An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa

Welcome, A.K.; Wyk, B.‐E. Van

doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2018.11.003

Cited by 80 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…According to Table and Figure , the Ju│'hoan have Apocynaceae, Fabaceae and Cucurbitaceae as the top utilized families, with Malvaceae at a level predicted by the regression and with Poaceae far below the predicted level. In terms of species diversity, the Apocynaceae are the most diverse food plant family (Welcome & Van Wyk, ), which accounts for most of the edible roots and fruits used by the Ju│'hoan. The rest of the edible fruits used come from Fabaceae and Cucurbitaceae, which both have a high number of edible fruits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Fabaceae, Poaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Malvaceae are well below the levels predicted by the regression analysis. The Cape Khoekhoe group has a distribution range extending into the Fynbos region (Figure ) and this is the only cultural group that has underground storage organs (mainly from Iridaceae and Apocynaceae) as the most popular plant part used (Welcome & Van Wyk, ). These edible underground storage organs are usually eaten raw or roasted (Archer, , ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure shows that the Venda prefer edible fruits and leaves and these are mostly from the Malvaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Amaranthaceae (Figure and Table ). These three families have a large percentage of exotic edible species (Welcome & Van Wyk, ). The preference for ruderal weeds, which are usually cooked as spinach, by the Venda culture is apparent when comparing the survey done by Mabogo in 1990 and the one done by Magwede et al in 2018.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inventory data of Welcome and Van Wyk () were used to summarize the relationships between plant parts and subsistence strategy, as well as the pattern of utilized plant parts in the most taxa‐rich food plant families.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 6 shows that the Venda prefer edible fruits and leaves and these are mostly from the Malvaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Amaranthaceae (Figure 4 and Table 7). These three families have a large percentage of exotic edible species (Welcome & Van Wyk, 2019 There is apparently a large increase of ruderal weeds in the Venda diet since 1990. Of the 15 species listed by Mabogo (1990) and not by Magwede et al (2018), only one is an exotic species, Melia azedarach L., and the other 14 are indigenous.…”

Section: Re Sultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Spatial patterns, availability and cultural preferences for edible plants in southern Africa

Welcome

Wyk

2019

Journal of Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim We investigated whether cross‐cultural food plant selection in southern Africa is best explained by language ancestry, floristic environment or subsistence strategy. Location The flora of southern Africa region. Taxa All 1,740 edible plant taxa of southern Africa, representing 711 genera in 156 families. Methods Distribution data of plants were overlapped in ArcMap with 19 language maps, eight biomes and all taxa with nutritional data. Six correlations were estimated between five pairwise distance matrices (language ancestry, geographical proximity, floristic and edible environments and utilized species) with Mantel tests using the ‘vegan’ package in R. Regression analyses were used to identify floristic and cultural preferences in food plant selection. Results Spatial autocorrelation did not influence the selection of edible plants by the 19 language groups of southern Africa (r = −.078). The floristic and edible environments had a strong correlation (r = .9743) while the distance matrices of the edible and actually utilized plants had a low correlation for 13 of the language groups (r = .2174). Regression analyses between the floristic and edible environments for the FSA region and three languages, representing hunter‐gatherers (Ju│’hoan), pastoralists (Khoekhoe) and agrarians (Venda) were all significant (p < .001) with high R2 values (respectively .6181, .7702, .6654 and .7900), as were the relationship (p < .001) between what is edible and what was actually utilized. Surprisingly, the Apocynaceae had a much higher residual value than globally important food plant families. Vitamin C of fruits seems to have higher levels along the coastal regions, and carbohydrates in underground storage organs have higher levels in the summer‐arid western region. Main conclusions There is an apparent preference for certain food plant families in southern Africa. This selection appears to be driven by subsistence strategy, based on the categories of plants preferred by the three representative language groups.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Re Sultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Spatial patterns, availability and cultural preferences for edible plants in southern Africa

Welcome

Wyk

2019

Journal of Biogeography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Fruits of the city: The nature, nurture and future of urban foraging

Sardeshpande

Shackleton

2023

People and Nature

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Urban foraging is a global informal phenomenon which has been investigated in the Global North more than other parts of the world. Characterising the nature of urban foraging in the Global South is imperative given the rapid urbanisation and sustainable development priorities in the region. In this study, we interviewed 80 urban foragers in four cities in the eastern coastal region of South Africa, with an aim to understand the nature of urban foraging in a developing nation context. We asked foragers about their initiation to and motivations for foraging, their logistics, yields and associated activities, descriptions of their foraging grounds, and if and how they had changed, and what they envisage as an ideal future for foraging. Many foragers started foraging in their childhood, in the company of friends and family, and, as in the Global North, regarded it as a cultural and recreational activity. Foraging was mostly done within a 5‐km radius of home, on a weekly or fortnightly basis, and very few foragers processed or sold their foraged products. Unlike the Global North, formal green spaces were not foraged in, and were perceived to be poorly provisioned in urban planning. Forests and roadsides were equally used by the foragers, and very few had been discouraged from foraging. Most foragers were enthusiastic about the possibility of more people foraging, having designated spaces for foraging, and foraging‐based businesses such as processed products and ecotourism. We recommend that policymakers and land managers recognise and encourage foraging as a potentially sustainable use for stewardship of urban green spaces. To this end, we list the main wild edible fruit species used by foragers in the area, which could be planted in public spaces. We also suggest harnessing foragers' knowledge of useful species and spaces to develop green spaces and foraging‐based supply chains. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

show abstract

Storable, neglected, and underutilized species of Southern Africa for greater agricultural resilience

Winstead,

Jacobson

2024

Plant Enviro Interactions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Southern African region suffers from drought and food system uncertainty with increased risks due to climate change, natural disasters, and global catastrophes. Increasing crop diversity with more appropriate and resilient crops is an effective way of increasing food system resilience. We focus on crop species that are native or naturalized to an area because of their increased resilience than those that are not naturally occurring. Additionally, crops that are easily stored are more useful in times of drought and disaster. In this systematic review, we use scientific interest in neglected and underutilized species (NUS) from Southern Africa to help define next steps toward their cultivation and development as a marketable crop. We found that although scientific interest is minimal for storable Southern African NUS, these crops are worth scaling up due to their economic and nutritional value. We outline next actionable steps and specific NUS for production in a more agrobiodiverse and resilient agriculture system.

show abstract

An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa

Cited by 80 publications

References 29 publications

Spatial patterns, availability and cultural preferences for edible plants in southern Africa

Spatial patterns, availability and cultural preferences for edible plants in southern Africa

Fruits of the city: The nature, nurture and future of urban foraging

Storable, neglected, and underutilized species of Southern Africa for greater agricultural resilience

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About