Abstract:
Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in Dabo Hanna District, Buno Bedele Zone,
Oromia Region, Southwest Ethiopia
Wild edible plants are valuable resources in rural livelihoods for supplementing the staple
food, ensuring food security, for income, ecological and socio-cultural values. The aim of this
study was to identify and document wild edible plant species of the study area and associated
Ethnobotanical knowledge of local people related to uses of wild edible plants and
assessment of the existing threats to these plants, as well as the conservation status of the
local people of study area. Direct observation, semi-structured interviews, group discussion
and questionnaires were employed to gather ethnobotanical data. For data analysis
qualitative and quantitative Ethnobotanical methods were used. 86 respondents (59 males
and 27 females) were selected from three study sites for data collection and 15 key
informants were identified. A total of 31 of wild edible plant species belonging to 24 genera
22 families were collected and documented. The family Myrtaceae had the highest proportion
comprise of four species and Moraceae and Acantaceae families were contributed three
species each. While 4 families were consist of 2 species each (8 species), and the other rest
13 families consist only 1 species each. Among the documented wild edible plant species in
this study, most of them were trees, 13(41.93%) followed by shrubs 12 (38.70), liana and
herbs consist of 3 (9.67) species each. Fruits were the most frequently used parts whereas,
nectar, tuber, bark and stem are less frequently used parts. These wild edible plants of the
study area were under serious anthropogenic threats due to their multi-propose values like;
medicinal, forage, food, firewood, construction, charcoal, fencing, and furniture making
values, hence, need priority attention for conservation.
