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