Gathered Indigenous Vegetables in Mainland Southeast Asia: A Gender Asset

Women farmers in mainland Southeast Asia collect indigenous food plants from a host of anthropogenic environments associated with farming.These include field boundaries, roadsides, irrigation canal edges, ponds, swamps and well sides. Gathering plants that are commensals to agriculture and agricultural practices takes place in fields when crops are growing, in fallow fields and in areas of secondary growth.The collection of indigenous vegetables, ‘weeds’, fruit and the edible leaves of trees by women farmers is common for both domestic consumption and for sale in markets.These activities are important from a nutritional and food security standpoint and as a source of income.