Msangu

This is another of our amazing plants. It ia called Msangu locally, but our guys give it its full Latin title Faidherbia albida.
Two tears ago we bought about 4 hectares of land, with great difficulty from the local Chief and have since planted Malangu at 15 meter spacings to fix nitrogen and so reduce the cost of fertilizer. It is a commercial model farm.
With its nitrogen-fixing qualities, the tall, long-lived acacia tree, Faidherbia albida (Mgunga in Swahili) could limit the use of fertilizers; provide fodder for livestock, wood for construction and fuel wood, and medicine through its bark, as well as windbreaks and erosion control to farmers across sub-Saharan Africa.
It is a wonder plant and has taken us a long time to get it right. It has a sensitive tap root which needs to be protected when its grown in plastic containers. In the early attempts, we were breaking the tap roots, and there was no advice from any quarter!!!
It has the potential to increase maize yields in multiples, but Malawian men see waiting the 20 years to maturity as a waste of time.
The long tap roots bring nutrients from deep in the soil and fix nitrogen as well. As soon as the maize is sown in the rainy season the tree drops its nitrogen containing leaves on to the soil and thence a great yield.
We are doing it, but culture and tradition change slowly, while the World and Monsanto want to use artificial fertilizer!!
Msangu is from the Acacia family and we are looking at other members as well.