Anchote: a reawakened food for resilient small rural communities

For a female farmer like Solen, the garden represents her family’s primary source of subsistence and nutrition. Therefore, it is essential to reinforce the horticulture value chain and make sure that farmers can rely on improved agricultural practices and nutritious food.

In 2017, the development cooperation agents of CIHEAM Bari decided to face this challenge by creating Inclusive Sustainable Value Chain Development in Oromia (ISVCDO) project. It was funded by the Italian Cooperation and aimed at introducing new varieties to home gardens, filling the nutritional needs of the local population. The institutions put together a task force of food and cooperation experts from Italy and Ethiopia, who work together locally and remotely.

The objective of the project was ambitious. The task force wanted to enhance  Ethiopian food systems, diversify  the diets of local populations, spread a sustainable production system (including organic production), and increase small farmers’ incomes while respecting local cultural traditions. To do so, they looked at Ethiopian farmers’ stories, traditions, and in particular, their lost crops.

That is when Tiglu Tesfaye spotted the anchote, also called Coccinia abyssinica.

Tiglu is a horticulturist and local coordinator of Horticulture, Gender, and Nutrition, with 13 years of experience leading ISVCDO. His colleague, Annarita Antonelli, is the International Project Coordinator and senior expert on socio-economic and development issues at CIHEAM Bari. He knows anchote and its precious qualities because it is a crop of his homeland, Wollega in Western Ethiopia

“Starting from 2017, we selected to reintroduce anchote to smallholder farmers. Originally anchote is from Wollega but we decided to prioritize nutrition over provenance and proposed it to the farmers in the eastern region of Oromia. I was thrilled to finally work with a crop from my home. The decision was taken as a team, of course, and it was a successful one.”

Anchote, indigenous to Ethiopia, is a drought-resistant tuber with unrealized potential despite its significant contributions to local history and food traditions. Farmers mainly grow the crop for its seeds and harvest it in four months. The seed produces yellow flowers, while the edible part grows under the ground. The tuber can be safely stored for extended periods, which provides added food security in times of crop failures and extreme climatic phenomena. Traditionally, it is believed that anchote heals broken or fractured bones, helps sick people to recover, and makes lactating mothers healthier and stronger.

The content of protein, vitamin A, C, potassium, sodium, calcium, and other elements is much higher than other traditional food products consumed by rural communities such as potatoes, sweet potato, or cereals. Thus, a serving of one hundred grams per day can fulfill most nutritional requirements. Anchote may also play a vital role in supplying the calcium requirements of infants and children, where milk and milk products are not easily found or afforded.

Convincing the local farmers to adopt a new crop was a challenge. Tiglu met with the women of the communities regularly, and through innovative participatory methods, he introduced them to this new-old crop, showing them how important it was to cultivate for the well-being of the whole community. He followed them at every stage of the process, from the procurement of seeds to training for cultivation and harvesting to inviting experts who demonstrated how to cook and process the root. A crucial tool for the project’s success was the ‘community conversations’.

Within the rounds of discussion, one of the issues was to encourage women to integrate anchote into their families’ diets. The community conversations also hosted cooking demonstrations in which women and men in the farming community were invited to assist and interact. The nutrition expert who conducted the demonstrations, with the woreda (what districts are called in Ethiopia) experts and the project team, started by collecting vegetables from gardens, explaining their properties, nutrient content, and uses. Most of the recipes were soups, vegetable stews, and specific recipes for children’s food preparation.

To educate rural communities on diverse diets and the connection between agriculture, nutrition, and health, the project produced community-led videos targeted at both women and men. These videos had more than 5000 views. This stimulating, innovative, and exciting tool was shown to be a viable option to catalyze social and behavioral change.

Tiglu’s commitment and the CIHEAM Bari experience allowed anchote to be introduced in small rural communities of Eastern Oromia. It is now an appreciated component of farmers’ daily diet and contributes to improving the nutritional outcomes of children and women.

Solen took part in several of the community conversations. When asked today about her experience, she says: “Now we finally can have a balanced diet, one that starts from the vegetables and the ingredients that are available in our gardens. Thanks to the cooking demo, we learned that anchote is not a poor food, but a highly nutritious crop. Today we feed anchote to our children”.

Solen’s day begins very early – even today. She walks towards her garden, reawakened by a new valuable crop: anchote. From this, she will prepare wholesome and nutritious food for the well-being of her children and her community.