Mongongo: The ethnography of a major wild food resource

The Dobe area !Kung San (Bushmen)t are a foraging people living in northwestern Botswana. Of the 150 species of wild plants and animals that form their diet, by far the most important is mongongo (Ricinodendron rautanenii). This remarkable fruit and nut provides up to one half of the vegetable component of the !Kungs’ diet. The botany, ecology and nutrition of the mongongo, and the role it plays in the Bushman economy and society are discussed.