................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1. Background ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1 Problem statement ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Major objective of the study ............................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 Significance of the study ..................................................................................................................................... 5 2. Literature Review............................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) ................................................................................................................. 7 2.2 Conservation of AIVs ........................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Production and marketing of AIVs .................................................................................................................... 11 2.4 Socio-economic attributes of AIV farmers ........................................................................................................ 15 2.5 Opportunities and constraints in commercialisation ........................................................................................ 17 2.6 Values of utilization of AIVs ............................................................................................................................... 19 3. Research & Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 23 3.1 Geographical description & population of study area ...................................................................................... 23 3.1.1 Gender composition of the population ....................................................................................................... 24 3.1.2 Household population ............................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.3 Functional age groups ................................................................................................................................ 26 3.2 The economy ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 3.3 Land tenure ....................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.4 Occupation ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 3.5 Data collection................................................................................................................................................... 30