Abstract
With some of the highest urbanisation rates in the world, Sub-Saharan Africa faces
serious challenges in providing sufficient, healthy and affordable foods for its growing
urban populations. Urban biodiversity, such as homegardens can provide people with
healthy food products and in addition to other ecosystem services. However urban plant
systems are under threat, and even though they provide multiple uses they are still
poorly understood. In this dissertation, I explored two urban landscape options:
homegardens and wild collection. The overall aim of this study was to provide an
understanding of the current and potential contribution of urban plant resources to
human wellbeing (with a focus on food security) in Kampala, Uganda. To fulfil this
aim, I created 4 objectives: 1) to assess plant species composition and use in Kampala’s
homegardens, 2) to explore associations between homegardens and socio-economic
determinants of dietary diversity and fruit consumption of children aged 2-5 years, 3)
to explore the prevalence and determinants of wild plant collectors in Kampala,
Uganda, and 4) to assess the extent and importance of alternative food sources of
different food groups for low income people. Through a two-stage cluster sampling
design in inner-, outer- and peri-urban parts of the city, 96 low-income households were
purposively selected in nine parishes. These homegardens were inventoried, plant uses
were documented and respondents interviewed on socio-economic data, the status of
household food insecurity and food sources. In addition, respondents were asked about
wild collection behaviour. Dietary data (for Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and Food
Variety Score (FVS)) were collected from an index child (aged 2-5 years) and the child’s
caretaker. In the final dataset (n=74) a total of 270 plant species were identified of
which 248 different food plants were considered useful: 101 medicinal species, 70 food
plants, 53 utilitarian plants and 24 ornamental species. No significant association was
found between child nutrition and garden agrobiodiversity, however 5% of the food
items consumed during the recall was derived from the homegardens and 33% of the
food items came from neighbours or friends. In addition, half of the respondents
reported collecting wild plants during the six months preceding the interview. From the
total of 48 different plant species declared, almost half (23 species) were collected for
food purposes, while the other 25 species were collected for medicinal purposes and
were also collected more frequently. The findings indicate that urban homegardens and
wild space can play an important role in human wellbeing. It is important to incorporate
biodiversity and green structures in urban landscape designs to create holistic
sustainable cities. However, this requires transdisciplinary collaborations between city
planners, ecologists, human nutritionists and ethnobotanists
serious challenges in providing sufficient, healthy and affordable foods for its growing
urban populations. Urban biodiversity, such as homegardens can provide people with
healthy food products and in addition to other ecosystem services. However urban plant
systems are under threat, and even though they provide multiple uses they are still
poorly understood. In this dissertation, I explored two urban landscape options:
homegardens and wild collection. The overall aim of this study was to provide an
understanding of the current and potential contribution of urban plant resources to
human wellbeing (with a focus on food security) in Kampala, Uganda. To fulfil this
aim, I created 4 objectives: 1) to assess plant species composition and use in Kampala’s
homegardens, 2) to explore associations between homegardens and socio-economic
determinants of dietary diversity and fruit consumption of children aged 2-5 years, 3)
to explore the prevalence and determinants of wild plant collectors in Kampala,
Uganda, and 4) to assess the extent and importance of alternative food sources of
different food groups for low income people. Through a two-stage cluster sampling
design in inner-, outer- and peri-urban parts of the city, 96 low-income households were
purposively selected in nine parishes. These homegardens were inventoried, plant uses
were documented and respondents interviewed on socio-economic data, the status of
household food insecurity and food sources. In addition, respondents were asked about
wild collection behaviour. Dietary data (for Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and Food
Variety Score (FVS)) were collected from an index child (aged 2-5 years) and the child’s
caretaker. In the final dataset (n=74) a total of 270 plant species were identified of
which 248 different food plants were considered useful: 101 medicinal species, 70 food
plants, 53 utilitarian plants and 24 ornamental species. No significant association was
found between child nutrition and garden agrobiodiversity, however 5% of the food
items consumed during the recall was derived from the homegardens and 33% of the
food items came from neighbours or friends. In addition, half of the respondents
reported collecting wild plants during the six months preceding the interview. From the
total of 48 different plant species declared, almost half (23 species) were collected for
food purposes, while the other 25 species were collected for medicinal purposes and
were also collected more frequently. The findings indicate that urban homegardens and
wild space can play an important role in human wellbeing. It is important to incorporate
biodiversity and green structures in urban landscape designs to create holistic
sustainable cities. However, this requires transdisciplinary collaborations between city
planners, ecologists, human nutritionists and ethnobotanists
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|
| Forlag | Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen |
|---|---|
| Antal sider | 211 |
| Status | Udgivet - 2017 |
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