Connecting Global Priorities Biodiversity and Human Health

4. Wild foods and human nutrition
3.1 Wild foods and diet diversity
Wild biodiversity has an important role in
contributing to food production and security in
many agroecosystems worldwide (Scoones et al.
1992; Johns and Maundu 2006; Termote et al.
2011; Turner et al. 2011; Dogan 2012; Termote
et al. 2012a; Mavengahama et al. 2013; Vinceti et
al. 2013; Powell et al. 2014; Achigan-Dako et al.
2014; Vira et al. 2015). More than 10 millennia
after the emergence of settled agriculture, millions
of rural smallholders in most geographical regions
of the world are still reliant on wild products
from foraging forests and wild lands for their
subsistence and livelihoods (Wunder et al. 2014),
although a recent study of wild product harvesting
by 32 indigneous communities in the Ecuadorian
Amazon showed this was declining (Gray et al.
2015). Ickowitz et al. (2014) found a significant
positive relationship between tree cover and
dietary diversity, suggesting that children in Africa
who live in areas with more tree cover have more
diverse and nutritious diets. In a comparative
analysis of environmental income data collected
from some 8000 households in 24 developing
countries, Angelsen et al. (2014) highlighted that
environmental income accounts for 28% of total
household income, with 77% coming from natural
forests. Food products (wild fruit and vegetables,
fish, bushmeat, mushrooms) were the second
most important category (over 30%) and likely to
help meet the nutritional, medicinal, utilitarian
and ritual needs of many households.
A recent survey summarizing information from
36 studies in 22 countries highlights that wild
biodiversity still plays an important role in local
contexts with around 90–100 wild species per
location and community group. Based on some
estimates, the use of wild food reached up to
300–800 species, although actual consumption
and dietary intakes were not studied (Bharucha and
Pretty 2010). Xu et al. (2004) reported that 283
different species of edible vegetables were found
in the markets of Xishuangbanna in southwest
China and the trade in wild vegetables contributed
between 15% and 84% of market income for
different groups. This represented between 4% and
13% of total household income. Notably, the mean
price of wild vegetables was 72% higher than that of
cultivated vegetables. In South Africa, Shackleton
et al. (1998) found that 25% of households sampled
in nine villages sold wild vegetables.To investigate
the importance of wild foods in Europe, Schulp et
al. (2014) analysed the availability, utilization and
benefits of wild game, wild plants and mushrooms
in the European Union (EU). They recorded a wide
variety of game (38 species), vascular plants (81
species) and mushrooms (27 species) collected and
consumed throughout the EU.
Wild foods include varied forms of both plant
and animal products, ranging from fruits, leafy
vegetables, woody foliage, bulbs and tubers,
cereals and grains, nuts and kernels, saps and
gums (which are eaten or used to make drinks),
mushrooms, to invertebrates such as insects and
snails, honey, bird eggs, bushmeat from small and
large vertebrates, reptiles, birds, fish and shellfish
(Bharucha and Pretty 2010; Shackleton et al.
2010). These various wild foods invariably add
diversity to the diets of people and communities
who make extensive use of them.¹ These examples
also reflect broad groups and not the dozens of
species included within each wild food type.²
Abu-Basutu (2013) reported that the species
“commonly” used across two villages in southeast
South Africa included 17 mammal, 14 bird, 6
fish, 10 leafy vegetables and 7 fruits species. In
comparison, Ocho et al. (2012) reported that 120
wild plant species were listed as foods by residents
of a single village in southern Ethiopia, with an
average of 20 species per household.
¹ In another example, across a sample of 14 rural villages in South Africa, on average, 96% of households
consumed wild spinach, 88% ate wild fruits, 54% ate edible insects, 52% consumed bushmeat and 51% ate
honey (Shackleton and Shackleton 2004).
² For example, more than 100 different plant species are consumed as wild vegetables in South Africa overall
(Dweba and Mearns 2011). In northeast South Africa, 45 leafy vegetables and 54 fruits were recorded in a
household survey across nine villages (Shackleton et al. 1998, 2000).
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