Domestication of [Tylosema esculentum (Burchell) Schreiber] (Marama bean): A work in Progress in Namibia

Percy Maruwa Chimwamurombe

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Namibia, P. Bag 13301, Windhoek Namibia.

Corresponding Author E-mail: pchimwa@unam.na

ABSTRACT: Marama bean [Tylosema esculentum (Burchell) Schreiber] is indigenous to the dry parts of Southern Africa. It is a staple food for the Khoisan and Bantu people from those areas. In Namibia it grows wild mainly in Omaheke and Otjizondjupa regions. Marama, which has not been domesticated, has a large tuber and pods containing 1-2 oil and protein-rich seeds with a nutritional value similar to soybean. Protein content is 30-39% (similar to soy bean) and oil content is 30-43%. In addition it produces a edible tuber tht is rich in starch. Unfortunately, harvesting in the wild is very extensive and random by local people with such intensity that some genotypes of marama bean are becoming endangered with extinction or have already become extinct. This article reviews the current body literature on marama bean, domestication of selected major legumes and lastly reports on the progress made in the initial attempts to domesticate this plant by local communities in Namibia. The process starts off selecting marama genotypes with superior traits. These traits include early germination and number of seeds per pod. The University of Namibia has been developing marama for its introduction as a crop alternative for dry lands of Namibia and the Kalahari sandy regions of Southern Africa and also as a response to climate change effects where crops such as maize and millets have been failing due to alternating floods and drought. Marama has a huge potential to address the problem of malnutrition and hunger in the arid areas of Southern Africa, especially knowing that under climate change Africa will become drier and drier.

KEYWORDS: Tylosema esculentuml; Breeding; Conservation genetics

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