Enset is a climate-resilient food crop for over 20 million Ethiopians, particularly among the Gamo people in Southern Ethiopia. The enset food system, deeply embedded in their culture, encompasses traditional practices of cultivation, processing, and consumption of the enset plant (Ensete ventricosum). Beyond its role as a vital food source, enset holds profound cultural significance, serving as a cornerstone of social rituals and communal practices among various ethnic groups in Southern and Southwestern Ethiopia. However, this indigenous food system is increasingly endangered due to multiple factors, including the spread of Bacterial Wilt (BW), the labor-intensive nature of enset processing, and the pressures of urbanization and globalization. These challenges have led to a decline in enset cultivation and a shift toward more widely consumed cereal crops like wheat and maize. Additionally, traditional enset-based foods are being supplanted by modern alternatives, further eroding this ancient practice. Despite interventions by institutions like Arba Minch University to innovate enset processing and product development, the socio-cultural aspects of the enset food system remain largely undocumented and under-recognized. This project is dedicated to preserving this endangered material culture by meticulously documenting the indigenous knowledge, techniques, rituals, and social practices integral to the enset food system, ensuring its continuity and safeguarding its heritage for future generations. The project will document enset-based food system by doing thorough documentation, through on-site collection of audio-visual data, interviews, focus group discussions, and observation.
Principal Investigator:
Addisu Fekadu Andeta
Collaborators:
Günther Schlee and Yihenew Wubu Endalew
Location of Research:
Gamo highlands, South Ethiopia
Host Institution:
Arba Minch University, Ethiopia
Top Banner Image: Traditional Enset Processing in Southern Ethiopian: A group of indigenous women processing enset for food. Photo credit: Addisu Fekadu Andeta.