ABSTRACT
This chapter describes research by the Swaziland Cropping Systems Project into the seasonality of vegetable use and production on Swazi Nation Land. It presents an overview of nutritional concerns relevant to the project, and outlines a program of research and intervention aimed at changing the seasonality of vegetable production. Seasonality is a characteristic feature of the tropical landscape. Dietary data collected by the Cropping Systems Project showed a strong seasonality to both nutritional content of the diet and to vegetable use. The seasonality of vegetable market availability is mirrored in records of dietary consumption. The heavy nutritional reliance on wild greens during the summer places a constraint on the use of herbicides for small farmers. Responding to the marked seasonality of vegetable production in Swaziland, horticulturalists from Malkerns Research Station and the Cropping Systems Project undertook a program of research and extension for summer vegetables.
