Dietary contribution of Wild Edible Plants to women’s diets in the buffer zone around the Lama forest, Benin – an underutilized potential

Abstract

Rural populations in developing countries face food insecurity and malnutrition despite being surrounded by extraordinary biodiversity. The international community increasingly recognizes the role of agro-biodiversity and Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) in their contributions to managing risk and building resilience and sustainable food systems. Studies on real contributions of WEPs to peoples' diets, however, are uncommon. This study assessed the contribution of WEPs to diets of women living in the buffer zone of the Lama forest in southern Benin. During the long dry season, a cross-sectional survey was carried out on 120 women, covering their knowledge and attitudes towards WEPs and two non-consecutive 24-h recalls of their WEP consumption. Contribution of WEPs to total dietary intake was low due to infrequent use and small portion sizes. The highest nutrient contributions of WEPs measured were for copper (13.9 %) and iron (4.6 %) but the majority of the women had intake values below the Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) for these elements -copper 65 % and iron 91 % Women's dietary diversity was significantly higher among WEP consumers than non-consumers, mainly due to higher consumption of dark green leafy vegetables. WEPs were less consumed as a replacement for other foods but rather as a complement to the diet. The study population generally appreciated WEPs, while some constraints were reported regarding preparation, conservation and commercialization. Before widely promoting WEP consumption in order to exploit their dietary potential, additional investigations are needed into their nutrient composition, cultural and market value, their sustainable harvest levels and possible integration into innovative farming systems.

Contribution of forest foods to dietary intake and their association with household food insecurity: a cross-sectional study in women from rural Cameroon

“…The findings in the present study corroborate the previous findings in DR Congo (12) , Benin (53) , Tanzania (57) , Ethiopia (69) and Cameroon (70) that indicated a wide gap between the number of traditionally known and the number of commonly consumed forest foods. The focus group respondents in the present study revealed a list of forty-seven forest plant foods, of which only seventeen were observed to be consumed during the 7 d recall period in the study.…”

“…Research conducted with the Kisangani and Turumbu forest communities of DR Congo indicated that forest foods do not provide adequate intakes of the micronutrients Fe, Zn, Ca and vitamin B 12 , with less than 25% of women having intakes above the RDA (12) . The low contribution of forest foods towards meeting the EAR of these micronutrients has also been reported among the Lama Forest communities of Benin (53) . The lower nutrient contributions of forest foods in Benin (53) and DR Congo (12) than in the present study may be attributable to the exclusion of nutrient-rich animal foods.…”

Perceived nutrition benefits and socio-demographic factors affecting consumption of forest foods in eastern and southern Cameroon

“…Conservation studies in Cameroon reveal that non-respect of the wildlife legislation to protect wild life, has resulted in unsustainable hunting of wild animals for food (Cerutti and Tacconi, 2006;Nasi et al, 2011;Fungo, 2016). The major identified forest foods in Cameroon in the present study, are similar to studies reported in Cameroon and other Congo Basin countries (for example, Tacconi et al, 2003;Nasi et al, 2011;Termote et al, 2012;Hamawa, 2013;Boedecker et al, 2014).…”

“…These findings are corroborated by case studies in DR Congo among the forest dependent communities of Kisangani (Termote et al, 2012), the Guiziga tribe in Cameroon (Hamawa, 2013) and populations adjoining Lama Forest reserve in Benin (Boedecker et al, 2014). Despite these communities having access to abundant nutrient rich traditional forest foods, under-nutrition and food insecurity is rampant among them.…”

Consomme-t-on ce que l’on sème ? Relations entre diversité de la production, revenu agricole et diversité alimentaire au Burkina Faso

“…Plusieurs études ont déjà montré l'importance des plantes sauvages dans l'alimentation et l'apport en micronutriments (Blaney et al, 2009 au Gabon ;Powell et al, 2013 en Tanzanie). Boedecker et al (2014) au Bénin observent que les femmes qui consomment des plantes sauvages ont une meilleure diversité alimentaire que celles qui n'en consomment pas. Ils soulignent que les plantes sauvages sont consommées en complément d'autres aliments plutôt qu'en substitution.…”