Promotion Of African Leafy Vegetables Within The Agricultural Research Council-Vegetable And Ornamental Plant Institute: The Impact Of The Project

The importance of indigenous knowledge and traditional crops in the survival strategies of rural people have only recently been recognized by researchers in South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the effect of the Promotion of African leafy vegetables for food security and nutrition project on African vegetable research and its impact in the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa Indigenous crops research is since 1994 an existing research focus area for ARC-Roodeplaat. The impact of the Promotion of African leafy vegetables for food security and nutrition project however was noticeable, since it strengthened existing research projects. The reason for this is that the baseline information gathered as part of this project provided a better understanding of the role these crops play in the survival strategies and food security of the rural communities in South Africa. The production training and awareness actions spilled over into larger extension groups and resulted in more communities targeted, with both gender and age differences addressed. New research has been initiated to help address some of the problems (production systems) and lack of information (baseline, consumption patterns, nutritional analysis, market value) identified. The food-based approach, Addressing low vitamin A status with the use of orange fleshed sweet potatoes and dark green leafy vegetables, is now starting to incorporate the information gathered during the study in the different communities, thus ensuring a more holistic approach. The potential commercial value of these crops was highlighted and the role it could play for establishing emerging farmers enhanced. Awareness creation within the scientific community was done through publications, papers, posters, workshop and conference attendance, with some conference organizers specifically inviting these contributions. The exposure has led to more national and international institutions making use of the capacity built during the project duration. Universities are partners on nutritional and consumption studies, thus helping to strengthen the capacity in the scientific community on traditional vegetables. All these actions help to uplift the image of African Leafy vegetables from a poor man's crop to a high value niche market crop

Linking smallholder agriculture and water to household food security and nutrition

Promoting household food security and reducing malnutrition rates of a growing population with the same amount of water is a challenge facing South African nutritionists and agriculturalists alike. Apart from non-food related effects of agriculture in general, the crop and livestock production practices of the South African smallholder farmer may have nutritional implications, primarily when practised on residential land and resulting in home consumption. Yet, few studies have systematically investigated the impact thereof. It appears that crop diversification, gender issues and nutrition education are among the important factors that strengthen the link between agriculture and nutrition. Since food production is the most water-intensive activity in society, nutritional water productivity (i.e. nutrition per volume water) of foods and the nutritional water footprint of diets should be investigated in order to achieve a sustainable solution. This implies that both the demand for a diet consisting predominantly of water-productive plant products, as well as the supply thereof, be addressed