Wild Foods from Farm and Forest in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Abstract

This study explored the role of wild foods in the diets of children and mothers in the East Usambara Mountains (N = 274 dyads). We identified 92 wild food species. Although dietary diversity (most measures) was not different between seasons, wild foods accounted for a greater percentage of items consumed in the wet (food insecure) season. Many wild foods were obtained on farm; wild foods obtained from the forest accounted for less than 3% of food items consumed. Wild foods were used by virtually all informants but contributed only 2% of total energy in the diet. However, they contributed large percentages of vitamin A (RAE) (31%), vitamin C (20%), and iron (19.19%). Agricultural factors (e.g., hours spent in farm) were associated with greater wild food use. These findings suggest participation in agriculture may be important for the maintenance of wild food use, and that wild foods can play an important role in the nutritional resilience of local people.

Keywords:

• agriculture
• biodiversity
• conservation
• dietary diversity
• nutrition
• wild food

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Firstly we need to thank the local people of Bombani, Tongwe, Kiwanda, Kwatango, Shambangeda and Misalai for their good information and patience throughout tedious dietary intake interviews. Thank you to the field research team and local leaders for their hard work and support. Thanks also to Simon Mathenge for his excellent expert help with plant specimen identification, colleagues at Bioversity International in Nairobi and The World Vegetable Center in Arusha, and to Louise Johnson-Down for her technical support with nutrient intake analysis. Thank you also to two anonymous reviewers for their comments that helped to improve the manuscript. This research received financial support from IDRC (Canada), NSERC (Canada) and Swiss Aid through the ICRAF-CIFOR (World Agroforestry Center and Center for International Forestry Research) Landscape Mosaics project.

Notes

© Bronwen Powell, Patrick Maundu, Harriet V. Kuhnlein, and Timothy Johns