Ethno botanical Study On Wild Edible Plants Used By Local People In Ejere District, West Shewa Zone Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Wild edible plants are valuable resources in rural livelihoods for supplementing the staple food, ensuring food security, for income generations, ecological and socio-cultural values. The aim of this study was to assess the Ethnobotanical study on wild edible plants used by local people in Ejere district, West Shewa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. Direct observation, key informant interviews, semi-structured questionnaires interviews, and focus group discussion were employed to gather ethnobotanical data. For data analysis qualitative and quantitative ethnobotanical methods were used. Total of 400 respondents were randomly selected for data collection. A total of 50 wild edible plants belonging to 30 genera and 20 families were collected and documented. Of these Moraceae (4) and Fabaceae, Flacourtaceae, Myrtaceae, Tiliaceae with 3 each are the dominant families. The habit types of wild edible plants were mostly shrubs 44(44.9%) followed by tree 17 (34.7%) herbs 9(18.4%) and epiphyte 1(2%). These edible resources were consumed to supplementary foods (67.3%), whereas 25% were used as emergency foods. The majority of species (96%) had multiple uses in addition to their edibility. Therefore, community of the study area should have promote sustainable harvesting practices to ensure the long-term availability of wild edible plants for food security and income generation in rural communities and implement stakeholders-led conservation initiatives to safeguard the ecological and socio-cultural values of wild edible plants in Ejere District, Ethiopia.