Research Article
Decline of Indigenous Crop Diversity in Colonial and Postcolonial Rwanda
Table 2
Checklist of precolonial food crops in Rwanda, residence time, and level of threat status**.
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| Note: [9] Five of the seven species listed above as native food crops in precolonial Rwanda were also established sacred taxa as they were used in almost all rituals that involved food preparation such as at bereavement meals “kurya imboga z’igicaniro.” during the “kubandwa” cult or at “ubunnyano” feast, the equivalent of “kwita izina.” Among these were the popular bitter vegetables Gynandropsis gynadra and Lagenaria siceraria [the highly cherished sweet cultivar of bottle gourd came in afterwards but is now extremely rare]. They also include their counterpart source of energy Eleusine corocana and Sorghum bicolor (especially the white grain cultivar or “nyiragikori.” in the local language) that were used in the form of bread, porridge, or beer. In addition, seeds of sorghum were munched uncooked at daybreak before talking to anybody to ensure good luck or, at least less troublesome day. They also include one legume species Cajanus cajan, mainly used in preparation of love potions, either at weddings or at other romantic occasions. Alone or along with nonedible Ricinus communis “ikibonobono,” Momordica foetida “umwishywa,” Cassia didymobotrya “umucyuro,” Ficus thonningii “umutabataba,” Erythrina abyssinica “umurinzi,” Phragmites mauritianus “umuseke,” Entada abyssinica “umusange,” its branches were used to sprinkle people with the holy liquid, a mixture of water and white clay “ingwa.” In particular, Lagenaria siceraria was highly valued for several utensils that were made out of its mature fruits: calabash “uruho,” funnels “umubirikira” and “umukondo,” gourd “agacuma,” milk jars “imirere,” and churn “igisabo.” The gourd was also used to make the speaker of the traditional music instrument “igobore” and its seeds were famous in divination practices. The dried reeds and straws of banana, millet, and sorghum plants were used to make thatched roofs, widespread in the period that followed semiunderground settlement or “-sakazataka” architecture and before the introduction of tile and iron roofing by the Europeans [16]. The list includes 7 native species, 5 archaeo-immigrants (present at least since 1000 BC) mainly from Asia, and 10 neo-immigrants (arrived some time after 1500 BC) mainly originating from Tropical America. Although not to the point of being sacred, due to their longer period of usage compared to neo-immigrants, the above archaeo-immigrant plant species were much embedded in the Rwandan culture at the arrival of Europeans. For example, a unique banana wine “inkangaza” had been developed and was used at special gatherings and in postcolonial kubandwa cult. In contrast, neo-introduced species such as Phaseolus vulgaris, Zea mays, Pisum sativum, Ipomoea batatas, though they became the cornerstone of diet in precolonial Rwanda, were not involved in any ritual. For example, it was prohibited to eat beans at kubandwa cult [26]. Limited agricultural means and skills may have kept farming a laborious activity and the recurrent famines characterized colonial and pre-colonial Rwanda. It can also partly explain the great value that was given to cattle and how people were willing to spend years on service in order to acquire a cow of their own [3]. Average frequency of occurrence was found to be positively correlated with the length of residence time. It was highest for neo-immigrants (50–70%) and lowest (0–20%) for native species, except for Sorghum bicolor. Many of them went through a steady decline since early 1900s and are now on the fringe of extinction. They include finger millet “uburo” (Eleusine coracana), African spider flower “isogi” (Gynandropsis gynandra), less weedy amaranth “inyabutongo” (Amaranthus graesizans), Pigeon Pea “umukunde” (Cajanus cajan), Cow Pea “inkoli” (Vigna unguiculata), Coleus dysentericus Bak. “impombo” [Labiatae], Dioscorea alata Linn. “Ibikoro” [Araceae], and bottle gourd “umwungu w’ibamba, igicuma or igisabo” (Lagenaria siceraria) (Table 1). One of the most threatened crop species appears to be native Vigna unguiculata “inkoli.” The red grain cultivar of Sorghum bicolor was seemingly not threatened until recently when it succumbed to the political will to replace it with maize in many parts of the country. The same applies for dessert banana, precolonial bean, and Irish and sweet potato. Significantly declining cultivars of these crops are the long-held cultivars such as dessert banana “kabaragara,” sweet cassava “gacyacyari”, or “iminderi,” short-season Irish potato “kandore.” They also include disease-resistant “nyirabukara” bean and drought resistant sweet potato “gakoba.” Despite the fact that maize is currently a favorite crop in Rwanda, its traditional small and multicolored-grain cultivar “nyakagori” almost disappeared from both fields and granaries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||