Articles
Delving in the past: unearthing the diversity of traditional vegetables in South Africa
Article number
1102_33
Pages
267 – 274
Language
English
Abstract
For centuries, African people have relied on vegetables harvested from the wild or cultivated in home gardens.
Some of these species are indigenous, but many have become part of the culinary tradition of the local people over time.
The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has done various surveys to catalogue and describe the use of both indigenous and traditional vegetables.
This paper reports on baseline information gathered during surveys in five provinces in South Africa.
These provinces differed in terms of ethnicity, agro-ecology and climate.
The surveys show that traditional vegetables are rarely cultivated and most of the species are collected in the wild or in fallow land where they are commonly regarded as weeds.
Popular species are amaranth, spider plant, jute and nightshade.
The species utilised and the preferences varied among agro-ecological zones and ethnic groups.
The knowledge of different crops was based with different groups within the community and tends to be rudimentary among the youth.
The traditional vegetables were mostly traded informally, if traded at all.
Many of the species are reported to have nutritional benefits.
African vegetables are still used extensively by South African households.
It is a major contributory factor towards food security and balanced diets of poorer households.
Households where the income has risen substantially have moved away from these vegetables towards the more LSQUOmodernRSQUO supermarket crops.
Despite favourable characteristics, the use of African vegetables has diminished and in certain parts there is a real danger of losing the knowledge associated with African vegetables.
Some of these species are indigenous, but many have become part of the culinary tradition of the local people over time.
The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) has done various surveys to catalogue and describe the use of both indigenous and traditional vegetables.
This paper reports on baseline information gathered during surveys in five provinces in South Africa.
These provinces differed in terms of ethnicity, agro-ecology and climate.
The surveys show that traditional vegetables are rarely cultivated and most of the species are collected in the wild or in fallow land where they are commonly regarded as weeds.
Popular species are amaranth, spider plant, jute and nightshade.
The species utilised and the preferences varied among agro-ecological zones and ethnic groups.
The knowledge of different crops was based with different groups within the community and tends to be rudimentary among the youth.
The traditional vegetables were mostly traded informally, if traded at all.
Many of the species are reported to have nutritional benefits.
African vegetables are still used extensively by South African households.
It is a major contributory factor towards food security and balanced diets of poorer households.
Households where the income has risen substantially have moved away from these vegetables towards the more LSQUOmodernRSQUO supermarket crops.
Despite favourable characteristics, the use of African vegetables has diminished and in certain parts there is a real danger of losing the knowledge associated with African vegetables.
Authors
W.S. Jansen van Rensburg, H.J. Vorster, P.O. Adebola
Keywords
imifino, indigenous vegetables, morogo, traditional vegetables
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