عنوان

Wild edible plants in Ethiopia:

Number

LA107721

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Wild edible plants in Ethiopia:

General Material Designation

[Article]

Other Title Information

a review on their potential to combat food insecurity

First Statement of Responsibility

Ermias Lulekal, Zemede Asfaw, Ensermu Kelbessa, et al.

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

This work reviews literature on ethnobotanical knowledge of wild edible plants and their potential role in combating food insecurity in Ethiopia. Information on a total of 413 wild edible plants belonging to 224 genera and 77 families was compiled in this review. Shrubs represented 31% of species followed by trees (30%), herbs (29°/o) and climbers (9%). Families Fabaceae (35 species), Tiliaceae (20) and Capparidaceae (19) were found to be represented by the highest number of edible species. About 56% (233) of species have edibility reports from more than one community in Ethiopia. Fruits were reported as the commonly utilized edible part in 51% of species. It was found that studies on wild edible plants of Ethiopia cover only about 5% of the country's districts which indicates the need for more ethnobotanical research addressing all districts. Although there have been some attempts to conduct nutritional analyses of wild edible plants, available results were found to be insignificant when compared to the wild edible plant wealth of the country. Results also show that wild edible plants of Ethiopia are used as supplementary, seasonal or survival food sources in many cultural groups, and hence play a role in combating food insecurity. The presence of anthropogenic and environmental factors affecting the wild plant wealth of the country calls for immediate action so as to effectively document, produce a development plan and utilize the plants. This work reviews literature on ethnobotanical knowledge of wild edible plants and their potential role in combating food insecurity in Ethiopia. Information on a total of 413 wild edible plants belonging to 224 genera and 77 families was compiled in this review. Shrubs represented 31% of species followed by trees (30%), herbs (29°/o) and climbers (9%). Families Fabaceae (35 species), Tiliaceae (20) and Capparidaceae (19) were found to be represented by the highest number of edible species. About 56% (233) of species have edibility reports from more than one community in Ethiopia. Fruits were reported as the commonly utilized edible part in 51% of species. It was found that studies on wild edible plants of Ethiopia cover only about 5% of the country's districts which indicates the need for more ethnobotanical research addressing all districts. Although there have been some attempts to conduct nutritional analyses of wild edible plants, available results were found to be insignificant when compared to the wild edible plant wealth of the country. Results also show that wild edible plants of Ethiopia are used as supplementary, seasonal or survival food sources in many cultural groups, and hence play a role in combating food insecurity. The presence of anthropogenic and environmental factors affecting the wild plant wealth of the country calls for immediate action so as to effectively document, produce a development plan and utilize the plants.

Date of Publication

2011

Physical description

71-122

Title

Afrika Focus

Volume Number

24/2

International Standard Serial Number

2031-356X

Subject Term

cultural diversity

Subject Term

ethnobotany

Subject Term

food insecurity

Subject Term

indigenous knowledge

Subject Term

nutritional analysis

Ensermu Kelbessa

Ermias Lulekal

Patrick Van Damme

Zemede Asfaw

Call Number

10.1163/2031356X-02402006

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y