Indigenous Food Plants
In any location, there will be some indigenous food plants. These are edible plants native to and characteristic of a region or country. Closely related are traditional foods, defined in an article in Ground Up magazine as “plants that formed the pre-colonial diet.” In Africa, such plants include sorghum, millet and cowpea.
Indigenous food plants can be an extremely important part of the local diet, for a number of reasons:
- Indigenous food plants tend to be very nutritious, often more nutritious than some introduced (and perhaps more popular) plants.
- Indigenous crops are well-adapted to the regions where they originate. They often are free of pests and diseases, and are able to grow in extremely difficult conditions (in very dry areas or in very acidic or alkaline soil, for example). Sometimes they have even come to be considered weeds!
- The diversity provided by eating indigenous vegetables contributes to food security. Rather than relying on one food crop, a wide range of food plants are eaten and enjoyed. If one fails to grow and produce, others can be eaten instead.
People in a given area likely have some history of eating indigenous plants, though in many places such knowledge is rapidly being lost. One reason is a widespread impression, especially among younger people, that traditional varieties are ‘primitive’ or ‘old,’ and that farming is a disgraceful vocation.
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- The manual is forpeople who eat, grow or buy food and who want to improve their lives, theircommunity and the environment that they live in. It has been written for, andby, people livingin Malawi. It will show you how to eat and live better andguide you in designing a sustainablefuture. The...
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- Abstract, Foods, 2020 Wild food plants (WFPs) are often highly nutritious but under-consumed at the same time. This study aimed to document the diversity of WFPs, and assess perceptions, attitudes, and drivers of change in their consumption among Minangkabau and Mandailing women farmers in West...
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- Abstract, The Scientific World Journal, 2020 India being developing country and land of villages, elevated rates of poverty persist among rural communities, inspite of green revolution. e high economic growth has failed to improve food security in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas [1]....
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- Abstract, South African Journal of Botany, 2019 Highlights • A comprehensive inventory of edible plants of southern Africa is presented. • The inventory includes 1740 food plant species from 74 sources. • Apocynaceae has the highest number of edible plants (137 species). • The diversity in...
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