Edible weeds and food and nutrition security in the face of the herbicide revolution. A case study from Zambia

Abstract

Herbicides are on the rise across the developing world. Herbicides may come with several advantages but can also undermine environmental and human health. In the quest to assess the trade-offs of herbicides one aspect has received limited attention: the role of edible weeds, which can be key elements of rural food baskets, yet are targeted by herbicides. Using a survey with 158 households and a range of qualitative methods, this study examines the role of edible weeds for rural diets in Zambia and how herbicides affect the consumption of edible weeds. The results suggest that edible weeds are an integral part of rural diets, i.e. during the ‘hunger months’. While the herbicide revolution poses risks to the availability of edible weeds, herbicide use did not (yet) affect their consumption, likely because still few households use herbicides and only fractions of the farmland are sprayed. Long-term herbicide users are, however less likely to consume edible weeds. Given the potential trade-offs between herbicides, edible weeds, and food and nutrition security, this topic should continue to be monitored and policymakers should pay more attention to such trade-offs when promoting herbicides.

Keywords

• agrochemicals
• ethnobotany
• food systems
• intensification
• nutrition-sensitive agriculture