No matter how you say it, there’s no denying that the African ‘potato’ is an impressive crop. Unlike other non-native roots and tubers grown in many parts of Africa – such as cassava or sweet potatoes – African potatoes are high in protein and resilient to many pests and diseases. They are also easy to raise and even easier to cook.
Despite their name, however, these ‘potatoes’ are not actually related to the common potato or potato relatives. They aren’t even related to the sweet potato, yam, or cassava. They are actually members of the mint family that includes herbs such as lavender, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, and basil. African potatoes are similar to their family in that they grow fragrant leaves above ground that can be used for cooking, but different because of their large, edible roots beneath the soil.
These native potatoes grow throughout Africa but are often split up into two varieties based on where they grow on the continent. The northern variety (S. rotundifolius) is often referred to as the hausa potato, Zulu potato, fabourama, or frafra potato, and produces small, oval-shaped roots. On the other hand, the southern variety (P. esculentus) is known as the Livingstone potato or Madagascar potato, and produces long, fingerlike roots. Across their diverse growing environments, both varieties can produce large amounts of food from very small areas of land.
Hausa and Livingstone potatoes are also useful because they are extremely versatile. Both varieties can be boiled, roasted, baked, or fried to replace common potatoes in everyday recipes. The Hausa potato can also be ground into flour used in porridges, while the Livingstone potato is easily dried and stored for later use.
In addition to versatility, the Hausa and Livingstone potatoes provide twice the protein offered by common potatoes and are excellent sources of calcium, vitamin A, and iron. Compared to common potatoes and most cereal grains, this makes African potatoes one of the most nutritionally complete staple crops available. In areas where the shortage of vitamin-rich vegetables leads to endemic malnutrition, native potatoes could be a helpful, hearty solution.
To learn more about indigenous vegetables in Africa, read : Monkey Oranges: Mouthwatering Potential, The Green Gold of Africa, The Locust Bean: An Answer to Africa’s Greatest Needs in One Tree, and Lablab: The Bountiful, Beautiful Legume.
Elena Davert is a research intern with Nourishing the Planet.
Danielle Nierenberg, an expert on livestock and sustainability, currently serves as Project Director of State of World 2011 for the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based environmental think tank. Her knowledge of factory farming and its global spread and sustainable agriculture has been cited widely in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Post, and
other publications.
Danielle worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She is currently traveling across Africa looking at innovations that are working to alleviate hunger and poverty and blogging everyday at Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet. She has a regular column with the Mail & Guardian, the Kansas City Star, and the Huffington Post and her writing was been featured in newspapers across Africa including the Cape Town Argus, the Zambia Daily Mail, Coast Week (Kenya), and other African publications. She holds an M.S. in agriculture, food, and environment from Tufts University and a B.A. in environmental policy from Monmouth College.
