The baobab trade suffices the needs of locals as drought due to the El Niño phenomenon has brought economic woes.
The baobab trade suffices the needs of locals as drought due to the El Niño phenomenon has brought economic woes.Since childhood, Loveness Bhitoni has collected fruit from the gigantic baobab trees surrounding her homestead in Zimbabwe to add variety to the family’s staple corn and millet diet. The 50- year-old Bhitoni never saw them as a source of cash, until now.
“We are only able to buy corn and salt," Bhitoni said after a long day’s harvest."Cooking oil is a luxury, because the money is simply not enough. Sometimes I spend a month without buying a bar of soap. I can’t even talk of school fees or children’s clothes." The alliance's members train locals on food safety. They also encourage people to collect the fruit, which can grow to 20 centimetres wide and 53 centimetres long, from the ground rather than the hazardous work of climbing the enormous, thick-trunked trees. Many, especially men, still do though.
“It was ridiculous because the baobab fruit has been consumed in Africa safely for thousands and thousands of years,” said Le Breton, an ethnobotanist specializing in African plants used for food and medicine. Companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have opened product lines promoting baobab ingredients. In Europe, the powder is hyped by some as having “real star qualities” and is used to flavour beverages, cereals, yoghurt, snack bars and other items.
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