• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
amaranth

E Cape entrepreneur takes amaranth to wider market

14th October 2021
Willem Booise (left) is a trustee and has won the industry’s Specialist Agricultural Worker of the Year award in 2018. Photo: Supplied/Hortgro

Fruit farm shows there’s power in transformation

11th August 2022
Many people love avocados, but did you know that the introduction of just one of these fruits per day can improve the overall quality of your diet? Photo: Pixabay

An avocado a day can keep the doctor away

10th August 2022
ADVERTISEMENT
Davidzo Chizhengeni, animal scientist, founder of KvD livestock, Ika Cronje, farmer and participant in the Corteva Women Agripreneur 2022 programme, Vuyokazi Makapela, a Director at Afrivet, and permaculture farmer, Stephanie Mullins. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Podcast: Prevent rabies with vaccination

10th August 2022
Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

11th August 2022
The value of South Africa’s informal farming sector is understated, experts say, and many farmers say that they prefer trading to this segment of the economy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

10th August 2022
Gauteng police recovered and confiscated sheep and goats in Sedibeng this week. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

10th August 2022
Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

9th August 2022
Setting up a regenerative smallholding

Setting up a regenerative smallholding

9th August 2022
Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

Determination drives this #SoilSista to succeed

9th August 2022
The women who dared to start farming in Mzansi when few others would. Photo: Food For Mzansi

She bosses: ‘We see farming changing for good’

9th August 2022
Refiloe Molefe has vowed to build a new urban farm after the City of Johannesburg bulldozed the site she built in Bertrams. Photo: Supplied/GroundUp

ICYMI: Mama Fifi determined to rise again

9th August 2022
Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

8th August 2022
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
11 GLOBAL MEDIA AWARDS
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Food For Mzansi
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
    • All
    • AgriCareers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Groundbreakers
    • Innovators
    • Inspiration
    • It Takes a Village
    • Mentors
    • Movers and Shakers
    • Partnerships
    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

    Claire and Martin Joubert have sacrificed and struggled to become top breeders of Ankole cattle in South Africa. But giving up was never an option, because they wanted to offer only the very best Ankole genetics in the country. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farming couple lives and breathes Ankole cattle

    Tackling climate change, one tree at a time

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Agricareers: Veterinary science not for the timid

    Once struggling farm now a family heirloom

    Optimal yields now at farmers’ finger tips

    Some of the children with the ECD practitioner Yolanda Shabalala. Zero2Five Trust promotes holistic Early Childhood Development in formerly disadvantaged areas by improving learners’ health and education outcomes with nutrition and education programmes. Photo: Supplied/Zero2Five Trust

    Zero2Five: Giving hope to KZN flood victims

    Agripreneur 101: Kupisa Sauce is going places

    Agripreneur 101: Kupisa Sauce is going places

    Ncumisa Mkabile, is a farmer, community activist that has won numerous awards for her work in agriculture. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    Farmer, influencer, go-getter – Ncumisa’s all that

  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought
No Result
View All Result
Food For Mzansi

E Cape entrepreneur takes amaranth to wider market

by Candice Pearce
14th October 2021
in African Food, Entrepreneurs, Traditional Food
Reading Time: 7 mins read
A A
amaranth

Regina Kasongo cares for her amaranth harvest. The idea of her business was sparked by her love for the food her mother cooked when she was growing up. Photo: Supplied

Indigenous plant lover Regina Kasongo has managed to turn her love for indigenous foods into a sustainable business. She grows amaranth, a crop that thrives with little water and even in poor soils, while creating employment in the rural Eastern Cape.

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kasongo’s business concept was sparked by her love for the food her mother cooked when she was growing up.

“I love and crave for the indigenous vegetables I used to eat when my mother used to cook it,” she says. “But when we arrived in South Africa it was difficult to find it and when we could find it was only in Johannesburg. Hence my idea to explore the possibility of growing the product commercially and sustainably.”

In partnership with Eastern Cape farmer Rikus du Preez, Kasongo plants and processes amaranth just outside the town of Kareedouw. She then processes the plants and supplies it retailers in the province.

ADVERTISEMENT

“This is an old plant that is known around Africa. It grows sometimes in the back yard but it has not really been used commercially,” she says.

ALSO READ: Let’s get back to eating some traditional veggies

Amaranth
Eastern Cape business woman Regina Kasongo turns her love for the indigenous plant into a sustainable business. Photo: Supplied

The mother of three has lived in South Africa for close to 30 year now, moving here after obtaining her honours degree in French and English at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She spent most of her years as a teacher. Today she is a business woman and is mostly known in Gqebera for running student accommodation.

However, she says farming is in her genes. Both her grandfather and parents were farmers and she shares the same passion for the sector that they have. Her business started with an idea that grew into something sustainable over the years.

In East Africa, the amaranthus leaf is known in Chewa as bonongwe, she says, doodo in Uganda, lengalenga in DRC and mchicha in Swahili. In South Africa it is known as thepe (Tswana), imbuya (Xhosa) and ityutu (Zulu). In Nigeria it is a common vegetable used with all starched dishes and called efo tete or arowo jeja in Yoruba. The French know it as amaranthe.

ALSO READ: Former banker champions organic food to give Mother Nature a break

A nutritional, traditional veg

Amaranthus is a tall plant with broad leaves that produces thousands of seeds. Both the leaves and seeds are edible. The green leaves are sturdy and have a slightly sweet flavour. The leaves can be boiled for salads, cooked into pies and vegetable stews especially mixed with eggplant.

Amaranth seems to be a dietary dream ingredient, filled with great nutritional properties. Kasongo says, “Although this plant grows in poor soil and only with a little bit of water, it is rich in minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium and full of proteins & carbohydrates. But above all, it is known to be gluten-free.”

Although amaranth is a well-known traditional crop it is largely foreign to the commercial cropping system. It is Kasongo’s dream to introduce it to those who do not know the benefits of the plant.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kasongo believes that there is a gap in the market for young entrepreneurs that have a love for indigenous plants and she is even looking for two entrepreneurs to mentor by having them work alongside her.

‘I’ve got an idea that in the near future I will not only be providing for the local market, but I will also be supplying globally.’

“Like any other business there are challenges, but the challenges of this business are not the production process, but rather after the harvest of the plant,” she says.

One of the biggest challenges is finding a way to keep the leaves fresh at all times. Another challenge is the fact that communities are not educated on indigenous plants, which makes them reluctant to try the products.

Currently, Kasongo is supplying to selected SPARS in the Eastern Cape and Pro Veg & Food Lover’s Market in East London. She is eyeing an expansion to the city markets in Cape Town and Gauteng soon. She even dreams of taking her produce to international markets.

“My vision is to bring a local taste to those who are living here, but at the same time I’ve got an idea that in the near future I will not only be providing for the local market, but I will also be supplying globally.”

  • amaranth
    Amaranth grows even in poor soils and needs very little water. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
  • Amaranth
    Regina Kasongo grows and harvests the amaranth plant just outside Kareedouw, Eastern Cape, with the help of Mr. Rikus Du Preez. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
  • Amaranth
    The leafy amaranth plant freshly plucked from Easten Cape soil. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
  • Amaranth
    Post harvest, Regina Kasongo’s team of ladies, washes and bundles the amaranth. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
  • Amaranth
    Regina Kasongo’s team hard at work packaging the amaranth before she sends it off to selected SPARS in the Eastern Cape, Pro Veg &FoodLovers Market in East London. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi
  • Amaranth
    Regina Kasongo’s hard working team, picks, washes & cuts the amaranth plant and gets it ready for transportation where it will be bundled into ready to purchase portions. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Regina Kasongo’s recipe for amaranth (perhaps better known as morogo).

INGREDIENTS:

  • Morogo leaves, fresh or frozen (600/800g)
  • Garlic
  • Onion
  • Olive oil  or cooking oil
  • Salt
  • Bicarbonate soda

METHOD:

  1. Clean your vegetable and cut it like any other veggies of your choice.
  2. Put in the pot.
  3. Add a teaspoon of soda.
  4. Add onion and garlic and a pinch of salt.
  5. Let it cook for 10 to 15 min.
  6. Add oil and spices to your taste.
  7. Cook for few minutes and enjoy it.
  8. Chillies are optional.

PRO TIP: Do not overcook, otherwise it will be too soft.

Tags: AmaranthusEastern CapeEntrepreneurshipSpaceOnYourPlateTraditional Food
Previous Post

Poultry farmer: ‘I am too broke to keep up with my bae’

Next Post

Recipes: Celebrate Easter memories with these dishes

Candice Pearce

Candice Pearce

CANDICE PEARCE is a young writer in a candy store. She is finally exploring her sweet tooth for all things media and believes that the world’s mysteries are just waiting to be revealed. Holding a Nelson Mandela University qualification in media, communications and culture she observes, analyzes and writes.

Related Posts

In South Africa, going forward, cutting edge software will be used to track locusts in the country. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

Technology the answer to curb Mzansi’s locust swarms

by Anna Majavu
5th July 2022
0

A few months ago farmers in the Eastern Cape were devastated by huge swarms of locusts that destroyed everything in...

Leave your comfort zone and make money, says foodie

Leave your comfort zone and start hustling, says foodie

by Vateka Halile
1st July 2022
0

MZANSI FLAVOUR: With a hustle and a bustle, Eastern Cape foodie Vuyelwa Makile found ways to alleviate her financial stress....

Archive photo. The drought in a region of the Eastern Cape is already having a devastating impact on urban farmers. Photo: Supplied/NSPCA

E. Cape drought: ‘No hope. Our animals are dying’

by Nicole Ludolph
29th June 2022
0

A pocket of the Eastern Cape is fast running out of water and the urban and semi-urban farmers of KwaNobuhle,...

Vuyokazi Makapela, a director at Afrivet, Zamo Shongwe, Buhle Farmer’s Academy’s, finance and business director, Free State farmer Buchule Jack, Liviwe Finca, the founder of Amafemvula, and Justin Dziruni of Zazo Boergoats. Photo:Supplied/Foodf For Mzansi

Podcast: Here’s how to control and prevent rabies

by Vateka Halile
22nd June 2022
0

FARMER'S INSIDE TRACK: In recent months, certain provinces in Mzansi were affected by outbreaks of rabies. Afrivet director, Vuyokazi Makapela,...

Next Post
easter recipes

Recipes: Celebrate Easter memories with these dishes

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops
Advertorial

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

by Staff Reporter
11th August 2022
0

ADVERTORIAL: Broccoli and cauliflower farmers need to watch out for downy mildew, a plant fungus common in wet conditions. Simon...

Read more
The value of South Africa’s informal farming sector is understated, experts say, and many farmers say that they prefer trading to this segment of the economy. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

10th August 2022
Gauteng police recovered and confiscated sheep and goats in Sedibeng this week. Photo: Supplied/SAPS

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

10th August 2022
Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

Ecological farming the answer to food insecurity

9th August 2022
Setting up a regenerative smallholding

Setting up a regenerative smallholding

9th August 2022

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

This week’s agriculture events: 08 to 12 August 2022

ICYMI: Mama Fifi determined to rise again

She bosses: ‘We see farming changing for good’

Tackling climate change, one tree at a time

Agripreneur 101: Creating a beauty brand

THE NEW FACE OF SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

With 12 global awards in the first three years of its existence, Food For Mzansi is much more than an agriculture publication. It is a movement, unashamedly saluting the unsung heroes of South African agriculture. We believe in the power of agriculture to promote nation building and social cohesion by telling stories that are often overlooked by broader society.

Fruit farm shows there’s power in transformation

An avocado a day can keep the doctor away

Podcast: Prevent rabies with vaccination

Control and prevent downy mildew on crops

New farmer? Informal markets ‘the way to go’

ICYMI: Police recover stolen livestock

  • Our Story
  • Contact Us
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Copyright

Contact us
Office: +27 21 879 1824
News: info@foodformzansi.co.za
Advertising: sales@foodformzansi.co.za

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Changemakers
  • Lifestyle
  • Farmer’s Inside Track
  • Food for Thought

Copyright © 2021 Food for Mzansi

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.