Today let’s talk about hashtag#Malabarspinach (Basella alba) “Delega” in Swahili, and in some places “Ndelema”
Have you eaten “delega or ndelema” before? 
A creeping, climbing plant that thrives with little attention. It wraps itself around walls, fences, and coffee plantations.
I first encountered this vegetable its name, its seeds, even its leaves when I began working at the hashtag#ECHOEastAfricaSeedBank. We conserve seeds for hashtag#NUS and the like crops. We have two varieties of hashtag#Malabarspinach the deep purple/red vine and the green-stemmed type. When I paid attention, I found it growing in our home garden quietly climbing not competing or demanding much
What struck me most wasn’t just the plant, it was the stories about it
that it helps with indigestion.
In some places it’s cooked with milk, highly appreciated for its smooth, slightly slimy texture, and served with most foods like beans, plantain, cassava, sweet potatoes or ugali.
There are many relishes made but there’s this traditional food I know “kitalolo” — a mix of leafy vegetables, fermented milk and boiled maize. In the Northern regions some people add hashtag#malabarspinach leaves
Despite its richness in iron and vitamin A, it’s being replaced by the exotic leafy vegetables like spinach (Beta vulgaris) and kale (Brassica oleracea) crops that require more attention, more inputs, and often more water. Sad story
I’m currently reading from an interesting catalog hashtag#theArkofTasteinTanzania and found that this vegetable has fed families for generations in Morogoro, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Mbeya, and Ruvuma regions. The catalog has 50 other endangered traditional /hashtag#NUS in Tanzanian food products. A good read
hashtag#echofightshunger hashtag#NUS hashtag#NUCS hashtag#traditionalvegetables hashtag#indigenousknowledge hashtag#AFDB hashtag#foodsecurity hashtag#localfoodsystems hashtag#Biodiversity hashtag#agroecology hashtag#sustainablefoodsytems
hashtag#myfoodisAfrican
