Across the world, foraging for wild foods is a safety net of subsistence and commercialization value. Beyond their cultural significance, wild foods constitute a key resource to buffer environmental crises, especially in rural Africa. Foraging can build community and inter-generational bonds, inspire exercise, is a supplemental source of income, offer a way for people to connect to nature, contribute to sustainable and climate-resilient livelihoods (Paumgarten et al., 2018; Poe et al., 2013). However, in a context of rapid transformation of human, nature and place relationships, foraging practices are also changing. This study aims to examine the drivers of the evolution of wild food foraging practices in the Hwange conservation area in Zimbabwe. 

Research question

What are the past to present foraging practices that rural communities engage in to acquire wild foods? How have wild food foraging practices been evolving and the major drivers of such changes in conservation areas? 

Importance of the research question

The proposed study will not only document wild food foraging practices and analyze the evolution of practices but also test hypotheses related to the drivers of sustainability of these practices over time. This will thus contribute to the literature gap about the evolution of practices associated with wild food foraging and its sustainability at the edge of protected areas. To date, the focus around protected forests has been on high-value resources such as hard timber or game (the big five), leaving a blind spot for so-called low-value forest products. Curiously, these resources play a big role in local livelihoods as they are oftenly foraged for different purposes. Wild foods can include a diverse range of products and species from plants and animals, but the study will focus on commonly sourced edible wild fruits, wild herbs and bushmeat obtained through simple harvesting of such resources (Powell et al., 2013). Wild herbs include mushrooms, leafy vegetables, roots and barks while bushmeat refers to edible small mammals, birds and insects.

Brief biography

A BSc holder in Agricultural Economics and Development from Midlands State University.

Interested in working at the interface of natural resources and social development in a multidisciplinary thematic landscape including aspects of community livelihood development, sustainable landscape development, nature conservation and social sciences amongst others.

Experience and achievements

Experience in working with rural communities at the edges of protected areas on promoting sustainable livelihoods, human-wildlife coexistence and environmental management. Skilled in future literacy, anticipatory governance tools and using different participatory processes and working in a multistakeholder environment.

Moreover, the study site is at the edges of Hwange National Park, an internationally acclaimed protected area, rich in flora and fauna, so the findings of this study will be of interest to a wide audience.