Some 3 billion people in the world live outside the cash economy in the world’s poorest nations. Food security and regular supply are their daily concerns. Chronic malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disease for them. Young children are amongst the most affected. One child every 5-10 seconds dies from undernutrition. Vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness for someone every minute. Most people in tropical and subtropical countries are iron deficient.
It does not have to be this way. God has already provided the right plants growing in their right places to sustain people in every place on his earth.
Our goal is to provide information that enables people to choose the right plant for their environment, to give them stable food production and a greater choice of plants to enrich their diets and improve their nutritional wellbeing.
27 Issues in this Publication (Showing issues - ) Next
Pandanus as Food
Pandanus are usually large spiky plants with large fruiting heads and are therefore hard to collect and are often poorly represented in herbarium collections. Harold St John and Benjamin Stone were 2 Botanists who collected, studied and named many of these plants. Most pandanus are shrubs or trees with slender trunks and only a few branches. Pandanus are usually in the tropics and often they grow in damp or swampy ground. Some grow in drier forests.
There are about 600 species of Pandanus. These naturally grow in Africa (25 species), Madagascar (85 species), Asia Australia (25 species) and into the Pacific.
Edible Terminalia fruit and nuts
Normally Terminalia trees are large trees with a distinctive type of branching. Often the branches are thick and come out on layers parallel to the ground. Then they have short thick spurs and the leaves are clustered on the spurs. Many Terminalias are useful timber trees and in some areas they form extensive forests. They grow throughout the tropics.
There may be 200-250 different Terminalia species and at least 50 are used as food by people in different locations in the world. It is usually the fruit or nuts that are eaten but sometimes the gum is eaten. This article is about edible Terminalias. It is compiled from the Food Plants International database of edible plants of the world.
One species grows right on the edge of the beach in almost every tropical beach of the world. This one is Terminalia catappa. It provides lovely shade along the beach front and provides fruit that are chewed and edible kernels or nuts that are especially eaten by children. The fleshy part is rich in protein and the kernel or nut is especially rich in zinc. Children need zinc to grow tall. This book documents a number of the edible terminalia. A more exhaustive search can be found in the edible plants database on the Food Plants International website at www.foodplantsinternational.com
Growing Food in Southeast Asia
12 propositions for addressing malnutrition and food production
1. Local plants suit local conditions. Local food plants fail less often as they suit and are adapted to the environment.
2. Maintain a diversity of food plants. For sustainable production and good nutrition use a diversity of plants as this gives more stable production and more balanced diets.
3. Share knowledge and learn from locals. Local people (especially women) are often familiar with plants but don’t know their food values.
4. Collect planting materials locally. Locally selected plants have durable resistance, so get less disease and pest damage.
5. Use a mixture of plants throughout the garden. Mixed cropping reduces pest and disease problems, protects the soil and often reduces water use.
6. Grow dark green leaves. Local dark green edible leaves are often highly nutritious and can provide essential iron and Vitamin A (more available when cooked in oil).
7. Grow some perennial food plants. Tubers and trees can be important reserve foods. Food can become short in the drier seasons and some trees produce fruit at these times.
8. Put the right plant in the right place. People need to carefully match food plants to the right ecological zone. Include plants suitable for drier seasons when the rains don’t come. Arid plants suit arid places. Swamp plants suit swamps. 11
9. Many traditional edible plants also have medicinal value. These uses are now being scientifically verified and they are called ‘functional’ foods because they have other functions besides providing nutrients. The soursop family has proven anticancer properties. Nettles are good for prostrate conditions.
10. Using local plants is low cost and offers easier availability. Informing people on how to most strategically utilise local food plant resources empowers them to determine their own destiny and maintain their dignity. Adopting GMO seeds creates dependency on companies for seed, fertiliser and chemical sprays and does not help the poor.
11. Attractive, well-illustrated publications can change attitudes. Local plant names and nutritional data need to be provided. Better ways to flavour or cook local plants can enhance their adoption.
12. Use mulch and stop burning. Burning causes nutrients such as nitrogen and sulphur to be lost into the atmosphere. Old plant material could be composted or often simply used as mulch to reduce loss of water by evaporation and help keep the soil alive by encouraging important soil micro-organisms.
Starchy staple foods - 2013-12-20
- Everybody has a diet based on a starchy staple food This provides the energy for living
- The starchy staple can be a root crop like potato, cassava, yam, sweet potato or taro
- Or it can be a cereal like rice, corn, wheat, barley, sorghum, millet, tef, fonio or others
- For some regions the starchy staple is a palm such as sago, or a starchy fruit such as cooking bananas
Edible Syzygium Fruit - 2014-01-20
About 1,120 species of Syzygium have been recorded. Of these at least 158 have been recorded as having edible fruit. They mostly occur in Asia and Australia. They are often popular snack fruit.
A related group of plants are the Eugenia species, many of which previously used the now outdated names Syzygium. There are 1,011 species of Eugenia, of which 110 have been recorded as edible. The Eugenias occur in the Americas. These will be dealt with in a separate article.
Edible Barringtonia - Nuts and Leaves - 2014-01-20
The Barringtonia group of trees grows in the Asia and Pacific region. There are 50 species of which 15 are recorded as being used as food. Some species in some countries are important nut crops.
Edible Canarium Nuts and Fruit - 2013-01-20
Canarium nuts and fruits come from trees in the Canarium genus, which are native to tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The edible nuts—often referred to as pili nuts, galip nuts, or Java almonds depending on the species—are rich in healthy fats and protein, with a buttery texture and mildly sweet flavor. Some Canarium fruits, like those of Canarium indicum, are also edible and can be cooked or consumed raw when ripe. These nuts and fruits are valued for their nutritional benefits and are increasingly used in traditional diets, snacks, and specialty health foods.
Food Plants for Arid Lands in Africa
The following pages are an illustrated selection of some of the edible plants growing in arid areas in Africa. Unfortunately for many others I do not have photographs. For details about the plants check the Food Plants International database available on line at: www.foodplantsinternational.com
-- Bruce French
- Many less familiar plants need processing or need to have the more edible kinds selected.
- Seek advice and guidance from an experienced local gardener on how to use less well known plant.
- Make sure you have the right plant, the right part, at the right stage of maturity and properly prepared.
- Produced by Bruce French of Food Plants International. 2015
Note that many of the plants are documented on ECHOcommunity.org, too.
Good Gardening with Agroecology
Agro-ecology or how plants grow in nature
- Naturally plants are not in rows!
- Using only one kind is not used in nature!
- Lots of varieties are maintained in nature!
- In nature the right plant grows in the right place!
- In nature fruit is produced in season!
- Nutrients are recycled in nature!
- Natural systems are sustainable!
- In nature the soil remains alive and humus rich!
Good Gardening in the Solomon Islands
Practical ways of growing local food plants, and doing it well
