Abstract:
Wild edible plant species are important resources in combating food insecurity. Wild edible
plants have played a vital role in supplementing the diet of people in developing countries.
People in Hababo Guduru District consume different parts of wild edible plants. The purpose
of the study was to identify and document wild edible plants with their habits, habitats, edible
parts, uses, threats and management practices by Hababo Guduru District of Horro Guduru
Wollega zone, Oromia Region, Western Ethiopia. The area lies between latitudes 90, 35‘to
9045’ North and longitude 370 24’ to 370 36’ East. A total of 72 informants (40 males and 32
females) selected from four study sites and of them 8 were key informants. Questionnaires,
Semi-structured interview, focus group discussion, market survey and field observations were
tools of data collection methods. The collected data was analyzed through Descriptive
statistics. A total of 29 wild edible plants were documented. Of these families, Moraceae, the
most dominant families that account 3 (10.34%) species. Trees habit were the major growth
forms (58.62%) followed by shrubs (31%), herbs (6.89%) and climber (3.5%). The study also
showed that the majority (79.3%) of the species were collected from the natural forest.Fruits
were the most edible parts compared to the other edible plant parts that account 22
(75.86%).The most preferred in food taste quality of wild edible plants was Ficus sur
.Multipurpose use, farm land expansion, over grazing, fuel wood collection, charcoal making
and construction resulted in major threat to WEPs
