ABSTRACT
Africa has numerous ecosystems and vegetation zones that support an immense diversity of native and naturalized plant species, estimated to be at least 40,000 species (Linder, 2001). Approximately 8 to 10 per cent of these are used as food by local communities. About 1000 species are used as vegetables, the majority of which (80 per cent) are leafy vegetables, with the rest made up of vegetables from fruits, seeds, roots and tubers, stems and flowers. Besides the rich flora, the high number of edible vegetable species is attributed to a number of other factors. Among these is the continent’s high cultural diversity, as depicted by the over 2000 spoken languages. Other factors include the high dependence of human populations upon locally available resources as opposed to manufactured or market products. In addition to the foregoing reasons, Africa’s high use of vegetables is also attributable to the widespread culture of using vegetables as an accompaniment for the main dish. The latter is often starchy, mainly made from cereals but also roots and tubers (such as cassava, yams, potatoes, etc.), starchy stems (such as ensete) or fruit parts (such as plantain). Frequent hardships have also led to local innovations and discoveries of new vegetable species as communities seek to cope with such hardships and enrich their knowledge of local species. The discovery or selection of such new types has involved both introduced species as well as native African species. The majority of African vegetable species are of localized importance either due to their limited distribution (occurrence) or to the fact that the potential as a vegetable is known to specific geographic communities, and the species as a whole are not part of the local food culture of other communities or regions.
