【新闻麻辣烫】
"肯尼亚'野菜'逆袭记：曾经被嫌弃的'猪草'如今成了餐厅里的香饽饽！这些富含维生素的土著蔬菜不仅让减肥人士疯狂打call，还逼得卷心菜和菠菜让出C位。一位执着教授30年的'野菜保卫战'，终于让联合国都竖起大拇指——谁说'土味'不能变'网红'？"
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**Forgotten 'weeds' prove a culinary hit in Kenya**
**被遗忘的'杂草'在肯尼亚成为美食新宠**
Once dismissed as wild weeds and a"poor man's food", indigenous leafy vegetables in Kenya are now becoming much more common - grown on farms, sold in markets and gracing the menus of restaurants.
曾被当作野生杂草和"穷人食物"的肯尼亚本土绿叶蔬菜，如今正变得越来越常见——农场种植、市场销售，并登上餐厅菜单。
At the busy Skinners Restaurant in Gachie just outside the capital, Nairobi, one employee says demand for"kienyeji" - as all local vegetable varieties are known - is higher than for other greens.
在内罗毕郊区加希的Skinners餐厅，员工表示对"kienyeji"（当地对所有本土蔬菜品种的统称）的需求已超过其他绿叶菜。
"Many people ask for kienyeji when they come here," Kimani Ng'ang'a tells the BBC, despite the fact the restaurant charges extra for them as he says they are harder to source.
"很多顾客专门点kienyeji，"金阿尼·恩甘阿告诉BBC。尽管餐厅因此加价，因为这类蔬菜更难采购。
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**Vegetables like cabbage, spinach, kale and spring greens, introduced by colonial authorities before the 1960s, are more readily available and cheaper.**
**1960年代前殖民当局引入的卷心菜、菠菜、羽衣甘蓝等蔬菜更易获得且便宜。**
Spring greens are known as"sukumawiki", meaning"stretch the week" in Swahili, reflecting how they have become a daily staple.
春青菜在斯瓦希里语中叫"sukumawiki"（意为"撑过一周"），反映了其作为日常主食的地位。
But diners in Gachie are part of the growing wave of Kenyans who see the benefits of eating local, organically produced nutrient-rich varieties of greens.
但加希的食客们正加入日益壮大的"吃本地有机营养蔬菜"风潮。
"It detoxifies the body and is good in weight loss," says James Wathiru, who ordered"managu" - or African nightshade.
"它能排毒减肥，"点了非洲龙葵的詹姆斯·瓦西鲁说。
Another person told me:"It's all about its taste, which is better."
另一位顾客表示："关键是味道更棒。"
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**According to horticulture professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, this trend is reflected in government data and some of the health benefits are backed by research.**
**园艺学教授玛丽·阿布库察-奥尼安戈指出，政府数据印证了这一趋势，研究也支持其健康益处。**
Over the last 10 years, production of local greens has doubled - with 300,000 tonnes produced by local farmers last year, she says.
过去十年本土蔬菜产量翻番，去年当地农民产量达30万吨。
It is a remarkable change in attitudes, given people used to look down on traditional crops as inferior - not realising they were often more resistant to diseases and pests, meaning they can be grown organically.
这是惊人的观念转变，毕竟人们曾认为传统作物低劣，却未意识到它们抗病虫害能力更强，更适合有机种植。
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**In the 1980s, when Prof Abukutsa-Onyango began her studies, she says she was perplexed to find them referred to as"weeds".**
**1980年代阿布库察-奥尼安戈教授开始研究时，发现它们被称为"杂草"令她困惑。**
"We never learnt about African indigenous vegetables. They were calling amaranth 'pigweed' [and] spider plant, they were calling it 'spider weed'," she tells the BBC.
"我们从未学过非洲本土蔬菜。他们把苋菜叫'猪草'，吊兰叫'蜘蛛草'，"她告诉BBC。
Her postgraduate research on traditional plants was also tricky as there was no literature about them, but she persevered and now works with the government to promote them for food security.
她研究传统植物的硕士论文因缺乏文献而困难重重，但坚持至今，现与政府合作推广以保障粮食安全。
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**She says managu and other local vegetables like"mrenda" (jute mallow) and"terere" (amaranth) have more essential minerals than sukumawiki, as well as"higher levels of vitamin A and C [and] antioxidants" that boost immunity and reduce the risk of disease.**
**她指出非洲龙葵、黄麻叶（mrenda）和苋菜（terere）等比春青菜含更多必需矿物质，以及"更高维A、维C和抗氧化剂"，可增强免疫力降低疾病风险。**
Some varieties also contain protein, making them an excellent option for vegetarians.
某些品种还含蛋白质，是素食者的优质选择。
She notes for instance that 100g (3.5 ounces) of mrenda - known for its distinctive slimy texture when cooked - contains more nutrients than a similar portion of common cabbage.
例如100克黄麻叶（煮熟后黏滑）比等量卷心菜营养更丰富。
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**The progress people like Prof Abukutsa-Onyango have made in promoting the diversity and knowledge of indigenous vegetables was acknowledged by Unesco in 2021, when the UN cultural agency commended the East African nation for the"safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage" that had been threatened by"historical factors and the pressures of modern lifestyles".**
**2021年联合国教科文组织表彰肯尼亚"保护受历史因素和现代生活方式威胁的非物质文化遗产"，认可了阿布库察-奥尼安戈教授等人在推广本土蔬菜多样性和知识方面的成就。**
It noted that Kenya had begun a project in 2007 involving scientists and local communities to record an inventory of traditional foods, which now includes 850 indigenous plants and their local names.
教科文组织指出，肯尼亚2007年启动科学家与当地社区共同记录传统食物的项目，现已收录850种本土植物及其地方名称。
Some of these vegetables are eaten nationwide, while others are specific to certain areas or communities.
有些蔬菜全国食用，有些则是特定地区或族群的特产。
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**But sukumawiki, first introduced to Kenya from the Mediterranean as animal feed, is still favoured by many farmers - with more than 700,000 tonnes produced in 2023 - more than double the volume of all indigenous leafy vegetables combined.**
**但最初作为饲料从地中海引入的春青菜仍受农民青睐，2023年产量超70万吨，是所有本土绿叶菜总和的两倍多。**
Francis Ngiri, who used to farm in Kirinyaga in central Kenya where cabbages are a mainstay crop, explains that this is because, especially during the 1970s, those growing imported leafy vegetables used fertilisers and pesticides that damaged the local biodiversity.
曾在以卷心菜为主作的中部基里尼亚加务农的弗朗西斯·恩吉里解释，因种植进口叶菜使用的化肥农药破坏了当地生态。
Today, he tells the BBC, only the introduced varieties thrive as the soil has become too acidic to support many native species.
他告诉BBC，如今因土壤酸化，只有引进品种能茁壮生长。
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**Determined to do something so they would not be lost forever, Mr Ngiri moved his operation to Kenya's Rift Valley - an area he considers relatively untouched by chemical contamination - so he could practise organic farming of indigenous crops.**
**为避免本土作物永远消失，恩吉里将农场迁至化学污染较少的东非大裂谷，开展有机种植。**
On a four-acre (1.6 hectare) farm in Elementaita, he began with 14 native varieties in 2016. Today that has grown to 124, many of which he has sourced through seed exchanges with fellow farmers.
2016年他在埃勒门泰塔的1.6公顷农场从14个品种起步，现通过农民间种子交换已增至124种。
His farm now draws visitors from across Kenya and neighbouring countries.
他的农场现在吸引着肯尼亚及邻国访客。
They come to see how he collaborates with 800 other regional farmers, who also grow organic food for local markets, to preserve and regenerate"forgotten plants", ensuring their genetic diversity is safeguarded for future generations.
人们来观摩他如何与800名地区农民合作种植有机食物，保护"被遗忘植物"的基因多样性。
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**Nonetheless by swapping seeds, Mr Ngiri and his colleagues are actually breaking the law as the government only allows the planting of certified seeds.**
**但恩吉里与同行们的种子交换实际违法，因政府只允许种植认证种子。**
This controversial law was introduced in 2012 with the intention of protecting farmers from purchasing poor quality seeds.
这项2012年出台的争议法律本意为保护农民免购劣质种子。
Wambui Wakahiu, who trains farmers on seed conservation, says such policies do not support efforts to save indigenous crop varieties, as their seeds are not available in farm-supply shops.
培训农民保种的万布伊·瓦卡修指出，这类政策不利保护本土作物品种，因农资店不售其种子。
She works for Seed Savers Network, a non-governmental organisation with 400,000 members, which helps establish seed banks for farmers to safely store and preserve their local seeds.
她效力的"种子保存者网络"拥有40万成员，帮助建立农民种子银行。
Her team found that more than 35 traditional plant varieties had been"completely lost" in one county alone because of the law.
其团队发现单在一个县，就有超35个传统植物品种因该法律"完全消失"。
"If [the farmers] focus more on the exotic [foreign] seeds, then the traditional seeds continue going away. And we have seen most of them go extinct," she tells the BBC.
"若农民更关注外来种子，传统种子就会持续消失。我们已见证多数品种灭绝，"她告诉BBC。
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**Mr Ngiri and others who have been exchanging seeds have not been pursued by the authorities, but he says the law does prevent them from marketing them:"If I can't sell the seed, I don't own it."**
**当局虽未追究恩吉里等人的种子交换行为，但他表示法律阻碍了市场化："不能卖的种子就不算真正拥有。"**
And getting certification is a rigorous, costly process, as seeds need to be tested in a laboratory for their purity and things like how well they germinate.
认证过程严格且昂贵，需实验室检测种子纯度和发芽率等指标。
Dr Peterson Wambugu, a chief research scientist with the national gene bank at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (Kalro), acknowledges that under the current law, the exchanging and sale of uncertified seeds - including those saved by farmers - is criminalised.
肯尼亚农牧研究组织国家基因库首席科学家彼得森·万布古博士承认，现行法律将交换和销售未认证种子（包括农民自留种）定为犯罪。
However, he points out that this is at odds with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, of which Kenya is a signatory, as it sets out farmers' rights to save, use and exchange their seeds.
但他指出这与肯尼亚签署的《粮食和农业植物遗传资源国际条约》相悖，因条约规定农民有权保存、使用和交换种子。
The national gene bank has been working with other groups to draft regulations through the agriculture ministry to align Kenyan law with the treaty.
国家基因库正与其他团体合作，通过农业部起草法规以使肯尼亚法律与条约一致。
The proposals, once passed by parliament, will allow farmers to exchange their seeds"without fearing that what they are doing is criminal", he tells the BBC.
他告诉BBC，提案若获议会通过，农民将能"无忧"交换种子。
However, the selling of such seeds would still remain outlawed - something Dr Wambugu knows means the journey to full acceptance of indigenous crops continues.
但销售此类种子仍将违法——万布古博士明白这意味着本土作物完全被接纳之路尚远。
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**For Priscilla Njeri, a vegetable vendor in the bustling Wangige market in Kiambu county just outside Nairobi, there is no turning back, as she can see first-hand that indigenous greens are now the most popular with her customers - something she puts down to the media campaigns that promote them.**
**对内罗毕郊区基安布旺吉格市场的菜贩普莉希拉·恩杰里而言，趋势已不可逆——她亲眼见证本土蔬菜最受顾客欢迎，将此归功于媒体宣传。**
"The most preferred are managu, terere and kanzira [African kale] - which is popular for those who have sensitive stomachs as it has no gas," she tells the BBC.
"最受欢迎的是非洲龙葵、苋菜和非洲羽衣甘蓝——后者因不产气受胃敏感者青睐，"她告诉BBC。
"But all the kienyeji greens are good because they have a better taste."
"但所有本土蔬菜都因味道更好而受喜爱。"
