Traditional/Indigenous Vegetables of the Kingdom of Eswatini: Biodiversity and Their Importance: A Review

Author(s):  
Michael T. Masarirambi ◽  
Kwanele A. Nxumalo ◽  
Emmanuel N. Kunene ◽  
Daniel V. Dlamini ◽  
Molyn Mpofu ◽  
...  

Traditional (indigenous) vegetables of the Kingdom of Eswatini are important for their contribution to human nutrition. They are major sources of vitamins and minerals. They provide fibre which is required for the proper functioning of the human digestive system. Traditional vegetables are important economically however, no assessments have been done in the Kingdom of Eswatini to measure their contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). A traditional vegetable concern provides employment and thus income, and ensuring food and nutritional security, and hence striving to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs) pertaining to human health, nutrition, food security and biodiversity. Traditional vegetables are infested relatively less by insect pests and diseases. They relatively out compete weeds in terms of resources essential for growth and development. In food, traditional vegetables provide interesting colour, texture and variety. Despite the immense importance of traditional vegetables, they have been neglected and regarded as poor man's food with no research prioritisation. The objective of this study was to explore their present status, prioritize consumer education, explore their importance as climate smart vegetables and to document their contribution to biodiversity.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sridhar Gutam

Agriculture is the principal component of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and is directly or indirectly linked to all the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). The new estimate recently released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in their report, ‘The State of Food and Agriculture 2017,’ puts the number of chronically undernourished people in the world at 815 million. So, let’s make all the agricultural research data and information to be open in order to achieve food and nutritional security and realize the ambitious vision outlined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.


Food Security ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. H. Keatinge ◽  
R.-Y. Yang ◽  
J. d’A. Hughes ◽  
W. J. Easdown ◽  
R. Holmer

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
James S. Chacha ◽  
Henry S. Laswai

Background. Innumerable underutilized vegetable (UV) species have been utilized as food and as folklore medicine since time immemorial. Such vegetables have been part and parcel of the food dishes, especially to the ancient rural and periurban dwellers. However, researchers and agricultural scientists have given little or no attention to such vegetables, as to what constitutes their potentials in curbing hidden hunger. To achieve the global Sustainable Development Goals, Tanzania needs to address the issue of food insecurity through the use of not only grains, fruits, and edible insects but also through embracing the UVs. The overall objective of this study was to screen the indigenous vegetables with nutritional and health claims from communities in Kilimanjaro and Morogoro regions. Methods. Quantitative data were obtained by conducting laboratory nutrient and antinutrients composition analyses as per standard Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) methods. This was carried out to determine the moisture content, micronutrient, and antinutrients composition of the selected UVs. Results. The nutritional and medicinal claims of the selected UVs mentioned during interviews were validated by data obtained from laboratory nutrient and antinutrients composition analyses. Chemical analyses revealed that vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, and C contents ranged from 2.50-6.67, 18.94-182.95, 0.18-0.76, 0.09-0.43, and 46.52-198.08 mg/100 g, respectively. Minerals, on the other hand, Ca, Fe, Mg, and Zn contents ranged from 60.28-421.03, 4.28-21.05, 191.12-1151.91, and 4.28-21.10 mg/100, respectively. Moisture content, oxalates, and phytates contents ranged from 78.59-95.49%, 1.28-3.15, and 1.64-6.18 mg/100 g, respectively. Conclusion. The findings from the study added credence to the selected UVs that they are rich sources of micronutrients and crucial in daily human diet to curb hidden hunger.


Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajeet Singh ◽  
Pradeep Kumar Dubey ◽  
Rajan Chaurasia ◽  
Rama Kant Dubey ◽  
Krishna Kumar Pandey ◽  
...  

Ensuring the food and nutritional demand of the ever-growing human population is a major sustainability challenge for humanity in this Anthropocene. The cultivation of climate resilient, adaptive and underutilized wild crops along with modern crop varieties is proposed as an innovative strategy for managing future agricultural production under the changing environmental conditions. Such underutilized and neglected wild crops have been recently projected by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as ‘future smart crops’ as they are not only hardy, and resilient to changing climatic conditions, but also rich in nutrients. They need only minimal care and input, and therefore, they can be easily grown in degraded and nutrient-poor soil also. Moreover, they can be used for improving the adaptive traits of modern crops. The contribution of such neglected, and underutilized crops and their wild relatives to global food production is estimated to be around 115–120 billion US$ per annum. Therefore, the exploitation of such lesser utilized and yet to be used wild crops is highly significant for climate resilient agriculture and thereby providing a good quality of life to one and all. Here we provide four steps, namely: (i) exploring the unexplored, (ii) refining the unrefined traits, (iii) cultivating the uncultivated, and (iv) popularizing the unpopular for the sustainable utilization of such wild crops as a resilient strategy for ensuring food and nutritional security and also urge the timely adoption of suitable frameworks for the large-scale exploitation of such wild species for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.


Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6417) ◽  
pp. eaav0294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Pretty

Redesign of agricultural systems is essential to deliver optimum outcomes as ecological and economic conditions change. The combination of agricultural processes in which production is maintained or increased, while environmental outcomes are enhanced, is currently known as sustainable intensification (SI). SI aims to avoid the cultivation of more land, and thus avoid the loss of unfarmed habitats, but also aims to increase overall system performance without net environmental cost. For example, large changes are now beginning to occur to maximize biodiversity by means of integrated pest management, pasture and forage management, the incorporation of trees into agriculture, and irrigation management, and with small and patch systems. SI is central to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to wider efforts to improve global food and nutritional security.


2019 ◽  
Vol 227 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa ◽  
Linda Liebenberg ◽  
Dorothy Bottrell ◽  
Silvia Helena Koller

Abstract. Economic changes in the context of globalization have left adolescents from Latin American contexts with few opportunities to make satisfactory transitions into adulthood. Recent studies indicate that there is a protracted period between the end of schooling and entering into formal working activities. While in this “limbo,” illicit activities, such as drug trafficking may emerge as an alternative for young people to ensure their social participation. This article aims to deepen the understanding of Brazilian youth’s involvement in drug trafficking and its intersection with their schooling, work, and aspirations, connecting with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 16 as proposed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 .


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document