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Writer's picturePELUM-ZWE

Learning to prepare traditional dishes


Smallholder farmers from different parts of Zimbabwe displayed the work they are doing around agroecology at the Good food and seed festival at the Harare Botanical gardens. Approximately 100 smallholder farmers were present at the festival with more than 20 stalls displayed. The smallholder farmers bought different seeds and wild vegetables for sharing, trade and exchange. Photo: Tafadzwa Mazano/ TSURO TRUST

Wild vegetables have always been ingredients in traditional dishes of Zimbabwe, but as other food options have become more available, knowledge of how to find, preserve and cook these natural foods has decreased. PELUM Zimbabwe is working to change that with information at the Food and Seed Festival about wild vegetables and how to preserve and use them in cooking traditional dishes.


Wild mushrooms are a favorite food of Lizzy Mupata (80), who is a small-scale farmer from ward 22 in Gutu district.


Dried mushroom provides numerous health benefits which include solving heart problems, gut problems, and provides vitamin D. Mushrooms are readily available in the forest and they are not expensive. Fresh mushroom is seasonal, it’s readily available during the rainy season. It can be dried and be consumed any time,” says Lizzy.


Anna Rungwe (45), a small-scale farmer from ward 6 in Shashe explains how she uses dried mushrooms in her cooking.


I add dried mushrooms into the clay pot with warm water and boil it for 10 minutes. Then add peanut butter into the pot with mushrooms, stirring all the time. Then bring it to a simmer,” says Anna.


Anna is concerned that knowledge of how to use wild vegetables such as amaranthus (mowa/imbuya), biden pilosa (nhungunira/ucucuza), cleome gynandra (nyeve/runi/elude) in traditional dishes is being lost. She hopes that more cook books will feature traditional dishes with wild vegetables and that nurses and teachers will explain the health and financial benefits of wild vegetables and traditional foods.


I wish that more books with recipes on how to make traditional dishes are made and distributed and that nurses and teachers are encouraged to explain the nutritious benefits of the traditional dishes to students and pupils,” says Anna.


At the Food and Seed Festival in Gutu, Anna demonstrated how to prepare dried mushroom with peanut butter and serve it with sadza made using finger millet. During the rainy season, Anna forages amaranthus (mowa), black jack (mutsine) and wild mushrooms. She dries these in the sun and stores for later use during periods when food is scarce. This helps her to have diverse and nutritious food to feed her family.


A loss of indigenous knowledge about wild vegetables has resulted in the threat of extinction to some species, according to Oliat Mavuramba (46), who works with the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmer’s Forum (ZIMSOFF). His organization promotes the preservation, cultivation and exchange of wild vegetables because of their high nutritional value and medicinal properties.


Reduction in indigenous knowledge on the importance and how to cook the traditional dishes has resulted in extinction of some of the species in the forest. We are happy that some small-scale farmers are practicing agroecology and they are realizing the importance of wild vegetables,” says Oliat.


We created seed study groups under the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme being coordinated by PELUM Zimbabwe. These seed study groups are functional. They help farmers share and exchange knowledge about seeds. We also do seed and food fairs, workshops and exchange visits,” adds Oliat.


The Food and Seed festival is one of the many activities being implemented by PELUM Zimbabwe to strengthen Farmer Managed Seed Systems under its joint learning programme called the Zimbabwe Seed Sovereignty Programme.

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