The Ubiquitous Dhekia and Its ‘deep roots’ to Nurture People’s Lives: A Case of Urban Foraging from Assam

Northeast India is endowed with a bounty of wild natural resources, many of which are edible in nature and hence have been a part of the regular diets of the local communities for centuries together. Over 828 numbers of wild and tradeable resources have been recorded from the state of Assam, out of which 10.62% are wild edible plants, 7.37% are edible fruits and 82.01% as seeds and other derivatives. Many of these wild edible plants are found in rural areas and collected by forest fringe communities for a coordinated supply to the urban elite. The traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) that supports the collection of such wild plants is fast disappearing and at the same time, over-extraction to feed urban city markets has also made many of the practices unsustainable. We argue that the revival of TEK by formalizing the knowledge systems through training and linking it to sustainable harvesting practices would be a win-win situation for all. Further, scaling up TEK and linking it to Mission LiFE to reshape food systems to better support nutrient-rich diverse diets and environmental sustainability are the way forward.