The greatest difference between my American life and my Uganda life is my interaction with agriculture and by extension, food. In America, agriculture is far removed and massive in scale. I’ve never actually seen a real American farm, only the small petting zoos we visit on school field trips. Before Uganda, I could count the number of times I’d seen a live chicken on one hand.
In Uganda, everyone is a farmer. Instead of front lawns of grass they have yards of banana trees, beans and maize. A child of the age of 2 can identify which plants bear food and which don’t. The difference is not everyone makes money from farming. In fact, the vast majority of the world’s poor are small scale farmers, often operating on lands less than an acre. Thus, understanding agriculture is crucial for understand absolute poverty. For most, farming is how they feed their families (not trips to the supermarkets). The richer in the community own larger plots of land which provides enough excess food to sell, though these plots are often still smaller than 5 acres. Lack of money and fertile enough lands usually means everything here is by default organic.
My diet in Uganda is undeniably the healthiest diet I’ve ever had. No refrigeration means only fresh foods, often spending less than a day off the tree. An excess of locally grown food mean fruits and vegetables are cheaper than processed food, once again eliminating them from my diet. Because farms have not yet grown to the massive scale of those in the US, there is more biodiversity in the food eaten here. Not to mention, it’s refreshing to eat delicious yet imperfect looking fruit: lemons that are misshapen and only spotted yellow. Our kitchen only has 4 spices: oil, salt, sugar and chili powder(rarely used). Sugar is only added to tea, coffee or porridge and fruit and vegetables provide a natural sweetness to the rest. Most everything here has been boiled and not fried. Meat and dairy are expensive compared to vegetables and thus only for the rich making me fit right into the community with my vegetarian diet.
Even though my diet in America was considered healthy (I cooked at home with plenty of fruits and vegetables, rarely eating chips or soda), it does not live up to my Ugandan diet. My body has lately been craving some food that’s processed or fried, although its probably best to let this craving be.
Because I cannot walk more than a minute without seeing food being grown, I’ve decided to identify and document all the agriculture I experience daily.
Side note on Ugandan geography. Uganda has 2 seasons that happen twice a year, dry and wet. December marks the end of the 2nd wet season and the beginning of the 2nd dry season. The weather in my village during wet season is highly regular, hot morning sunshine until noon, then rain for an hour or two, then sunshine again but its cooler now because it rained. It was strange at first to see rain so regular. However, I’ve now learned every village has a unique climate although they are not far. For example, I live in East Uganda 1 hr away from the border with Kenya. My village Mutoto has volcanic soil great for growing coffee, beans, matoke and maize. A 3 hour walk up the local hill to Wanale village provide much rain perfect for Irish potatoes, passion fruit and sugarcane. A 10 minute boda/motorcycle ride takes you to Nakaloke, the village on the other side of Mbale. This area is flat and thus great for carrots. An hour boda to another village Bukedea, takes you to non volcanic land, which is good for growing mangos, millet and sorghum. all these villages could be considered suburbs of Mbale, but differ agriculturally. What this means is that even if mangos don’t grow in my village or in this season, they are probably growing in a neighboring village. So unlike most poor farming nations, Uganda actually has a lot of agricultural diversity and essentially no off seasons. Because fresh food is so readily available, they never preserve anything. This is a simplified account and I will elaborate more on the complexities of agriculture and poverty in another piece.
For now, here are some pictures of food.
Green Banana/Matoke
Local name: Kaamatorre
Taste: like a potato, normally boiled, maybe a plantain?
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Yellow banana/Sweet Banana
Local name: Bogoya (big), Nakazungu (small)
Taste: I think these are the bananas we have in America.
The tree: All the banana like foods grow on a similar looking tree and honestly, I cant tell them apart.
When eaten looks like:
There are actually two and they each have a different name but I’m not sure which is which.
Avocado
Local name: Feekedo
Taste: Same as avocados in America except much bigger.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Jackfruit
Local name: Feene
Taste: Sweet but the inside is sticky! Someone else thought it tasted like soft candy, like a gummy bear.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Mango
Local name: Kumuyembe
Taste: Commonly eaten unripe (when green) with salt. These taste more acidic and tangy. The red, ripe ones taste like what we are used to.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Pawpaw/Papaya
Local name: Lipapali
Taste: Like an unsweetened cantaloupe
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Coffee
Local name: Imwanyi
Taste: Not as strong or bitter as the coffee in the US. More like tea. The raw berry is sweet.
The tree:
When processed looks like:
When eaten looks like:
Yams
Local name: chukuyu, bitolotolo
Taste: They taste like potatoes to me, but apparently there are like many different types of yams (like a sour one).
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Sweet Potato
Local name: Kamapondi
Taste: I think what we call yams and sweet potatoes in the US are these. They taste sweet (the same as in the US), but the color is white, not orange.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Irish Potato
Local name: Bilaazi
Taste: Same as in the US.
The tree:
Grows in the village up on the hill. Has a very pretty purple flower.
When eaten looks like:
Guavas
Local name: Kamapera
Taste: It is not sweet and not chewy. It is crunchy here. It tastes different than the guavas I’ve had in the USA, but not sure how to desecribe the taste.
The tree:
There are no fruit on this tree because it is not the season.
When eaten looks like:
I’m not sure this guava was ripe. It was really tough.
Sugarcane
Local name: Kumiyiba
Taste: Like sweet bamboo. Same as any other sugarcane I’ve ever had.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Tomato
Local name: Nyanya
Taste: Same as in the US.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Pumpkin
Local name: Kamawondo
Taste: Have not eaten it yet as it is not yet the season. Been told it is not as sweet as those in the US. There are a lot of varieties here that all taste different. Some where you can eat the skin, some where you dont. Some that grow on the mountain are sweeter.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Cassava
Local name: Muwoko
Taste: Like a more starchy potato.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Fried cassava
Cassava pancakes (Cabalagala)
Cabbage
Local name: Cabbage
Taste: The same as in the US.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Rice
Local name: Kumuchele
Taste: Same as basmati rice. Although I’ve learned there are 2 types of rice grown in Uganda: Kaiso and Super. Kaiso is a fat, medium grain rice and Super is a fat, long grain rice and more aromatic (and more expensive) than Kaiso. I think Kaiso is basmati only fatter.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this village.
When eaten looks like: This is super rice.
Corn/Maize
Note- Posho is flour
Local name: Kasoli
Taste: Same as in the US, but somehow also less sweet.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Posho
Porridge — made from maize and the staple breakfast here.
Onion
Local name: Shitungulu
Taste: Like the red onions in the US, but much smaller in size.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Green pepper
Local name: Pipili
Taste: Same as green bell peppers in the states. Not spicy.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
Red Pepper
Local name: Pilipili
Taste: Have not eaten it yet because I dont do well with spice and I’m told its spicy.
The Tree:
Passion fruit
Local name: Butanda
Taste: I have no idea how to explain the taste. The closest thing would be a mango and guava, but more soft? Its sour as well. I really like them.
The tree: Grows on a vine. The planys grows in the village up on the hill.
When eaten looks like:
Beans
Local name: Nabutama
Taste: Like red beans in the US.
The tree:
How they dry them:
When eaten looks like:
Side note-
Magira is another dish of beans that cooks faster. It is the broken beans / half sized beans that were broken in the process and can’t be sold with the regular full beans.
Cow peas
Local name: Cow peas
Taste: I think these are green peas.
The tree: They grow in the village on the hill.
When eaten looks like:
Soya beans
Local name: Soya
Taste: Have not eaten it.
The tree:
When eaten looks like: Have not eaten it.
Carrots
Local name: Carrots
Taste: Same as in the US, but smaller and more irregular shapes.
The tree: Grows in the village up on the hill.
When eaten looks like:
Greens -> Dodo(aka — Amaranth)/ Pigeon Plant/ Open Leaf Cabbage (aka -Kale), Spinach
Local name(in order): Namutoto, Lihole, Sukuma, Nakati
Taste: Like a generic mix of greens. pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves and other leaves generally fall into this category. Greens in general are translated to spinach, maybe because the only green we have in the West is spinach?
The tree:
This picture is of dodo.
This is the picture of pigeon plant.
This is a picture of Sukuma.
When eaten looks like:
Millet
Local name: Bulo
Taste: The millet bread tasted like mochi. Sticky and like flour. This is what they use to make local alcohol, called Malwra.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this area.
How they process millet:
When eaten looks like:
This is millet flour.
This is millet bread.
Garlic
Local name: Tungulusim
Taste: Same as in the US but smaller.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this area.
When eaten looks like:
Red Eggplant (small)
Local name: Katulukuma
Taste:
The tree:
Green Eggplant (small)
Local name: Sisaki
Taste: Overwhelmingly bitter but with the same texture as eggplant.
When eaten looks like:
Eggplant(big)
Local name: Bilinganya
Taste: Exactly like in the US.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this village.
When eaten looks like:
Orange
Local name: Kumuchungwa
Taste: Not as sweet as the oranges in the US. Also, the oranges here are yellow like lemons and the lemons are green.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this area, but here is one tree that has no fruit.
When eaten looks like:
Lemon
Local name: Kumulumawo
Taste: Looks like a lime but definitely tastes like a lemon.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this village.
When eaten looks like:
Peanut/G-nut
Local name: Mayito
Taste: These are peanuts! Gnut paste is peanut butter without the sugar.
The tree:
When eaten looks like:
With shell
Without shell
Bag of gnut paste.
Watermelon
Local name: Watermelon
Taste: Like watermelon in the US, but a lot easier to cut and with more seeds.
The tree: Doesn’t grow in this village.
When eaten looks like:
Starfruit
Have not eaten it, but I saw it in the market.
Local name: Musitaferi
Pineapple
Local name: anais
Taste: Have not eaten it yet.
The tree:
Honorable mention:
Fresh cow milk
And matoke with gnut paste, one of my new favorite dishes.
Rice with tomato, onion and potato.
Omelette from local eggs
Mandaz, the local version of a donut
