Home gardens are a species-rich socioecological system with a diverse range of cultivated and naturally occurring plants with the potential to make contributions to address sustainable food, biodiversity and climate crisis. However, there is a dearth of information on the socio-demographic profile of home gardeners and the importance of home gardens to ethnobotany, food security and biodiversity. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the socio-demographic profile of home gardeners in the Sunyani municipality as a case in point for the middle belt of Ghana and to evaluate the diversity of plants in home gardens and their ethnobotanical importance. A total of 12 suburbs were selected from three subzones in the Sunyani municipality. In each suburb, 25% of households were randomly selected and if they had a home garden, one adult in the house was interviewed. A list of all plants in the home garden and their uses was obtained from respondents. A Chi-square test was used to assess the distribution of home gardeners among various socio-demographic categories, and binomial logistic regression was employed to determine links between socio-demography and home garden attributes. The ethnobotany R package was used to evaluate the ethnobotanical importance of plants in home gardens. A total of 186 respondents were recruited for this study, 79 being females and 107 males. A total of 79 plant species were also identified belonging to 70 genera and 40 families. Trees were the most common plant life form in home gardens, followed by shrubs, herbs, vines, grasses and lianas. Ethnobotanical indices revealed the most important plants in home gardens to be staples, food supplements and medicinal plants. These were Musa paradisiaca, Caripa pabaya, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Manihot utilisima and Mangifera indica, Moringa oleifera, Citrus sinensis, Capsicum frutescens, Taraxacum officinale, Solanum aethiopicum, Cocos nucifera, Solanum torvum, Persea americana, Dioscorea alata and Elaeis guineensis. Plants used as staples, food supplements and medicinal purposes emerged as the most culturally relevant scoring high on all ethnobotanical indices. Home gardens present an opportunity to address food security and nutrition needs of households and communities.

中文翻译：

---

加纳中部地区家庭花园的植物多样性和民族植物学重要性：对 Sunyani 市的横断面调查

家庭花园是一个物种丰富的社会生态系统，拥有多种栽培植物和天然植物，有可能为解决可持续粮食、生物多样性和气候危机做出贡献。然而，关于家庭园丁的社会人口概况以及家庭花园对民族植物学、粮食安全和生物多样性的重要性的信息匮乏。因此，本研究旨在评估 Sunyani 市家庭园丁的社会人口概况，作为加纳中部地带的一个案例，并评估家庭花园中植物的多样性及其民族植物学重要性。从Sunyani市的三个分区中总共选出了12个郊区。在每个郊区，随机选择 25% 的家庭，如果他们有家庭花园，则对家里的一名成年人进行采访。从受访者那里获得了家庭花园中所有植物及其用途的清单。使用卡方检验来评估家庭园丁在各种社会人口统计类别中的分布，并采用二项式逻辑回归来确定社会人口统计和家庭花园属性之间的联系。ethnobotany R 软件包用于评估家庭花园中植物的民族植物学重要性。这项研究总共招募了 186 名受访者，其中 79 名女性和 107 名男性。共鉴定出40科70属79种植物。树木是家庭花园中最常见的植物生命形式，其次是灌木、草本植物、藤本植物、草和藤本植物。民族植物学指数显示家庭花园中最重要的植物是主食、食品补充剂和药用植物。它们是芭蕉、番木瓜、黄果木、木薯和芒果、辣木、柑橘、辣椒、蒲公英、埃塞俄比亚茄、椰子、托鲁姆、美洲梨、薯蓣和几内亚油树。用作主食、食品补充剂和药用用途的植物成为所有民族植物学指数中与文化最相关的得分最高的植物。家庭花园为解决家庭和社区的粮食安全和营养需求提供了机会。