A fungal feast?

In a basket held by a young African girl, red, yellow and orange wild edible fungi are piled high making an attractive display. Although the colours are undoubtedly striking, the aesthetic nature of these forest fungi is superficial when compared to the benefits they provide to local people especially, as now, in times of severe food shortage. And these fungi also play a unique and integral role within the habitat from where they are harvested; without them the native miombo woodlands would not exist.

Credit: Eric Boa, CABI

Wild edible fungi, otherwise known as bowa in Malawi, form symbioses (mycorrhizzae) with key miombo species and are essential to their growth. The mycorrhizzae make nutrients available to the host tree and also help to gather water from a wide area. But considerable amounts of bowa are harvested each year and there is concern that over harvesting could damage future production. It is not the removal of fungi which is the problem but the effects of trampling and longer term forest management which could impact on the woodlands. Increased knowledge of the links between bowa-tree species, and a greater understanding of local practices, has resulted from the Miombo Edible Fungus Project. This has led to recommendations on how to organise and regulate collections of bowa whilst protecting other woodland practices.

A mushrooming industry?

Communities throughout Malawi have long relied on bowa as an important source of food during the four to five month rainy season when food is in short supply. The fungi provide protein, essential amino acids and minerals and are as nutritious as green vegetables. Furthermore, they can be sold to earn valuable cash. In dried form, wild edible foods from the miombo can help to eke out the meagre diet during the hungry period; 1.2kg of rehydrated fungi and leaf vegetables would provide a family of four with the non-staple part of their diet for two weeks. There is considerably more wild edible fungi produced than is gathered and much more could be safely collected, dried and stored for future use.

Local marketing has been shown to be increasing but sales opportunities could be improved if urban customers were made more aware of the full range and uses of edible species. Collectors are also often unaware of how appearance affects value and that they could earn more if specimens are sold undamaged and free from soil and other debris. Despite these constraints, market demand for bowa frequently exceeds supply and yet collectors still regularly walk up to 20-30 km to sell their produce to vendors. Improved marketing would benefit everyone.

Making the most of the Miombo

The Miombo Edible Fungus Project, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development, has being running for three years and has been a widely recognized success. Important advances have not only been made in marketing but in understanding local practices and in identifying edible (and poisonous) species in Malawi, linking local names to scientific descriptions. In all, 365 species have been recorded and much of the data is applicable to the wider realm of Miombo woodland, an area which extends south from Tanzania to Mozambique and west to Angola. Correct identification of species is particularly important as there is concern that as poor people become more desperate for food, they will start to collect and eat poisonous species. Poisoning from fungi rarely occurs in Malawi but it has already been seen that food insecurity in Ukraine, another country with a strong tradition for wild edible fungus, has resulted in a dramatic rise in poisonings and deaths in recent years.

Working in collaboration with the Forest Research Institute in Malawi (FRIM) and Mzuzu University, guidelines for sustainable harvesting techniques for bowa and management for the woodlands are being developed. Better appreciation of local practices has also resulted in recommendations for avoiding conflicts whilst still allowing harvests to increase. As the next harvesting season begins around December 2002, it is hoped that increased support to make the best use of edible fungi will allow local people to improve their use of bowa as a source of food and income, particularly in these increasingly vulnerable times for poor rural people in the region.

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