Wild Edible Orchid Tubers, sustainable trade and communities in Southern Central Africa

Wild Edible Orchid Tubers, sustainable trade and communities in Southern Central Africa Heejoo Lee (17-18)

Questions to the CLAN •

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This article hopes to invite any thoughts and comments on exploring sustainable commercial use of wildlife products with communities, especially in the case when the product is already in a regional market.

What has been key information to bring stakeholders together to constructively debate whether to support sustainable commercial use of a wildlife product or its total ban?

How can we raise awareness on conservation needs when there is still much unknown on the actual status of threat for the species sustainability?

Regional trade: When the country next door has different rules about permitted use of wildlife?!

Transfrontier conservation areas (TFCA): going beyond Office-to-Office cooperation - how do you channel more support towards cooperation and collaboration across communities?

Stories on social campaign for urban consumers - on non-luxury edible goods?

The “Vegetarian Bologna Sausage” from Wild Edible Orchid Tubers It’s not shark’s fin soup. It’s not some discreet high-end mythical extract from an animal body part.

Yes, sometimes it’s called “cow’s liver” but it’s vegetarian. You will be able to enjoy this savory snack for 0.30 Pound sterling, from many vendors you can choose from in the busy streets and markets of towns in several countries of southern Africa. This is called Chinaka - or Chikanda depending on where you are - made from small potato-looking tubers of certain terrestrial orchids.

The consumption and trade of wild-harvested edible orchid tubers have reportedly increased and expanded over several countries in southern-central Africa (Veldman et al. 2014; Hinsley et al. 2017).

The commercialized scale of the tuber market for making of a dish called Chinaka1 has decimated some local stocks (Davenport and Ndangalasi 2003; Bingham 2004). Balancing the two goals of conservation and sustainable use is indeed very much relevant in the issue of Chinaka.

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Chinaka is the local term used in northern Malawi. In Zambia and Tanzania, the term is Chikanda. These terms refer both to the orchids, raw tubers, and the cake baked using the tuber powder.

Videos of making Chikanda, like this one, are available online and are popular, especially because the recipe and method of cooking can be quite delicate to give varying taste and texture. Most end-consumers, though, do not know about the source of Chinaka, its regional trade, and the protection of species. Retrieved 12 March 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J7iOPOuK9s

Chikanda demonstration at an event in Kasempa District, North-Western Province, Zambia. Sometimes Chikanda is also called “Cow’s Liver” for its appearance. This cake is cut into small pieces as seen and sold as a snack to be eaten on the spot or as relish that one can cook with tomato and pepper sauce. Price can vary but typically around 30 to 50 cents (USD) or 0.20 to 0.40 GBP. Photo taken 14 June 2018.

A scene in the Nyika Plateau with montane grasslands and montane wetlands, altitude around 2300m. Near Chilinda Camp, photo taken on 4 December 2018

Nyika Guide Book, published in 2017 by the Nyika-Vwaza Trust (NVT) UK.

The Nyika National Park (NP), the first and the largest national park (3,134km2) in Malawi features high-altitude grasslands in its 940km2 plateau. With 283 orchids species recorded in the Nyika NP and especially rich in the Nyika Plateau’s montane grassland and montane wetlands, some of these species are purported to be endemic (Burrows and Willis 2005, Hyde et al 2019). The communities in the vicinity of the National Park are harvesting orchids from inside the Park. The consumer base in the region including those in Tanzania and Zambia creates demand for the extraction of orchids. The pressure for the orchids inside Nyika NP has been on an increase over the past decade or so, given the decline in orchids population closer to the communities as well as for the culinary preference of the species on the Nyika Plateau. The resource came to be a commercial commodity and a source of significant wealth accumulation for some.

Map of northern Malawi, showing Nyika National Park and location of three villages visited (green), three ‘Boma’ district capitals (red), main roads travelled (orange), and other sites (blue).

I am conducting an independent research, with a research grant from the Nyika-Vwaza Trust UK2 and with Mzuzu University as the Malawian host institution. It aims to further understand the community dimensions about the Chinaka orchids harvesting and trade around the Nyika NP. The study is trying to profile the community members engaged in Chinaka orchids trade and understand the driving forces in terms of their economic and social circumstances. It also attempts to measure the level of community members’ knowledge, perception and willingness about the orchids, the trade, and governance. This information is particularly geared towards gauging what intervention efforts may be most appropriate and effective.

View from Chimanga village, which is on the western border of Nyika National Park (NP). The farthest mountain range seen in the photo is the Nyika NP. Typically, the journey from the village to the Nyika Plateau, where people go for harvesting Chinaka, is described “very rigorous� by the villagers. It is an 8 to 10-hour journey by walk, elevation climb of about 500-1000m. Photo taken 13 December 2018.

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The Nyika-Vwaza Trust UK is dedicated to the conservation of the Nyika National Park and Vwaza Wildlife Reserve and also supports researchers to conduct studies in the area on conservation, environmental or socioeconomic issues.

View from Ruwugu village, also on the western border of Nyika NP. This village is abutting the Park: the hills in the clouds and the slopes under it are part of the Park; the Rukuru River down at the end of the slope is the boundary with the village. Photo taken 22 January 2019.

View from Chakaka village, on the eastern border of the Park. The pointy peak in the centre of the photo is often pointed as the area that needs to be reached to get inside the Park. Photo taken 17 December 2018.

The people involved in Chinaka trade Three main categories have emerged among those involved in the value chain: the Nonchalant, Risktaker, and Capitalist. The Nonchalant refers to one who is collecting and selling Chinaka for opportunistic reasons and because “everybody is doing it”. The Risktaker is one who is collecting Chinaka by taking the risk of apprehension by “entering the protected area and disturbing wildlife without necessary permission” in Chinaka excursions lasting from 4 to 7 days. The Capitalist is one who is engaged in the value chain as a trader.

The Nonchalant collectors This type makes up the largest group. The Nonchalant group is diverse: men, women, children, and elders. The group engages in Chinaka collection at the height of the season. This group would prefer to collect outside the National Park, invest relatively little time, and accept to collect the less preferred species of Chinaka orchid tubers that are found around the villages. For this group, Chinaka is not the most-income-earning activity.

The Risktakers (collectors) The Risktakers are collectors who regularly go into the Park illegally and harvest wild edible orchid tubers against the odds of apprehension by rangers. This group’s size is not clearly known, but apprehension records and small-group interviews indicate that in a village, there may be five, in another - twenty, and in another - it can be in the hundreds.

Some in this group, especially those without many means of livelihood, will taking higher risks than others. They will collect Chinaka into the very end of the season in order to fetch the higher prices, exposing themselves to higher risks of apprehension. Although especially the younger population, in need of “fast cash” for specific needs or occasions, will enter the park to collect Chinaka. Traders from towns putting in orders and making advance payments are attractive means to getting cash that is more than enough to buy a 50kg bag of fertilizer, which otherwise would require selling more than 10 chickens!

One example case was a young man in his early 20s, the eldest among his siblings raised by a single mother. He was newly married and enrolled in secondary school. Under the pressure to make cash for bride price and school fee, he followed a crowd of Chinaka collectors into the Park. Because of his inexperience inside the Park, he was caught by the rangers while others in the group escaped.

Capitalist (traders) This is a rather exclusive group and it is not yet understood how many villages have such traders. In one village, it was identified that just under 10 persons were operating as Capitalist. The Capitalist refers to the villagers who act as traders, transporting the village stock to bigger markets like the one in Chitipa District Capital (northern-most district capital among the three district capitals that surround Nyika). More interviews with this group are needed to understand what basic assets, skills, and/or motivations enabled them to become a capitalist (you would at least need a motorcycle to be a trader).

One Capitalist interviewed emphasized that he did not need to do the rigorous and risky job of going into the National Park, because “I am a capitalist”. His wealth includes extensive farmland, ability to hire tenant farmers and other piecework labour, and motor vehicles that allows him to transport the large-scale supplies of Chinaka. A Capitalist is likely to be profiting 4 times more than a Risktaker. But the Capitalist group is relatively safe from the law enforcement that currently is staying limited to illegal activities found inside the National Park.

The trade doesn’t stop at the border: There is more to the Chinaka supply chain, larger and more profitable. The raw tubers collected from Nyika and make their ways to district capitals, will be further traded to neighbouring countries Zambia and Tanzania for higher price. One has said, “I hope to make enough money to graduate my status to become a trader at Tunduma market in Tanzania.” Tunduma, just about 80km away from Chitipa district capital caters to the mix of Zambian, Tanzanian and Malawian traders.

Delicacy in baking Chinaka: The subtle adjustment in temperature control, volumes, and ingredient quality are supposed to make difference in taste and texture of Chinaka cake. For this reason, consumers have their favourite Chinaka-cake bakers from whom they prefer to buy the Vegetarian Bologna Sausage.

Basic steps in making Chinaka cake. (1) Pounding and sieving Chinaka and groundnuts (used in 1:5 ratio), (2) making porridge, (3) becoming thick porridge, and (4) baking Chinaka cake with hot ash on bottom and top of the pot. Demonstration in Kayoomba village, Zambia. Photos taken on 1 July 2018.

The Irony: There is no control or law enforcement in the markets or other nodes of the value chain, although according to the Malawi law all activities along the value chain involving endangered species are illegal. The Risktakers in the communities nearest to Nyika NP and at the lowest level of the value chain, face the highest (actually the ‘only’) risk of arrest and jailtime. This phenomenon seems to be more due to the relatively recent stricter enforcement of the Wildlife Act after its amendment in 2017, and the lack of general coordination across sectors. For example, the District Commissioner, Police, Department of Forestry are not aware of the regulations under the Wildlife Act and the protected status of orchid species even outside the protected areas.

Individuals filling out trial questionnaire. Ruwungu village. 22 January 2019.

Two Satyrium species are photographed here in a seepage area in the montane grasslands of the Nyika Plateau near Chilinda Camp, photo taken 4 December 2018. Above Satyrium rhynchantoides and below Satyrium breve.

Chinaka species are geophyte orchids with underground tubers; different species have tubers that vary in shape, size, numbers, and texture. This species found in a swampy area near Chitipa Boma have small and multiple tubers, a less preferred type for making Chinaka. Photo taken 24 January 2019.

Thinking about Interventions and Questions To gauge what interventions could help relieve the pressure on Chinaka orchids and “orchid poachers”, semi-structured interview and questionnaire were designed to understand what people knew, perceived, and were willing to do about three subjects: the orchids, the trade, and the governance.

Some notable findings include that community members’ knowledge about regulations is abundant but not very accurate, hence with much vagueness about what is and is not allowed.

In general people perceive overharvesting has led to decline of orchids; but the belief that there are “orchid pools” inside the Nyika NP is little challenged. This requires comprehensive survey inside the Park for the actual baseline of orchids population and their ecology. The appeal of “fast cash” at the end of a risky and rigorous hike to Nyika is strong. Although the perceived risk of apprehension is on the rise, the prevailing perception is that people will continue to harvest despite knowing the risks.

Many community members express strong willingness to change their behaviour in order to sustain orchids population. This stems from the desire to continue Chinaka activities into the future. But, exploring options for changing behaviour is not straightforward among the villagers. Existing sentiments of unfairness in the currently ongoing resource governance schemes are expressed and portends future concerns around organized resource use.

Stakeholders to the issue are many: the community, regulators, researcher, NGOs - and each of them being a complex group in themselves. Most acknowledge the need for finding ways to support sustainable use, with hopes for domestication of the edible orchids. Research and conservation efforts in Zambia has been ongoing for a longer time than in Malawi, thus promising bountiful areas for knowledge exchange and concerted effort to address the Chinaka issue. Especially given that Nyika NP is part of the Malawi-Zambia Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (TFCA), this provides an auspicious environment for collaborated approach.

But, the quest for domestication seems to be a long and elusive one. Technical breakthrough is not yet reached in artificial propagation efforts that has been ongoing between Zambia and the UK. Even if achieved, getting to a commercially viable level may take more time.

So, what in the meantime? Could controlled use of the wild orchids be permitted with defined user rights and duties to protect?

Unnerving some views on conservation: this option triggers some concerns that, rightly so, see possible compromise on the integrity of protected areas. How to design a viable scheme when so little is known about the biology and ecology of the orchids and their habitat? How to plan and implement an internally equitable communal system that all villagers can embrace without defection that will jeopardize the system?

Impact of CITES blank treatment of orchids: For any serious efforts to explore controlled use in Malawi, a change in the regulatory system is also needed. The current regulatory framework based on the blanket ban on all species of orchids - inside or outside the protected area. The blanket ban reflects the approach taken by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)3. One possible adjustment is to add a special provision in the endangered species list to allow use of orchids that are outside the protected areas, which is the case in Zambia. Expectedly, this brings the challenge of identifying whether a specimen is from inside or outside a protected area.

Another possible adjustment is to take advantage of a specific Wildlife Act provision, which can enable 3

CITES itself adopted the ‘precautionary approach’ in the 1970s not because all species are known to be vulnerable, but because of the difficulty in species identification.

controlled use of endangered species by creating a defined user scheme. This brings up the questions above - how such scheme can be designed, and also be cost-effective for the regulators to support the scheme?

Law enforcement and social campaign: Thinking just about the status quo, which is essentially a law enforcement-only approach, some changes are also possible.

First, application of the current law and regulations needs to be broadened across the value chain.

The law protecting the endangered species on the road and at the market is not (yet) being enforced, and many are not even aware of the illegality associated. As long as demand persists, the collectors will continue to take risks and supply Chinaka.

Second, a social campaign is needed to spread the story of Chinaka: how the food is sourced, how some communities and individuals take risks, and how the orchids and their habitats are impacted.

Especially alarming is the expanding reach across the region in search for new supplies of orchids due to growing consumer base. A change in the consumer base to better appreciate and support orchid harvesters and conservation efforts could have an influence on the market.

The Vegetarian Bologna Sausage is a dish of unique gastronomy, one with a rather fascinating behind story of its key ingredient. It deserves a concerted effort from the broad consumer base in the southern African region to help nurture it as such. Those interested in culinary quests and conservation conundrums will also find Chinaka to be a captivating subject.

Looking at map with Nyika-Vwaza Association (NVA) chairman. The chairman is pointing out the 5 different Department of National Parks and Wildlife camps around and inside the Park. Photo taken on 33 November 2018.

Children in Chakaka village. Photo on 26 January 2019.

Scene from Chakaka village. 22 December 2018.

Bingham, M.G., 2004. Chikanda trade in Zambia. Orchid Conservation News 2004, 4, 22–25.

Burrows, J.E. & Willis, C.K., 2005. Plants of the Nyika Plateau. Southern Africa Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 31. SABONET, Pretoria.

Davenport, T.R.B. & Ndangalasi, H.J., 2003. An escalating trade in orchid tubers across Tanzania’s Southern Highlands: assessment, dynamics and conservation implications. Oryx 37: 55‒61.

Hinsley, A., de Boer, H.J., Fay, M.F., Gale, S.W., Gardiner, L.M., Gunasekara, R.S., Kumar, P., Masters, S., Metusala, D., Roberts, D.L. and Veldman, S., 2017. A review of the trade in orchids and its implications for conservation. Botanical journal of the Linnean Society, 186(4), pp.435-455.

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M., 2019. Flora of Malawi: Utilities: Location search results: Nyika National Park, Malawi. https://www.malawiflora.com/speciesdata/utilities/utility-locationquery.php?location_id=180, retrieved 13 March 2019 Kasulo, V., Mwabumba, L. & Munthali, C., 2009. A review of edible orchids in Malawi. Journal Horticulture & Forestry 1: 133‒139.

Namoto, M. & Pearce, T., 2017. Interim report on distribution and abundance of edible orchids in the Nyika National Park, Malawi. Report from unpublished MSc study. Forest Research Institute of Malawi, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Simkoko, P.P., 2012. Assessment of wild edible orchids in Nyika National Park, Rumphi, Malawi.

Unpublished BSc (Forestry) dissertation, Mzuzu University, Malawi.

Veldman S, Otieno J, van Andel T, Gravendeel B, de Boer H., 2014. Efforts urged to tackle thriving illegal orchid trade in Tanzania and Zambia for chikanda production. TRAFFIC Bulletin 26: 47– 50.