By LEE KOELZER | Director GRU
One of the things I love most about Africa is the abundance of interesting and unique fruits available. One of which is the Kiwano Melon, also known as African Horned Mellon, and Bush Cucumber.
The kiwano melon grows freely in Northern Uganda where the temperature is typically hot and dry. We decided to cultivate the seeds and grow them in the southern Region which is a more tropical atmosphere.
The good part is that being so close to Kampala we are able to bring the fruits to the farmers market where they fetch a price of about $0.70 cents each, which is pretty awesome considering that in Uganda they previously had basically no monetary value! As they are covered in spikes, they are somewhat difficult to transport, which is another benefit of our famers living so close to Kampala.
In addition to their awesome appearance and high price for our farmers, kiwano melons are packed full of iron, vitamin C, antioxidants, and other beneficial vitamins and nutrients. Their taste is rather bland compared to their colorful coating. But they are healthy, and definitely one of our most interesting crops we have started cultivating!
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