Kakwa Farming

The Kakwa have always recognized the importance of food production. In 1877, for example, Junker and his slaving Arabs, witnessed and acknowledged the degree of prosperity of the Kakwa people as well as the diversity of the crops grown. He writes: "In the course of the journey [for slave raids] one frequently crosses dura [sorghum] fields, too wide to see across ... Broad cornfields, their stocks, amongst which the natives hid themselves, growing above a man's height, smaller patches sown with lupins, various kinds of beans, gourds, sweet potatoes’.

Kama (masculine) is the first Kakwa harvest of any crop. Some of the contents of these harvests were earmarked for collection as miri where they were eventually redistributed by the chief. Others were used for sacrificial purposes so as to bless the whole Kakwa society before the harvest was declared fit for human consumption.

Kakwa major Food Crops

gaya (masculine) or Sorghum species are various species of sorghum grown by the Kakwa including the popular species known as gaya. This brown-seeded plant grows fairly easily in marginal lands and in different climates. It also coppices quite easily and so, can be harvested twice or thrice a year. More importantly, it intercrops well with millet, cassava and groundnuts. Its main use is in the making of ’dilo (bread) and kape (yeast).

kima (masculine) or Sorghum species grows to considerable heights. It is mainly grown on marginal lands in monoculture. Its white seeds are difficult to grind but it is still used in making kpete (white beer already described), ’dilo (bread) and kape (yeast). In its fresh state, the seeds can be mixed with simsim and eaten as a rare and delicious and nutritious snack called akarapi.

ijigo (masculine) or Sorghum species, has red seeds and resists being consumed by birds. The Kakwa natives like it so much because it is also thought to combat diarrhoea. It forms an excellent mixture with cassava flour to make a hard ’dilo. Because it is extremely hard to grind, ijigo forms an deal test for a bride-to-be.

leseri (masculine) or Zea maize, also known as ngbaya, is commonly called corn in North America and mealies in South Africa. Kakwa have been producing it in enormous quantities since the time of the Egyptian administration in the region. Indeed, most of the Egyptian zeribas were situated in corn fields which grew on the gentle slopes of the Kakwa hills. On the negative side, any natives perceived to be unfriendly, had their widespread fields of food crops ruthlessly plundered and their huts set ablaze by the Arabs. Maize is used in making bread, alcohol and white beer. The fresh cobs of the plant are popularly roasted or boiled and eaten as a snack. After drying, its fruits can also be roasted; these dry, hard and roasted corn seeds are referred to as berenge. Yes, during my primary schooling days, the berenge sometimes constituted my only meal of the day. The dried maize fruits can also be boiled in salt and eaten as a snack. The main drawback of maize is that it cannot be ground by the traditional technical means ordinarily existing in most Kakwa families except by a modern grinding machine where it is turned into flour for making bread.

kinyo (masculine) or Eleusine coracona or millet, known locally as kinyo or leyo, has long been stereotyped "the poor man's bread" because it is "simple and primitive." For Kakwa society, however, the crop has long been the main means of subsistence. When it ripens, the crop turns reddish brown and its finger-like fruits are reaped by the women. Millet is especially excellent for making kape (yeast).

konyu (masculine) or Oleoginous vegetabes is known for its vast production of wele-na-konyu (or simsim or sesame oil) but much of it is lost during the extractive process. Even then, the little oil is obtained gradually becomes rancid; that is, it thickens on standing and acquires a pungent smell. Simsim oil is usually used for smearing children and in the dressing of small cuts on the human skin. Kakwa call the paste obtained out of the roasting and the grinding of the dried simsim seeds, kemo-na-konyu. Most of the major Kakwa dishes are cooked with it. The dry simsim seeds are also ground or pounded to produce a popular local brew called konyumuro. Simsim is always grown in intercropping with other crops between June and August. Harvesting, which is a rather tedious job, is done in December just before the fruits desiccate. The practice is accomplished by carefully pulling each stem off the ground, shaking off the soil from the fibrous roots, and then placing it in bundles when the soil-covered roots are cut away in order not contaminate the seeds. Next, the bundles are heaped together and then covered with leaves or with their own severed stems after which they are conveyed to specifically designed structures. Here, they are artistically assembled with their heads pointing upwards, tied up and left to dry in the sun.

pulu (masculine) or Arachis hypogea, the groundnut plant is also known by the Kakwa as soromondi (masculine). The crop is normally grown around April or May so that by July or August, it is ready for harvesting. Harvesting occurs by very carefully uprooting the whole plant off the soil with their seed pod intact and then leaving them to dry in the sun. After a few days the seeds sound noisily in their pods when shaken. Later, they are picked and stored with their shells either in ayiyi, or in gugu (masculine), or in kotoro (feminine). Groundnut seeds are used as peanut paste, they may be eaten raw, roasted (shelled or unshelled) or boiled with their shells intact to provide a snack. Groundnut oil, referred to as wele-na-pulu, can also be extracted from the seeds when roasted and ground. Its pale, clear oil keeps well on standing but it is difficult to extract and has a less palatable taste. It is worth knowing that the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), has blamed groundnuts for afflatoxicosis, a fatal fungal disease that affects human spleen and liver in many groundnut growing regions of Africa.

kinu (masculine) or (Hyptis spicigera), was widely grown in the past but it is now confined to only a few homes. Its tiny grey seeds are hard and difficult to grind, and as was commonly the case with the kima, the ability to grind kinu was one of the principal tests for measuring the worthiness of a potential. It can potentially provide oil of good quality even though none of this property is ever emphasized. However, its kemo (feminine) (paste) is used in cooking and in porridge-making.

teyiko (masculine) or peas are humankind's oldest cultivated food crops. Each leaf of a pea bears three pairs of leaflets and ends in a slender tendril. Five to nine seeds are enclosed in a pod about 3 inches or 7.5 cm long. Today, there are two general categories of peas grown worldwide as an important source of plant proteins:

burusu (masculine) or Cajunus cajan, is also commonly called Tree peas. Most peas are annual leafy legumes cultivated for their smooth or wrinkled, round edible seeds which are borne on dehiscent pods. The ripe and dry pods of the tree pea species known as burusu are first carefully broken, with care being taken not to let them desiccate before the breaking moments. These stems are then tied and placed on Apa to dry in the sun after which the pods are beaten off, cleaned, sorted and stored. The tiny dry stems provide a special kind of firewood known as ki’bili and the resulting ashes provide a special local catalytic distilate known as kombo which is used for cooking. The tree peas are used in a variety of servings

gbanda (masculine) or Manihot species, is also commonly known as cassava, which is a perennial plant with inconspicuous flowers. Its seeds exhibit characteristic three-seeded capsules that dry up and explode noisily in the hot sun to scatter them. The roots of the plant are enlarged by the deposition of starch and constitutes the principal source of food for the plant. The origins of cassava into the Kakwa territories has remained a mystery. During the early part of this century, cassava did not apparently exist among the Kakwa people. The crop may have been brought into the area via the Congo from South America by the Portuguese, and later also by the Belgians.

An important impetus in the spread of cassava and maku (sweet potatoes) in the West Nile in the 1930s was when a series of drought years gave way to famine conditions. At the same time, the food situation was gravely affected by locust invasions. It is evident that some of the early years of the 1920s had been years of poor harvest in certain places, so a policy of building up enormous miri or "communal reserves" of millet, simsim and other cereals had been put into effect. Many famine reserve stocks were still being maintained on a communal basis until the 1950s. Between 1929 and 1930 fears of another invasion by locusts, especially in the Lugbara area, resulted in the people being forced "to plant muhogo and sweet potatoes as being less liable than [wimbi] bulo to locusts; other calamities included hailstones. These conditions thus set off a massive widespread campaign for the cultivation of more cassava.

Another major factor in contributing to cassava's rapid spread throughout the region, was the introduction of poll tax into West Nile in 1917. This forced thousands of the male population to migrate to the Lake Victoria Region in search of labouring jobs which paid cash for paying the tax. This sudden absence of the able-bodied male workers propelled the women and the aged males left behind to turn to cassava. Since then, the plant has overtaken all the grains as the staple diet in making the universal ’dilo (or bread) throughout the Kakwa populations. However, the Kakwa of The Congo are the leading eaters of cassava among the entire Kakwa people and they do so without mixing its flour with that of the grains. On the other hand, those of Uganda always tend to add either maize (corn) flour or sorghum flour or millet flour to it before turning it into bread.

Kakwa Men’s Farm Implements

kole (feminine), the hoe, is every Kakwa’s "mother" and "father" because of what it can do to alleviate hunger in the land. The typical Kakwa hoe consists of a wooden handle known as luba which is actually a bent shaft sometimes also referred to as goma. The Kakwa use their hoe with a picking action in order to cultivate a given piece of ground. One digs and pulls the dug-out heap of soil towards him or her leaving a whole field of flattened uprooted and turned soil. This Kakwa digging tactic sharply contrasts with the pushing action carried out by the Bari, Ma’di, Laŋo, Acholi or Teso people. While the luba is made out of certain special local tree species, the actual hoe blade was originally manufactured by special Kakwa blacksmiths and then bartered for other commodities. A person who manufactures such metallic commodities is termed kanito-ni or tumu-ni, and the general skill of being a blacksmith is known as bodo. The famous Nyaŋiliya hoe experts, for instance, were known as far as Bunyoro (near Lake Albert) for the excellent quality of their farm implements.

tulu (masculine) or the axe is also an important farm implement around the Kakwa home. It is really a micro hoe in almost all respects except its cutting edge and action, and in the design of tits wooden handle. Its main use is, of course, in felling trees and in cutting shrubs. In the past, many axes were also locally manufactured but today, almost all are imported.

perida (masculine) (or peri for short) is the second most popular implement after the hoe. It is conveniently used in the removal of the grass during the preparation of the gbondo. A typical perida is equipped with a long and light wooden handle on one end of which a metallic blade is fitted. To avoid cracking the wooden handle, the owner fits it with the skin from the ankle of a goat or sheep or the tail hide section of a cow.

ngole (masculine) is equivalent to perida but its blade is curved (like a sickle) and only one arm may be used to swing it. It may also be locally manufactured but in most cases, it comes out of an old biringo (masculine) (the sickle) which has lost much of its teeth. This is an example of recycling materials.

koyoŋa (masculine) is an implement that looks like some kind of axe, and it is used primarily for debarking a tree or a shrub stem. It is also used in shaping such wooden objects as poles and beams for building and pegs. It is, therefore, a handy implement to own by family, especially when building considerations are at stake.

Kakwa Women’s Implements

lungu’di (masculine) is a V-shaped locally-made wooden implement that Kakwa women use to break up big soil particles during tayi-na-ka into smaller forms. It is also used in weeding special crops

Kakwa Food Storage Facilities

The Kakwa term for seeds, grains, fruits, shells, and any vegetative parts of plants specifically selected for the next planting season as nyomo (singular, nyumuti). In most cases, each of these selections is stored separately, and in different forms after the harvest. For instance, simsim is always stored in the seed form while millet and sorghum are stored together with their heads (spikels) intact. Maize is mainly stored in its fruit form but most commonly in cobs with their sheaths intact. Peanuts are stored in a non-shelled form, and tuberous plants are stored in peeled and in its dried form as described earlier. The following are some of the most common Kakwa food storage facilities that are usually found in Kakwa homesteads.

The hollow and dried fruit of kuluku (masculine) or gourd (Cucumis tinnena), comes in various sizes and shapes. This creeping plant forms part of the assortment of crops normally grown in the agobu (feminine) or backyard gardens. A Kakwa gourd is ideal for storing small seeds, as well as, liquids (milk, beer, honey, water, oil and medicines). To avoid fungal or other pest infestations, a small quantity of ordinary household ashes is added to the seeds before storing them. These lopototo (feminine) or ashes, are obviously enriched with different organic natural pesticides. The gourd and its contents is normally is stored away in a safe place somewhere indoors, and usually in the kitchen.

Songbo

The Kakwa refer to a pot as songbo (plural, masculine songbo-lo). An old pot is also an ideal container for storing seeds. A sprinkle of the pesticidal ashes is also added to protect the seeds against real or potential invasion by pests.

Uses of Tree Branches

Harvested maize cobs may be hung to dry on a forked tree branch with their sheaths partly removed. However, the most common way is to hang the cobs (either with their sheaths intact or completely removed) in a corner of the kitchen where the smoke from the daily cooking blackens them up. This sooty part of the kitchen, known as lote, acts as an organic or natural pesticide. To the non-peasant, these cobs may look dead and unsightly, but Kakwa farmers know that such cobs are always viable. Indeed, soon after being planted, these fruits of maize germinate to near perfect.

Kotoro, also known as o-u, is the most ideal facility for storing tiny seeds such as konyu (simsim), kinu, teyiko or irisu (beans), burusu (peas) and nuts. To preserve these seeds, organic ashes are always mixed along with the seeds or fruits. The mechanism of turning out such an elaborate structure is one of the most important pieces of invention Kakwa have ever devised. Here is how the typical kotoro is made:

Gugu (the granary) is perhaps the single most important and universal store for foods, guns, arrow, bows, money, drums, rings and bracelets that the Kakwa have created and used from time immemorial. In a sense then, gugu is also a "bank" because any valuables are secretly and securely kept in it. Agriculturally, the number, size, distribution and the quality of granaries in a homestead or compound, is the first indicator of how well fed and hardworking that home is. The number of granaries is also an indicator of how many wives a man possesses because each wife usually owns at least one granary. Many kinds of seeds, cereals or nuts may be stored in a separate granary.

Apa or palapala is another unique invention of the Kakwa people. It is normally used for the temporary holding of newly harvested tree peas and sorghum. Like the gugu, the apa also stands on four, six, eight or even ten tall forked wooden pillars known as jiki’diya which may reach three metres tall. These pillars come from such well-known hard wood species as likuliku, kelengbere, kire, lusuri etc, which are durable and resistant to pests. In addition, the fig tree, specifically of the species laru, is usually planted along with the pillars. Its adventitious roots hold fast on the soil surface thus giving the apa a longer life than otherwise. A fig tree readily regenerates giving apa several years of survival, especially in the dry season when water is scarce, without the need to make one every cropping season. The pillars of the apa are stuck in the soil in the same way as for a house by first digging holes and then aligning them to a desired height. Then some poles are arranged horizontally over the forks forming a rectangular structure. To make it relatively leakproof, a dense mat of leafy sorghum stems is laid over the poles before placing the bundles of sorghum or tree peas to dry. A nicely-made apa also provides also fulfils the following functions:

It is particularly pleasing to see family members peacefully cuddle together under the apa, and around the pudo or evening camp fire, especially during the blowing dry and cold wind, known as kiriyongole (masculine), already earlier covered.

Ayiyi a storage device ideal for storing groundnuts. It has a single tall and smooth pole at the centre, and is purposely placed there to deny access to rodents (especially rats or mice) or to some naughty children who might attempt to reach the seeds or grains stored in the hat-like structure.

Kakwa Traditional Food Containers

Apart from the sete, nyakale, su’de, rege, gupa, etc., are other very important traditional food containers. These containers are particularly suitable for conveying cassava (both the tubers and the dried granules), millet (with their heads intact), sorghum (with their heads intact), etc.

Pundi is the wooden mortar used to pound cassava granules, as well as millet, sorghum, pondu (cassava leaves), pulu (groundnuts), kawa (coffee beans), kumuro (shear butter seeds), and so on. In the case of cassava granules, the pounding exercise eliminates the need to grind these granules using the kijo (feminine) and its karito (feminine).

Kutu is a specially-designed structure that is used by women to sieve and refine kpete.

Traditional Clay Vessels

Most of the Kakwa traditional cooking utensils are made out of lipo (feminine) (clay). Such clay products are collectively known as songbolo (singular, masculine songbo) and sometimes, randa. These utensils are found in every household in addition to the numerous chemically riddled imported plastic and metallic containers. The clay material is readily available throughout the Kakwa land and there is no shortage of experts to mould it up into products of various sizes, shapes, weights, volumes, functions and decorations. The art of pottery, termed gbiya-na-songbo, starts with the careful selection of the proper clay. This clay is then softened by pounding it up with a stick or some kind of hammer or rock, either on the ground, on a skin or on a grinding stone. This softened clay is then mixed with some powdered sandstone or broken potsherd. This "tampers" the stodgy mass of the utensil allowing it to fire without cracking. The next process is to roll the clay into long thin strips and to coil it into the shape required. This activity is done on a shallow bowl set on a fibre ring which can be swung around in a hollow in the ground as the potter works. Sometimes, an old inverted pot may be used as a mould. The completed pot is decorated, dried in the sun and burnt to an appropriate temperature and duration. It is finally smeared with the crushed bark of the special plant known as dini. This tree has whose unique chemical properties that adds hardness, beauty, colour, and durability to the final product.

The following are the major Kakwa clay products as normally found in a typical household:

’Dere is the largest, heaviest and tallest clay product of all. It is ideally used for brewing large quantities of white beer such as occurs during uya (or hoeing party), gbadu (feasts), funeral rites or wedding ceremonies etc. Because of its obvious massive size and other physical qualities, ’dere is usually kept in a stationary position in a convenient and secure spot in the kitchen.

Sape (masculine) is also a very large clay utensil used as part of the brewing containers. It is exclusively employed in the squeezing, sieving and refining of kpete (white beer). The two processes of squeezing and sieving the angaraka (feminine) dregs into a drinkable form, is known as liya na yawa.

Ta’do (feminine) is usually conical or basin-like in shape and it lies next to the ’dere in size. Its main use is in making ’dilo (bread) for large families. It is also used during such special occasions as uya (feminine), funeral rituals and weddings. Ta’do can also be used for boiling water, maize, cassava and various greens and spinach.

Ti’bijo (masculine), the water-pot, is sometimes also known as luku’do (masculine). It is usually colourfully-decorated and because of its porosity and thorough burning, keeps water fresh, cold and palatable. It is small, light and relatively movable meaning that women must carefully place it on their heads, track to the nearest well, fill it up with water, balance it with the water on their heads. She then safely brings it home without breaking the pot or spilling its contents. Again, a Kakwa real or potential bride is tested in her ability to balance a water-pot without breaking it otherwise she will be regarded as being careless and, therefore, unfit for a wife!

Ta’buta (feminine) is the utensil that has solely been used for boiling sauces. It comes in various sizes and serves as a plate, a bowl or even a basin.

A’ba’baŋa (feminine) is special pot used for cooking special dishes on special occasions such as during feasts, weddings and funeral rites.

Kakwa Traditional Drinking Vessels

Modern civilization has brought disaster to the Kakwa people through the introduction of metallic and plastic containers some of which were initially intended to hold deadly substances. However, the Kakwa do have their own traditional utensils mainly made out of the popular gourd.

pode (feminine), the largest gourd, finds major use in storing le (milk), kpete (white beer made from grains), 'bolo (porridge), siwu (honey), wele or yele (oil).

dikeri (feminine) is made out of the smaller fruits of the gourd plant and serves as a cup, and is used to draw water into the ti’bijo from the well or out of the pot for drinking purposes. Milk is stored in a similar container known as pode (feminine), and it is drawn using dikeri in the same way as for drawing kpete.

suluku (feminine) is normally used to serve white beer for customers to taste it.

Traditional Servings of Vegetable Origin

Most famous Kakwa traditional servings which are almost always accompanied by the ’dilo (feminine) just described. For simplicity, I have divided these servings into those of plant origin and those of animal origin: Spinach is a generic African term used for different edible green leaves of plants indigenous to the various countries of Africa. It is a reference to the leaves of local root vegetables and are quite different from what Western cooks know as spinach or silver beet. Pondu (feminine) or cassava leaves, also forms another important category of spinach. Indeed, spinach is used in many recipes throughout Africa and whenever African cooking has spread.

Ŋete (Leaves of the Black eyed peas or Vigna catjang) is the commonest species of spinach obtained from planting the seeds of the Black eyed plant, and these seeds are known as lapatu (masculine) in Kakwa. The seeds for the next planting season are usually obtained when the leaves have matured and dried. It can be grown almost everywhere, including backyards, river valleys (especially in the "dry" season), in areas once inhabited by cattle, and can also be grown in areas where a grass-thatched house with muddied walls once stood.

Dodo (Amaranthus) is a ind of spinach in Africa, not normally grown like black eyed peas, but it mostly germinates from its seeds, on its own. As such, it is sometimes regarded as a "weed". But, African women are always keen on distinguishing the inedible weeds from the edible ones. Amaranthus is one of the edible ones, and it belongs to the Family, Amaranthaceae. In East and Central Africa, it is commonly known by the name gbe’degbe’de, lamura or dodo.

Gugure (feminine) is a solution of the paste of groundnuts or simsim usually eaten with ’dilo.

Kayi-kayi (feminine) comes out of the dried, roasted, ground and threshed burusu (tree peas), or laputu (pea seeds). These are then boiled to a desired softness when kemo (either simsim paste or groundnut paste) is added to it. Kayi-kayi is recognizable by its rather course texture and consistency and it is always eaten with ’dilo.

Luparate (feminine) is made out of fresh dried beans whose testae have been removed by filtering them out after a slight boiling of the seeds. Tree peas, whether dry or fresh, can also make luparate but this is only on very rare occasions. Essentially the same ingredients used in making kayi-kayi are also used in making luparate. The two differ only in the final products: luparate is of a watery texture which attains its softness through by constant stirring of the cooked beans. The stirring is done using a special nearly 30 cm long and nearly 5 mm in diameter structure. This + shaped wooden structure known as lupere (or lupare). This dish is normally eaten with ’dilo.

Jungba (feminine), is a dry season sauce is made out of the dried seeds of the pigeon peas traditionally referred to as burusu (Cajanus cajan). The pigeon peas seeds are usually cooked for hours in a slowly burning fire in the largest clay container ta’do (as described above). These peas are cooked with their coats intact after which simsim paste is finally added. Jungba may be served with ’dilo or be eaten alone. Since tree peas usually ripen in the dry season, the best time to enjoy this delicacy is during the meli (feminine) (the dry season).

’Bata-’bata (feminine) (which literally means "upside down-upside down"), Kakwa women roast and grind the dried pigeon peas locally known as burusu or Cajanus cajan, and beans. These are then cooked along with some spinach or mondrolina (feminine) (greens) as mentioned earlier. Kombo (feminine) is always added to provide taste to the breakdown of the greens but no groundnut or simsim paste is added to it.

Njayi-njayi (feminine) is a "modern" dish because it requires the sauting of fresh beans or peas in oil, onions and curry which is not what traditionally happens. Cabbages and onions are sometimes added to the dish for "better" taste, "better" smell" and "better" nutrition.

Arala (feminine) is a paste-free and delicious sauce of the dry season prepared from the fresh seeds of burusu or the pigeon peas. A dish of arala is always mixed with any one of the different mondroli-na and spinach and is eaten with ’dilo.

Korokoso (feminine) is also called asuka or losirikpa (feminine) and is a special dish obtainable from the leaves of certain creeping peas species known as lugbu.

Pondu (feminine) is an important and delicious dish prepared from the protein rich cassava leases.

In its simplest description, zambala (plural, feminine zamabala-zi) refers to any sauce obtained from cooking only the fresh leaves of the various greens or spinach known collectively as mondrolina (feminine). As expected, most individuals, especially those who consider themselves "wealthy" or "educated", emotionally and naively consider zambala to be of a rather "inferior" quality. This is despite widely acclaimed richness of greens in rare and essential nutrients and vitamins, such as iron, phosphorus, copper, etc.

The name lamura (feminine) is given to any kind of spinach that has been mixed with groundnut paste of simsim paste. The most popular types of spinach used for making the best lamura are kebido (pumpkin leaves along with its flowers known as undulupu), gbe’degbe’de (feminine), rele (feminine) (wild herb), tegeri (feminine) etc.