Understanding the contribution of wild edible plants to rural social-ecological resilience in semi-arid Kenya

Wild edible plants (WEPs) are known to make important contributions to food baskets and livelihoods in the smallholder and subsistence farming communities of sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, protecting and promoting the sustainable use of WEPs in concert with more mainstream agricultural innovation efforts has the potential to build household resilience to food insecurity. There is, however, a need to better understand how WEPs contribute to rural livelihoods on a daily basis and act as emergency safety nets during periods of hunger. Focusing on two villages in rural eastern Kenya, we sought to determine which household conditions are correlated with household reliance on WEPs as a coping strategy during times of food insecurity, while also investigating the role of access restrictions on adaptive capacity and the ability to obtain these important food resources. Results reveal that reliance on WEPs is greater in households that report food insecurity, lack off-farm income, and have lower asset levels. Access to WEPs is also a major factor in consumption frequency, with smaller farm sizes and increased distance to harvest areas significantly correlated with lower levels of WEP use. By combining vulnerability and adaptive capacity measures for each household, we created a more complete accounting of the factors that influence WEP consumption frequency, with implications for policy. This study represents an important first step in taking a more holistic view of the subsistence value of WEPs and the myriad factors that influence households' reliance on, and ability to obtain, uncultivated natural resources.

野生可食用植物（WEPs）在撒哈拉以南非洲的小农户和自给农业社区中，对粮食供应和生计有着重要贡献。因此，在推进主流农业创新工作的同时，保护并促进野生可食用植物的可持续利用，有望增强家庭应对粮食不安全问题的韧性。然而，有必要更深入了解野生可食用植物在日常生活中如何助力农村生计，以及在饥荒时期如何充当应急安全保障。我们聚焦于肯尼亚东部农村的两个村庄，旨在确定哪些家庭状况与家庭在粮食不安全时期依赖野生可食用植物作为应对策略相关，同时研究获取限制对适应能力以及获取这些重要食物资源能力的影响。研究结果显示，那些报告存在粮食不安全问题、缺乏非农收入且资产水平较低的家庭，对野生可食用植物的依赖程度更高。野生可食用植物的获取途径也是影响食用频率的一个主要因素，农场规模较小以及距离收获区域较远，都与野生可食用植物使用水平较低显著相关。通过综合考量每个家庭的脆弱性和适应能力指标，我们更全面地梳理了影响野生可食用植物食用频率的因素，这对政策制定具有参考意义。本研究迈出了重要的第一步，即更全面地审视野生可食用植物的生存价值，以及影响家庭对野生可食用植物依赖程度和获取能力的众多因素。