Urban Foraging for Social-Ecological Resilience in the Global South

Urban foraging, a traditional human–nature interaction, has been fairly well documented globally. However, its relevance is being realized in terms of livelihood support, culture, healthy lifestyle, closeness to nature, and recreation. In this chapter, we present a review of urban foraging practices—both traditional and emerging ones in cities of the Global South with a view to highlight the diversity of foraging practices in various social-ecological contexts and the host of factors that enable or hinder urban foraging. Further, we use a case study of changing foraging practices around an urban protected forest in Bengaluru, India’s fastest-growing metropolis to bring out the impacts of urbanization on wild food foraging. The review illustrates that foragers use a variety of indigenous species with high economic potential and cultural preference. Generally, urban foragers belong to lower income groups, and foraging is important for them in securing livelihood and nutritional security. The chapter also documents how urban foraging has been recently gaining traction as a new-age sustainable dietary practice, preferred by urban elites. The case study on Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru revealed the declining importance of foraging from urban forests in the context of rapidly changing urban socioeconomic milieu and cultural preferences. The study further highlights the role of urban planning and policies in reviving and sustaining this low ecological footprint consumption practice for synergizing various sustainable development goals.