Ethnomycological Knowledge of Three Ethnic Groups in Ethiopia

Gizachew Zeleke,Wubalem Tadesse,Dolores Agúndez,Pablo Martín-Pinto,Tatek Dejene

doi:10.3390/f11080875

Abstract

Ethnomycological information was gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews with members of the Amhara, Agew, and Sidama ethnic groups in Ethiopia. A total of 300 individuals were involved in this study. Forest excursions were also undertaken to investigate the habitat and to identify useful wild mushroom species present in the study areas. A total of 24 useful wild mushroom species were identified. Among the three ethnic groups, the Sidama have the most extensive ethnomycological knowledge and over seven vernacular names for useful fungal species were recorded for this group. Collecting mushrooms is common practice among the Sidama and usually carried out by women and children during the main rainy season from June to September. Useful mushrooms are collected in natural forests, plantation forests, grazing areas, home gardens, and swampy areas. In terms of medicinal uses, Lycoperdon perlatum Pers. and Calvatia rubroflava (Cragin) Lloyd. are well-known treatments for wounds and skin disease. Harvest storage of wild mushroom species is unknown. Respondents in the Amhara and Agew ethnic groups were similar in terms of their use and knowledge of mushrooms. Both ethnic groups reported that although wild mushroom species were consumed by their grandparents, they do not eat mushrooms themselves, which could eventually represent a loss of mycological knowledge in these two ethnic groups. Such inconsistency between ethnic groups in terms of their knowledge may also be linked to the social valuation of mushroom resources, which could easily be mitigated by raising awareness. Thus, the baseline information obtained in this study could be useful for further investigations and documentation, and to promote ethnomycological benefits to different ethnic groups in countries with similar settings.

Highlights

One of the world’s biggest challenges is to secure sufficient food for all that is healthy, safe and of high quality, and to do so in an environmentally sustainable manner [1,2]
During the forest survey conducted in 2016, our team collected a total of 67 wild mushroom species in the Dry Afromontane forest of the study areas
The families with the greatest numbers of edible species identified were the Agaricaceae (13 species) and Psathyrellaceae. These two families represented 66.67% of the identified edible wild mushroom species in the study forests, whereas the remaining 33.33% of families were represented by only a single species (Table 3)

Summary

Introduction

One of the world’s biggest challenges is to secure sufficient food for all that is healthy, safe and of high quality, and to do so in an environmentally sustainable manner [1,2]. Wild mushroom species are vital components of the livelihoods of rural people in different parts of the world [12,13] Many of these mushrooms are collected because they are valuable non-timber forest products (NTFPs) [14,15], enabling people to overcome vulnerability to poverty and sustain their livelihoods through a reliable source of income [12]. This has shifted ethnomycology into a discipline in different parts of the world [14]. Mushrooms are an important source of proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, and minerals [21,22], i.e., they are a good alternative or substitute for meat and fish [22,23,24]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion