Tag: Tanzania
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THE SAFARI LESS TAKEN
My neighbour from Aleppo, Syria and mate for 35 years, Scott Christiansen, and I were in Tanzania last month for a consultancy. It was a Sunday, and we had Bambara groundnut and sweetpotato leaves growing out of our ears. So we decided to get out of Dodge. When in Tanzania the thing to do is to go on a safari. But the Swahili word ‘safari’ simply means going on a journey. Scott and I decided to take a safari in Tanzania … but just not the type you’re thinking of. I’m…
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SWEETPOTATOES A LA SINGIDA
When I heard that my colleague Scott Christiansen and I were assigned to look at the value chain of sweetpotatoes in Tanzania I assumed we’d be looking at the same orange, white, or purple tubers that make their way into our meals in a hundred different forms. But in Tanzania, especially in the Singida region, the story doesn’t start or end underground. People eat the leaves. These aren’t the same varieties grown for tubers. These are specially bred for foliage—nutrient-rich, fast-growing, and central to household cooking. I saw the sweetpotato story…
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THE BAMBARA GROUNDNUTS OF UNYAMIKUMBI
If you look at a dried Bambara groundnut in its shell you’d be forgiven if you thought it was a deformed peanut. They share a name. Peanuts are called ‘groundnuts’ in many places in the world. And they are both legumes. And both need to have hard shells removed prior to eating. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. They’re distant botanical cousins but probably not close enough to be invited to family reunions. Bambara groundnuts (BGN) are sown in arid and semi-arid locations like the village of Unyamikumbi, in…
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THE SINGIDA MORNING MARKET
Sweetpotato leaves wilt quickly. They’re harvested in the early morning and usually consumed by nighttime. We wanted to see them nice and fresh so we ventured to the Singida market as the sun rose. We found leafy green vendors, Domina, Rahel and Mwasiti, setting up shop. They pulled out African nightshade, amaranth, mustard greens and sweetpotato leaves. Business was pretty slow at that hour of the day so the three women and I had fun as I got them to pose for photos with their leafy greens. I didn’t have to…
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NJUGU
Esther Yoham Majija wanted to make her bakery, the Fortlene Bakery, a step apart from other bakeries in her town of Babati, Tanzania. She wanted to use traditional African vegetables in her baked products. The mother of three visited a booth of the World Vegetable Center at a trade fair and learned of different ingredients and recipes she could use to improve the nutrition of her products. We had heard that one of those ingredients she is using in the Bambara groundnut (njugu in Swahili) so we paid her a visit…
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