Vegetables: Traditional ways of managing their diversity for food security in southern Ghana - Managing Agrodiversity the Traditional Way - page 107

This chapter discusses the diversity in common vegetables maintained and
used by the rural farm families and the strategies adopted by farmers for their
conservation in southern Ghana.
Information discussed was gleaned from a study conducted in three PLEC
demonstration sites in southern Ghana, namely Amanase-Whanabenya,
Gyamfiase-Adenya, and Sekesua-Osonson (Maps B, C, D, E).

Economic importance of vegetables to the rural household

A wide range of vegetables are collected or primarily produced for the sustenance
and food security of the farm family. Only 33 per cent of the farmers produce
vegetables for sale. Therefore, vegetables seem to be of minor importance with
regard to generation of family income. Only 2.5 per cent of the farmers derive
more than 33 per cent of the family income from the sale of vegetables.
The major reason for farmers' choice of vegetables for cultivation is palatabil-
ity. Others include crop duration, shelf life, high yields, and nutritional value.
Vegetables are gathered from the wild or cultivated on peasant farms as part of
a mixed cropping system, or they are grown in home gardens primarily for home
consumption. Some annual vegetables are also grown in pure stands, on large
separate tracts of land within a multiple cropping system. Under these circum-
stances the primary objective is income generation.
Commercial vegetable farmers produce comparatively large-scale monocul-
tures, about two hectares in size. Vegetables grown for commerce may be exotic
vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, carrots, onions, cauliflower, sweet peppers,
squashes, and cucumbers. Such exotic vegetables are mainly for special local
niche markets. In recent times, some Asian vegetables, mostly members of the
Leguminoseae and Cucurbitaceae , have been introduced into the country for pro-
duction for the export market. In addition to these, a number of local vegetables
notably peppers, garden eggs, tomatoes, and okra are also produced on a fairly
large scale under truck farming for the urban markets (Sinnadurai, 1992).

Indigenous vegetables in the demonstration sites

The non-exotic or local vegetables found in small farmer holdings in the demon-
stration site fall into four broad categories, namely:
• the fruiting vegetables comprising the vegetables in the nightshade family

( Solanaceae ), okra and hibiscus ( Malvaceae ), and cucurbits ( Cucurbitaceae ), etc.

• legumes/pods

• leafy vegetables

• bulbs (Table 10.1).