Chepangs are an indigenous ethnic group living in central and southern Nepal. Amongst other agricultural systems they practice shifting cultivation and live in the proximity of forests, depending upon it for food and other livelihood needs.

This publication brings together the traditional knowledge of the Chepang people regarding the wild edible and neglected plant species. Similarly, the proximate nutrient analysis of these plant species could be of great importance to demonstrate the value addition feasibility of these species. Description, uses, distribution and availability of wild edible plants gathered by this community is a first step towards the understanding and appreciation of the value of these neglected and underutilised forest resources.

Click here  to downlaod Chepang Food Culture

A women farmer from India shows her finger millet plants. Photo: S. Padulosi

Some time ago the LEISA journal (Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture) featured an article on neglected and underutilised plant species (NUS). Now AgriCultures (the reincarnation of LEISA under a new name) published an update on international collaborative efforts concerning NUS, highlighting international conferences, collective action, international policies and agreements as well as public awareness activities.

Click to read “Underutilized Species: Where Are We?”

A book on food relocalisation and knowledge dynamics in rural development

Quoting from the From a review on the publisher’s website, where you find more information about this recently published book

Reviews: ‘The book is one of the most succesful attempts of the last years to highlight the relevance of local resources to strategies of sustainable rural development for Europe. While it provides a sound and innovative theoretical framework, the book shows an impressive amount of empirical evidence, covering countries and regions often neglected in the international literature.‘
Gianluca Brunori, University of Pisa, Italy

From PROTA’s (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) web site a write up on the Useful Plants Project (UPP).

The project was initiated by the National Museums of Kenya in 2007 to document information on local plant uses and to undertake seed storage of these plant species in a seed bank. The goal is to improve the welfare of poor communities and safeguard from extinction useful Kenyan plant species. On the other hand, a sister project known as the Seeds for Life Project is a Kenya plant conservation project targeting conservation of Kenya’s dry land plant taxa on-farm, in-situ and ex-situ … read on

From the report’s executive summary:

This report summarises the work in FOSRIN (Food Security through Ricebean Research in India and Nepal), funded by the 6th Framework Programme (FP6) of the European Commission from April 2006 to March 2010.

FOSRIN was a consortium of eight partners, universities, NGOs and government research organisations in Europe and South Asia, working to popularise the underutilised grain legume crop ricebean (Vigna umbellata) and promote its cultivation over a wider area of the environments to which it is suited than is currently the case. The work involved research on the supply chain and marketing of the crop, the diversity and adaptation of germplasm, farmers‟ preferred traits and indigenous knowledge of the crop, and its health and nutritional aspects. The work is showcased on the website of The Ricebean Network (www.ricebean.org).

Click here to read FOSRIN’s final Report