Brothers make reed salt with more flavour

By JECKONIA OTIENO

Bungoma, KENYA: It is a trade handed down from family to family but who would imagine salt being made from reeds? Meet the Nzoia salt producers of Webuye, Bungoma County.

Emmanuel Mtambo and Gilbert Situma have learnt this trade from their father Andrew Sikanga and their uncle Jonathan Wamukota, who also learnt the trade from their fathers. Being experienced swimmers, the duo goes across the roaring water, just before the falls, to cut the reeds.

In one hand they hold the sickle as the other hand fights the surging current that ends on a waterfall just about five metres from their crossing point.

Munyu is the name of the salt as it is known around here but what is more intriguing about it is the way it is prepared.

The idea of making salt from reeds might not be new but it is rare and unique in equal measure. That might be the reason why salt made from reeds might be expensive yet healthy. 

Once the reeds are cut, they are tied into bundles, which the swimmers tie to their body and carry back across the river.

They are then aired on the rocks to dry for about three to four days, after which they are burnt into ash.

It is from this ash that the salt is made.

After burning the reeds, the black ash is collected and put in a container where it is mixed with water and let to filter into another container. The solution, which is clear, is then boiled until all the water evaporates. What remains behind is table salt that can be used just like the commercial salt that is made from Magadi or Malindi.

Peter Wasike, an advocate of organic foods and farming in Western Kenya, says this salt cannot be compared to commercial salt due to its flavour. “Even the quantity used to season food is not as much as commercial salt. It also lacks sodium,” says Mr Wasike.

The salt, according to Wasike, is good for people who suffer from hypertension due to lack of sodium. The locals also use it to disinfect wounds. The salt is said to build marrow and help in strengthening bones.  Mr Sikanga says that it is not an easy task to carry out but it is worth it because it is part of the local culture. “For now we can only produce a little because we still do not have enough equipment to conduct mass production but we believe that it is what defines us as a family and as a community.

One of the challenges faced with the production is that when it rains, the river becomes difficult to cross while most of the reeds are washed away, diminishing production. For now due to limited production, the salt is supplied to specific hotels in Webuye, Bungoma, Kimilili and Kiminini,

One of the advantages of the production though is that it is environmental friendly compared to salt mining in other parts of the country.

Sikanga and Mr Wamukota say they would like to venture into a niche market to avoid unscrupulous middlemen who would only come to fix prices and gain on behalf of those who do the real work of making the salt.

The project has, however, not gone unnoticed. It attracted the attention of Slow Food, an organisation that advocates for biodiversity and organic methods of farming to include it in a presidium that was created in 2009 following a study on traditional products carried out in collaboration with the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy.

The presidium aims to help the community to improve the quality of the salt by providing processing equipment, as well as supporting promotional and commercialisation activities. The 30 producers, who belong to the Nabuyole Self-help Group, are also preparing production rules.

The presidium is also working on a project to reforest the area in order to recreate marshy areas where the reed can grow.

This will increase production of the salt that in turn will help makers of the salt earn more from the production. Currently, much of Kenya’s salt comes from mass producers like Magadi and Malindi.