+33 680 38 14 46
Zambia: Vegetable Production - Alternative to Anticipated Poor Crop Harvest
Zambia
Wednesday 20 February 2008
It is likely that this farming season, 2007/2008, some parts of Zambia will experience food deficiency as a result of too much rain that has hit the country.
This is so because, some fields have been washed away by floods, whereas crops that have survived are becoming yellow and others are destroyed due to water logging and weeds, leaving farmers helpless with nowhere to turn. This development has negatively affected the anticipated bumper harvest, as a result agriculturists have advised farmers to diversify into vegetable production which can be grown throughout the year as a way of sustaining their livelihoods. Today's vegetables are more palatable, and yet paradoxically, we eat very few plants as part of our daily diet. The major contribution of vegetables to human health has always been the large amounts of Vitamin A, the folic acid and Vitamin C they contain as well as some minerals. It is becoming clear now that there are many plant chemicals that act together to protect the human body from the onset of various diseases.
Very little is known about the health benefits of the wide range of plants we eat, as a result, scientists are still studying them so that their vitamin content and antioxidant and health protective effects are well known. The most powerful protective domesticated vegetables that we are likely to eat are spinach, garlic, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, sweet potato, red pepper, winter squash, and frozen peas. The fact that we eat such a small range of vegetables is a matter of culture not because these are the only vegetables one can get at the supermarket.
Today, there are only rape, cabbage and Chinese cabbage but if one compares with what scientists and historical observers have recorded as being eaten by people in Africa, it is recorded that 83 plants are known to be used as vegetables in Zimbabwe; another record 40 different leaves used as greens in one small part of South Africa and more than 120 plants were used as vegetables.
This is so because, some fields have been washed away by floods, whereas crops that have survived are becoming yellow and others are destroyed due to water logging and weeds, leaving farmers helpless with nowhere to turn. This development has negatively affected the anticipated bumper harvest, as a result agriculturists have advised farmers to diversify into vegetable production which can be grown throughout the year as a way of sustaining their livelihoods. Today's vegetables are more palatable, and yet paradoxically, we eat very few plants as part of our daily diet. The major contribution of vegetables to human health has always been the large amounts of Vitamin A, the folic acid and Vitamin C they contain as well as some minerals. It is becoming clear now that there are many plant chemicals that act together to protect the human body from the onset of various diseases.
Very little is known about the health benefits of the wide range of plants we eat, as a result, scientists are still studying them so that their vitamin content and antioxidant and health protective effects are well known. The most powerful protective domesticated vegetables that we are likely to eat are spinach, garlic, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, sweet potato, red pepper, winter squash, and frozen peas. The fact that we eat such a small range of vegetables is a matter of culture not because these are the only vegetables one can get at the supermarket.
Today, there are only rape, cabbage and Chinese cabbage but if one compares with what scientists and historical observers have recorded as being eaten by people in Africa, it is recorded that 83 plants are known to be used as vegetables in Zimbabwe; another record 40 different leaves used as greens in one small part of South Africa and more than 120 plants were used as vegetables.
