In the Terai region of Nepal, the lockdown restricted communities’ access to food from markets. Farmers responded by using more local plants – such as wheat, wild leafy vegetables, mushrooms, beans, pumpkins and jackfruit – according to Achyut Gaire, Saroj Pant and Rajendra Dhakal, from LI- BIRD and Oxfam in Nepal respectively. As explained by family farmer Neelam Chaudhary many women collected bihi (a wild medicinal vegetable from the forest) and taro, which used to be the tradition before they started to buy vegetables at the market. Gita Devi Chaudhary added: “During the lockdown the vegetable prices went up and there was a shortage of potatoes. We then used wild yam and taro to make curry. We also made masaura (dried mix of yam and taro) to store it for a longer period.”

In Guatemala, neglected and underutilized species are playing a key role in the daily diet of family farmers during the pandemic, as detailed by Reinaldo Mendoza from Chicoy Todos Santos Cuchumatán community to the staff of the Asociación de Organizaciones de los Cuchumatanes (ASOCUCH). Reinaldo indicated that gathering food plants which used to be regarded as ‘underutilized’ – such as hierba blanca, nabo, hierba mora, bledo and chunis – has become an important strategy in his community to cope with food scarcity. Nowadays, families consume these plants twice a day as part of their main meals, and they are increasingly aware of their nutritional value.

Farmers from Chirundu district in Zambia, such as Julius Mufana, have been coping with food scarcity by gathering more wild fruits including njiiyi, makunka, mang’ombyo, nchenje, tamarind and baobab fruit. Last year, the Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT) built community seed banks in Zambia to preserve the seeds of local food plants while working to revive the traditional knowledge and culture associated with them.

These examples clearly illustrate the important role that plant biodiversity and traditional knowledge can play in ensuring food and nutrition security for millions around the world. Local food plants have been functioning as a rural safety net during the pandemic, ensuring the resilience of family farmers while preserving biodiversity. These are roles they can play not only in times of crisis, but at all times, and this should be taken into account in national policy development and economic recovery measures.