Shewayrga and Sopade Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2011, 7:19 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/7/1/19 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE RESEARCH Open Access Ethnobotany, diverse food uses, claimed health benefits and implications on conservation of barley landraces in North Eastern Ethiopia highlands Hailemichael Shewayrga1* and Peter A Sopade2,3 Abstract Background: Barley is the number one food crop in the highland parts of North Eastern Ethiopia produced by subsistence farmers grown as landraces. Information on the ethnobotany, food utilization and maintenance of barley landraces is valuable to design and plan germplasm conservation strategies as well as to improve food utilization of barley. Methods: A study, involving field visits and household interviews, was conducted in three administrative zones. Eleven districts from the three zones, five kebeles in each district and five households from each kebele were visited to gather information on the ethnobotany, the utilization of barley and how barley end-uses influence the maintenance of landrace diversity. Results: According to farmers, barley is the “king of crops” and it is put for diverse uses with more than 20 types of barley dishes and beverages reportedly prepared in the study area. The products are prepared from either boiled/roasted whole grain, raw- and roasted-milled grain, or cracked grain as main, side, ceremonial, and recuperating dishes. The various barley traditional foods have perceived qualities and health benefits by the farmers. Fifteen diverse barley landraces were reported by farmers, and the ethnobotany of the landraces reflects key quantitative and qualitative traits. Some landraces that are preferred for their culinary qualities are being marginalized due to moisture shortage and soil degradation. Conclusions: Farmers’ preference of different landraces for various end-use qualities is one of the important factors that affect the decision process of landraces maintenance, which in turn affect genetic diversity. Further studies on improving maintenance of landraces, developing suitable varieties and improving the food utilization of barley including processing techniques could contribute to food security of the area. Background important worldwide as a source of useful genes for In developed countries, barley is primarily used for ani- traits such as disease resistance [3,4]. The crop is pro- mal feed, malting and brewing with little designated for duced by subsistence farmers mostly grown as landraces food. However, in Ethiopia and many developing coun- with little or no application of fertilizers, pesticides and tries, barley is produced mainly as a food crop, and it is herbicides [5]. Landraces are defined as traditional vari- the fifth most important cereal crop in Ethiopia after eties developed through natural and human selections, tef, maize, sorghum and wheat [1]. The country is which are named and maintained by traditional farmers recognized as the secondary centre of diversity for bar- to meet their social, economic, cultural, and ecological ley[2],andtheEthiopianbarleygermplasmhasbeen needs [6]. Barley is cultivated from 1400 to over 4000 m above sea level, and its importance increases in drought- prone areas and at higher elevations (above 2800 m) * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Sirinka Agricultural Research Center, P.O.Box 74, Woldia, Ethiopia where poor soil fertility, frost, water logging, and soil Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2011 Shewayrga and Sopade; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Shewayrga and Sopade Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2011, 7:19 Page 2 of 15 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/7/1/19 acidity and degradation are the major yield limiting fac- The information is also important for understanding tors [5,7]. The major barley producing regions in Ethio- nutritional qualities as well as processing techniques. In pia are Oromiya, Amhara and Tigray Regional States, Ethiopia, Tsegaye and Berg [13] investigated the utiliza- which account for about 87% of the national barley pro- tion of durum wheat landraces in East Shewa. They duction [1]. Therefore, barley holds an important posi- identified 14 dishes and two drinks derived from land- tion in the food security of Ethiopia. races. This richness in food tradition was associated Access to a range of crop genetic variability is critical with a high level of on-farm landrace diversity. With to the success of breeding programs, and consequently regards to barley, there have been efforts, though lim- to food security and human nutrition [8,9]. Landraces ited, on documentation of its utilization and ethno-bot- are considered more locally adapted and genetically vari- any for some parts (e.g. Central) of Ethiopia [5,14-16]. able than modern cultivars [6,10]. They contribute to We conducted a study on barley utilization in North agricultural production around the world, particularly Eastern Ethiopia with the main objectives to (1) docu- for the rural poor in marginal environments as source ment the importance, ethnobotany and types of barley of seed for next season planting [5,10]. Farmers make landraces grown; (2) investigate and gather information crop maintenance decisions based on combinations of on the utilization of barley and its importance in the factors including adaptability, yield, socio-cultural values diets of the people, and the dishes prepared; (3) examine and food traditions as well as nutritional values. These how barley end-uses influence the maintenance of its decisions affect the genetic diversity of crop populations landraces. [7,11,12]. Farmers’ maintenance approaches have allowed the continual evolution of landraces diversity in Research Methods their area of adaptation. This diversity has been the key Description of the study area to food security for generations and an invaluable The study area is located in the highlands of North resource for crop improvement activities around the Eastern Ethiopia covering three administrative zones world. (provinces) of the Amhara Regional State: Wag Hemra, Knowledge of the utilization and traditional food pro- North Wello (N.Wello)andSouth Wello (S.Wello) (Fig- cessing techniques as well as types of germplasm main- ure 1). Eleven barley growing woredas (districts) were tained by farmers are prerequisite for investigating ways selected from the three zones: Sekota and Dehana from to improve the germplasm maintenance of a food crop. Wag Hemra; Gidan, Gubalafto, Meket and Wadla from Figure 1 Map of Ethiopia and the study area. (source http://www.ocha-eth.org/Maps/downloadables/AMHARA.pdf accessed on 30 January 2010). Shewayrga and Sopade Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2011, 7:19 Page 3 of 15 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/7/1/19 N.Wello; and Kutaber, Dessie zuria, Tenta, Legambo and provide a sample total of 275 households. The highlands Wereilu from S.Wello. Woredas are small administrative are some of the densely populated areas in the country. units within a zone, and a woreda is subdivided into In terms of religion, farmers in S.Wello are predomi- smaller administrative units called kebeles (peasant asso- nantly Muslims and those in N.Wello and Wag Hemra ciations). The woredas are divided into highland (dega), zones are predominantly Christians. Ethnicity wise, intermediate (woyna dega) and low land (kola) ecologies farmers in N.Wello and S.Wello are Amhara,andthose based on altitude. The study areas covered only high- in Wag Hemra include Amhara and Agew (Table 2). land parts of each woreda which fall within 10°50’60N - Amhara is one of the largest ethnic groups accounting 12°37’50N latitude and 39°2’5E - 39°10’60E longitude more than 25% of Ethiopian population [17,18]. Except ranges with Sekota town in Wag Hemra and Akesta Sekota, more than 99% of the dwellers in the study dis- town in S.Wello as the most northerly and southerly tricts are Amharic speaking people. places with altitudes ranging from 2000 - 3400 m. We visited individual farmers’ places (home or farm) North Eastern Ethiopia is generally characterized by to gather the information. Using an open ended ques- rugged mountains, hills and valley bottoms and all the tionnaire, interviews and discussions were conducted barley growing places of the woredas were accessible by involving the men and women at times to get informa- gravel roads. Small land holding (0.5~1 ha) is one of the tion on practices that require specific knowledge and prominent features of the mixed (crop and livestock) skills of either member of the household. Women are subsistence farming system, and even steep slopes are traditionally responsible for preparing foods, and there- put into crop production (e.g. Figure 2). Land degrada- fore, more knowledgeable about food preparatory tech- tion and low soil fertility are major problems with the niques and cooking qualities. The farmers were asked to situation in Wag Hemra being the most affected. Pre- describe the cropping practices, the types, names, char- vious studies indicated the need for the application of acters and quality attributes of landraces grown, the fertilizers to increase yield (Sirinka Agricultural Research types of barley foods and beverage products and their Center, unpublished report). The rainfall distribution is preparations. The information collected was more bimodal in Kutaber, Dessie zuria, Tenta, Legambo,parts descriptive of the practices rather than quantitative mea- of Wereilu, Guba lafto, Meket, Wadla, and Gidan.But surements. In some cases, the discussions were turned in Sekota and Dehana,partsofGidan, Meket, Wadla into group discussions with the neighbours turning up and Wereilu, the rainfall is uni-modal (Table 1). At for curiosity. Their involvements in the discussions were times, the rainfall can be erratic in distribution and entertained, and consensus opinions were taken. Devel- inadequate in amount, leading to crop failures.