Yahoo – AFP,
Amy Fallon, 4 Nov 2014
![]() |
Duncan
Senoga, a volunteer with Slow food International in Uganda, helps pupils
of
Buiga Sunrise Primary School in Mukono District, Uganda on October 2,
2014 (AFP
Photo/Isaac Kasamani)
|
Banda
Kyandaaza (Uganda) (AFP) - Powerful herby coffee, sun-dried fish and succulent
beef from Ankole cattle are just some of the Ugandan delicacies in a
mushrooming movement across Africa to safeguard traditional foods.
Slow Food,
a global grassroots organisation that promotes "good, clean and fair
food", is spreading its reach across Africa after making its first inroads
on the continent a decade ago.
Today the
movement counts 30 African projects as food communities preserve, and
rediscover native breeds, plant varieties and products, from Moroccan Zerradoun
salt, to Ethiopia's Tigray white honey, Zulu sheep in South Africa and Sierra
Leone's Kenema kola nuts.
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Founded in
1989 and headquartered in
Italy, Slow Food started with one Ugandan
local chapter in 2008, since growing into 13
across the east African country (AFP
Photo/
Isaac Kasamani)
|
"In
the village it's very rare," said the 13-year old, whose country is at the
heart of Africa's slow revolution.
Eggobe,
which has a plantain-like taste and softens when steamed, is also said to be
handy for treating diabetes, hypertension -- and even reportedly for increasing
the size of one's manhood.
It's one of
a handful of vegetables a group of students at the primary school here at Banda
Kyandaaza, a village about 20 kilometres (12 miles) outside Kampala, are hoping
to put back on Ugandan plates.
Eggobe has
been nominated for Slow Food's Ark of Taste, an online "living catalogue
of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction."
Founded in
1989 and headquartered in Italy, Slow Food started with one Ugandan local
chapter in 2008, since growing into 13 across the east African country.
In Uganda,
they've helped students create 75 gardens in more than 50 schools to taste and
test products.
In the
school garden in Banda Kyandaaza, students are now growing cassava, cabbage,
pumpkin, African eggplant and black nightshade, as well as eggobe.
Boosting
rare produce
Recent
Ugandan additions to the list include small white mushrooms called Namulonda,
as well as the Nakitembe banana, which is traditionally presented by the groom
to a bride's family, but is at risk of disappearing due to the "continuous
and indiscriminate hybridisation of bananas."
"We
use the gardens to restore the crops that are at risk of disappearing,"
said Edie Mukiibi, 28, a Ugandan agronomist who was in February appointed
co-vice-president of Slow Food International, alongside the influential US chef
and author Alice Waters.
The
country's capital Kampala may now be home to a handful of international fast
food chain outlets, but Mukiibi said he was "proud" that Uganda had
been "slow" to adopt fast food compared to other countries he'd
visited.
Late last
month he accompanied about two dozen Ugandan students, farmers, cooks and
restaurant owners to Slow Food's Salone del Gusto, the world's largest food and
wine fair, and Terra Madre, a concurrent global gathering of food communities
in Turin in Italy.
About 450
delegates from 45 African countries took part -- and Ugandan bananas, vanilla
and coffee were on display.
"We
musn't only speak about poverty in Africa, we have to speak about culture,
about the natural richness that you have in different recipes," said
Serena Milano, General Secretary of the Slow Food Foundation of Biodiversity,
who coordinates African activities.
"It's
fascinating the diversity of products and recipes that Africa has."
With about
85 percent of the population involved in the sector, Mukiibi called agriculture
Uganda's backbone.
Slow Food
was working to address the "many injustices" facing the country's
small-scale farmers.
"You
find some supermarkets importing potatoes from France and South Africa,"
he said. "Slow Food creates a market for the local uncommon products to
compete."
In the
traditional Ankole kingdom in southwestern Uganda, the indigenous long-horned
Ankole cow symbolises wealth.
"From
its milk come so many traditional dishes and other products," said
Mukiibi.
![]() |
Vice
President Slow food international,
Edie Mukiibi shows Agobe seeds at Buiga
Sunrise Primary School in Mukono District,
Uganda on October 2, 2014 (AFP
Photo/
Isaac Kasamani)
|
But Mukiibi
said many years ago an influx of imported animal breeds began being mixed with
local ones, encouraged by "the NGO world."
Now, some
locals are starting to discard the Ankole cow, saying it takes too long to grow
and gives very little milk.
Slow Food
are working with one of Uganda's biggest slaughterhouses in Kampala, so
producers can sell the animals they raise directly to them.
They're
also providing training on improving meat quality.
Meanwhile,
in the school garden, students who used to view farming as a punishment are now
realising the value in spending two hours a week out of class, learning
everything from how to water crops to managing an agriculture enterprise.
"You
farm, you get food," said Muwanguzi, bending over in a cabbage patch. "You
farm, you get money."
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