In Northern and Luapula provinces it is called 'Chikanda'. Whereas in Eastern province it is called Chinaka and in some other parts of Zambia it is known as kinaka or kikanda.
However, the most common term in Zambia in reference to what is also regarded as Zambian Sausage or African polony is Chikanda.
Contrary, Chikanda is not meat even though people call it sausage or polony, its a wild vegetable in a potatoe like form which is harvested from terrestrial orchids and mainly belong to three genera: Disa, Satyrium and Habenaria, but also Brachycorythis and Eulophia.
In Zambia, Chikanda among other liked indigenous traditional foods. And because of this, it never fall short on traditional special cuisines. In short, its lovely - foreigners enjoy it too.
Among others, the six things some Zambians didn't know about Chikanda or perhaps didn't pay attention to include:
1. Chikanda - poor mans food:
Years ago, Chikanda was regarded as poor man food because it was mostly consumed by those who could not afford decent meals. However, many years later the story changed and is totally different.
Chikanda has become food for everyone and fun enough; those regarded as poor people can't even afford it in some parts of Zambia. It perhaps qualifies to be called rich mans food.
2. Chikanda - livelihood:
Across the country, Chikanda is a livelihood to most Zambians - especially women and girls. Many families have been making ends meet through the business of selling raw, processed or cooked chikanda.
For business and home consumption, women and girls prepare it by combining orchid
tubers, ground peanuts and chillies. The mixture is then cooked to a solid, meatloaf-like consistency and serve or sell it as a snack. In urban areas it is sold in markets.
Others have ventured into farming of Chikanda as a way of earning a living.
3. Chikanda - prone to depletion or specie extinction:
Research shows that several species used for chikanda are national or regional endemics, making them very susceptible to
overharvesting.
It remains unclear, however, which species exactly are harvested, because collectors gather the edible orchids indiscriminately and the chikanda tubers are difficult to identify morphologically.
In Tanzania as much as 85 species might be used for chikanda and several may run the risk of local extinction.
Generally, the rate at which chikanda get harvested in Zambia is so alarming. The commodity is almost depleted and some species have perhaps extincted. Against this, there is no guarantee that Zambians will stop harvesting Chikanda at a very fast rate even if they are educated on the importance of conservation, domestication and cultivation. The solution is to have strong policies that bind the endangered species of Chikanda.
3. Chikanda - imported commodity:
Due to high demand in Zambia, most businessmen and women have resorted to importing the commodity mostly from Tanzania, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.
The resolution by most women/girls to travel greater distances, risk their personal safety as they cross national borders, increasing their time away from other tasks, and carrying school-age children who are deprived of their education.
4. Chikanda - qualification of marriage material wife:
This may spark controversy, however, research shows that some Zambian men prefer marrying women who knows how to cook traditional foods like Chikanda and ifisashi to women who treasure cooking junkie foods.
5. Chikanda - Darwin Iniatiative Project (2016-2019):
1st June,2016 marked the first day of a three year collaborative project on Chikanda by a team of scientists, horticulturists and conservationists at RBG Kew (UK), Copperbelt University (Zambia), Sanga Research and Development (NGO, Zambia),
Homegarden Landscape Consultants Ltd (Zambia), Uppsala University (Sweden), and with technical contributions from
Cape Institute of Micropropagation (South Africa), and the Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use project (OSSSU, UK/
global).
The project is three years in duration and is funded by the Darwin Iniatiative (UK).
In view of this, the Copperbelt University under the School of Natural Resources conducted a micro-propagation project on Chikanda where the tissue culture technique
was used to propagate and speed up the germination of the commodity.
After successful propagation, then the plant material was transplanted in the greenhouse.
The project was successful suggesting that
production of large quantities that could be distributed to the farmers. And as long as there are funds, this project has huge potential to contribute to the livelihood of the people and also preserve the orchids which are on the path of extinction. This project is ongoing untill 2019.
6. Chikanda - Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Plans:
“My name is Edwin van Leeuwen and I work at the Chimfunshi
Wildlife Orphanage in the Copperbelt, Zambia. The topic of cultivating
Chikanda orchids has been of interest to us because we are an NGO taking care of more than 130 rescued chimpanzees in the middle of the
bush (10.000+ acres privately owned land). In other words, we are a
small community of roughly 150 people trying to make ends meet with
small donations from visitors, some cattle and potentially… growing
Chikanda.
“People at Chimfunshi have been gathering the wild orchids
from the Dambo’s for some time, and although I understand the pressing
issue of preserving endangered species all too well, people here have
needed these plants not as delicacy but as means for subsistence.
“However, as we both aim to meet their needs and make money for the
chimpanzees that we also struggle to feed, we have been looking into
ways to cultivate Chikanda orchids. The Chimfunshi land is vast enough
and contains the right nutrients for the orchids obviously, but
surprisingly nobody seems to know how to grow them.
“Again, I realize
that our aim might not be in line with your bigger concerns, but taking
into account the circumstances at Chimfunshi, I think the aim could be
defended as legitimate. Would anybody be willing to respond to our
predicament and potential ways forward? As somebody remarked
correctly, the Chikanda is relatively pricy on the local market, which
could be very helpful for the chimpanzees – and also for the orchids if
we were to be able to make their cultivation sustainable. Many thanks.
_________________
About the Author:
Winston Muleba Junior is a
Researcher, Citizen Journalist, Blogger,
Scientist, Writer and Disaster Management
Practitioner who uses media and ICT to
promote science, technology and
innovation. He gravitates towards
environment: water, aquaculture, land,
climate change and agriculture as he
is skilled at juxtaposing the latest research
and expert opinion with the everyday lives
and struggles of people on the ground.
Email: mwenyamuleba@gmail.com
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