Scientists are working to return to dinner tables precolonial vegetables that are currently dismissed as weed in Kenya, but highly nutritious and could help fight today’s health problems.
These vegetables, such as blackjack, are today only fed to animals such as rabbits or sprayed dead to protect other food crops.
Dr Njoki Mitugo, a scientist with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, said these ‘weeds’ were part of the African diet for hundreds of years.
She said many indigenous African vegetables were dismissed as weeds during the colonial period to make way for exotic vegetables, which currently dominate the African dish.
“At least 70 per cent of our vegetables have been classified as weeds. They are highly nutritious with extremely high antioxidant properties but people no longer take them,” she said.
Karlo will next month hold the African Indigenous Foods and Food Systems Expo 2023 to promote the uptake of indigenous foods.
Dr Njoki, an Africa indigenous food systems specialist at Karlo-Muguga, said most Kenyans are already suffering reduced dietary varieties.
“That is why many chronic diseases have increased because people have abandoned rich foods found in Africa,” she said.
She noted exotic foods are biologically unsuitable for African bodies.
“Our melanin is not just skin deep but it's embedded in our DNA. That is why the varieties of vegetables and fruits originally found in Asia are very different from those in Africa,” she said.
There is already evidence that people who eat healthy, but foreign foods, may not gain benefits from such foods.
The commonest vegetables in urban Kenya, kales, spinach, swiss chard, and cabbages, are not indigenous to Africa.
Dr Njoki blamed food imperialism, and industrialisation of food systems for the loss of nutritious African crops.
She noted most indigenous vegetables and fruits in Kenya are also drought-resistant.
They include black jack, Bidens Pilosa (mung’ei), Ajuga Remota (Wanjiru wa Rurii), gooseberry, Stinging nettle, Sodom apple and Commelina Africana (odielo) among others.
Stella Tanui, a horticulturalist at Karlo said Kenyans must stop classifying their vegetables as weed.
“We must ask how did we get here and how can we move away from it,” she said.
Kenya has more than 200 African indigenous vegetables species, according to research. However, only a few have been fully domesticated and a number are semi-domesticated, while most are wild.
Research investment has prioritised commercially high-value crops such as maize, wheat and rice with minimal attention given to the native foods.
Tanui said indigenous foods are often well adapted to the local environment, are less affected by disease and pest problems, and have the potential to contribute to a more stable food supply system.
In Kisii, expectant and lactating mothers are usually advised to incorporate spider plant, locally known as sagetti, in their meals to reduce nausea and increase milk production.
Culinary art specialist Ruth Ongiri said nutritionists have confirmed that sagetti contains a lot of iron, beta carotene, vitamins C and A, magnesium and calcium.
It is mainly grown in Kisii, Nyamira, Kisumu and Tharaka Nithi.
Other local vegetables include nightshade (managu), amaranth (terere) and vine spinach (Nderema). They are not only healthy but also contain medicinal qualities, which expedite healing for sick people.
However, the vegetables are also face punitive policies, such as the Seed and Plant Varieties Act 326 of 2012, which prohibits the sale, exchange and sharing of indigenous seeds in Kenya.
Those who violate the law face a jail term of as long as two years or a fine of as much as Sh1 million or both.