It can be argued that scientific research has been inadequate and minimal in looking for ways and means of improving the indigenous African vegetables, which the first and second generation of fore parents used to feed on as opposed to the western varieties of vegetables introduced to the African market in the beginning of the 70’s.
The research conducted in rural communities of Western, Nyanza and Rift valley provinces in addition to urban market centers of Kisumu, Nakuru and Nairobi indicate that the most desired African indigenous vegetables are getting extinct due to the unavailability of scientific research to improve their viability and accessibility. This is an area where Biotechnologists are challenged to find solutions to increasing the availability of these notable African indigenous vegetables to improve on nutrition and guarantee food security.
These indigenous African vegetables venerated by our African forefathers have nutritive and medicinal values in addition to their culinary appetizers. With the advent of HIV/AIDS these vegetables are also recommended for those suffering from scourge as they contain high nutritional values. These vegetables ares classified under local and biological names as: - Pig weed (Ammaranthus sp.), (Ododo - Luo), Coupea leaves (vignaunguiculata), (Boo - Luo), Black night shade (solanum nigrum), (Osuga – Luo, Spider flower (gynadropsi gynandra), (dek – Luo, chisaka in Kisii, Zisaga in Luhyia and Isageki in Kalenjin.
The four categories of African indigenous vegetables according to Mrs. Margaret Odongo, 80, a great grandparent and a traditional birth attendant from Kochia in Homa-Bay District, curative benefits were derived form consumption of such vegetables. The vegetables cure anaemia (lack of iron) and roots of spider plant especially, cure headaches or migraine and are also eaten for the removal of retained placenta from the maternal mothers.
The Homa-Bay District Home Economics Officer, Mrs. Catherine Mulwale in charge of , confirmes that for a crop to be termed as local or indigenous means that it must have grown in that locality for many years. Due to the habitat, the local or indigenous vegetables are accustomed to the prevailing weather conditions or climate. They also acclimatize to the surrounding diseases and become resistant to pests. Therefore, one would find local vegetables having none or minimal disease attacks. “They are predominantly resistant to diseases and pests,” she says.
According to Mrs. Mulwale, the seeds are found amongst farmers although in little quantities. Certified seeds are not yet available hence biotechnologists are called upon to modify the seeds genetically to make them accessible to local farmers. The researchers should pioneer varieties of the mentioned seeds that contain high levels of protein, vitamin A, Ascorbic acid, Riboflavin, calcium among other nutrients that the human body requires.
Since more local vegetables are consumed in villages than in urban areas, the trend seems to change as majority of urbanites prefer the local vegetables to the exotic ones unlike the famous “Sukuma wiki” (African best kales).
With the giant research institutions like Monsanto and other Agrochemical companies namely: (Dupont, Dow Elanco, Norvatis and Schering) and Zeneca, the African people are poised to improve their food security and sustainability towards the much acclaimed poverty alleviation campaigns.
Currently, efforts aimed at protecting small-scale farmers from devastating crop failure are underway and Kenya is close to approving a genetically modified (G.M) sweet potato that resists the feathery mottle virus, an insect-borne disease that can destroy most of the crop. The indigenous vegetables should also be harnessed in order to feed the growing African population.
Mr. Pinstrup-Andersen, the Director of the Washington based International Food Policy Research Institute who is the recipient of the World Food prize recently said that “genetic engineering is not going to be the solution to the food supply, but if applied selectively, specific problems are best solved using that approach”.

The farmers’ concerned is that few giant corporations should not be allowed to have control over a large proportion of the germ plasm, agricultural processes and distribution systems needed to feed the world. Fears emanating from biotechnology are that farmers who have for centuries relied on their crops for seeds will loose the right to save seeds from their crops and exchange them freely with their counterparts hence the loss of plant variety. This is a biotechnological storm which researches must profile while researching for the improvement of African indigenous vegetables without substituting the local vegetables with exotic ones.