Characteristics and functions of traditional homegardens: a review

Abstract

Traditional agroecosystems play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity and in sustainable development. As a typical type of traditional agroecosystem, traditional homegardens have been receiving increasing attention from scientists, especially ethnobotanists. They are considered as germplasm banks for many crops and other economic plants. They are also a key site for domestication of wild plants. Current ethnobotanical studies on homegardens focus on their structures, floristic composition, and contributions to their owners. Traditional homegardens often show complicated structures, diverse floristic compositions, multiple functions, low input (including labor and money), and ecological and socioeconomic sustainability. The characteristics and functions of traditional homegardens are closely related to many factors, such as their geographic location and the cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic conditions of their owners. Many researches on homegardens are conducted in the tropics. There are few studies on the dynamics of traditional homegardens, especially those located in temperate, arid and semi-arid zones. The dynamics of homegardens and the factors affecting these processes will be a fruitful field for future research.

The Potential Use of Agroforestry Community Gardens as a Sustainable Import-Substitution Strategy for Enhancing Food Security in Subarctic Ontario, Canada

“…Agroforestry is an alternative land-use system to conventional agriculture that has been utilized as a socioeconomically and ecologically sustainable means to establish long-term food security in impoverished areas, mainly within the sub-tropic and tropic regions [20,21]. Simply, it is a relatively recent term for an ancient practice of agriculture, which by definition, is a land-use system that combines woody perennials (e.g., trees, shrubs) with crops in spatial and temporal arrangements that optimize beneficial biological interactions and economic outputs [17,18].…”

“…Homegardens are the primary agroforestry system used for subsistence production and enhancing food security, especially in areas where food cost and distribution are barriers to proper nutrition [22,31]. Homegardens include ecologically adapted and complementary species and are marked by low capital and labour input, simple technology and high productivity [21,22]. The FAO [24] emphasizes the role of homegardens in producing direct access to a diversity of nutrient rich foods and complementary food sources during seasonal lean periods.…”

Plant Species with Spontaneous Reproduction in Homegardens in Eastern Tyrol (Austria): Perception and management by women farmers

“…However, this kind of land-use is small in area, not market-oriented, and managed by women. It may be that these factors are responsible for the fact that home gardens have been neglected (IPGRI 2000) and that scientific research on farmers' home gardens -despite recent increased popularity of gardening -has not been realized, especially in temperate, arid and semi-arid zones (Huai & Hamilton 2009). This is true for Europe too, with only few exceptions (Agelet et al 2000, Brun-Hool 1980, Thompson et al 2003, Vogl & Vogl-Lukasser 2003.…”

Composición florística e importancia socioeconómica de los huertos familiares del Ejido La Encrucijada, Cárdenas, Tabasco

“…Además de proporcionar satisfactores y ahorro, los agroecosistemas tradicionales como el huerto familiar también contribuye a la seguridad alimentaria y juegan un importante papel en la conservación de la biodiversidad y agrobiodiversidad de las comunidades rurales (Pulami y Paudel, 2004;Sthapit et al, 2004;Subedi et al, 2004;Peyre et al, 2006) así como a la productividad, por lo que Kabir y Webb, 2008;Henry et al, 2009y Huai y Hamilton, 2009 From counting the uses given by biological form and category of use, trees had 13 applications, mostly edible, so its main function is to meet food needs of the families (Nair, 1985;Fernandes and Nair, 1986;Perera et al, 1991;Kabir and Webb, 2008). The functions of traditional home orchards are given from a high diversity, climatic conditions, property size, structural arrangement, plant density, management practices and species composition, which vary at local or regional level (Pulami and Paudel, 2004;Sthapit et al, 2004;Abdoellah et al, 2006).…”

“…In addition to providing satisfactions and savings, the traditional agro-ecosystems such as home orchards, also contribute to food security and play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity and agro-biodiversity in rural communities (Pulami and Paudel, 2004;Sthapit et al, 2004;Subedi et al, 2004;Peyre et al, 2006) thus as productivity, so Kabir and Webb, 2008;Henry et al, 2009 andHuai andHamilton, 2009, noted that home orchards could be a pillar in the conservation, coming to replace primary forests if they were to degrade or where there are none, as in the Ejido La Encrucijada.…”