Promoting wild plant foods for nutrition, food security

The University of Zimbabwe has started a project to promote wild plant foods, which can contribute substantially to household food and livelihood security. The project is being conducted in Buhera district in the Manicaland Province and is coordinated by Dr. Maud Muchuweti of the Department of Biochemistry and a team of other experts in the field of food, nutrition and and biological science. The Kellogg Foundation has funded the project through a grant.

"We want to create more awareness on the value of indigenous wild plant foods and promote their effective utilisation," Muchuweti said. "Wild plant foods are effective as a survival strategy. We are identifying plant foods that are traditionally used by people in Buhera. We are documenting how the foods are prepared and preserved as well as their nutritional content."

Wild plant foods are still being consumed in Zimbabwe and in most parts of Africa despite the threats of urbanisation, environmental degradation, loss of indigenous knowledge regarding their identification, preparation and preservation and other factors. "These foods are still not being sufficiently valued for contributions they can make in preventing malnutrition and for survival strategies," Muchuweti said. "The nutritional properties and traditional knowledge of wild foods have been dismissed as 'poor man's food. Little is known about their health and nutritional benefits."

"Commercial crops pose a threat of genetic erosion to indigenous food plants. Reduced exploitation of wild and famine plant foods is unfortunate as some local foods may have better nutritional value than commercial foods," Muchuweti said.

The Herald