7 research outputs found
Re-Creating Awareness Of Traditional Leafy Vegetables In Communities
Research and extension in South Africa has been labelling traditional
leafy vegetables as weeds since the 1960s when they started encouraging
households to produce food seen in the shops. This negative perception
has led to an unwillingness to use and conserve these 'poverty foods',
as many community members have labelled them. The status of these crops
needed to be improved to help people realise the importance of these
crops in their daily diet. Awareness activities in six communities made
use of production training sessions in seven schools and eight
community gardens, discussion groups, garden competitions, cooking
competitions, recipe collection, awareness days, local resource
collection activities, participatory selection and a radio talk.
Discussions about use and conservation status of these crops during the
data collection phase stimulated discussions on various aspects of
these crops and caused an increased awareness about the poor
conservation status within the communities, leading to the appointment
of keepers of specific seed. The local resource collection efforts and
gene bank actions caused community members to appreciate their natural
resources more and emphasised the vulnerability of the crops, and their
important role in keeping the biodiversity available for them and for
future generations. In an effort to create awareness of the traditional
plants at all levels within the community, schools (where possible) and
community gardens were targeted during the training and awareness
campaigns. The awareness campaigns culminated in a school garden and
community garden competition, as well as a cooking competition.
Participatory selection was used to expose the community members to new
crops and to variations in the crops that they know. Community
evaluation of these crops created a better understanding for
researchers and community members, leading to improved cooperation. A
noticeable increase in demand for seed and training on production
methods was the result of the awareness activities within the
communities
Conservation Of African Leafy Vegetables In South Africa
The nutritional and cultural importance of African Leafy Vegetables has
become very important in South Africa in the past few years. Recent
research has also confirmed these issues, leading to the incorporation
of African Vegetables into the core business of the ARC. ARC-Roodeplaat
wants to improve the distribution and conservation status of African
Leafy Vegetables. Geographical collection data on Amarant, Cleome
gynandra, Corchorus olitorius and Vigna inguiculata was obtained from
the National Botanical Institute and the data was analyzed with DIVA
and Flora map. Ecogeographical distribution maps were drawn to predict
the possible distribution of the species. Germplasm of African Leafy
Vegetables was collected during routine visits and the conservation
status was discussed with participants in the study areas of
Arthurstone in Bushbuckridge, Watershed near Ladysmith and Mars/Glenroy
near Polokwane. Germplasm of various species were also collected in
collaboration with the Plant Genetic Resource Centre (NPGRC) of the
Department of Agriculture in Arthurstone and Watershed. The NPGRC
included leafy vegetables in their mandate since this trip. Seed flow
diagrams were used to discuss the Watershed community's seed exchange
systems. It was clear when discussing African leafy vegetables in
communities that their conservation and utilization are declining. Also
looking at the trendlines of African Vegetables availability and
utilization it is clear that the use and availability of African Leafy
vegetables are declining due to various reasons. Two major reasons are
the negative image of the African Leafy Vegetables and the increased
use of 'exotic' vegetables like spinach and carrots. The active
promotion, use and conservation of African Leafy Vegetables are
important if we want to increase the production potential and potential
contribution towards food security in South Africa. This will ensure
that the status of these crops is enhanced, specifically their
contributing towards sustainable nutrition as well as sustainable
production. Results from promotion activities in the project (reported
in another paper) indicated that the negative image of African Leafy
Vegetables could be reversed and also had an affect on the roll-out of
the project to other areas of research such as plant protection,
nutritional analysis and food safety, crop science and indigenous
knowledge systems
The Importance Of Traditional Leafy Vegetables In South Africa
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 these vegetables during the winter.
Pumpkins and cowpeas were the only crops grown, with some of the others
occasionally broadcast. The most popular crops for consumption with all
the age groups were amaranth and pumpkins, with jute mallow (Chorcorus
sp.) and spider plant ( Cleome gynandra ) popular in the northern
areas in South Africa. Where cowpeas were available, they were seen as
the most valuable dried leaf product, as they were used as a safety
crop due to their long shelf life. Ethnicity and gender had an effect
on the use and preferences of the different crops, with men preferring
the more bitter taste and women and children preferring the milder
taste. Different ethnic groups showed differences in terms of
bitterness of the taste and composition of the leaf mixes. In many
areas seed systems were poor as the traditional role of keeper of the
seed had been lost. Constant downgrading of traditional vegetables and
associated knowledge by research and extension had led to the labels of
'backward knowledge' and 'poverty foods'. This led to a shift in food
use and willingness of the youth to learn about and eat these crops.
Awareness creation contributed to a change in the perceptions amongst
the youth and adults, leading to increased demand for information and
seed. It was determined that traditional leafy vegetables played an
important role in food security in rural South Africa, but the status
of the crops, as well as their conservation, need to be addressed to
ensure sustainable use