ZAMBEZIFLORA
ZAMBEZI HORTICULTURAL & BOTANICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
About us
'Wisdom is like a Baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it.'
Akan proverb (Ghana/Côte d'Ivoire)
Zambezi Horticultural and Botanical Research Institute (ZaHBRI) is a non-profit plant oriented conservation organisation that concentrates on increasing botanical research and horticultural development within Zambia. Our botanical activities mostly includes survey work to document the current state and species delimitation of the flora in Zambia, something vitally important as land use change transforms natural habitats. On the other hand, our horticultural activities are a multi-pronged approach; it includes: (i) research into the propagation and cultivation of the indigenous flora for the promotion of indigenous gardening; (ii) the development of horticultural potential within the urban/peri-urban and rural households of Zambia through testing and evaluation of new plants/crops and varieties (iii) development and evaluation of new cultivation techniques; and (iv) introduction of stewardship principles aimed at increasing the health of the landscape and the biodiversity it supports.
Botany and Horticulture in Zambia
Botanical exploration within the area that is now Zambia has been going on since the arrival of European explorers and missionaries in the 1800s and still continues to this day. Despite over 100 years of botanical collection work, new plant species are still being discovered in Zambia and existing species ranges are being extended to include Zambia. With more exploration, we are bound to add more species to the flora of Zambia and extend our understanding of species distributions within the country.
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Similarly, horticultural development has been ongoing in Zambia as new and interesting plants have been introduced from before modern times. From the initial spread of fruits and vegetables that have now become widespread and naturalised across the country to the more recent spread of ornamental plants, horticulture is an important industry as it continues to grow and develop in Zambia.