The Potential of Edible Wild Yams and Yam-like Plants as a staple Food Resource in the African Tropical Rain Forest

Abstract

Wild edible tuberous plants were assessed as a potentially reliable staple food resource for the Baka forest foragers independent of agriculture in South Cameroon. Using a belt-transect method, the density and biomass of wild yam and yam-like plants were surveyed in the semi-deciduous forest. Seven plant species with edible tubers grew throughout the forest surveyed, while more densely in the parts disturbed by human activity. The total biomass of wild edible tubers in a forest remote from the villages was estimated at more than 5 kg/ha, exceeding the value estimated in previous studies conducted in similar forest environments. The ubiquitousness, the considerably large biomass and the Baka gatherers' knowledge and technology for collecting wild tubers point to wild yam-like plants as one major staple food resouce to support foragers independant of agriculture.