Peanuts Pack A Nutritious Punch!

It’s in the bag: Groundnuts ready for market

Farmers in South Sudan enjoyed a bumper crop of groundnuts (also known as peanuts, goober, pindar or monkey nuts) this year. They have dried and bagged the surplus and will store them for lean times when they can fetch a good price at the market.

The groundnuts are grown on farms provided by the local authorities. JAM and the World Food Programme helps farmers to get started by providing seeds and tools, training and technical guidance in agronomic practices. JAM also helps to organise the farmers into co-operative groups that can share the load of tasks, crop management and the profits.

Peanuts are versatile and highly nutritious, since they contain a lot of protein. Many of us are familiar with peanut butter that is spread on bread or roasted peanuts served as snacks. They can also be used to make delicious sauces and pastes to add to vegetable and meat dishes. In South Sudan they are also boiled or eaten raw. Groundnuts also provide oil for cooking.

A special paste made from peanuts, called Plumpy’Nut, is used to treat children suffering from nutrition deficiencies in JAM’s malnutrition clinics. “Removing the need for hospitalisation, the 92-gram packets of this paste can be administered at home and allow larger numbers to be treated,” reads a description of the product.

Peanuts pack a powerful punch!

Peanuts pack a powerful punch!