S24 - Session O1 - A locally-led, globally-supported approach to advancing horticulture for healthy diets

Authors: Elizabeth Mitcham *, Erin McGuire, Archie Jarman

Poor quality diets are at the core of triple-burden of malnutrition in Ethiopia and Kenya, and monotonous diets remain a hindrance in alleviating the problem. While agriculture is the main driver of food security and livelihood, low diversity of crops and income stream portfolio constrain the viability of the sector. This exacerbates low diet diversity and undermine adaptive resilience inherent to biodiversity. With rapid population growth, divergence between food consumption and dietary recommendations widens. For instance, EATnLancet Commission on healthy diets (2019) recommends 200 and 300 g/day of fruits and vegetables intake respectively. However according to Global Nutrition Report 2021, fruits and vegetables consumption were estimated at 39 and 89 g/day in Ethiopia and 105 g/day and 247 g/day respectively in Kenya. Yet, both countries have a wide diversity of traditional fruits and vegetables (TFV) with great potential to improve nutrition outcomes and livelihood. Our study focused on documenting existing knowledge on TFV with a goal of identifying species with under-exploited nutrition and income potential. First, a list of available TFV species in Ethiopia and Kenya was developed, and regions with the highest abundance of species were identified. Second, top 5 species with the highest potential were identified based on literature review and recommendations from local experts. In Ethiopia, the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regional State have the highest abundance of TFV based on distribution of food plant categories in floristic regions. In Kenya, Kilifi County has the highest abundance of TFV, in particular, species that have been selected in the past for prioritization. Top 5 species with highest potential are shown in the table below. These species are the focus for a future research plan aimed at integrating various CGIAR programs related to transforming African food systems for nutrition and income. Table 1 Ethiopia Kenya Fruits Carissa spinarum L. Tamarindus indica L. Cordia africana Lam. Adansonia digitata L. Mimusops kummel Bruce ex A.DC. Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile Rubus apetalus Poir. Ximenia americana L. Vitex doniana Sweet Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst. Vegetables Brassica carinata A.Braun Amaranthus spp Brassica oleracea L. Corchorus olitorius L. Corchorus trilocularis L. Cleome gynandra L. Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cufod. Crotalaria brevidens Benth.