Peanut, also known as groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a crop of global importance. Peanuts are significant to both smallholder and large commercial producers. World annual production is about 46 million tons per year.
| Countries with the largest production of peanuts (million tonnes) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Country | Production |
| 1 | China | 17.0 |
| 2 | India | 9.5 |
| 3 | Nigeria | 3.0 |
| 4 | United States | 1.9 |
| 5 | Myanmar | 1.4 |
| Total | 46 | |
Peanuts grow well in Nigeria, southern Mali and adjacent regions of the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Senegal.
The groundnut is considered a women’s crop in Africa. It was originally grown by women to supplement their families diet with protein. However, groundnut production can also be a way for women to earn a cash income and participate in the economy. Consequently, increasing women’s agency, and empowerment. It is the peanut crop which keeps hundreds of thousands of African peasant farmers in the fields. It provides a modest means of support for their families now and probably for generations to come. It all shows how important a peanut sector is to the African economy. Peanuts are similar in both agricultural and culinary qualities to the Bambara groundnut native to the region, and West Africans have adopted the crop as a staple. Peanut sauce, prepared with onions, garlic, peanut butter/paste, and vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, and cauliflower, can be vegetarian or prepared with meat, usually chicken.
Peanuts are used in the Malian meat stew maafe. In Ghana, peanut butter is used for peanut butter soup nkate nkwan. Crushed peanuts may also be used for peanut candies nkate cake and kuli-kuli, as well as
other local foods such as oto. Peanut butter is also an ingredient in Nigeria’s “African salad”. Peanut powder is an important ingredient in the spicy coating for kebabs in Nigeria and Ghana. Thick peanut butter sauces are made in Uganda to go with rice and other starchy foods. Across East Africa, roasted peanuts (often in cones of newspaper) are a popular snack sold in the street.
Elyse Musandji (right), president of one of the community nutrition groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, teaches members of a neighbouring community how to produce peanut milk from locally grown peanuts to tackle child malnutrition.
Source: Russell Watkins/Department for International Development
Pediatricians working in Africa have developed a therapeutic food made from a combination of peanuts, oil, sugar, powdered milk, vitamins and minerals to use to combat severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Called high-energy RUTF (ready-to-use food) paste, the treatment is cost-effective, resistant to spoilage and is believed to have saved thousands of children. Eating peanuts may be a simple way to increase longevity, even for high risk populations.
A new study of over 200,000 people shows that peanut-eaters decreased total deaths by 21% and reduced cardiovascular deaths by 38%. The study was released in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine (JAMA Internal Medicine, March 5, 2015).
Source:
http://www.peanut-institute.org/news-and-information/news-releases.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut
http://www.goodearthpeanuts.com/peanutinformation.htm
Photo: Sanjay Acharya, Russavia
