| dc.description.abstract | Wild edible plants are important food supplements which reduce vulnerability to food insecurity
especially in times of food shortage in Uganda. However, limited information is available on
knowledge and their use in Uganda. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify different
Wild Edible Plants (WEP) and their benefits; assess the knowledge level of the community on
the importance of Wild Edible Plants (WEP) to their livelihoods and determine the available
strategies for sustainable utilization and conservation of Wild Edible Plants (WEP) to the rural
communities of Koro S/C; Omoro district. A series of participatory tools (key informant
interviews, observation) was followed by a household survey (150 respondents) from three (3)
randomly selected parishes namely; Labwoch, Ibakara and Pageya. According to the findings, a
total of 21 Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) species with high diversity and multiple use values were
documented in Koro S/C. WEPs species such as Ximenia Americana L., Chlorophytum
comosum, Amaranthus spinosus L., Aframomum angustifolium (Sonn.) K.Schum, Vitellaria
paradoxa C.F. Gaertn, and “Oyado.” were highly utilized due to their multitude of benefits.
Peoples in Koro S/C perceived WEPs to be of food and nutritional value, medicinal value, and
economic value. The decline of WEPs availability and utilization was due to environmental
degradation, rapid urbanization and overexploitation. Some of the strategies for sustainable
utilization and conservation of WEPs in the area were; community sensitization, domestication
of wild edible plants, local regulations on management of the Wild edible plants, promotion of
sustainable alternatives for harvesting and utilization of WEPs, and market-led initiatives
through value addition and value chain development. However, the study further established that
although there were some notable strategies for sustainable utilization and conservation of WEPs
in the area, these were not very effective due to the limited resources affecting outreach of the
interventions, limited awareness on the available bi-laws and regulations, and limited
involvement of communities in the design and implementation of the interventions. It was
recommended that the government and civil societies intensify community sensitization on the
importance of sustainable utilization and conservation of the wild edible plants for posterity.
Sustainable business models need to be developed to facilitate increased and equitable economic
benefits along the value chain as a mechanism for incentivizing sustainable management of
WEPs and their sources. Finally, the community members need to engage in wild edible plants
domestication and conservation of WEP sources for continued utilization of wild edible plants
for their enormous benefits to food, nutritional, medicinal and economic values. | en_US |
