GROUNDNUTS
These are valuable cash crops for small-scale farmers in the semi-arid tropics. The main use of groundnut is as a source of edible oil, but the high oil and protein contents also make it an important food crop. Groundnuts are mostly cooked and pureed into a thick, rich sauce and spooned over plantains, rice, different kinds of animal staples, etc. Originally, groundnuts came from southern Bolivia and northern Argentina, where the local Indian peoples cultivated them. Then the groundnut was “discovered” by Spanish explorers and spread throughout the world, including Africa. Today most of the groundnut production takes place in the Sub-Saharan part of the continent, being a favorable source of nutrition and cash earnings in semi-arid zones.