GATHERED PRODUCE IN ZIMBABWE COMMUNAL AREAS CHANGING RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND USE

This article analyses the relationship between environmental change an d the availability and use of gathered produce in one of Zimbabwe's de forested communal areas. Based on a series of interviews with househol ds of different socio-economic status, it investigates the shifting co ntribution to rural livelihoods and diet made by gathered products suc h as fruit, nuts, leaf vegetables, mushrooms, insects, rodents and lea f litter. Species favouring arable and disturbed environments have bec ome more abundant, whereas those flourishing in woodlands have diminis hed. There is no simple relationship between changing resource availab ility and shifting patterns of consumption and sale of gathered produc e: socioeconomic changes and changing preferences are important influe nces on consumption, whereas the emergence of markets for gathered res ources is related to processes of specialization and exchange rather t han physical scarcity. There has been an overall decrease in the diver sity of gathered produce eaten, with increased dependence on 'weeds' a nd 'pests' gathered from privately used land (homeyards, gardens and f ields). At the same time, agricultural production has become more depe ndent on fertility inputs from common property woodland. Poorer househ olds are more dependent on consumption, sale and other use of woodland and other gathered produce than are wealthy households.