The trauma of no-choice: Wild food ethnobotany in Yaghnobi and Tajik villages, Varzob Valley, Tajikistan

Abstract

Due to global change and the migration crisis both needing rapid attention, there has been growing debate about the drivers of change in the diet of migrants. Our study aimed to evaluate the consequences of forced resettlement on local ecological knowledge related to wild food plants among forcefully resettled Yaghnobi people in Tajikistan. We conducted 49 semi-structured in-depth interviews and recorded 27 wild food taxa and five unidentified folk taxa used by Yaghnobis and Tajiks in the villages surrounding Yaghnob Valley (including families ressetteled from Yaghnob Valley) in central Tajikitsan. The comparision between the two considered groups showed a high level of Tajikisation among Yaghnobis, both those who live alongside Tajiks as well as those living separately. The few families that still have distinct Yaghnobi plant uses are the ones which were given the opportunity to choose the spot in which to relocate and still visit the Yaghnob Valley regularly. On the basis of our study, we suggest that affording a choice of where to relocate is better than no choice, as the loss of motivation also affects the use of wild food plants. Given the pressure of the possible relocation of many groups of people in the light of global change, we suggest focusing efforts on studying similar cases in order to minimize the damage caused to people by relocation. The trauma of forced relocation, even just a few kilometers away, directly or indirectly affects wild food plant use and with this the food security of the community.

Crumbotti and rose petals in a ghost mountain valley: foraging, landscape, and their transformations in the upper Borbera Valley, NW Italy

“…In this respect, there is a cultural and social continuity between the present events and the migratory phenomena that occurred during the twentieth century, which changed the geography of Europe, especially in mountain areas [ 7 – 9 ]. Migration is thus a key force in terms of the transformation of a community’s relationship with its surroundings, as well as with its local ecological knowledge (LEK) [ 10 – 13 ]: a change that cannot be described only in terms of opposition between tradition and modernity or between rural and urban [ 14 ], and not only in terms of sociocultural erosion [ 15 ]. In so far as LEK is situated knowledge [ 16 ], the analysis of rural migration raises questions concerning the spatial reorientation and cultural adaptation of local communities.…”

Plant Use Adaptation in Pamir: Sarikoli Foraging in the Wakhan Area, Northern Pakistan

“…On the Pakistani side, we mainly relied on own research work [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], while for the Afghan Pamir we found only a single study which recorded the ethnobotanies of the Kyrgyz and Wakhi peoples [ 11 ]. Similarly, we also compared the data with our research conducted in Tajikistan in the past year [ 15 ]. In addition, we considered other medicinal ethnobotanical studies [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 ] in order to have a comprehensive comparative analysis to establish the novelty of our results.…”

“…Moreover, we found some ethnobotanical studies which recorded medicinal plant uses from the Tajik and Afghan Pamirs [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In Tajikistan, our research group has conducted a wild food ethnobotanical study in the Varzob Valley [ 15 ]. Similarly, the ethnobotanical study of medicinal teas from Southern Xinjiang, China is an important contribution to the field of the ethnobotany of mountain regions [ 16 ].…”

Promotion of Wild Food Plant Use Diversity in the Soviet Union, 1922–1991

“…While in the modern world, especially in industrialized parts, wild food plants have shifted to the periphery of food systems, though they still constitute a reservoir of healthy food, especially when food supplies are disrupted [ 4 ]. Therefore, they have recently become a widespread research topic [ 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Knowledge of the use of plants has historically been acquired through trial and error and subsequently circulated through oral and written communication between generations, keeping use associated with local flora. Wild plants constitute a significant food resource, especially in places highly vulnerable to climate change or military conflicts, although displacements of people erode local ecological knowledge which negatively contribute to food security [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Wild food plants were occasionally promoted in Europe during World War II (WWII) (see, for example, Finland [ 10 ], Norway [ 11 ]), yet after this time of hardship, the propagation of wild food plants in post-war Europe has been uncommon.…”