Ethnobotanical Survey of Wild Edible Plants and Their Contribution for Food Security Used by Gumuz People in Kamash Woreda; Benishangul Gumuz Regional State; Ethiopia

The aims of this study was documenting and assessing the utilization of the food plants used by the Gumuz community in western Ethiopia. Informants were sampled from selected kebeles randomly. Semi-structured interview, questionnaires, focus group discussion and field observations were tools of data collection. Descriptive statistics, preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and informant consensus were used to analyze the data. Total of 35 families, 49 genera with 60 species of wild edible plants were collected in the study area. Most of them are shrubs (36.67%) followed by trees and herbs with 28.33 % and 28.33% respectively. Oxythenantra abysinica was the most preferred species. Wild edible plants are threatened due to various human and natural causes. Thus, public awareness and community based management is need to be encouraged by government and Non Government Organizations at all levels.