Use Of Wild Foods Research Articles

Children navigating rural poverty: Rural children's use of wild resources to counteract food insecurity in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

This paper analyzes the role of natural resources in the lives of rural children experiencing heightened vulnerability to poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS, a subject that previously has been unexplored. The authors highlight wild-food use by rural children as a regular activity that supplements their domestic diets. Over the course of 18 months in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the authors used a broad quantitative and qualitative methodology to explore the food acquisition and consumption patterns for 850 children. They found that the quality of children's domestic diets was, on average, 60% lower than the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) guidelines. This occurred in a population where 62% of the children surveyed were supplementing their diets with wild foods; and 30% with over half their diet supplemented in this way. Significantly, dietary diversity increased by 13% when wild food supplementation occurred. Another result was the commercialization of wild foods (observed among 47% of the c...

Wild foods and household food security responses to AIDS: evidence from South Africa

Wild foods may offer unique benefits to households afflicted by AIDS, providing a nutritious and freely available food source at minimal labour and financial costs. This article presents the results of food security assessments in two rural South African sites. Detailed household dietary recalls from 227 households, combined with qualitative work, explored the association of household AIDS proxies (recent morbidity, mortality and orphan fostering) with household food security and dietary composition. The study found that AIDS-proxy households were significantly more food insecure, and households fostering orphans were both poorer and more food insecure. Wild foods were evident in 40.3% of the 48 h recalls, with significantly greater likelihood of use in households with fostering paternal orphans, and/or with at least one AIDS proxy. Only paternal orphans were significantly associated with likelihood of using wild foods when controlling for household socio-economic status. Qualitative data suggests that households afflicted by AIDS might curtail their use of wild foods due to household labour shortages and stigma. This is unfortunate, as regressions indicate that households using wild foods may be more economically resilient. This may be particularly important for households registering AIDS proxies, due to a demonstrated negative correlation between accumulated household AIDS proxies and household income.

The value of bushmeat and other wild foods to rural households living in extreme poverty in Democratic Republic of Congo

We examine the relationship between poverty and the use of wild foods, namely bushmeat, fish and wild plants, within a Congolese agricultural community. A sample of 121 households were monitored over a 16-month period, using a combination of participatory and quantitative survey techniques, to assess their wealth and their production, consumption and market sales of wild foods. Households varied in wealth but all could be considered subject to extreme poverty (income below US$1 per capita per day). Our analyses indicate that wild foods play a small role in household consumption but a major role in household income. Hence, over 90% of both bushmeat and fish production is sold at market. In addition, the value of wild foods increases in the “lean season” when agricultural production is low. We also find that the poorest households in this community are unable to capitalise on the most valuable wild foods, bushmeat and fish, as a source of food or cash income. We use an entitlements framework to explain the factors that determine such wealth-related variation between households, indicating that household use of wild foods is determined more by social and economic constraints than by resource abundance in this community. Nevertheless, our findings show that overall the small-scale commercialisation of wild foods provides a vital source of income for rural households living in extreme poverty.

Relying on nature: wild foods in northern Nigeria.

In rural Africa, wild foods provide diversity, vitamins and minerals in the diet. They are also important at times of food shortage. This paper discusses issues concerning wild food use in semiarid West Africa, and presents the results of a study of the use of wild plant foods in northeast Nigeria. Interviews with farmers and herders identified a total of 67 wild foods, coming from 53 species of plant. Knowledge of wild foods varied according to ethnic group and gender. Some wild foods caused side effects if eaten in excess. Land-use change due to agricultural expansion seems to be increasing the areas where wild foods are most commonly found. Wild foods are important as a supplement to daily diet, and at times of food scarcity. In addition, they provide an opportunity to generate income when they are collected and traded. The paper concludes that wild foods are an important coping strategy for rural communities. Further research is needed to determine whether local institutions and community-based natural resource management regimes are sufficient to conserve this resource.

The use of wild foods during periods of food shortage in rural Zimbabwe

Studies in various parts of Africa have shown marked increases in the use of the wild as a source of food in times of severe food shortage. This paper examines the utilization of wild foods by rural people in seven villages located in the low rainfall regions of Zimbabwe. These regions experienced repeated droughts and food shortages during the 1980s. It is shown that, unlike in other parts of the continent, there was no marked increase in the use of wild foods as a strategy to mitigate the shortages. Instead, wild foods are used mainly as a supplement to the diet even during periods of severe stress. This is attributed to a number of factors, particularly the availability of alternative sources of cash which can then be used to purchase food as well as recourse to government food transfer programmes.

Eastern James Bay Cree Indians: Changing patterns of wild food use and nutrition

(1978). Eastern James Bay Cree Indians: Changing patterns of wild food use and nutrition. Ecology of Food and Nutrition: Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 155-172.