Wild and Traditional Foods Recovery in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Uganda and Zimbabwe

Centring seeds as a spiritual, cultural and nutritional good, rather than simply an agricultural input or tradable commodity, this report focuses on initiatives for the recovery of wild and traditional foods across four countries where Trócaire works: Guatemala and Nicaragua in Central America and Uganda and Zimbabwe in Africa. Despite the cultural, climatic and geographical diversity of these contexts, the organisations and peoples working towards the recovery of wild and traditional foods have a number of things in common. They recognise the importance of food sovereignty in the face of increasing climatic instability and other crises which impact peoples’ ability to access sufficient affordable and nutritious food. They are striving to recover the regard for wild and traditional foods which have been forgotten or devalued over time, particularly where these have been displaced by imported and/or nonnative staples. They recognise the recovery of wild and traditional foods as representing more than sustainability, but the recovery of the communal experience of growing and sharing food. They know that recovering wild and traditional foods is not only beneficial for the people but for the planet as well.