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Field Guide to Common Homegarden Crops of Southwestern Uganda

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Uganda’s homegardens are highly diverse small-scale farming systems. They provide the majority of the food consumed by local people and preserve a large number of traditional crops. This booklet provides a guide to common crops found in southwestern Uganda’s homegardens. It features descriptions and uses for 68 crops divided into four sections according to crop type (annual crops, perennial herbaceous crops, shrubs and trees). Crops are ranked according to their ethnobotanical importance. Each section begins with the most important crop. Each page has four photos of the crop and includes the most common local names (in Runyankole and Luganda), as well as the common English and botanical names. Additional information on the uses and occurrences is provided as well. We hope that this booklet will be of interest to a broad community of people interested in sustainable agriculture, food systems and food security issues: e.g. both Ugandan and international academics, non-government and government actors.

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