Beauty Chatsure, Bambara Nut Grower Beauty Muza Chatsure is a farmer from Bromley who grows a wide range of legumes including cowpeas, Bambara nuts and sugar beans. Beauty says legumes do well in her area and give her enough food throughout the year to feed herself and her family of nine. She usually plants half […]
Nuts About Bambara Read More »
Mapfunde (Sh), Amabele (N) OVERVIEW: Where it does well: Sorghum can tolerate high temperatures, high altitudes, toxic soils, and low rainfall (400-800mm). Sorghum can recover growth after some drought; the plant goes into dormancy rather than dying. Planting-harvesting time: Sorghum is planted during the rainy season between mid-October and mid-December. Minimum tillage and planting in
WHITE SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolour) Read More »
Mowa (Sh), Imbuya (N) Amaranths are annual herbs. They comprise about 70 species, including 3 grain amaranths. In Zimbabwe, we know the amaranth plant for its edible leaves, but in many parts of the world it is better known for its edible grain seeds. Grain amaranth is easy to grow, easy to harvest and easy
GRAIN AMARANTH (Amaranthus spp.) Read More »
Muuyu (Sh), Umkhomo (N) The baobab is an iconic tree of hot, dry areas of Africa. African people have been eating baobab for centuries; but until recently, the fruit had never left the African continent. The fruit powder is exceptionally nutritious. The oil is highly prized by the cosmetics industry for its skincare properties. OVERVIEW:
BAOBAB (Adansonia digitata) Read More »
Mupfura (Sh), Umganu (N) The Marula tree is indigenous to the Miombo woodlands of Southern Africa. Famous for its delicious fruits from which the Amarula liqueur is produced, and also enjoyed by elephants and other wild animals, which distracts them from going after farmers’ crops. The fruit is very rich in vitamin C. The nut
MARULA (Sclerocarya birrea) Read More »
Mashamba (Sh), Amajodo (N) Bush melons are the biological ancestor of the watermelon, now found all over the world, but which originated in the Kalahari region of Southern Africa. The fruits differ in shape (from small and round in the wild, to larger and more oblong-shaped under cultivation) and colours. The flesh can be white,
KALAHARI OR WILD MELONS (Citrullus lanatus) Read More »
Mungongoma (Sh), Umgoma or Umganuompobola (N) Mongongo trees have been used by Kalahari peoples for centuries. The wood makes excellent fishing floats, canoes, toys and musical instruments. The fruits are consumed especially during times of drought. The nutritious nut is pounded; the oil is extracted and used in cooking. The oil is also used as
MONGONGO or MANKETTI TREE (Schinziophyton rautanenii) Read More »
Muchakata, Muhacha (Sh), Umnkuna (N) The mobola plum is also called hissing tree for the sound the bark makes when cut. As its fruits are sweet and very tasty and much sought after -rated the best African wild fruit!- the trees are normally left standing though when areas of woodland are cleared for cultivation. The
MOBOLA PLUM (Parinari curatellifolia) Read More »
Munhengeni / Mutsvanzva (Sh), Umthunduluka / Uholotshane (N) Ximenias are drought-resistant, thorny shrubs or small trees. In Zimbabwe, there are 2 species: Ximenia americana, the species that is currently commercialised and X. caffra, the fruit of which is commonly eaten. The oil of this species could prove to be commercially interesting as well, but is
WILD or SOUR PLUM (Ximenia spp.) Read More »
Mupfandichimuka or mufahore (Sh), Umafavuke (N) Resurrection bush is a woody shrub with tough branches. For most of the year it looks like an upright bundle of red-brownish sticks, usually no more than 50cm high. It is called resurrection bush for the speed with which apparently dead leaves revive when the rains come. Tea is
RESURRECTION BUSH (Myrothamnus flabellifolia) Read More »
Zumbani (Sh), Umsuzwane (N) When crushed, the leaves of the fever tea tree, locally known as zumbani, give off a strong lemon-like smell. It is said to be one of the most aromatic of Zimbabwe’s indigenous shrubs, related to the commonly used herb, lemon verbena. OVERVIEW: Where it can be found: The fever tea tree
FEVER TEA TREE (Lippia javanica) Read More »
Chindambi (Tonga) Where it can be found: Native to West Africa, China and Thailand are now the largest rosella producers. The world’s best rosella comes from the Sudan, but the quantity is low. Mexico and Jamaica, Senegal, Mali, Egypt, and Tanzania are also important suppliers but production is mostly used domestically. Rosella grows across a
ROSELLA (Hibiscus sabdariffa) Read More »
Musau (Sh), Umpakwe (N) The masau is a tropical fruit tree species. Though not indigenous, it has widely naturalised in southern Africa and is found throughout Zimbabwe. Indian jujube is commonly found along roadsides where the discarded fruit pips have germinated. The fruits are rich in vitamin C and can be made into fruit powder,
INDIAN JUJUBE (Ziziphus mauritiana) Read More »
Madora (Sh), Macimbi (N) Insects are often considered a nuisance and pests to crops and animals, but they can provide food at low (environmental) costs and generate income and be part of fighting poverty in rural areas. Edible insects and caterpillars constitute one of the cheapest sources of animal protein. Mopane worms, the larvae/caterpillars of
MOPANE WORMS (Caterpillars of the MOPANE EMPEROR MOTH, Gonimbrasia belina) Read More »
Turning Wild Melons Into Tidy Profits Blessing Huzori is a farmer from Mutoko who grows wild melons to feed her cows and pigs. Sometimes she uses the melon pulp to make delicious nhopi with peanut butter or the seeds to make a traditional relish eaten with maize. People in Blessing’s community have also used the
Turning Wild Melons Into Tidy Profits Read More »
Hacha, The Giving Tree In Mutoko district, people of all ages look forward to the mobola plum (hacha) season every year. And no-one more than Agnes Zinhu, Agnes Machona and Janet Zirugo, three ladies who turn these delectable fruits into sweet treats for family, friends and strangers alike. Agnes, a young mum of two, has
Hacha, the Giving Tree Read More »
The Chinyama Family’s Amaranth Project The Chinyamas have always enjoyed growing millet and sorghum but last year they were introduced to something new. “We have always eaten mowa leaves (Amaranthus hybridus) as a vegetable but now we are growing amaranth grain” says Mr Chinyama. In the field Mr Chinyama noted that the amaranth grain crop
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The Kopjes’ Treasure Vongai Magwiridze is a farmer from hot, dry Chivi district where declining rainfall is threatening livelihoods in the community. Although agricultural crops struggle under changing climatic conditions, many indigenous plants, well adapted to dry conditions, continue to thrive. The tough resurrection bush is one of these. It grows in pockets of shallow
The Kopjes’ Treasure Read More »
