Institutional factors affecting wild edible plant (WEP) harvest and consumption in semi-arid Kenya

AbstractPervasive food insecurity and poverty in much of the world drives vulnerable populations to harvest natural resources as a means of generating income and meeting other household needs. Wild edible plants (WEPs) are a particularly common and effective coping strategy used to increase socio-ecological resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa where agricultural systems are often sensitive to environmental perturbations and instability. WEPs are collected across the landscape, from agricultural areas to government-managed hilltops with varying degrees of success and legality. This multiple case study research, conducted in Eastern Province, Kenya, investigates the formal forest regulations and land tenure rights, as well as local enforcement and understanding of those rules, in order to understand their impact on the ability of vulnerable populations to use WEPs as a coping strategy. The results suggest that widespread confusion, trust issues and a strong focus on the commercialization of wild foods are limiting the possible contribution of WEPs to food security and increased socio-ecological resilience. We identify a number of policy changes and extension programs that could better support local communities relying on WEPs for subsistence purposes to improve their adaptive capacity

Wild edible plants (WEPs) and their contribution to food security: an analysis of household factors, access and policy in the semi-arid midlands of Kenya

Food insecurity and malnutrition are issues that affect approximately one in seven people worldwide and climate change threatens to increase those risks in the future. Many of the policies that address future food systems emphasize resilience - a combination of flexibility in the face of disturbance and the capacity to adapt to change. In Sub-Saharan Africa many households employ livelihood systems that are highly sensitive to change and cannot adapt well to changing environmental conditions, leaving them vulnerable and reliant on coping strategies. Wild edible plants (WEPs) are a particularly common and effective strategy for coping with food insecurity. This research, conducted in rural Eastern Province, Kenya, suggests that certain demographic characteristics and access conditions are correlated with greater use of WEPs. Food insecure households, and those families lacking off-farm income or with lower levels of assets were found to consume WEPs with greater frequency. Access to WEPs was also a major factor, with smaller farm sizes and increased distance to harvest areas correlated significantly to lower levels of WEP use. After reviewing the existing laws pertaining to State forests, privatization trends of communal land and an increasingly formalized management regime for private land tenure, I find that access to WEPs is declining. Development practitioners', governments' and donor organizations' focus on commercialization and commodity value has led extension agents and land owners to ignore the subsistence value of WEPs, especially for poorer populations. The household characteristics identified in this study are specific enough that they can be used to determine the demographic groups that rely heavily on WEPs, and the access conditions that are likely to increase the ability of those vulnerable groups to employ WEPs as a coping strategy to increase system resilience. Protecting and promoting sustainable use of WEPs could increase the current contribution of these valuable resources to household food security, especially if policies can be tailored for the groups that depend on them the most.L'insécurité alimentaire et la malnutrition affectent environ une personne sur sept à travers le monde et le changement climatique menace d'accroître ces risques à l'avenir. La plupart des politiques qui concernent les systèmes alimentaires futures mettent en relief la résilience - une combinaison de flexibilité face à la perturbation et la capacité de s'adapter au changement. En Afrique sub-saharienne de nombreux ménages utilisent des stratégies de moyens de subsistance qui sont très sensibles aux changements et ne peuvent bien s'adapter aux conditions environnementales, ce qui les rendent vulnérables et dépendants des stratégies de survie. L'utilisation des plantes sauvages comestibles (WEPs) représente une stratégie particulièrement commune et efficace. Cette recherche réalisée dans la Province de l'Est du Kenya suggère que certaines caractéristiques démographiques et conditions d'accès sont en corrélation avec une augmentation de la consommation de WEPs. Les lois forestières dans les zones de conservation, la privatisation des terres communales, et la formalisation des régimes de gestion contribuent à la réduction d'accès aux ressources WEP, tout en mettant l'accent sur la commercialisation et la valeur de ces produits pour l'export, ce qui a provoqué les agents de vulgarisation et les propriétaires fonciers à ignorer la valeur substantielle des WEPs, en particulier pour les populations les plus pauvres. La protection et la promotion de l'utilisation durable des WEPs pourraient augmenter la contribution actuelle de ces ressources importantes à la sécurité alimentaire des ménages, et d'autant plus si les politiques peuvent être adaptées pour les groupes qui dépendent le plus sur les WEPs

Understanding the contribution of wild edible plants to rural social-ecological resilience in semi-arid Kenya

Wild edible plants (WEPs) are known to make important contributions to food baskets and livelihoods in the smallholder and subsistence farming communities of sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, protecting and promoting the sustainable use of WEPs in concert with more mainstream agricultural innovation efforts has the potential to build household resilience to food insecurity. There is, however, a need to better understand how WEPs contribute to rural livelihoods on a daily basis and act as emergency safety nets during periods of hunger. Focusing on two villages in rural eastern Kenya, we sought to determine which household conditions are correlated with household reliance on WEPs as a coping strategy during times of food insecurity, while also investigating the role of access restrictions on adaptive capacity and the ability to obtain these important food resources. Results reveal that reliance on WEPs is greater in households that report food insecurity, lack off-farm income, and have lower asset levels. Access to WEPs is also a major factor in consumption frequency, with smaller farm sizes and increased distance to harvest areas significantly correlated with lower levels of WEP use. By combining vulnerability and adaptive capacity measures for each household, we created a more complete accounting of the factors that influence WEP consumption frequency, with implications for policy. This study represents an important first step in taking a more holistic view of the subsistence value of WEPs and the myriad factors that influence households' reliance on, and ability to obtain, uncultivated natural resources