Wild edible fruits (WEFs) are important non-timber forest products (NTFP) that are commonly grouped with other wild foods or NTFPs in general. We hypothesize that WEFs, other wild foods, and non-food NTFPs contribute in different ways to household economies. Using data collected through a survey of 503 households in South Africa, we describe patterns of use of WEFs across socioeconomic and geographical gradients and compare them to the patterns of use of other wild foods and non-food NTFPs. WEFs were used by one-fifth of all sampled households, independent of economic and urbanisation gradients and were grown in or collected mostly from surrounding areas. More households, usually in rural areas, used other wild foods and non-food NTFPs, which were often purchased from other collectors. We suggest improving access to WEFs through planting to extend their nutritional, medicinal, cultural, and livelihood value to the public.

中文翻译：

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草原的果实：南非自然资源利用的生态和社会经济模式

野生食用水果 (WEF) 是重要的非木材林产品 (NTFP)，通常与其他野生食物或 NTFP 归为一类。我们假设 WEF、其他野生食物和非食物 NTFP 以不同方式对家庭经济做出贡献。使用通过对南非 503 户家庭的调查收集的数据，我们描述了社会经济和地理梯度中 WEF 的使用模式，并将其与其他野生食物和非食物 NTFP 的使用模式进行了比较。WEF 被所有抽样家庭的五分之一使用，与经济和城市化梯度无关，并且主要在周边地区种植或收集。更多的家庭，通常是在农村地区，使用其他野生食品和非食品 NTFP，它们通常是从其他收藏家那里购买的。