Crop of the Future: A Focus on Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman), from Past to Present

Abstract

Enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) is an important plant belonging to the Musaceae family, cultivated predominantly in south and south-west Ethiopia. It is often referred to as the “tree against hunger” and considered a good crop to tackle food insecurity. Yet, it remains a relatively unknown crop outside its country of origin. Our interdisciplinary project “Evolutionary dynamics of vegetative agriculture in the Ethiopian Highlands: integrating archaeobotanical and genomic science” aims to provide a better understanding of the evolutionary and cultural history of enset by unravelling the narrative of the cultural and geographical “story” of domestication and its antiquity. Archaeobotanical investigations, specifically phytolith analysis, are crucial to estimate the antiquity of the enset cultivation system and to do this, robust phytolith identification criteria need to be established. Results on the ongoing phytolith analysis are presented, particularly looking at the phytoliths found in enset leaves. We focus on the variations of enset phytoliths and where these are in the plant. We also introduce the aims of, and some preliminary data from, our ethnographic work in south-west Ethiopia which investigates the extent to which agricultural and cultural changes in recent decades have altered patterns of local enset landrace diversity, uses and relative importance.