Why the forgotten root vegetables of Kenya prove a culinary hit

Once fired as wild weeds and “poor man’s food”, local leafy vegetables in Kenya are now much more common – grown on farms, sold in markets and enhance the restaurant menus.

At the restaurant of the busy Skinners in Gatsi just outside the capital, Nairobi, an employee says that the search for “kienyeji” – since all local vegetables are known – is higher than for other greens.

“Many people want Kyeniji when they come here,” Kimani Ng’Ang’s told the BBC, despite the fact that the restaurant charges them further for them, as he says they are more difficult for a source.

Vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, cabbage and spring greenery, introduced by the colonial authorities 60 years ago, are more easily accessible and more expensive. Spring greens are known as “Sukumawiki”, which means “stretching the week” in Swahili, reflecting how they became a daily main one.

But evenings in Gatsi are part of the growing wave of Kenyans who see the benefits of eating local, organically produced varieties rich in nutrients of the Greens.

“He detoxifies the body and is good at weight loss,” says James Watiru, who ordered Managu – or the African nights.

Another person told me, “Everything is about his taste, which is better.”

According to gardening professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, this trend is reflected in government data and some of the health benefits are supported by research.

Over the last 10 years, the production of local greens has doubled – with 300,000 tonnes produced by local farmers last year, she says.

This is a remarkable change in attitudes, given that people used to view traditional cultures as a nicer -without realizing that they were often more resistant to diseases and pests, which means that they can be grown organically.

In the 1980s, when Prof. Abucutsa-Onyango began her research, she said she was puzzled to find them, called “weeds”.

“We have never learned about African indigenous vegetables. They called the amaranth” Pigweed “Spider Plant, they called it” spider weed, “she told the BBC.

Her postgraduate studies of traditional plants were also difficult, as there was no literature for them, but she was still stubbornly working with the government to promote them for food security.

She says that Managu and other local vegetables such as “Mrenda” (Utah Mallow) and “Terere” (Amaranth) have more significant minerals than Sukumawiki, as well as “higher levels of vitamin A and C (s) antioxidants” that increase immunity and reduce the risk of disease.

Some varieties also contain proteins, which makes them an excellent option for vegetarians. It notes, for example, that 100G (3.5 ounces) from Mrenda – known for its distinctive thin texture when cooked – contains more nutrients than a similar part of ordinary cabbage.

The progress that people like Prof. Abucutsa-Onyango Recognized by UNESCO in 2021, When the UN Cultural Agency praised the Eastern African nation for “protecting the intangible cultural heritage”, which was threatened by “historical factors and the pressure of the modern way of life”.

He noted that Kenya launched a project in 2007 with the participation of scientists and local communities to record inventory of traditional foods, which now includes 850 indigenous plants and their local names.

Some of these vegetables are eaten throughout the country, while others are specific to certain areas or communities.

But Sukumawiki, for the first time, introduced in Kenya by the Mediterranean as an animal feed, is still preferred by many farmers – with more than 700,000 tonnes produced in 2023 – more than twice the volume of all root leafy vegetables.

Francis Dgiri, who was dealing with farms in Kirinaga in Central Kenya, where cabbage is a major harvest, explains that this is because, especially in the 1970s, those who raised imported leafy vegetables used fertilizers and pesticides that have damaged local biodiversity.

Today he tells the BBC that only the varieties introduced are flourishing, as the soil has become too acidic to maintain many local species.

Determined to do something so as not to be lost forever, the nagiri moved his operation to the Kenyan Valley to the rift, which he considers relatively untouched by chemical pollution – so it can practice organic cultivation of local crops.

In four acres (1.6 hectare) farm in the elementary, it begins with 14 local varieties in 2016. Today, which has grown to 124, many of which he has received through seed exchange with fellow farmers. His farm now attracts visitors from all over Kenya and neighboring countries.

They come to see how he collaborates with 800 other regional farmers who also grow organic food for the local markets to preserve and regenerate “forgotten plants”, ensuring that their genetic diversity is protected for future generations.

Despite the change of seeds, d -ngiri and his colleagues actually violate the law, as the government only allows the planting of certified seeds.

This controversial law was introduced in 2012 with the intention of protecting farmers to buy poor quality seeds.

Wambui Wakahiu, which trains seed farmers, says such policies do not support the efforts to save the root varieties of crops, since their seeds are not available in farm supply stores.

It works for Network Seed Savers, a non -governmental organization with 400,000 members, which helps to create seed banks for farmers who safely store and store their local seeds.

Her team found that more than 35 traditional varieties of plants were “completely lost” in only one county because of the law.

“If (farmers) focus more on exotic (foreign) seeds, then traditional seeds continue to go away. And we saw most of them disappear,” she told the BBC.

G -n ngiri and others who exchanged seeds have not been persecuted by the authorities, but he says the law prevents them from being released on the market: “If I cannot sell the seeds, I do not own it.”

And receiving certification is a strict, expensive process, as the seeds must be tested in a laboratory for their purity and things like how well they germinate.

Dr. Peterson Vambugu, a chief scientific scientist at the National Gen. in the Kenyan Agricultural and Livestock Organization (KALRO), admits that, according to the current law, the exchange and sale of non -certified seeds – including the rescued by farmers – is criminalized.

However, he points out that this contradicts the international treaty on the genetic resources of food and agriculture plants from which Kenya has signed, as he determines the rights of farmers to save, use and exchange their seeds.

The National Gen. Bank works with other groups to prepare regulations through the Ministry of Agriculture in order to align the Kenyan law with the Treaty.

Proposals once accepted by parliament will allow farmers to exchange the seeds “without fear that what they are doing is criminal,” he tells the BBC.

However, the sale of such seeds will still remain outlaws – something that D -Rathabugu knows means that the trip to the full acceptance of local cultures continues.

For Priscilla Njeri, a vegetable supplier to the lively Wangige market in Kiambu County, there is no going back, as it can see firsthand that root greenery is already the most popular with its customers – something that it puts on media campaigns that promote them.

“The most preferences are Mantu, Terere and Kanzira (African cabbage) – which is popular for those who have sensitive stomachs because there is no gas,” she told the BBC.

“But all the green kienyeji is good because they have a better taste.”