Unpacking the value of traditional African vegetables for food and nutrition security

Mwadzingeni, Learnmore; Afari‐Sefa, Victor; Shimelis, Hussein; N’Danikou, Sognigbé; Figlan, Sandiswa; Depenbusch, Lutz; Shayanowako, Admire; Chagomoka, Takemore; Mushayi, Malven; Schreinemachers, Pepijn; Derera, John

doi:10.1007/s12571-021-01159-7

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Particularly important is that these foods supplement cultivated food crops during periods of drought (Kabore et al , 2011; Chivinge et al , 2015; Shilenge, 2016). Access to traditional foods is crucial during times of food shortage as some indigenous fruits are consumed seasonally at a time when people run out of food (Stadlmayr et al , 2013; Agundez et al , 2016; Mwadzingeni et al , 2021). Traditional leafy vegetables are important for food security in rural areas throughout the year.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…tamarid (Tamarindus indica), kei-apple (Dovyalis caffra), Mimusops zeyheriMithofer and Waibel, 2003;Wynberg et al, 2003;Maranz et al, 2004;Nyanga et al, 2008;Jamnadass et al, 2011;van der Stege et al, 2011;Ibnouf, 2012;Stadlmayr et al, 2013; Hiwilepovan Hal et al, 2014;Kiptot et al, 2014;Ayua et al, 2016;Oguntoyinb et al, 2016;Bvenura and Sivakumar, 2017;Ngadze et al, 2017;Achaglinkame et al, 2019;Avakoudjo et al, 2020;Chawafambira et al, 2020;Meinhold and Darr, 2020; al., 2020a Edible insects largely dominated by the orders Lepidoptera, Orthoptera and Coleoptera Illgner and Nel, 2000; Twine et al, 2003; Dzerefos and Witkowski, 2014; Kelemu et al, 2015; Niassy et al, 2016; Netshifhefhe et al, 2018; Sere et al, 2018; Coley et al, 2020 Vegetables traditional leafy vegetables include wild and domesticated speciesShayanowako et al, 2021;Mwadzingeni et al, 2021;Mncwango et al, 2020;Aderibigbe et al, 2020;Maroyi, 2020;Krause et al, 2019aKrause et al, , 2019bMungofa et al, 2018;Bvenura and Sivakumar, 2017;Gogo et al, 2016;Mayekiso et al, 2017;Ayua et al, 2016;Oguntoyinb et al, 2016;Chipungahelo, 2015;Maroyi, 2013;Ibnouf, 2012;Mooketsi and Gestring, 2011;Masarirambi et al, 2010;Vorster Ineke et al, 2007;…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Revitalizing indigenous ways of maintaining food security in a changing climate: review of the evidence base from Africa

Chanza

Musakwa

2022

IJCCSM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Against a milieu of fragmented research that documents indigenous practices related to food security, and the heterogeneous settings from which the studies have been conducted, this study aims to synthesize the evidence of indigenous knowledge-food security nexus to strengthen the call for the revitalization of indigenous knowledge (IK) as part of the mechanisms to manage food security challenges being aggravated by climate change. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on insights from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this study reviews 122 articles accessed from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, which covered indigenous methods used for producing, gathering, processing, preserving and storing diverse food sources that indigenous people deploy in securing their food systems. Findings The surge in attention to focus on IK-food security nexus tends to be influenced by the growing acknowledgement of climate change impacts on food systems. Essentially, the IK-based practices adopted address all the four food security pillars that are specified by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) as availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. The main motivation behind the continued use of IK-based ways relates largely to the interest to be food secure against climatic shocks and partly to the desire to maintain people’s food cultures and food sovereignty. Originality/value This study deploys the food security pillars provided by the FAO (2012) to demonstrate that IK-based ways of food management are capable of addressing all the four food security dimensions, a critical observation toward revitalizing IK in managing growing food security challenges that are intensified by climate change in SSA.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revitalizing indigenous ways of maintaining food security in a changing climate: review of the evidence base from Africa

Chanza

Musakwa

2022

IJCCSM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Traditional vegetables such as amaranth have the potential to contribute essential nutrients to diets and generate income for farmers (Mwadzingeni et al., 2021), but productivity is constrained due to a lack of access to quality seed (Ndinya et al., 2020). A few improved amaranth cultivars were introduced and were well adopted by farmers, but more cultivars, especially those with tolerance to biotic stress, are required (Ochieng et al., 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The World Vegetable Center Amaranthus germplasm collection: Core collection development and evaluation of agronomic and nutritional traits

Schafleitner

Lin

Dinssa³

et al. 2022

Crop Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) is an underutilized crop increasing in popularity as a grain and as a leafy vegetable. It is rich in protein, minerals, and vitamins, and adapts well to a range of production systems. Currently, the lack of improved cultivars limits the use of the crop. Breeding‐improved cultivars requires access to large collections of amaranth biodiversity stored in genebanks. The task of searching such vast collections for traits of interest can be eased by generating core collections, which display the diversity of large collections in a much smaller germplasm set. The World Vegetable Center amaranth collection contains around 1,000 accessions of 13 species; among them, there are 281 accessions of four species important for use as vegetable amaranth in Africa (A. cruentus, A. hypochondriacus, A. caudatus, and A. dubius). Based on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker genotype diversity, a core collection (CC) of 76 accessions, cultivars, and selections was assembled. To a large extent, it represents the diversity of the whole collection. The CC was evaluated for yield and nutritional parameters during the cool and warm seasons in Tanzania and Taiwan and a pretest for variation of drought tolerance in the CC has been performed. Cultivar Madiira 2, an improved cultivar developed for vegetable production in Africa, outperformed all other tested cultivars in terms of yield stability, but several CC accessions had higher yield, lower wilting score, and higher nutrient content than Madiira 2. This indicates the core collection can be used for further improvement of amaranth cultivars.

show abstract

“…It is believed to be of South American origin but an African origin may not be doubted (Oluwole et al, 2019). Waterleaf cultivation like other leafy vegetable cultivation in home gardens improves the life quality of families and may provide additional income for female farmers (Mwadzingeni et al, 2021). Waterleaf plays a major role in eradicating malnutrition in Africa (Ikeyi et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of leaf spot disease on water leaf (Talinum triangulare (jacq.) Willd and in vitro effect of three medicinal plant extracts on pathogen(s) in the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Anembom¹,

Tacham²,

Chia³

et al. 2022

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cultivation of waterleaf improves the life quality of families and provides additional income for farmers. However, waterleaf production in Cameroon has suffered a major blow from leaf spot disease. Ten farms with dimensions of 4 m by 3 m each in Nkwen, Bamenda, Cameroon were surveyed for leaf spot disease of Talinum triangulare. Disease incidence and severity were assessed by surveying the farms after every fourteen days for three months. Small pieces of infected leaf parts were inoculated on prepared plates of potato dextrose agar. After 7 days of incubation, pure cultures were made, and isolated fungi were identified according to recommended references. Aqueous extracts from Moringa oleifera (Leaves), Ocimum gratissimum (Leaves) and Zingiber officinale (Rhizomes) were evaluated for in vitro antifungal activities on Alternaria and Cercospora. Data collected for disease incidence and severity showed varying intensities at the different locations. Two fungi species were isolated from the diseased leaf samples collected from 5 farms and were identified as Alternaria spp. and Cercospora spp. All the extracts had inhibitory activities on the test fungi with the highest inhibition (79.6%) obtained from Zingiber officinale (Rhizomes) extract and the lowest inhibition (4%) obtained from Ocimum gratissimum extract.

show abstract

Unpacking the value of traditional African vegetables for food and nutrition security

Cited by 20 publications

References 58 publications

Revitalizing indigenous ways of maintaining food security in a changing climate: review of the evidence base from Africa

Revitalizing indigenous ways of maintaining food security in a changing climate: review of the evidence base from Africa

The World Vegetable Center Amaranthus germplasm collection: Core collection development and evaluation of agronomic and nutritional traits

Assessment of leaf spot disease on water leaf (Talinum triangulare (jacq.) Willd and in vitro effect of three medicinal plant extracts on pathogen(s) in the Northwest Region of Cameroon

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About