Assessing shifts in Wild Edible Plant consumption and cultural practices in two rural villages in Limpopo, South Africa

Human diets have evolved for thousands of years in many parts of the world, and Indigenous people’s diets have undergone rapid changes in a process described as “nutrition transition”. This transition is accelerated by increasing urbanisation, westernisation, and a growing reliance on food from retail stores. To understand the effect of these factors on the consumption of Wild edible plants, this study was conducted to assess changes in Wild Edible Plants (WEPs) consumption and use in rural households. This study was conducted in June 2018 in two rural villages under the jurisdiction of the Moletjie tribal authorities in the Polokwane local municipality, South Africa. Snowball sampling was used to conduct In-depth interviews with 20 elderly participants (ten from each village). The findings show that there has been a major nutrition transition marked by shifts in meal composition, eating patterns, and frequency of WEPs consumption (from daily in the past to occasional). The Sorenson index, which measured the similarity between species consumed in the past and the present, was 0.55, indicating a moderate level of similarity. The changes can largely be attributed to environmental issues, such as climate change, and socio-economic challenges, including the increasing Western influence characterised by rising urbanisation, a Western lifestyle, and the prevalence of church, formal education, and wage employment in an income-based economy that relies on retail stores to fulfil daily dietary needs. Despite this, WEPs are still valuable to rural people, especially the elderly. This is indicated by the fact that traditional foods still form part of their daily meals and are also made optional at some modern and traditional celebrations. Rural households should be encouraged to sustain the traditional practice of maintaining and managing WEPs in their home gardens. Traditional events in rural and urban areas should serve foods and meals prepared using WEPs. These measures could ensure future use of WEPs and that their value should not be limited to the rural household but could play a bigger role in the economy.