The importance of indigenous crops in Malawi: A case of Nyamphaea Petersiana (Nyika)

Researchers have documented declining interest among young people for traditional food sources and substantial loss in knowledge for traditional foods. As migration from Malawi's rural to urban areas increases it has become common knowledge that more people are rejecting indigenous foods.Wild fruit vegetables and tubers are looked upon as food for the rural poor while tinned foods and exotic vegetables are perceived as a sign of affluence. The loss of indigenous food resources that have previously sustained society has contributed to the inadequate amount of food and basis nutrients in the diet, leading to under nutrition in most developing countries, including Malawi.

This study  undertakes :

• to determine Nymphaea Petersiana’s ( also known as Nyika - a tuber that is manly found in the Lower Shire in Malawi) content of selected nutrients and antinutritents in order to assess how it might best be utilized in the Malawian diet, especially in rural areas
• to begin establishing a nutrient data base for the tuber, and, hopefully, lay a foundation for a nutrient database for edible wild tubers eaten in Malawi.
  

The authors give a detailed scientific analysis of Nyika, and argue that although the tuber is regarded as food for rural poor, it has a well balanced mineral content as compared to most food sources that the urban population favours e.g. cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams.

Data from this study indicate that this tuber is of nutritional significance, and highlight the need to utilise the tuber as a weaning food for use in the rural areas where people cannot afford to buy commercial weaning foods currently on the market. The authors emphasise the need to establish a nutrient database for this tuber in particular and for other edible wild tubers in Malawi.