Local food plants for nutrition
This document presents the main household-level findings of the baseline survey conducted between 2019-2021, during the second phase of the Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security (SD=HS) programme (2019-2023). The results of the baseline are complemented with the main findings of the diagnostic exercises conducted by SD=HS’ Farmer Field Schools (FFS). Both activities are part of SD=HS’ work on Local Food Plants for Nutrition. SD=HS is a global program, and our work on local food plants is currently implemented by Oxfam Country Offices and partner organizations in seven countries. These partners are the National Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) and the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in Laos, the Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (Li Bird) in Nepal, the Asociación de Organizaciones de los Cuchumatanes (ASOCUCH) in Guatemala, the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) and the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) in Uganda, the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) in Zambia, the Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) in Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Fomento de la Vida (FOVIDA) in Peru. SD=HS is coordinated by Oxfam Novib.
The use of the baseline data and FFS diagnosis conducted by farmers allowed us to establish the local and regional nutritional and agroecological conditions in the communities where the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) on Nutrition and Local Food Plants were implemented. The baseline data served to advise and guide the development of a country-specific FFS curriculum and the implementation of FFS activities, by informing FFS participants, collaborators, and other stakeholders about the potential role of local food plants in improving local diets and reducing the food scarcity period.
This Briefing Note is part of a series of briefing notes summarizing the program’s findings on nutrition. The comparison of the baseline and FFS diagnosis results across the seven program countries will be consolidated in global SD=HS publications.
We are grateful for the funding support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
We hope this document, which provides new and detailed data, contributes to increased attention on the role of local food plants for healthy and affordable diets, and improved nutrition of indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers.
