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This paper presents the methodology and results of a qualitative exercise to elicit the local knowledge about the agricultural and useful wild plant biodiversity grown or collected by households in selected communities where the Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program is being implemented in three regions of northern Ghana. The hypothesis was that households in marginal areas rely on many more species than conventional socioeconomic surveys reveal. Results were compared with data on crop and tree species grown by rural households collected as part of the Africa RISING Baseline Evaluation Survey (ARBES) in the same communities. They show that in those communities, households grow or collect a higher number of plant species compared to those included in the baseline survey. By ignoring many of the species that are part of this diversity, we may be failing to take into consideration important sources of food and income for rural households.