Kenya has carried out food composition analysis of local landraces of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and bambara nut (Vigna subterranea) and compared their nutritional value to improved varieties as well as to more commonly consumed crops. Results show that local landraces of finger millet are higher in protein, iron, potassium and zinc and that they contain on average 6 times more iron and twice as much fibre than commonly consumed maize. Local landraces of Bambara groundnut were found to be lower in fat and sodium and higher in fibre than commonly consumed groundnut varieties, with almost double the potassium content and very high level of antioxidants.
Further, ethnobotanical surveys were carried out to document indigenous knowledge of bambara groundnut and to document its ethnomedicinal use in cancer management in Western Kenya. Data obtained will inform the design of clinical trials to establish the potential of bambara groundnut as an anti-cancer agent.
BFN Kenya is a member of the Nutrition Interagency Coordinating Committee (NICC) which operates under the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) umbrella to bring together stakeholders from government ministries, donors, UN agencies, civil society and business organizations to link nutrition to agriculture. Through this platform, BFN Kenya is able to advocate the use of biodiversity in food-based interventions to tackle malnutrition and showcase the work that the BFN initiative is undertaking at the County and grassroots level in Busia to promote nutrient-rich biodiversity. It can also help significantly in efforts to mainstream biodiversity into national plans and action and the scaling up of local activities.
The BFN Initiative worked closely with policy stakeholders from Busia County in Western Kenya to develop a Biodiversity Conservation Policy that takes into account the importance of conserving nutrient-rich traditional foods such as cowpea leaves, amaranth, slender leaf and spiderplant to increase diet quality and access to key micronutrients, particularly for mothers and children. The process has culminated in the endorsement of the first ever Biodiversity Conservation Policy for Kenya's 47 counties.
The policy recognizes the importance of traditional foods for nutrition and food security and has allocated resources to conserve regional food biodiversity with specific provisions for designated conservation areas and further incorporation of native species into school meals and linking smallholder farmers to institutional markets.
Working with a multi-disciplinary team of experts from the County Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education, Environment, Public Health and Forestry, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization and members of the local community-based organization SINGI, the BFN Initiative continues to promote best practices linked to the establishment of home gardens, health and sanitation, nutrition, school meal planning and preparation as well as value addition.
In partnership with the local CBO Sustainable Income and Generating Investment (SINGI), KALRO/BFN Kenya are creating awareness of indigenous crops and organic agricultural production methods by means of garden demonstration plots, areas of land allocated for testing and validating various agricultural techniques and products, throughout Busia County. The gardens showcase various many improved gardening technologies (i.e. mandala gardens, raised beds, multi-storey gardens, keyhole gardens, stick-sack gardens and tumbukiza gardens) and the cultivation of indigenous food and medicinal crops. SINGI extension workers have effectively disseminated agricultural information and technologies to over 4,000 small-scale farmers within a short period of two years, engaging farmers in evaluating improved practices and sharing lessons and successes among farming communities. As the demonstration garden has aesthetic value and produces good yields, others are adopting similar practices and are beginning to revalue indigenous crops.
In December 2015, Busia town held its second consecutive Traditional Food Fair, during which the self-help groups engaged by the project gathered to showcase the plethora of traditional foods that are collected, grown, reared and consumed in Busia County. The festival is attracting increasing number of visitors, including schools and other farmers, and has proved a successful way of raising the profile of traditional foods that are increasingly associated to healthier eating habits.
Common name | Latin name | Local name | |
---|---|---|---|
@Norman D. Davis | Mushrooms | Agaricus spp. | |
| Amaranth | Amaranthus dubius | Ekichabo, Dodo |
| Jackfruit | Artocarpus heterophyllus | Mfene |
@Joyweed | Malabar Spinach / Vine | Basella alba | |
| Kale, Ethiopian Kanzera | Brassica carinata | |
| Jute Mallow | Chorchorus olitorius | Murere |
| Spider plant | Cleome gynandra | Ofsaga, saga, liSaga, lisaka |
| Taro | Colocasia esculenta | |
| Brown Quail | Coturnix ypsilophora | |
| Finger Millet | Eleusine coracana | Wimbi |
| Sweet Potato | Ipomoea batatas | Viazi vitamu |
| Moringa | Moringa oleifera | |
| Guinea Fowl | Numidae spp. | |
| Tilapia | Oreochromis niloticus | |
| Mudfish | Protopterus annectens | |
| Guava | Psidium guajava | |
| Sorghum | Sorghum bicolor | |
| Green Gram
| Vigna radiata | |
| Bambara Groundnut | Vigna subterranea | Jugo |
| Cowpea Leaves | Vigna unguiculata | Kunde |