Wild Food Plants in Kenya. A Review

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that wild food plants (WFP) make an important contribution to the food basket and livelihoods of smallholder farmers, hunters and gatherer communities and subsistence farming groups in several areas of the Earth including sub-Saharan Africa. However, the current global changes especially climate warming affects the use of WFP are jeopardizing the use of WFP and the related knowledge. Therefore, documenting for protecting and promoting the sustainable use of WFP can strengthen household resilience during food shortages. There is a need to better understand how WFP contributes to rural livelihoods on a daily basis and serves as an emergency safety net in times of famine. To this end, we carried out a review on Scopus and Google Scholar by using the key words ‘ethnobotany`, `food security`, `wild food plants `, `wild fruit`, ‘Kenya’, `wild food plants` and `conservation`. We identified 15 articles containing 366 single plant species belonging to 79 families used as WFP in 11 regions in Kenya. The most represented family was Fabaceae with the highest number of species (33). Frequently reported species included Carissa spinarum (n = 6), Solanum nigrum L. (n = 6), Ximenia americana (n = 5), Amaranthus graecizans (n = 4) and Grewia damine (n = 4). Tharaka Nithi region had the highest number of articles identified (n = 3) while Northern Kenya had the highest number of WFP identified (n = 108). The fruits, leaves and roots respectively were reported to be the most commonly used parts of the plant. About 52% of WFP were used raw as a snack, 19% were cooked, 16% is processed, and 12% of a given plant species ready for use after certain processing and cooking steps. 180 WFP identified reported no uses with articles covering Northern Kenya, Siaya district, and Tharaka constituency reported the highest number of no use among WFP. 10 articles reported to use semi structured interviews and questionnaires and key informant interviews as methods of data collection. 8 articles reported to use interview-based approach while 2 articles used secondary literature and the other 2 used both interview based and literature as sources of data. Articles from Northern Kenya reported the highest number of WFP (n = 108). WFPs play an important nutritional role most homesteads in Kenya however these WFP are not adequately documented and there is no clear linkage between WFPs and their potential to solving food insecurity. The knowledge of WFPs only persists among the older generation and therefore there is need to transfer this knowledge to the younger generation and to ensure that this knowledge is not lost. Anthropogenic factors such as changes in land use, excessive over grazing, development activities (street construction and urbanization), habitat destruction (wood harvesting, firewood series wildfires), famine, overharvesting, have endangered WFP.

Future studies should focus on Nyukani area to identify the WFP used and their uses since the research done only covered the policy and the legal frameworks. With most of the articles not clearly outlining the uses and preparation procedures of most of the WFP, it’s a gap that future research can focus on the uses, preparation methods, tests, colour and smell as these are key factors in accepting and integrating the WFPs in diets. Further studies need to be conducted in different regions in Kenya in order to have an updated inventory before the knowledge of WFPs especially by the indigenous communities erodes. It is therefore important that the young generations are encouraged to develop interests in WFPs in order to preserve the existing species and the relevant institutions to encourage communities to adopt cultivation of some of the WFP species which could provide a backup for the times of food insecurity in Kenya.