From a typical famine-food plant,
leaves, stalks, inflorescence, roots (tubers and corms and rhizomes) or
barks (mainly of Acacia sp.) are edible. Many of the root-type famine-food
plants are drought tolerant and can stay in the soil intact for a long
time. Therefore, they can be collected when the need is greatest. Most
of the leafy-type famine-food plants are locally referred to and classified
as 'weeds', sprouting and flourishing after rains. They generally mature
within a short period of time (about two weeks). There are two main periods
of maximum consumption of the leaves and tender parts of such famine-food
plants. The first period is while farmers are waiting for the upcoming
crop harvest and, the second main period is when they run out of food stocks
from the previous harvest, and are hence facing a food shortage. People
try, whenever possible, to add famine-food to local staple foods or to
mix it with other foodstuff to mask the often offensive nature of the food
and to reduce any characteristic and unpleasant side effects. At present
approximately 50 wild-food plant species are listed and classified as typical
famine-food plants from an approximate total of 120 listed wild-food species.
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