Agro-Ecological Distribution and Consumption of Wild Harvested Edible Insects, Fruits, and Vegetables in Rural Zimbabwe

Natural resources are a valuable component of traditional food systems that contributes to food and nutrition. The distribution and consumption patterns of these natural resources still needs exploration for follow-up research and optimum utilisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the agro-ecological distribution and the consumption of wild harvested edible insects, indigenous fruits and vegetables in rural Zimbabwe. Secondary data generated from a cross-sectional survey targeting 11,973 randomly selected households rural districts was used. The results revealed that at least 14 wild harvested edible insect species, 26 indigenous fruits and 10 indigenous vegetables are commonly consumed. The results showed that the highly consumed indigenous fruits, vegetables and insects were widely distributed in all provinces irrespective of the agro-ecological region and varied due to rainfall pattern and also due to soil type. However, their distribution was in some cases restricted to specific administrative boundaries or provinces. Consumption pattern and preference for some insects, fruits and vegetables varied with province. The distribution and consumption data presented in this study offers an opportunity to advocate for the conservation, production, processing and promotion of specific species in districts by relevant stakeholders and can be used as an advocacy tool for policymakers

Remote sensing patterns of net primary productivity in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA) in relation to land use and land tenure

Net Primary Productivity (NPP) is an important indicator of ecosystem health and its estimation and understanding of factors determining its spatial and temporal variations is critical. Previous studies have mainly attributed NPP variations to biophysical factors. However, the influence of these factors is particularly evident at large spatial/global scales. At small spatial/local/landscape scales, complexity is encountered as biophysical factors tend to account for no or less variance in NPP. In addition, it is difficult to consider some aspects of human management systems such as land-use/land tenure in relation to NPP variations on a global scale analysis than on a local scale analysis. To this end, it is predicted that land use and land tenure would dominate explanation of NPP variations at local scales. Thus, in this study, at the local scale, particularly in a high intensive system of a Southern African savanna-the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), the hypothesis that land-use/land tenure types influence NPP variations was tested. However, it is important to quantify NPP in order to test the abovementioned hypothesis. Thus firstly, this study tested the extent to which a combination of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) modelled shortwave radiation (SWR) can be used to estimate NPP in a Southern African savanna. Results showed that NPP can successfully be mapped using a combination of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and GIS modelled SWR. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical test was then used to test for group mean NPP differences among the different land-use/land tenure types of the GLTFCA. Results showed that land-use/land tenure types significantly (P=0.000, F(4:42056)=180.162, One- Way ANOVA, Tukey HSD Post Hoc Analysis) explain NPP variations at landscape scales even better than biophysical factors. Furthermore, results showed that biophysical factors remain essential in explaining NPP variations even at local scales. These results exhibited the intricacies that exist between the biophysical and human induced factors in explaining NPP viii variations within ecological landscapes. Also, the findings of this study suggest the importance of human management systems, in this instance, land-use/land tenure factors, as an agent of environmental change through its effect on NPP variations in African savannas.,RP-PCP Research Platform (RPPCP grant/Project ECO#1, the French Embassy in Zimbabwe and CIRAD Zimbabw

Land-use and land tenure explain spatial and temporal patterns in terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) in Southern Africa

<div><p>Net primary productivity (NPP) is an important indicator of ecosystem health and its estimation and understanding of factors determining its spatial and temporal variations is critical. It is important to note that biophysical factors and human induced factors are interlinked in determining NPP patterns. Nevertheless, it is difficult to consider some aspects of human management systems in relation to NPP variations on a global scale analysis than on a local scale analysis. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that, at the local scale, particularly in highly intensive systems, land-use/land tenure types influence NPP variations by altering the biophysical conditions of the land. We estimated NPP between 2000 and 2009 using MODIS data and used ANOVA to test the abovementioned hypotheses. Results showed that NPP significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) varied by land-use/land tenure type. We also found that biophysical factors remained essential in explaining NPP variations even at local scales. These results exhibit the intricacies that exist between the biophysical and human-induced factors in explaining NPP variations within ecological landscapes.</p></div