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Introduction
The use of orchid tubers to prepare food is a tradition in the northern-eastern Zambia and the
neighbouring parts of Katanga Province of DRC and northern Malawi. CHIKANDA is the name
of the food prepared from the tubers in the Bemba language. In Lala and Bisa, CHINYEKA is
used, in northern Malawi CHINAKA, and in Katanga KIKANDA.
The modern method of preparation is to cook the dried, powdered tubers with pounded peanuts
and baking soda. The mixture turns brown with cooking, and is poured into a pan to set, to a
thick jelly-like constituency. Typically, a woman specialising in the trade prepares a "cake" every
day, and sells slices for the equivalent of about 2 US cents. A single cake is sold for a maximum of
about USD2.50.
The commercialisation of chikanda followed the massive urban migration after independence.
The growth of sprawling shantytowns created a market for cheap foods, providing rural peasants
with opportunities to earn livelihoods by gathering and trading in natural products.
Recently the urban middle classes have "rediscovered" chikanda, and it has become fashionable
for bars and restaurants to serve it as a snack. The fashion has spread throughout the country
into areas in the south and west where there was no previous tradition of eating chikanda. I have
no doubt that it will spread throughout the southern Africa, assisted by the Zambian diaspora in
the region.
Sources
Peat bogs in the northern Zambian plateau were formerly the main source of chikanda, but these
are now largely depleted of the more popular species of Disa. In addition to Disa, species of
Satyrium and Brachycorythis are harvested. Recent surveys have indicated that more and more
species are being harvested as the supply fails to keep pace with the demand. The root-like tubers
of Brachycorythis have poor keeping quality, and are less popular with the traders. Increasingly,
dryland species of these genera, and of Habenaria, are being harvested. Dryland species are more
sparsely distributed than wetland species, and they are more widespread, occurring in drier
zones. It is unlikely that they will prove as resilient to continued harvesting as those inhabiting
the peatbogs. In fact, the current main source of chikanda at Lusaka's Soweto market are the
montane areas of southern Tanzania. So far, the Tanzanians have not taken to eating chikanda,
but they cooperate in the harvesting. No survey has been conducted on the Zambian Copperbelt
markets, but it is said that the main sources are in Angola.
Harvesting
Harvesting traditionally begins in April, when the seed has been dispersed, and the aerial parts of
the plants have dried off. At this time tubers are most abundant and consequently prices are
lowest. Any tubers in excess of immediate needs can be stored. The most common method is
simply to bury them in well-drained soil. Only intact and fully mature tubers can safely be stored
in this way, as any damage will result in rotting. It is claimed that early flowering species, notably
Satyrium trinerve, can be harvested as early as January. This species, and also S.buchananii, are
still abundant. Tubers of the latter are considered inferior in quality, which partly accounts for its
continued abundance, but it may also be inherently more prolific than the more favoured Disa
species. In recent years pressure from traders has encouraged harvesting of tubers from new
sprouts, in October, before the start of the rains. This practice is likely to have a more severe
impact on populations because the early sprouting plants are those which are most likely to
flower and set seed.
Cultivation prospects
It is unlikely that orchids will be cultivated for culinary use of their tubers in the near future. A
single tuber, with an average mass of about 2g, can be produced by a single plant in not less than
three years in favourable years. (In Turkey the period is said to be five years.) The value of the
product would need to increase by something like x20 before cultivation becomes an attractive
proposition. This is not to dismiss such a prospect, and if the demand for orchid products
amongst the affluent sector continues to increase, agriculturalists should look seriously into the
prospects of developing more productive cultivars.
Conservation
Initiatives in the conservation of natural resources in Zambia are fraught with difficulties.
Governments of newly independent countries simply don't have the will or the necessary support
to enforce legislation to protect the resources. Technical expertise and funding could readily be
found if greater commitment from national and local government was forthcoming. In recent
years strong emphasis has been placed by conservationists on the need for the communities to be
empowered to manage the natural resources of the areas they occupy. However, issues such as
the communal vs. private ownership of the resources are far from being resolved. A Washington based agency recently provided funds to develop a project to empower a rural community to
sustainably manage some of its natural resources in order to alleviate poverty. Three products
were chosen: bushmeat, edible caterpillars and chikanda orchids. The project was soon
terminated, but significantly, the chikanda was the first component to be dropped. Its value was
not regarded as having any significant potential for poverty alleviation. The thousands of people,
mostly women, employed in the harvesting, transportation, processing and marketing of
chikanda are trapped in a system founded on what can only be a declining resource. Concern for
the safety of orchids in the southern highlands of Tanzania has prompted the authorities there to
create a new national park on the Kitulo Plateau. That the Tanzanian government could respond
so quickly to this threat is highly commendable.
Substitutes
There are plenty of records of the use of adulterants and substitutes in Asia, sometimes
employing a cornflour base. Almost any valuable commodity is likely to be imitated for the sake
of profit. In the Zambian context it is hardly likely that any substitute will be significantly cheaper
than the real thing. This situation is not likely to continue for much longer, as the orchid
populations decline. It should not be difficult to produce a close substitute at a low price. Species
of tuber which cannot produce a gel are regarded as inferior in Zambia. Yet in Turkey salep which
is not used in the manufacture of ice cream is made into a popular beverage. Is it not possible,
one may speculate, that Turkish Delight was originally made from a gelling salep?; that the local
extinction of these species resulted in the use of substitutes?; and that the modern usage as
additives to ice cream and yogurt was found as a use for species formerly regarded as inferior? If
there is any truth in these speculations the development of the industry in Zambia may well
follow similar lines.
Conservation areas and seed banks
The idea of setting up conservation areas and seed banks is attractive, even imperative, but the
practicalities of doing so are daunting. One day in April this year John Jellis, owner of the private
nature reserve where I have done much of my research, found that the colony of Disa
roeperocharoides in a dambo near his house had been raided, and every plant taken. Fortunately
orchid seed is relatively easy to store, and I expect it will prove not too difficult to keep stocks
indefinitely in suitable genebanks. It is quite possible that the present infatuation with chikanda
will not last more than a decade or two, after which it might be possible to re-introduce the
orchids to their former habitats.
Improved storage
In India and Turkey tubers are blanched, skinned and sun-dried, when they become hard, like
stones. Stored dry in this form they will keep indefinitely. Moreover the dried tubers can be
milled to a flour, which is more convenient for the preparation. Unfortunately Zambian buyers
are extremely suspicious, partly, no doubt, because profit margins are slim, and mistakes cannot
easily be afforded. Traders regularly try to pass off inferior types as the more favoured ones, for
which better prices can be obtained. Tubers which have been harvested prematurely, or those of
inferior species, will produce a product which fails to gel, and for which there is no sale, since it
can be eaten only with a spoon. For these reasons buyers will only buy unwashed tubers, the
colour of the soil indicating whether they were harvested from peat (black) or dryland (red).
Traders even go to the extent of rubbing the tubers with peat to give them the black colour of
wetland species.
Looking into the future
The trade in orchid tubers and its impact on populations appears to be much better known in
Turkey than these aspects of the chikanda trade, and I am convinced we can learn much from
following the history of the salep industry in Turkey. In fact, even western Europe once exploited
“salep” or "saloop", and it should be of interest to all of us concerned with orchid conservation to
support a thorough historical investigation. I suspect that the decline of the use of saloop in
western Europe at the start of the 19th century was at least partly the result of depletion as a
result of overexploitation. There they were used as an energy food with good keeping quality,
especially by travellers. Ships carried stocks to feed their sailors. There will soon come a time
when the effort and time required in harvesting will be more than people are willing to invest.Already over most of Zambia this has happened. However, in their prime habitats orchids are
extremely resilient in the face of persistent harvesting. I believe that few species will be driven to
extinction, but numbers will decline to drastically low levels before commercial harvesting stops,
and the habit dies out. At that point substitutes will become acceptable and the real thing will be
come a rarity.
Conclusions
Probably the most important action to be taken is to begin a programme to monitor the trade in
tubers. This could be achieved with a relative small budget, with officers from agricultural
research reporting to a central coordinator. Guni Mickels Kokwe succeeded in finding out about
source areas in many districts prior to a survey we carried out together in September 2000. She
also employed people to monitor the trade at a few urban markets.
The need for research into the reproductive biology and ecology of the chikanda orchids should
be self-evident. During our surveys we questioned community leaders about traditional
conservation practices. None was found, except that fertile plants should be allowed to shed seed
before being harvested. Indeed people were concerned about the loss of a traditional food source,
and several people expressed the hope that we could advise them on how former abundance
could be restored. In the meantime, gene-bank collections, and in situ seed banks should be
striven for.
AUTHOR: Mike Bingham
Article first published in Orchid Conservation News, Issue 4, May 2004 (link provided below).
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