Traditional Food Plant Knowledge and Use in Three Afro-Descendant Communities in the Colombian Caribbean Coast: Part II Drivers of Change

Abstract

Traditional Food Plant Knowledge and Use in Three Afro-Descendant Communities in the Colombian Caribbean Coast: Part II Drivers of Change. Ethnobotany is a developing field in Colombia. There are significant information gaps, however, both in terms of geographical coverage and different human groups. Most research has focused on documenting traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) but has not addressed the question of whether there is TEK erosion and, if so, what is driving the changes. Our study focused on three Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Caribbean region, seeking to identify intergenerational changes in food plant TEK and to analyse the drivers of change. Information was collected through three focus groups per location with women and men of different age groups. Results showed that a general process of erosion of food plant TEK was perceived in all three communities and that multiple drivers of change, falling into three categories, were at work: availability of a food plant resource, access, and food preferences. Yet, these varied over time and amongst locations and depended on the type of food plant resource. Nonetheless, the distancing of younger generations from a diversified agricultural-based livelihood, which led to less time spent in the monte (nearby uncultivated land covered with trees, shrubs and plants), was identified as the most significant driver of TEK loss in these three communities.