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The significance of enset culture and biodiversity for rural household food and livelihood security in southwestern Ethiopia

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  • Almaz Negash
  • Anke Niehof

Abstract

The significance of enset (Ensete ventricosum Welw. Cheesman) for thefood and livelihood security of ruralhouseholds in Southwestern Ethiopia, where thiscrop is the main staple, raises two majorquestions. The first concerns the relatedissues of household food security andlivelihood security and the contribution of theenset farming and food system in achievingthese. The second deals with the issue ofbiodiversity in enset cultivation. What roledoes biodiversity play in food and livelihoodsecurity and how is it perceived and measured?To answer the latter question, it is necessaryto look at the issue of classification of ensetvarieties, comparing indigenous and scientificclassifications. In answering the questions, aninterdisciplinary approach is used, and bothetic and emic perspectives are applied. Agender perspective is applied as well becauseof the gendered division of labor in ensetcultivation and the gendered nature ofindigenous knowledge. The analysis draws mainlyon the findings of a recent study on ensetcultivation in Ethiopia [Negash (2001) PhD thesis,Wageningen University, The Netherlands]. Thefindings show that enset farming guaranteeshousehold food security to a large extent, butthat household livelihood security depends onthe cultivation of additional crops andhousehold ownership of livestock and otherassets. It was also found that maximizingdiversity in enset is of importance to farmers,and that the farmers' classification of ensetvarieties yields a finer grid than theclassification of enset clones on the basis ofmolecular analysis. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2004

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  • Almaz Negash & Anke Niehof, 2004. "The significance of enset culture and biodiversity for rural household food and livelihood security in southwestern Ethiopia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 21(1), pages 61-71, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:21:y:2004:i:1:p:61-71
    DOI: 10.1023/B:AHUM.0000014023.30611.ad
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    2. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966.
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    1. Liora Gvion, 2006. "Cuisines of poverty as means of empowerment: Arab food in Israel," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 23(3), pages 299-312, October.
    2. Habtamu Wondimu & Ashenafi Kebede, 2022. "Cultural, economic, and symbolic value of the enset crop in Sebat-Bet Guraghe, Southwest Ethiopia: a qualitative study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Alessandra Galiè, 2013. "Governance of seed and food security through participatory plant breeding: Empirical evidence and gender analysis from Syria," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 31-42, February.
    4. Gezahagn Kudama & Tadesse Tolera & Lemane Gebeyehu, 2022. "Good farm practices and improved processing technology of enset for sustainable hunger solution in Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Anke, Niehof, 2016. "Food And Nutrition Security As Gendered Social Practice," APSTRACT: Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce, AGRIMBA, vol. 10(2-3), pages 1-8, October.
    6. Morrow, Nathan & Borrell, James S. & Mock, Nancy B. & Büchi, Lucie & Gatto, Andrea & Lulekal, Ermias, 2023. "Measure of indigenous perennial staple crop, Ensete ventricosum, associated with positive food security outcomes in southern Ethiopian highlands," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Omarsherif Jemal & Daniel Callo-Concha & Meine Van Noordwijk, 2018. "Local Agroforestry Practices for Food and Nutrition Security of Smallholder Farm Households in Southwestern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Sintayehu Yigrem & André Markemann & Girma Abebe & Joseph Ogutu & Hans-Peter Piepho & Anne Zárate, 2015. "Assessing the relative importance of dairy products to family nutrition in mixed crop-livestock production systems of Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(5), pages 1003-1015, October.
    9. Ram Rana & Chris Garforth & Bhuwon Sthapit & Devra Jarvis, 2007. "Influence of socio-economic and cultural factors in rice varietal diversity management on-farm in Nepal," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 24(4), pages 461-472, December.
    10. Chamberlin, Jordan, 2008. "It's a small world after all: Defining smallholder agriculture in Ghana," IFPRI discussion papers 823, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Guy Blomme & Elizabeth Kearsley & Sisay Buta & Alemayehu Chala & Ruhama Kebede & Temesgen Addis & Zerihun Yemataw, 2023. "Enset Production System Diversity across the Southern Ethiopian Highlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-19, April.
    12. Emmanuel Agbenyegah Ayerteye, 2022. "Coastal Erosion and Coastal Livelihood Activities in Ghana. A Case of Ada-Foahin the Greater Accra Region of Ghana," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(1), pages 218-226, January.
    13. Tadessa Daba & Masayoshi Shigeta, 2016. "Enset (Ensete Ventricosum) Production in Ethiopia: Its Nutritional and Socio-Cultural Values," Agriculture and Food Sciences Research, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 3(2), pages 66-74.

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