Sabbah Arfaa, Abbasi Arshad Mehmood, Aziz Muhammad Abdul, Benhasher Fahdah Falah, Pieroni Andrea, Aldosari Ali Abdullah, Gatasheh Mansour K, Amin Muhammad
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Piazza V. Emanuele II, 12042 Bra/Pollenzo, Italy.
Plants (Basel). 2024 Sep 30;13(19):2747. doi: 10.3390/plants13192747.
Women are the "guardians of the kitchen" and central to household food security, yet their role has never been studied across the Hindukush region or Pamiri Knot. This study explores the women's knowledge (specifically from the Khowar (Kho) and Wakhi linguistic groups) of local food systems and determines their role in ensuring household food security and sustainability in the mountain regions of northern Pakistan. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with female informants in the Rech and Broghil valleys of upper Chitral, 91 different types of food products were recorded, including wild and cultivated species. and were the commonly utilized plant species, though distinct preferences between the Kho and Wakhi groups were noted. Prominent differences were perceived in using certain cultivated plants among the two ethnic groups. For instance, Kho preferred plants like , , and as indicated by the use reports, while Wakhi concentrated on , and Both groups had shared dairy practices, but cottage cheese and curd were highly cited among Kho, while double-fermented curd and Qurut for Wakhi. The study recorded some new food uses for specific plants, such as , , spp., and . Cross-culture analyses revealed a mosaic pattern of homogenous and heterogenous trends based on reported food species of plants/animals and their use reports. Our findings emphasize the significant role of women in sustaining local food diversity, food sustainability, and the preservation and security of the local food systems, cultural legacy, and household food management. Therefore, inclusive research addressing their social, economic, and environmental issues must be conducted. Furthermore, policies must incorporate women's traditional knowledge to build resilient food systems.
女性是“厨房守护者”，对家庭粮食安全至关重要，但她们在兴都库什地区或帕米尔结地区的作用从未得到研究。本研究探讨了女性（特别是来自科瓦尔语（Kho）和瓦罕语族）对当地食物系统的了解，并确定她们在确保巴基斯坦北部山区家庭粮食安全和可持续性方面的作用。基于对奇特拉尔上游雷奇和布罗吉尔山谷女性受访者的深入半结构化访谈，记录了91种不同类型的食品，包括野生和栽培物种。 和 是常用的植物物种，不过科瓦尔语族和瓦罕语族之间存在明显偏好。两个族群在某些栽培植物的使用上存在显著差异。例如，根据使用报告，科瓦尔语族更喜欢 、 和 等植物，而瓦罕语族则集中于 、 和 。两个族群都有共享的乳制品制作方式，但科瓦尔语族中乡村奶酪和凝乳被高度提及，而瓦罕语族则是双发酵凝乳和库鲁特奶酪。该研究记录了一些特定植物的新食物用途，如 、 、 属植物和 。跨文化分析揭示了基于报告的植物/动物食物种类及其使用报告的同质和异质趋势的镶嵌模式。我们的研究结果强调了女性在维持当地食物多样性、食物可持续性以及当地食物系统、文化遗产和家庭食物管理的保护与安全方面的重要作用。因此，必须开展涵盖她们社会、经济和环境问题的包容性研究。此外，政策必须纳入女性的传统知识，以建立有复原力的食物系统。
