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Conservation and use of traditional vegetables in Ethiopia
Zemede Asfaw
Faculty of Science, Addis Abeba University, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia is well known for its diversity of indigenous food plants, including vegetables. The cultivated vegetables are mainly grown by traditional farmers in home gardens, although some are grown in fields and along field margins. About 27% of the crop species cultivated in home gardens in Ethiopia, many of them indigenous, are used as vegetables. Non-cultivated species sporadically used as vegetables are estimated to comprise about 29% of the total wild food plants of the country, most of these being indigenous. Traditional Ethiopian vegetables do not figure very prominently in modern crop research and conservation programmes. Traditional vegetable crops are marginalized in modern agriculture while the wild and weedy vegetable species receive no special attention. The vegetable resources of Ethiopia can be developed through a strategy of complementing and augmenting traditional practices with modern scientific approaches. The vegetable industry could benefit from tapping the potential of the indigenous taxa as this would improve local and national food security, augment farmers’ incomes and help surmount some health problems associated with nutrient deficiency.

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