Covid-19 leads to a surge in herb production in Malawi
As Covid-19 continues haunting people globally, efforts to find its cure have been intensified. People have suddenly embraced herbs as part of their daily diet, with the aim of boosting their immunity to the scary disease.
In Malawi, partaking of a herbal tea made of lemon, garlic, honey, and ginger, is suddenly becoming a way of life for most people. Articles and videos extolling the benefits of this concoction have made the rounds on social media, with claims that the so-called immune booster protects people from catching the virus.
The popularity of these herbal remedies, however, has seen a steady rise in the price of the ingredients used, especially that of garlic. Garlic cloves are currently fetching as much as MK14, 500.00 (approximately USD20) a kilo in larger supermarkets like ShopRite.
Herb farming: A new window of opportunity for farmers
With the rise in market demand, many farmers in Malawi are moving into herb production, producing high volumes ginger, turmeric, parsley, and celery, among others.
The one exception is garlic, which, despite its use in almost all herbal concoctions, is still in short supply locally. Most of the garlic being sold in the country, especially in the large supermarket chains, is imported from South Africa.
According to Chikondi Chikoya, a Lilongwe City based farmer, most farmers in Malawi do not pursue garlic farming because of the period it takes to mature.
“Even though it is a good and highly marketable herb, not a lot of farmers are into it because of the period it takes for it to fully mature. Garlic takes about nine months to fully mature and in those nine months, a farmer can take two or three turns to grow a variety of other vegetables and herbs,” she explains.
Although the government of Malawi, through the 2010 National Agricultural Policy, encourages production of indigenous vegetables and spices such as ginger, turmeric and garlic, a lot still needs to be done to boost production levels. The sudden popularity of herbs offers an opportunity for structured support to farmers to boost their productivity, especially for garlic where demand continues to outstrip supply.
Are herbs a Covid-19 solution?
The broad belief that herbs are loaded with powerful healing properties is not confined to Malawi. Other countries are also stepping up efforts to explore whether a possible herbal cure for the novel coronavirus.
Recently, Madagascar announced an invention of herbal tea which is said to be a powerful remedy for the virus.Similarly, Kenya through the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) is reportedly exploring herbal Covid-19 cure.
However, the World Health Organization has not yet approved the herbal supplements to be a treatment for the virus.
Nevertheless, the growing consumption of herbs is not only good for overall health, but can help boost the agricultural sector as well.
Economies of countries like Malawi that relies on agriculture as the backbone of its economy can also grow, if farmers are well empowered to grow and produce more.
Written by Nellie Kanyemba Kapatuka
This article is part of Covid-19 Food/Future, an initiative under TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability’s SEWOH Lab project (https://www.tmg-thinktank.com/sewoh-lab). It aims at providing a unique and direct insight into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on national and local food systems. Also follow @CovidFoodFuture, our Video Diaries From Nairobi, and @TMG_think on Twitter. Funding for this initiative is provided by BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
