No food can put an end to hunger. But in the world, there are many different fruits and vegetables which contribute to improve the nutrition and food, while increasing revenues and improve their livelihoods.
Skip to the next paragraphToday, feed the world introduced a new series featuring four vegetable - and fruit as a vegetable - that you've probably never heard of that help alleviate hunger and poverty:
1. Guar gum: as other legumes, guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) roots have nitrogen fixation bacteria, that improve the quality of the soil and increase the performance of subsequent crops. Organic fertilizer, guar seed is a valuable source of plant protein for humans and livestock. The seeds contain a bulking agent that can be used to strengthen the paper, as well as to improve the texture of food such as ice cream and vinaigrette.
Best way to eat: Guar gum can be cooked in water until the bid and sautéed with mustard oil and other seasonings, topped with cilantro and served hot on a tasty or side.
Guar gum in Action: The Organization practical Action is encouraging farmers in the Zambezi Valley semi-arid in the North of the Zimbabwe to cultivate guar gum to improve the nutrition and livelihoods. The project provided small farmers with some of the inputs that they need to grow the crop, as well as help develop a system of market to reap the fruits of the harvest.
2 Dogon shallots: dogon shallots is located in the Dogon, the land of the escarpment of Bandiagarà between Mopti and Timbuktu in Mali. Shallot (Allium cepa var. aggregatum), a relative of the onion, have long been appreciated for their sweet unique and rich flavor, and is a discontinuous ingredient in many popular dishes. Nutritional and tasty this vegetable is the bulb that grows underground and produces leaves, flowers and fruits above the ground.
Best way to eat: Somè Dogon is a condiment commonly used in cooking Dogon. It includes the shallot and other local ingredients such as gangadjou, oroupounnà and pourkamà. Leaves, flowers and fruits of each plant are included in a sauce that is used to flavour most meals.
Shallot Dogon in Action: In 2009 comprehensive Initiatives USAID/Mali economic growth program (IICEM) with funds from the global food security response (GFSR) sent the women of the village for a Conference in Burkina Faso to share their experience and their shallots. The Conference enjoyed the shallots so that women won a first prize of $1 700 square and a woman receives the order of 25 tonnes of its delicious shallots.