Abstract:
Okra and palm heart are served as a food source and for medicinal purposes across different parts
of the world. In Sub-Saharan African countries, pregnant women consume wild plants as food
supplements or substitutes during periods of food insecurity and to promote their health
throughout the entire pregnancy. Such types of alternative food sources are culturally friendly,
easily available, and economically affordable diets for pregnant women. Furthermore, okra is
also a natural source of antioxidants that reduces the impacts of oxidative stress during
pregnancy like spontaneous abortions, preeclampsia, and intrauterine growth restriction.
Even though, different national and global efforts were made to improve maternal nutrition,
undernutrition is still one of the most public health problems for Ethiopian women. Therefore,
consumption of okra during pregnancy is an alternative source of different macronutrients like
protein in areas where consumption of animal sources of protein is limited. Likewise, okra seed
flour can be used for food fortification to enrich the micronutrient contents of different foods.
Thus, okra has a crucial role in mitigating hidden hunger and protein energy malnutrition in rural
communities of low-income countries. For this reason, such nutrient-dense organic food sources
need greater attention. However, in Ethiopia, the literature on nutrient databases of okra and
palm heart are inadequate which limits nutrition education efforts to improve the nutrient intake
of vulnerable population segments for malnutrition in our country. Likewise, there is no
documented evidence on the effects of okra-based nutrition education interventions carried out to
improve maternal nutrition and consumption of wild edible plants in Ethiopia. Therefore, this
Ph.D. research work focused on generating evidence on the effect of okra-based nutrition
education on the utilization of wild edible plants, dietary practices, and nutritional status of
pregnant women.
