Human Practices and Sustainability
Eating until the Last One Is Extinct: Making Chikanda from Endangered Terrestrial Orchids
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hennie Fisher
Zambia is a landlocked country in the middle of Africa, on a high plateau with a predominantly tropical climate. As many as fifty-six Zambian species of highly threatened Chikanda orchids (various on the Red Data List) including the genera Disa, Satyrium, Habenaria and Brachycorythis, are harvested from Zambia and increasingly as illegal cross-border imports from Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Angola, to make Chikanda. This "African polony" is a meat-like cake that was originally considered a food that low status people consumed, and it was originally only accepted as a gift from a very poor widow when presented to the chief. Historically prepared and eaten by the Bemba people from the Northern and Muchinga provinces, it is today much sought after all across Zambia (but also in neighbouring countries, where it is also known as kinaki, chinaka or kikanda), with important nostalgic meaning. Its production is a huge concern for environmentalists and conservationists because of the depletion of Chikanda tubers (one of the core ingredients) through unregulated harvesting and rapid urbanisation. Eaten as a day-time snack, it is also used in some households as a relish to accompany nshima (a thick ground corn porridge). A step by step narrative explains the manufacturing of this bread on Shoebill Island in the Bangweulu Wetlands in the Luapula province.
The Animal Agriculture and its Impact on Climate Change
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tania Calvao
Animal agriculture has been contributing immensely to climate change. There are different facets of the process of meat production that seem to have been overlooked, and have been piling up the effects that will lead to forest destruction, air and water pollution, to name just some of the impacts. Different actors can contribute to changes that may help to contain and even reverse some of those effects. From the consumer side, considering meat-eating diets can double the carbon footprint of vegan diets, consumers definitely have the power, when making their dietary choices, to make their contribution. On the other hand, regulators can also make their contribution once the existing statistics on the effects of the animal agriculture are taken into consideration, and be given an appropriate place in their agendas. This work will try to reveal as much as possible the hidden and unspoken effects of animal agriculture.
