Wild plants could become “alternative” food

A recent survey carried out by independent researchers and circulated through UNDP’s Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE) has revealed that some wild plants - used locally for consumption in times of food shortages in Ethiopia - have the potential to become valuable staple foods and important alternatives to usual food crops. It identified a number of indigenous food-producing tree species which could easily be domesticated by farmers. The survey gives indications that wild food plants should be considered as a serious issue in developing strategies to fight rural food insecurity and in coming up with integrated development programmes for chronic food insecure areas, both in Ethiopia and other parts of the world.