Bambara - great value as food and livestock feed

This nutritious plant, which is meeting a need among rural people, deserves better attention.

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Countries worldwide are increasingly becoming aware that to feed their populations adequately they need to find an alternative source of crops besides the ones conventionally grown.

Finding new sources of food is a matter of urgency, particularly in developing countries and areas where virtually no new land becomes available for cultivation, or the more common crops have been pushed to their maximum yield.

In South Africa, studies have highlighted the role of indigenous plants in meeting rural people's basic needs for shelter, food, dietary supplements, fuel, medicine, and as a form of income. Bambara is one such crop.

Being virtually exclusively indigenous to Southern Africa, this groundnut is not as well known as it could be in view of the expanded production of the better-known groundnut.

Nowadays it’s mainly cultivated by subsistence farmers.

However, in recent years, Bambara has received more attention because of its high production potential.