title: Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in Burji District, Segan Area Zone of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  An ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants was conducted in Burji District, Segan Area Zone of Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to identify and document wild edible plants and the associated ethnobotanical knowledge of the local people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant ethnobotanical data focused on wild edible plants were collected using guided field walk, semi-structured interview, and direct field observation. Informant consensus method and group discussion were conducted for crosschecking and verification of the information. Both descriptive statistics and quantitative ethnobotanical methods were used for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We documented 46 species distributed in 37 genera and 29 families based on local claims of use as food. Local users collect most of these plants from the wild. The common plant families that encompass more number of wild edible plant species were Anacardiaceae (five species) followed by Boraginaceae, Fabaceae and Solanaceae which contributed three species each.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study showed the existence of a number of wild edible plants which mitigate food insecurity situations during problematic times that the people of the area face occasionally. Informants stated that wild growing edible plants are under threat due to increased anthropogenic pressure and disturbed climatic conditions. This calls for urgent and collaborative actions to keep the balance between edible plants availability in the wild and their utilization by the community. Furthermore, the study attempted to prioritize very important wild edible plants as perceived by the local people for possible domestication and/or sustainable utilization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Computational and Natural Sciences, Bule Hora University, P.O. Box 144, Bule Hora, Ethiopia. mae19590917@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mersha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ashagre
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Zemede
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Asfaw
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Ensermu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kelbessa
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D005002:Ethiopia; D019448:Ethnobotany; D005518:Food Preferences; D019359:Knowledge; D010945:Plants, Edible
keywords: Biodiversity; Burji District; Ethnobotany; Indigenous knowledge; Wild edible plants