food
Melvyn Minnaar
A local fowl expert has landed on the world’s gastronomic stage with his nomination for the Slow Food Award 2001 Special Jury Prize. Noel Honeyborne of Fowls for Africa is the first South African finalist; he was selected from 550 entries worldwide.
At a taste-off at the Herbert Baker restaurant in Parktown, chef Alan Gerson prepared four different indigenous fowl and one ordinary chicken in a number of ways, all with a strong local flavour: chicken chakalaka, chicken in kumquat sauce, chicken with Mpumalanga herbs and an inventive coq au pinotage.
At an earlier tasting Gerson and Slow Food International’s Peter James-Smith had agreed that there was “real gastronomic value in these birds” and that they should be made available for restaurants.
What brought on the extraordinary tasting was Honeyborne’s singular devotion to improving food production and provision to the lesser privileged of our country and beyond.
For his efforts over many years he now stands to be acknowledged with one of the world’s most illustrious awards dedicated to meritorious projects in defence of biodiversity and world agro-industrial heritage.
Fowls for Africa was founded in 1994 by Honeyborne with the express aim of making poultry production possible for small farmers, women and disadvantaged communities. Now a registered trademark, it links the task of saving old animal species with fighting hunger in Southern Africa.
Born in Alicedale, he initially studied electrical engineering before switching to animal husbandry, specialising in poultry. Since 1992 he has been working as chief research technologist at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) at Irene. Fowls for Africa is based on his work with local poultry breeds.
“Poultry meat can be produced much faster than meat from sheep, cattle or pigs,” says Honeyborne. “The meat and eggs are easy to digest and within the means of poor people.”
His focus on native and adapted species is specific and makes common sense: although many of these birds grow slowly, they are good breeding hens and have adapted to survival in extreme conditions. They are less demanding from a feeding point of view and more resistant to diseases.
Seven breeds are particularly suitable for small farmers: Black Australorp, New Hampshire, Rhode Island Red, Potchefstroom Koekoek, Ovambo, Venda and Naked Neck.
The ARC at Irene sends thousands of chicks each year to various provinces and other African countries. More than 150000 four-week-old chicks are being sent to 87000 families in Mozambique who suffered losses during the floods.
The Food for Aids Orphans scheme is a spin-off. It was founded when Honeyborne gave 20 Ovambo hens to the Funanani Aids Orphans project, a centre women set up for Aids orphans at Bushbuckridge in the mid-1990s. More than 80 orphans are being cared for there. “We showed them how to produce eggs on the one hand to feed the children, on the other to earn some money. We offered them a one-week course on poultry keeping, also showing them how to use moveable cages.”
A small egg production unit is now in full swing. Part of the earnings from the sale of eggs is used to purchase chicken feed. Some of the eggs are fed to the children to provide them with animal protein. Hens are later sold and new ones bought or they are eaten.
Honeyborne, who was nominated by James-Smith, will travel to Oporto in Portugal in mid-October for the Slow Food Award presentation. The nomination has brought him a 2500 euro prize for the project and, if he is among the top five voted for by the international jury, he will win an additional 7500 euros.
The special Slow Food eat-in of Honeyborne’s chickens at the Herbert Baker not only confirmed that local is indeed very tasty, but showed that it makes sense in many, many ways. Honeyborne deserves that reward for showing the way.
The details
For more information contact Fowls for Africa, Private Bag X2, Irene, 0062, Tel: (012) 6729239; Slow Food International, Via Mendicit 8, 12042 Bra (CN), Italy, Tel: (0939) 0172 419611, www.slowfood.com; or Johannesburg Convivium, Tel: (011) 7142765.