The Role of African Indigenous Plants in Promoting Food Security and Health

Abstract

Food insecurity and hunger afflict more than one billion people worldwide with negative implications for the health, productivity, and well-being of vulnerable members of our global population. African indigenous plants have the potential to play a central role in addressing food insecurity and associated health concerns in Sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding the historical and current uses of African indigenous plants during periods of food shortage, hunger, and disease is essential to developing effective programs and policies to promote the sustainable production and consumption of these local edible plants for population health. This work aimed to describe indigenous edible plants commonly consumed by rural populations during periods of food shortage in rural villages in Tanzania and to assess the associations between household food insecurity, health, and household consumption of indigenous edible plants. Indigenous edible plant consumption and household food security were independently associated with the number of self-reported morbidity symptoms among adolescents in this study (p<0.05). These findings suggest that indigenous plants may play a role in moderating the health status of individuals in both both food secure and food insecure households.