Sidama Agro-Pastoralism and Ethnobiological Classification of its Primary Plant, Enset (Ensete ventricosum)

Quinlan, Marsha B.; Quinlan, Robert J.; Dira, Samuel Jilo

doi:10.14237/ebl.5.2014.222

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Due to its importance for food security in Ethiopia (Yemataw et al , 2014; Guzzon & Müller, 2016; Yemata, 2020), enset has been called “the tree against hunger” (Brandt et al, 1997a). Enset is known for its high yield, drought tolerance, high shade potential, broad agro-ecological distribution and long storage capacity (Brandt et al, 1997b; Quinlan et al, 2014). Despite these positive features, enset has received little research attention (Borrell et al, 2019) and its genetic diversity is under threat from diseases such as bacterial wilt and from pressures associated with human population growth (Birmeta, 2004; Guzzon & Müller, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Tesfamicael

Gebre²,

March

et al. 2020

Preprint

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23Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is a drought tolerant, vegetatively propagated 24 crop that was domesticated in Ethiopia. It is a staple food for more than 20 million people in 25 Ethiopia. Despite its current importance and immense potential, enset is among the most 26 genetically understudied and underexploited food crops. We collected 230 enset wild and 27 cultivated accessions across the main enset producing regions in Ethiopia and applied amplified 28 fragment length polymorphism and genotype by sequencing (GBS) methods to these 29 accessions. Wild and cultivated accessions were clearly separated from each other, with 89 30 genes found to harbour SNPs that separated wild from cultivated accessions. Among these, 17 31 genes are thought to be involved in flower initiation and seed development. Among cultivated 32 accessions, differentiation was mostly associated with geographical location and with 33 proximity to wild populations. Our results indicate that vegetative propagation of elite clones 34 has favoured capacity for vegetative growth at the expense of capacity for sexual reproduction. 35This is consistent with previous reports that cultivated enset tends to produce non-viable seeds 36 and flowers less frequent than wild enset. 37

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Tesfamicael

Gebre²,

March

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Due to its importance for food security in Ethiopia, enset has been called “the tree against hunger” 9 . Enset is known for its high yield, drought tolerance, high shade potential, broad agro-ecological distribution and long storage capacity 10 . Despite these positive features, enset has received little research attention 5 and its genetic diversity is under threat from diseases, such as bacterial wilt and from pressures associated with human population growth 7 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Tesfamicael

Gebre²,

March

et al. 2020

Hortic Res

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Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is a drought tolerant, vegetatively propagated crop that was domesticated in Ethiopia. It is a staple food for more than 20 million people in Ethiopia. Despite its current importance and immense potential, enset is among the most genetically understudied and underexploited food crops. We collected 230 enset wild and cultivated accessions across the main enset producing regions in Ethiopia and applied amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and genotype by sequencing (GBS) analyses to these accessions. Wild and cultivated accessions were clearly separated from each other, with 89 genes found to harbour SNPs that separated wild from cultivated accessions. Among these, 17 genes are thought to be involved in flower initiation and seed development. Among cultivated accessions, differentiation was mostly associated with geographical location and with proximity to wild populations. Our results indicate that vegetative propagation of elite clones has favoured capacity for vegetative growth at the expense of capacity for sexual reproduction. This is consistent with previous reports that cultivated enset tends to produce non-viable seeds and flowers less frequently than wild enset.

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“…These two niches involve well-elaborated, easily expressed cognitive schema or cultural theories of agricultural production. Enset farming is a relatively stable closed system with deep roots in time (Quinlan et al 2014): livestock provide fertilizer for enset and milk for humans, and enset provides fodder for cattle and starch for humans. Enset is drought resistant and has a relatively low risk of crop loss, though recovery times are long (Quinlan et al 2015).…”

Section: Sidama Subsistence Schema and Social-ecological Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sidama people readily talk about this ensetlivestock complex as a system, the parts of which they understand well. Enset ethnobiological classification is highly elaborated, indicating substantial time depth for the Sidamaenset relationship (Quinlan et al 2014). Indeed, traditional Sidama mine (house/yard) and gate (gardens) comprise compounds structured around enset production.…”

Section: Sidama Subsistence Schema and Social-ecological Configurationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture and Psychological Responses to Environmental Shocks: Cultural Ecology of Sidama Impulsivity and Niche Construction in Southwest Ethiopia

Quinlan¹,

Dira²,

Caudell³

et al. 2016

Current Anthropology

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Sidama people occupy a subsistence niche partitioned between traditional enset agropastoralism and transitional maize farming. Enset production is low risk and requires multiple years for cultivation and processing. Maize farming is high risk and high yield, requiring one growing season from planting to harvest. Contrasting enset and maize farming, we examine effects of crop loss and social shocks on Sidama impulsivity. We argue that impulsivity is a psychological process that is differentially activated by environmental shocks in the stable, traditional enset regime and unstable, transitional maize regime. Using a robust psychometric model derived from Barratt impulsiveness scale items, we demonstrate two dimensions of Sidama impulsivity: careful control (CC) and acts without thinking (AWT). Both dimensions are associated with environmental shocks, but the associations are moderated by socialecological regimes. In the enset regime, effects of shocks on impulsivity are muted. However, increased impulsivity is significantly associated with shocks in the global market-dependent maize regime. Effects on CC were significant for social shocks but not crop loss, while AWT was associated with crop loss and social shocks. Results may indicate domain-specific aspects of impulsivity in response to environmental perturbation. Impulsivity may be adaptive in the context bidirectional predictive processing in active cultural niche construction. Human thought is cultural (Bloch 2012; D'Andrade 1995; Sperber and Hirchfeld 2004; Strauss and Quinn 1997). Familiar and shared ways of thinking that worked for extended periods of time-often generations-give people reliable mental models for action: How shall I greet a person of equal status? What is the appropriate response to an insult? These mental models inform predictable outcomes inferred through regular interaction with people and environments in patterned practices (Roepstorff et al. 2010). But how do people react when favored habits and familiar actions result in unexpected or undesirable outcomes? Culture change is an intrapsychic phenomenon when old perceptions of normality are replaced by new ones. We wonder, what psychological processes facilitate culture change, and when are they activated? We draw on insights from social-ecological systems, niche construction, cognitive science, psychometrics, and cultural ecology to examine impulsivity among Sidama people occupying a fragmented subsistence niche at the intersection of traditional enset and transitional maize production. Recent developments in Sidama subsistence provide a case study in culture change. Most Sidama are agropastoral farmers living in the highlands to Rift Valley lowlands in Southwest Ethiopia. People have grown enset (Ensete ventricosum [Welw.] Cheesman), a root and stem staple crop, in this region since prehistoric times (Brandt 1984, 1996). The Sidama are one of the two most enset-reliant societies of the enset complex (Brandt et al. 1997; Quinlan et al. 2014; see also Shack 1963). Meanwhile, maize (Zea m...

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Sidama Agro-Pastoralism and Ethnobiological Classification of its Primary Plant, Enset (Ensete ventricosum)

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Accumulation of mutations in genes associated with sexual reproduction contributed to the domestication of a vegetatively propagated staple crop, enset

Culture and Psychological Responses to Environmental Shocks: Cultural Ecology of Sidama Impulsivity and Niche Construction in Southwest Ethiopia

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