Exploitation of Agave americana L plant for food security in Swaziland

Abstract

Swaziland is not self sufficient in food production, and this predisposes the country to food insecurity. There is need to exploit plant resources for food security attainment. Agave americana L (AA) is one naturalised plant growing in abundance in Swaziland. This plant has multiple uses and has great potential of employment creation, provision of food security and sustainable development. The areas requiring immediate attention for the success of the AA programme include the following: producing AA plants using local farmers by exploiting improved agronomic methods, incubating, up-scaling and commercialisation of fructan and inulin production, developing locally adaptable methods for AA fibre extraction by women's groups, developing AA fibre based nonwoven materials for composites and geo-textile manufacture, pulp use as animal feed and textile waste utilisation for paper making. This paper will review the potential of research and applied programmes aimed at evaluating AA industrialization in order to attain food security. The study was carried out through literature review and informal interviews of key stakeholders.