richin vitamin C and B

2 and minerals and is used in

various ways. It can be eaten whole or made intoa drink. The juice is drunk in the treatment offever. The pulp is also beaten with milk or waterand added to porridge, which is especially goodfor children. The seeds, rich in fat, are roasted asgroundnuts. The leaves and seedlings are used asa vegetable and are rich in vitamins.

b. Tamarindus indica. The sweet-sour pulp in thelong pods is rich in vitamin C and minerals. Widelyused in drinks and for flavouring foods, it is oftenused as a laxative.

c. Wild plum, Ximenia americana. The edible fruitpulp is said to be good in the treatment of tonsil-litis and mouth sores.

59

Tubers

a. Ipomoea longituba. Maasai eat the tubers freshfor hunger and to quench thirst while herdingcattle. They have been found to have a high con-tent of calcium, 599 mg/100 g edible portion, andpotassium, both required for strong bones impor-tant for growing children.

b. Nymphaea nouchalii. The rhizomes are eatenfresh, boiled or roasted and can be mashed withother foods. The chopped rhizomes and flowersare mixed with honey and chewed as a remedyfor kidney problems by the Digo of coastal Kenya.

Tonics, Teas and Soups

a. Acacia tortilis. The bark of this tree is boiled andthe infusion taken for diarrhoea and stomach ache.Pods are regularly eaten in Maasai land.

b. Carissa edulis. The tree has edible fruits, whichare rich in vitamin C and liked by children andadults alike. A number of communities use theroot in soup to strengthen bones and for generalfitness. Incidentally, a decoction of the root isused in the treatment of malaria in children.

c. Salvadora persica. A common shrub in semi-aridand coastal areas, used as a chewing stick forcleaning teeth but also effective in healing bleed-ing and sore gums. The root is used in differentways:

! An infusion is taken by nursing mothers toincrease milk production,

! The Maasai add a decoction as a tonic to achild’s milk,

! It is boiled in soup for health and strong bonesand for curing fever and colds by Pokot andMaasai,

! Dried bark is boiled with tea and taken as ahealth drink by the Maasai, and

! The small fruits of the shrub are edible andcan be dried and kept for long periods.

d. Ximenia americana. The Maasai use the driedroot bark in tea for good health, while thepounded root extract is used for treating diar-rhoea in children.

e. Zanthoxylum chalybeum. Leaves and bark of thistree are used for flavouring tea, which is takenfor chest pains, asthma and tuberculosis. The dryfruits are also used for flavouring tea while rootsare used for flavouring soup. This provides es-sential oils.

f. Euclea schimperi. The Maasai add bark of thistree to a child’s milk as a tonic. Also, the bark ismixed with the bark of Rhamnus prinoides andadded to soup as an appetizer.

Others

Mushrooms. Edible mushrooms are rich in proteins,calcium, phosphorus, sodium and potassium and vi-tamin B complex with folic acid. The presence of thisis useful for increasing blood and mushrooms havemany other medicinal applications, notably, they arebeing used for hepatitis and HIV treatment.

GENERAL COMMENTS

To realize full benefit from the nutritional and medici-nal values of indigenous food plants, the perceptionsof local people about the food plants including prepa-ration methods need to be understood. What peopleknow about these plants and how they can fully beexploited locally needs to be addressed instead of fo-cusing on the food component only and ignoring themedicinal aspect. It is even possible that the medicinalapplication(s) of a food plant may be more importantthan the food application. Since it has been said that80% of rural populations depend on local medicines, itwould be a pity to neglect the medicinal applications.

Other works have confirmed the lack of demarcationbetween nutritional and some medicinal usage. Thefact that nutritional functions in food overlaps themedicinal functions has been shown in the last ten totwenty years by workers like Etkin, working onmedicine and diet of the Hausa people of Nigeria, and

60

Johns working on aspects of diet of the Maasai ofKenya.

Etkin and Ross in their paper on ‘Malaria, Medicineand Meals’ went on to point out how the consump-tion of more vegetables and less grains in diet helpedthe Hausa people reduce malaria infection at the high-est time of risk. It is thought that the simultaneousincrease in oxidants from vegetables help destroymalaria parasites, and the decrease in vitamin A fromthe grains, which as an antioxidant, would have en-couraged the survival of the malaria parasites. Theregular use of bitter leaf, Vernonia amygdalina as avegetable may do the same, as the leaf is also used totreat malaria in Uganda. More research and publicawareness are needed to get maximum benefit fromsuch plants.

CONCLUSION

When local people mention food uses of plants, theysometimes refer to other uses that are of medicinalimportance. The indigenous or local knowledge sup-

porting such information is usually deep rooted incultures, having gone through long periods of tend-ing, semi-domestication and domestication in somecases, with some introduction from elsewhere butadopted into traditional food and health systems.

Generally, traditional knowledge is based on time-tested applications, and is therefore the best startingpoint for research and development.


1. IPR is a particular problem in respect to the datagathered on the medicinal uses of IWFPs. This isbeing considered in the policy process underwayin Kenya at present, which is expected to giveguidelines on how the information collected todate will be made available to the wider public.

61

One of the first steps in the study of indigenous wildfood plants is to understand which species are beingdiscussed, their characteristics and their values otherthan food. To succeed in domesticating these speciesthis information forms a vital part of the chain. Asaccess to exotic species can be limited by pest anddisease outbreaks, it is important that IWFPs are in-cluded in the food security strategies and food poli-cies of countries in the region. The cultural value givento these foods is also a key to their continuance in theenvironment.

During the domestication process, it is also importantto consider the target groups for IWFPs. In Kenya,IWFPs are not palatable to a large section of society.However, for some communities they are an essentialpart of their livelihoods. Cultural tastes are developedover time and in a social context, therefore domesti-cation efforts must consider appropriate foods for thetarget groups.

There are some species that would be acceptable towide range of people (from the urban to the rural ar-eas). These would include — Tamarindus indica,Dobera loranthifolia, Carissa edulis and Mimusopsobtusifolia (formerly fruticosa). However, we mustalso keep in sight the limited distribution of some spe-cies, which would limit their potential for both accep-tance and domestication.

The world is changing fast, people’s lifestyles are verydifferent now and increasingly communities are tak-ing on modern crops and practices. How do we se-lect species that can satisfy disparate and changingneeds?

Session 5: 25 JanuaryChair: Brian D’Silva

Indigenous Wild Food Plants: Their Futurein Kenya

Patrick Maundu, Kenya Resource Centre for IndigenousKnowledge

Two points are essential for the success of domesti-cation efforts:

1. To seek the views of the people through ethnobotanic surveys, ranking, etc., and

2. To select species that people like.

Dobera glabra is one example. It is an evergreen treethat is sacred to some ethnic groups (e.g., the Pokot),has a sweet fruit, and is a very good shade tree. Treeswith multipurpose use stand a far better chance ofwider adoption. Sclerocarya birrea is widely appreci-ated in Kenya. If we can look at ways of adding valueto its products, such as following the South Africanexample of the marula wine made from the fruits, andpresent these to farmers and traders along with thenecessary techniques, then adoption can be facilitated.

Processing, preservation and marketing are all impor-tant elements in the success of domestication andshould be an integral activity to IWFP research. Thelength of time taken by fruit trees to reach maturitymeans that domestication of these species may takemore time than that of the IWFP vegetable species.Advanced techniques, such as marcotting, will helpwith decreasing the time to reach maturity for fruittree species.

What is needed is a strong regional network for theresearchers and institutions working on IWFPs. Giventhe commonalities of species and the diverse knowl-edge available, this will help lead to faster success. Atpresent there is a real problem with people replicatingresearch work that has already been done. More net-working within the East African countries will allow

62

us to share exciting results. There are some nutri-tional data available, but much of this is 20-30 yearsold. By linking the resources of institutions we canre-analyze species using more modern methods, look-ing at antinutrients as well as a nutrient values.

Nutritional information is an important extension tool,as nutritional profiles can help people to accept newfoods. Collaboration on these issues should extend toresearchers from the international agricultural researchcenters, the NARS and other national institutions.

There is already a body of work out there that canhelp us, for example the Sida funded RELMA (Re-gional Land Management Unit) has published a vol-ume on the wild foods of Uganda (Katende AB et al.(1999) Wild Food Plants and Mushrooms of Uganda,RELMA) and are in the process of compiling a vol-ume for Tanzania. IPGRI (the International Institutefor Plant Genetic Resources) is launching a programon traditional foods. IWFP researchers need to moni-tor the progress of this and see how we can benefitfrom the research that is already going on.

Another important link is with the societies related toethnobotany. UGANEB (the Uganda Group of the Af-rican Network of Ethnobotany/Ethnoecology) is onesuch organization.


1. The issue of antinutrients that was brought up inthe presentation is something we cannot affordto lose sight of. Not all IWFPs would be benefi-cial if consumed in larger quantities. Identifyingsafe levels of use, particularly for medicinals, mustgo hand in hand with other research.

2. Conservation of IWFPs is also important. Whilethere may be some species that are under signifi-cant threat in isolation, it is important to remem-ber that one out of every ten species in Kenya hasa use as food and therefore an ecosystem approachto their conservation may be more effective.

63

Much of the work on IWFPs has to begin from thepremise that we do not have a full understanding ofwhat is out there in the environment. Whilst there area lot of discoveries to be made from the scientific andformal research process, we have to involve the com-munities to both conserve and develop IWFPS. Thereis a triangle in the research process, linking indigenousknowledge, agronomy and nutrition. Indigenousknowledge can be validated through more formal re-search methods.

It has been shown that IWFPs do have superior nutri-ents and vitamins over some traditional exotic crops.By analyzing the whole range of nutrients/vitaminsand antinutrients, along with the inputs (chemical andorganic) and pest and disease management regimesneeded to ensure economically viable production, wecan make inroads into the domestication process.

Working under the broad hypothesis that communi-ties can conserve indigenous food plants through sus-tainable use, our research has followed the followingcommunity-driven process:

1. Development of a wish list for IWFPs (includingthe collection and classification of species);

2. Prioritization of species by communities andprioritization for the research process on thesespecies; and

3. Development of the research agenda (whose vi-sion, attitudes, merging culture with science, par-ticipatory research) — critical to validating com-munity knowledge

Research was conducted with three different ethnicgroups, both farmer-led on-farm trials and controlledon-station trials. The work was evaluated and the re-sults documented, field tests of the selected speciesform the crucial feedback loop. The next step is todissemination and adoption.

Experiences with Indigenous Vegetables:Conservation Through Use

Monica Opole, CIKSAP

This work has helped institutionalize the participatoryprocess in the research agenda. Dissemination activi-ties have begun as the process is accepted in areasand new groups (age, gender) within the communi-ties, which have started their own trial plots join.Through linkages with the national agencies, includ-ing the ministries with responsibility for agricultureand the environment and the national agricultural re-search agencies. The ideas and objectives behind theresearch process are now being mainstreamed intonational, regional and international policies. Foods suchas Crotolaria have other uses, including nitrogen fixa-tion and increasing soil fertility, building on thesemultipurposes can help to ensure wider adoption.Monitoring and evaluation needs to be built in the wholeprocess — linking research to development, dissemi-nation and testing, and adoption.

Current activities include the production of bookletson 12 target indigenous food species. These coverboth effective production techniques and manuals onhow to prepare and process the foods. Recommen-dations on dietary uptakes for different groups (in-cluding children, lactating and pregnant women andthe elderly) are incorporated in the publications.

Many IWFPs have great potential for increasing house-hold income, if appropriate production and process-ing technologies can be disseminated. The challengefor us is to include the communities and people in ourresearch and development agenda to facilitate this.


1. There is high infant mortality during the weaningprocess. One major contributor towards this isprotein deficiency. Techniques for extracting pro-tein from IWFPs through processing and

64

combining this with groundnuts or sesame. Al-though these foods were found to have signifi-cant benefits for weanlings, the labour involved

to extract the protein (mainly through crushing)is high. This was a disincentive to mothers inWestern Kenya, where protein is readily availablefrom omena (dried fish).

65

The Coastal Forest Conservation Unit has been work-ing with a number of ethnic groups in the Coast Prov-ince in Kenya. Traditionally these groups have beenusers of forest resources, in particular of IWFPs. Todate, 70 species of IWFPs have been identified: 50fruit species, 11 vegetable species, 5 roots/tubers spe-cies and 4 other food related species. Wild vegetables,such as Amaranthus sp. and Solanum nigrum, areused to supplement the cultivated vegetable species(that include sukuma wiki, arrowroot, and cassava).Among the Giriama people, Adonsonia digitata(baobab) leaves are also used as a vegetable.

Wild vegetable use depends on availability, and the dis-tances to available resources are strongly dependenton season. Wild fruits, which constitute the biggestnumber of wild food plants, are mostly eaten raw andas ‘snack’ foods when individuals are engaged in otheractivities, such as fishing and hunting. These fruitsare mainly considered as food for children, however,a number of individuals within communities now col-lect these fruits for commercial sale. Revenue fromwild fruits can be the most important economic activ-ity for some households. There are only a limited num-ber of wild edible tubers recognized in the region,however, all respondents to a survey identified theseas important species during food shortage and droughtconditions. Low utilization of wild tubers is probablyrelated to the introduction of other drought resistantexotic species (including cassava, sweet potato, ar-rowroot), which do well in hard environmental con-ditions and are culturally accepted. It is believed that

Indigenous Wild Food Plant Research inCoastal Regions of Kenya

Mohamed Pakia, Coastal Forest Conservation Unit

the introduction of a wide range of exotic species hasalso led to the loss of indigenous knowledge related tothe use of wild tubers.

Market surveys showed that nine indigenous wildfruits (including tamarind, baobab and Vitex sp.) weretraded commercially as were a limited range of wildvegetables. Technologies for preservation have notbeen developed for most of these species, althoughboth baobab and tamarind were found to be availablethroughout the year.

Almost all collection of IWFPs is from the wild andthere has been little effort put into the domesticationof these crops. The cultivation of Amaranthus sp. isthe only exception to this with some large-scale com-mercial efforts. There is some semi-management ofwild seedlings of indigenous vegetable plants on farms.

In the coastal region of Kenya, other values includingtimber and NTFPs are important to the local commu-nities. In many cases the timber value is greater thanthe food value of many tree species so trees will beharvested for wood. Many non-food uses of indig-enous plants however are compatible with food usage(for example, weaving and medicinal production).

An important issue that should be considered whenlooking at IWFPs and indigenous knowledge is thepractice of bioprospecting by pharmaceutical compa-nies. The data that is collected and presented needs totake this into account and how the benefits of sharingindigenous knowledge can be returned to the commu-nities; this is a key issue in our research.

66

The session broke into groups which discussed thevision and goals of IWFP research and developmentactivities in the region. The results of these group dis-cussions are summarized below:

GROUP 1

Vision: Livelihood security

Goal: Clear understanding and awareness of sustain-able use of indigenous traditional food and medicinefor prosperity.

Constraints: food security; health; nutrition; accessto health services in general; marketing; coordinationin research; awareness; network; policy; legislationand community rights; resources

GROUP 2

Wild food research and activities have different agen-das at present: research, development, dissemination,promotion and advertising. There is a need to knowwhat community needs and priorities are to developour objectives. Possibilities are:

1. Contributing to peoples ability to survive and makea subsistence living in agricultural high risk areas,

2. Create/bring in additional foods and diversify ag-ricultural production at home or house garden levelto raise and diversify nutritional intake for thehousehold,

3. Create income opportunities for rural farmers liv-ing nearby urban centers, and

Session 6: 26 JanuaryChair: Brian D’Silva

Vision and Goals of IWFP Research andDevelopment Activities

4. Contribute to the preservation of a certain degreeof indigenous biodiversity, erosion control, soilfertility and benefits to environmental protection

The region has a common ideal goal and problem:

To improve food and livelihood security.

Recognition of the diversity of needs implies finding avariety of viable solutions within and outside of theperspective of the countries. Therefore it is suggestedthat the workshop tries to develop a plan of action forthe coming future (national plans of action, regionalplans of action, the possibility of a network for IWFPs)

GROUP 3

Goal: To improve sustainable use of indigenous foodplants.

Objectives:

1. To increase the use for food security and quality,

2. To increase production of indigenous food plants,

3. To increase the conservation of indigenous foodplants, and

4. To increase the general awareness in the differentcommunities involved in the use of indigenousfood plants.

Activities:

1. An organization should be created so that baselineinformation on plant use by people in the com-munities could be collected.

2. Analyze the collected information properly andidentify gaps.

67

3. Appropriate research should be conducted (nu-tritional content of IWFPs and socioeconomic sur-veys, etc.)

COMMON GOAL

Improved livelihood security for the people of theregion through the use of indigenous wild food

plants.

Objectives of IWFP Research and DevelopmentActivities

Different countries are at different stages of researchand development activities. There are a number ofnational and regional networks working with IWFPs:

Kenya: KSE (Kenya Society of Ethnoecology, in as-sociation with NMK), Indigenous Knowledge Work-ing Group (World Bank sponsored), Plant GeneticResources Working Group (government and NGOs,associated with Kew Gardens), Forest Action Net-work (NGO); Traditional Medicine Network at Envi-ronmental Liaison Center; INFORGEN (Genetic Re-sources Network, including focus on medicinal plants,IPGRI sponsored network)

Tanzania: ICRAF (work on wild food trees); Tradi-tional medicines (Ministry of Health); AVDRC (indig-enous vegetables); National Plant and Genetic ResourceCentre; DfID sponsoring indigenous vegetable work;University of Dar es Salaam (medicinal plants); MaasaiResource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge; Tanza-nia Food and Nutrition Centre

Uganda: Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry andFisheries; NARO (National Agricultural Research Or-ganization); UGANEB (the Uganda Group of the Afri-can Network of Ethnobotany/Ethnoecology); Peopleand Plants Initiative; Makerere University Institute ofNatural Resources; National Chemotherapy ResearchLaboratory; National Council of Science and Tech-nology

Sudan: National Resources Committee; IDEAS (In-stitute for Development, Environmental and Agricul-tural Studies)

Ethiopia: UN-EU; Ethiopia Health Institute; NationalHerbarium (Biodiversity Institute); NAPRECA (Net-work on Natural Product Research for East and Cen-tral Africa)

Rwanda: Research Center for medicinal plants

Burundi: ISABU (Institut des Sciences Agronomiquesdu Burundi)

Regional: SEPASAL (Arid zones); CommonwealthSecretariat Regional Health Program (based in Arusha);African Ethnobotany Network; AETFAT (Associationfor the Taxonomic Study of the Tropical AfricanFlora); Valorization of plant material network (IDRC-based); People and Plants Initiative (UNESCO, WWFand SEPASAL program); PROTA (Plant Resourcesof Tropical Africa, based in Brussels).

The work that participants are doing is different fromthat of these networks and institutions is:

1. More people-centered than institutional research,

2. Looking for local solutions,

3. Action-oriented in addition to having the scien-tific classification of species,

4. Need practical solutions, and

5. Scale up activities and awareness.

POLICY ISSUES

Domestication is a regional issue, but has national andlocal components. User rights and community legis-lation are areas that have not been addressed widely inthe region. Although legislation often comes after wehave tangible products and systems, without theseissues being addressed early in the process situationscan develop where some groups are able to exploitthe more vulnerable sectors of society. Cross bound-ary movement of genetic material needs to be consid-ered. Promotion of IWFPs needs policy backing andrepresentatives with responsibility for the sector. With-out the development of policies on IWFP use and pro-motion they cannot be mainstreamed into develop-ment and food security agendas.

68

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS(IPR)

There are a large number of bodies now looking intothe whole issue of IPR. Royalties, revenues and mecha-nisms for compensating communities for their knowl-edge have to be considered. There are at present alarge number of gaps in the legislation of most of thecountries in the region. IWFP research and activitiesneed to take on board these issues and help to makesure that the voices of the communities are heard inthe process.

MEDICINALS

In addition to the IPR issues, the safety and efficacyof medicinal plants must be incorporated into research.Ethical issues (including the promotion of medicinalIWFPs over conventional medicines) should also beincluded.

NEXT STEPS

Distribution of proceedings. Proceeding will be avail-able for distribution by mid-February 2001 and willbe sent electronically to those with access to emailand by post to the remaining participants. The pro-ceedings of the discussion will be available to peoplemid-February (electronically). Hard copies will be dis-tributed to those who do not have access to email.Copies will also be sent to the organizations identifiedbelow as stakeholders in the IWFP agenda and to otherrelevant organizations and individuals identified byparticipants.

Follow-up workshop. A follow-up workshop will beorganized (date to be determined) to re-evaluate thestatus of work in the region and the need for formalnetworks.

Focal points were identified for Ethiopia (DechassaLemessa); Sudan (Luka Biong Deng) and Uganda(John Tabuti). Focal points for the other countries

will contact the organizers of the workshop whenappointed. These focal points will help to formalizethe links between countries to facilitate the flow ofinformation and dissemination of existing materialsbetween researchers. At present, a formal networkwill not be established as the costs (in terms of bothtime and money) of management and maintenance ofsuch a network would be prohibitive

Expansion. Ethiopia would like to broaden the scopeof discussion in future to include animal food sources.

There will be a nutrition workshop in 2002 held atTuskegee University. Eloise Carter will inform par-ticipants of the dates of the workshop when they be-come available and a number of individuals will beinvited to attend. USDA will seek funding for the par-ticipation of these individuals.

ORGANIZATION IDENTIFIED BYPARTICIPANTS

Appropriate Technology Organizations

ATI — Appropriate Technology International (Wash-ington-based)

U.S. Peace Corps

VSO — Voluntary Service Overseas (UK-based orga-nization with country offices)

ITDG — Intermediate Technology DevelopmentGroup (UK-based, Kenya country office)

IRSAT — Insitut de Recherches en SciencesAppliquees et Technologiques, Burkina Faso, 03 BP7047, Ouagadougou

Domestication Organizations

ICRAF — International Centre for Research inAgroforestry

IPGRI — International Plant Genetic Resources In-stitute

AVDRC — Asian Vegetable Development ResearchCentre

69

Limbe Botanic Garden, Conservation through Culti-vation Programme, PO Box 437, Limbe, Fako,Cameroon. Tel: 237-33-24-20. Email:[email protected]

CIKSAP — Centre Indigenous Knowledge Systemsand Products

70

Tuesday, January 23

SESSION 1

8:00 Official welcomeDirk Dijkerman, USAID/REDSO Director

8:15 Overview of the workshopBrian D’Silva, USAID

8:30 Potential of indigenous food plants to support and strengthen livelihoods in southern SudanBirgitta Grosskinsky, CRS/Sudan and Caroline Gullick, University College London

10:00 Break

10:30 Food security and the role of indigenous wild food plants in south SudanMary Abiong Nyok, Christine Foustino, Luka Biong Deng and Jaden Tongun Emilio

12:30 Break

SESSION 2

2:00 The wild foods database for south SudanBirgitta Grosskinsky, CRS/Sudan and Caroline Gullick, University College London

3:30 Food source diversification: potential to ameliorate the chronic food insecurity in EthiopiaGetachew Olana, Consultant

4:30 Close

Wednesday, January 24

SESSION 3

8:00 Wild-food plants in Ethiopia: Reflections on the role of ‘wild-foods’ and ‘famine-foods’ at a time ofdroughtYves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa, UN-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia

9:00 Domestication of indigenous wild foods plantsRudy Shippers, NRi

10:00 Indigenous vegetable species in Tanzania.Damas Marandu, HORTI Tengeru

10:30 Break

11:00 Informal discussion on the role of indigenous wild foods in SomaliaMahdi Kayad and Suleiman Mohamed, Food Security Assessment Unit-Somalia (FAO)

Workshop Programme

71

11:30 Non-timber forest products in Central Africa: Issues of conservation and cultivationLaurie Clark, Consultant in Non-Timber Forest Products

12:30 Break

SESSION 4

2:00 Uganda PresentationJohn Tabuti, Makerere University

3:00 The nutritional and medicinal importance of indigenous (and traditional) food plants.Christine S. Kabuye and Grace W. Ngugi, National Museums of Kenya

4:30 Close

Thursday, January 25

SESSION 5

8:00 Indigenous wild food plants: their future in KenyaPatrick Maundu, Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge

9:00 Experiences of indigenous vegetables conservation through useMonica Opole, Centre Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Products

10:30 Break

11:00 Indigenous wild food plant research in costal regions of KenyaMohamed Paki, National Museums of Kenya, Coastal Forest Conservation Unit

12:00 Field trip to Ukunda Research Station

3:00 Close

Friday, January 26

SESSION 6

8:00 Open DiscussionChair: Brian D’Silva, USAID

10:00 Break

10:30 Wrap up session and next stepsChair: Brian D’Silva, USAID

12:00 Close

72

Rose AliUniversity of Pretoria205 Lancia StreetLynnwood RidgePretoria 0040Republic of South Africaemail: [email protected]: ++ 27 12 3611742

Eloise CarterTuskegee University,Office of International Programs219 Kresge CenterTuskegee, AL 36088USAemail: [email protected]

Laurie Clarkc/o Limbe Botanic GardenPO Box 437Limbe, Cameroonemail: [email protected]: ++ 237 33 26 20

Brian D’SilvaUSAID/Washington1325 G St. NWWashington, DC, 20005email: [email protected]

Luka Biong DengSudan Relief and Rehabilitation AssociationPO Box 39892Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]

Dirk W. DijkermanUSAID/REDSOPO Box 30261Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 862400

Participants List

John DunlopUSAID/REDSOPO Box 30261Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]

Christine Foustino M.c/o County Development CommitteeYambio County, Equatoria RegionSouth Sudan

Francois GasengayireIDRCPO Box 62084Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 713160/1fax: ++ 254 2 71063

Birgitta GrosskinskyCatholic Relief Services/South SudanPO Box 48932Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 748022/3; 744571; 733 704918

Yves GuinandUN-EUE & Swiss Development ReliefPO Box 60252Addis Ababa, Ethiopiaemail: [email protected]: ++ 251 1 513725/44441fax: ++ 251 1 511292

Caroline GullickUniversity College LondonGower StreetLondon, UKWC1E 6BTemail: [email protected]

73

Amiee HendersonUSAID/Washington1325 G St. NWWashington, DC, 20005email: [email protected]

Christine KabuyePO Box 42271Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]

Mahdi G. KayadFood Security Assessment Unit-Somalia (FAO)email: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 745734, 741299

Catherine KenyattaInternational Centre for Research in AgroforestryPO Box 30677Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 524128;fax: ++ 254 2 524001

Dechassa LemessaUN-EUEPO Box 13158Addis Ababa, Ethiopiaemail: [email protected]: ++ 251 1 513735/444148

Damas MaranduHORTI TengeruPO Box 1253Arusha, Tanzaniatel: ++ 255 3067

Patrick MaunduKENRIKNational Museums of KenyaPO Box 40658Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected]

Suleiman S. MohamedFood Security Assessment Unit-Somalia (FAO)email: [email protected]: ++ 254 2 745734, 741299

Grace NgugiNational Museums of KenyaPO Box 40658Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected] [email protected]

Mary Abiong Nyokc/o WFP OfficeLokicochkio, Kenya

Getachew OlanaPO Box 28841Addis Ababa, Ethiopiaemail: [email protected]: ++ 251 1 76 56 40; ++ 251 9 203971

Monica OpoleCentre Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Products(CIKSAP)PO Box 66344,Nairobi, Kenyaemail: [email protected],ketel: ++ 254 2 448150; 444424

Mohamed PakiaNMK/CFCUCoastal Forest Conservation UnitPO Box 86Ukunda, Kenyaemail: [email protected]: ++ 254 127 2518

Rudy SchippersNRI,Central Avenue,Chatham, ME4 4TB, UKemail: [email protected]

John TabutiDepartment of BotanyMakerere UniversityPO Box 7062Kampala, Ugandaemail: [email protected] [email protected]

74

Jaden Tongun EmilioSecretary of Agriculture and Animal Resources,Yei, South Sudan Aktion Afrika Hilfe e.vAAH-Maridi, South Sudanc/o PO Box 10501,Kampala, Uganda

Catherine WatkinsUSDA1325 G Street NW, Room 400Washington DC 20005,USAemail: [email protected]: ++ 1 202 219 0467

the potential of indigenous wild foods - u.s. agency for

Documents