Plant-Based Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens of Tubah Sub-Division, North-West Region, Cameroon

Abstract

Home gardens are subsistent agricultural production systems consisting of diverse crop plants which are easily accessible and adjacent to homesteads. They sustainably contribute to livelihoods in developing countries. Regarding the modernization in tropical Africa, there are changes in plant composition of urbanizing areas like Tubah Sub-Division, North West Region, Cameroon while the useful plant diversity in home gardens are poorly or not documented. This study aims to assess the diversity of useful plant species and identify key factors that influence diversity. 120 selected home gardens from Tubah Sub-Division were surveyed using two complementary field sampling approaches: interaction with selected households head through the use of structured questionnaires on garden plants and direct field observation. To assess plant abundance, the entire home garden was considered as a sample plot for tree, shrub, climber and epiphytic plant species while for herbaceous species, five quadrats of 1 m2 were used to count each species. A total of 133 useful plant species belonging to 108 genera and 47 families were recorded, with the number of species varying among the villages. The dominating families were Solanaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae. Age of household head and age of home garden were the key factors which significantly influenced the plant diversity. As home gardens in Tubah Sub-Division consist of diverse garden plants which are of great importance, we suggest that home gardening should be promoted, through education and extension services. This study should also be extended to other parts of the North West Region.