Ubantu:Contents:MagicandTech:Agriculture

Agriculture

Few fantasy gamers have any interest in agriculture, but in reality an understanding of the methods of food production is essential to understanding a culture.

The crops of Ubantu can be divided into several catagories. The first is native African crops that were brought into Ubantu in the original or subsequent transfers. The most common native grain is sorghum, which is used to make porridges and flour. In Ubantu sorghum is used to make a variety of flat breads. Sorghum beer is muched loved. Sorgum is notably drought resistant. Semi-fermented sorghum gruel, with added milk, resists spoilage in the same manner as yoghurt. Finger and pearl millet follow in importance as grains, followed by tef and African red rice. The word "corn" refers to sorghum, whereas maize proper is called "mealie".

Yams are probably the single most imporant noncereal crop, occuring in a wide variety of forms including the undomesticated varieties in the Ugenji Jungle which are one of the staple foods of the Wagenji Pygmies. Other native noncereal crops include cowpeas and the familiar black-eyed peas, along with okra and a huge variety of melons including watermelons and tsama melons beloved of the Bushmen. There are many varieties of gourds, which can be used for food, containers (the ubiquitous calabash) or as a source of flour from their seeds. Cotton is another African native. Cotton seed oil fills lamps throughout Eastern Ubantu. The plant called "groundnut" is a much valued source of protein and oil. On Earth the native African bambara groundnut has been replaced by the New World peanut, whereas in Ubantu the bambara groundnut has been much improved by selective breeding. Likewise the spice commonly called "pepper" refers to melegueta pepper (Aframomun melegueta), not black pepper. Greens from a large variety of plants, both imported and native, are found in basically every Ubantu meal. Sesame seeds, paste and oil are a favorite gourmet item, though expensive.

There are also quite a few domestic plants native to Ubantu. Coffee was first cultivated circa 500UB from a shrub growing in the northern part of the Katigongo range, and is now grown in plantation there and in Ukayeso. Paper is made from the fiber of the barkcloth tree (Ficus lutea), which comes in dozens of varieties. Every farm has it's barkcloth trees, by tradition and royal decree. Lower quality paper is made from hemp fiber. Coconut palms grow naturally on the coasts of Ubantu, and have become a favored domesticate.

The Wakayesa people cultivate a wide variety of fruits. Most occur naturally in both East Africa and Ubantu, but other than the tamarind, wild mango and a type of breadfruit, few are regonizable to nonbotanists. For the sake of simplicity these are refered to with common Earthly names: Kayesa papaya, Kayesa guava, etc. Dengomga, the patroness of agriculture, brought in bananas and plaintains in the golden age of Siyathemba, and these in their many varieties are now the main staple in Ukayesa. St. Degnomga likewise brought in citrus fruits and rubber trees. The Wakayesa forest-gardens produce many unique spices and biologicals used in magic.

St. Degnomga is the third source of Ubantu crops. In addition to the aforementioned bananas, citrus and rubbertrees, she brought sugarcane, cassava/manioc, mealies, many varieties of legumes, tomatoes, new types of greens and her signature and still deeply magical chilis. In addition to foods, her cornicopea included medicinal herbs and spices, which in Ubantu are largely one and the same. Cloves are grown on the spice islands in the Chomba Bay, just are they are in Zanzibar.

The most common spice and medicine used in the Empire comes from the scented pelargoniums, native to Usakara in Ubantu and South Africa on Earth. These "scented geraniums" come in a truely huge range of scents and flavors, from lemon and rose to mint and cinnamon. They are grown in herb gardens all over Eastern Ubantu, but research adventures to find new types are ongoing.

Mopane worms, actually large caterpillars, lives exclusively on the Mopane tree. The worms are 60% protein and require no care other than scaring off birds and thus are common on farms. For preservation, they may have their innards squeezed out and dried, or pickled in brine. Mopane stews are a common protein source for the poor in the cities of Milikyunjovu.