INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES AND LEGUMES: IMPORTANCE, UTILIZATION AND MARKETING IN GAZA PROVINCE, MOZAMBIQUE

The paper discusses the importance of indigenous vegetables and legumes in the context of floods and protracted period of drought.
It draws attention to the fact that the indigenous and the exotic crops can co-exist and in fact contribute to Household Food Security and better nutrition.
An important observation was made that more and more indigenous crops have found their way into Mozambican dinning tables even in the urban areas such as Maputo – a factor which may be attributed to an influx of rural population into the cities during the war.
The paper concludes by strongly recommending the need and importance of defining a strategy on indigenous Vegetables and Legumes, not only as a means of improving food security and nutrition at the household level but in general, in order to fulfill the ultimate objective of fighting absolute poverty and contributing to development in general.

I International Conference on Indigenous Vegetables and Legumes. Prospectus for Fighting Poverty, Hunger and Malnutrition

J.M. Tembe

Indigenous vegetables, drought, food security, nutrition

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2007.752.63