Ethnobotanical Survey of Plants Used by Subsistence Farmers in Mitigating Cabbage and Spinach Diseases in OR Tambo Municipality, South Africa (original) (raw)
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Journal of consumer sciences, 2018
Indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) have been found to be as good as conventional vegetables to provide essential nutrients to sustain human health. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the consumption, cultivation and trading of ILVs in rural communities. A crosssectional survey was conducted and data were collected from 854 respondents representing 854 randomly selected households. Data collection was conducted by using a questionnaire designed specifically for this study, through personal interviews with respondents. Up to 72.8% of the households were located in rural settlements as opposed to about 24.5% in urban areas, with only about 2.7% in informal settlements. 58% of respondents' households had more than three members per household, whereas 24% of households had two members per household. 92% of respondents indicated that they consumed indigenous leafy vegetables because they were cheap (35%), healthy and nutritious (29%), easily available (22%) and tasty (8%). Up to 66% of respondents did not cultivate ILVs as they felt that there was no need to, because they grew in the wild. Jute (Corchorus spp), lerotho (Cleome gynandra), mokopu (Cucurbita maxima) and thepe (Amaranthus thunbergii) were the most consumed ILVs in this region. However, most of the few who cultivated ILVs, sold them to generate income. The consumption and cultivation of ILVs has the potential to improve food security and boost income generation in households in rural communities. It is recommended that relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies should ensure the availability of ILV seeds and educate households on the ways to cultivate, preserve, prepare and consume ILVs.
The Importance of Traditional Leafy Vegetables in South Africa
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2007
The use of traditional leafy vegetables in communities has been noted in several studies. These studies highlighted concerns about the loss of knowledge. The aim of this work was to enhance the role of African leafy vegetables in the nutrition of vulnerable groups in South Africa through improved preparation, promotion of consumption, processing, landrace improvement program, and management of their genetic diversity. Researchers needed to establish the extent of the use, conservation status and awareness of these plants, to ensure effective research decisions. The results from these studies are reported on here. Localities that differed in ethnicity and climate were targeted. The data collection phase used a questionnaire survey, rapid and participatory methodologies to collect information from the women. Traditional leafy vegetables were found to be a very important source of food in summer, but especially in winter. Several drying methods are used to ensure the availability of th...
Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 2020
Traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs) are mostly wild and informally-domesticated edible plant species. Their nutritious leaves, shoot tips, flowers and fruits are consumed as vegetables, particularly by rural communities in Africa. However, their consumption and cultivation are still marginal. This study aimed to identify the most preferred TLVs, as well as factors that affect the consumption and cultivation of these species. A questionnaire was administered among 100 respondents to recor d the preferred TLVs; the reason (s) for preference; consumption frequency; and constraints towards consumption of these vegetable species. This study recorded a total of 18 TLVs that belong to 14 genera and 11 families. Among these, Amaranthus hybridus, A. spinosus, A. thunbergii, Bidens biternata and Corchorus olitorius were the most preferred species. Vegetables were preferred primarily based on the taste; where most people ate them once a week when they are available. The major TLV consumption constraints were seasonal availability and low shelf life. A decline in the availability of TLVs was primarily caused by drought. Regardless of the observed decline, only 23% of respondents practiced informal cultivation of Amaranthus species. Bidens pilosa, Momordica balsamina, and Corchorus olitorius vegetable species were also known to possess some medicinal values. Future research on improving taste, increasing edible plant parts and elongating shelf life for preferred TLVs, is a necessity.
South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010
Micronutrient supplementation and food fortification are shortand medium-term strategies to address the "hidden hunger" (i.e. micronutrient malnutrition), but in the long term dietary diversification through a food-based approach involving agriculture has been proposed as one of the more sustainable options. 9,10 Dietary diversification has to widen its scope to include indigenous crops, such as wild-growing green leafy vegetables. Although concerns with respect to the bioavailability of vitamin A from green leafy vegetables have been raised, 11,12 consumption of cooked and pureed green leafy vegetables was shown to have a beneficial effect on improving vitamin A status. 13-15 It stands to reason that wild green leafy vegetables could have a similar beneficial effect, particularly in rural resource-poor settings, and this possibility has repeatedly been raised. 16,17 The potential value for food security and rural development
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Ethnoveterinary practices and ethnobotanical knowledge serve as potential therapeutic approaches used to manage and prevent cattle diseases within poor communities in developing nations. Most of the knowledge and practices remain inadequately documented and threatened with extinction in the future. This study aimed to explore the ethnoveterinary practices and knowledge on plants used to treat cattle diseases in two communities of the Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality, South Africa. A semi-structured interview guide, snowball, and purposive technique were used to collect data and recruit 90 participants. Three ethnobotanical indices (informant consensus factor (Fic), use-value (UV), and relative frequency of citation (RFC) were used for quantitative analysis. A total of 64 medicinal plants from 32 families (dominated by Compositae, Fabaceae, and Asparagaceae) were used to treat 27 cattle diseases. The plants with a high frequency of citation and RFC were Gomphocarpus fruticosus (7...
Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development in the Tropics and Subtropics, 2016
A studywas takento investigatethe typesof brassica vegetablesmostly grownby smallholderfarmersin two provinces of South Africa. Thirty-one smallholder vegetable farmers in the Gauteng province and Waterberg district in the Limpopo province were surveyed. In addition, the study also sought to establish the common diseases, the management strategies used and problems encountered by the farmers. Farmers were interviewed using a questionnaire with closed and open–endedquestions. The results indicated that the smallholder farmers mostly grew cabbage (93.6%) as their main brassica crop followed by rape (41.2%). Thirty percent of farmers could not identify or name the predominant disease/s encounteredin their fields. Major diseases encounteredby farmers surveyed were an unknowndisease/s (33.3%), black rot (26.7%), Alternaria leaf spot (6.7%) and white rust (6.7%). Smallholder farmers have inadequate technical information available especially relating to crop diseases, their identification ...
Attitude towards the cultivation and utilisation of indigenous leafy vegetables in rural communities
2016
This dissertation is dedicated to my Lord Jesus Christ who has been my shield, my strength and my very present help in time of need. Thank you, my Lord, for giving me hope beyond hopes, for seeing me through this study, for placing your angels along the way that everything may be easier. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My sincere and deepest appreciation goes to Dr FT Tabit, my supervisor, for thorough guidance, patience, commitment and diligence in his supervision throughout this study. Miss F Molongane, my co-supervisor for support and motivation. I especially thank you for taking time to read my work and for seeing this project to its completion. Many thanks to the Department of Research at the University of South Africa for providing the funds required for this study. Without funding I would not have come this far. I would also like to thank my husband for his patience and support. I am grateful for all the people that God has put on my way while doing the degree to support me emotionally, financially, prayed with me and prayed for me.
A survey was conducted on traditional vegetables in three districts of northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objective was to determine which alien and native plant species were collected from the wild or cultivated for use as leafy vegetables. The survey documented 72 vegetable species of which nearly half were alien species. The majority of the vegetables were collected from the wild (56 species) and only 16 were cultivated. Alien species were preferred more extensively than native species (2.5 times more), despite the larger variety (larger choice) of the latter (38 native versus 34 alien species). Nearly 53% of traditional vegetables of alien origin belong to well-known vegetable families that are indigenous to the study area, suggesting that there is a classification system that allows people to explore new plant sources. This makes a case that Indigenous Knowledge Systems can expand the menu by incorporating newly introduced species. However, this also suggests that alien species, which are weedy and easily obtained around the home, is displacing native species as a major food source. Our findings also suggest that wild vegetables might have been predisposed for use due to their medicinal value.