This situation is compounded by male migration, which inevitably increases the work and responsibilities that fall on women, leaving less time for the demanding tasks of collecting and processing forest products. Odoul Rural women are often the principal caretakers and guardians of the forests. In many regions, women grow trees together with other crops in their home gardens . In Thaliand, for example, in the home gardens of a single village, researchers found 230 different plant species, many of which had been rescued from a neighbouring forest before it was cleared. And in a single African home garden, more than 60 species of food-producing trees were counted.
Women have extensive knowledge of forest resources.
This helps them select specific forest foods that are an important source of income and nutrition for the family . As food supplements, forest foods provide certain proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals that are not found in many staple crops, and may even stave off hunger and famine when drought, floods or pests and diseases cause crops to fail. Throughout Sahelian Africa, roots from the baobab are consumed as a drought food. In Senegal, the Wolof use the wild yam as a staple when grain crops fail. People living on the Chotanagpu plateau in India depend on forest foods for four to five months a year when agricultural production cannot meet their needs.