LIVING AMONG GIANTS

The Mopane Tree

Scientific name: Colophospermum mopane

Common name: Mopane

The first corridors through which I walked were built with wood, not with bricks but with thick and long, peeled logs. The wood of the mopane tree was the perfect homestead construction material at that time, and it still is. Stands of this tree species have decreased due to land clearing for crop fields and developmental activities. The majority of modern communities have resorted to other types of building materials.

Mopane trees can be seen in most of north-central Namibia, but especially in the Omusati Region. In fact, omusati refers to the mopane tree in the Oshiwambo language.There is a longer version of where the name originates from. Literally, omusa ati means what the dead one said. Legend has it that this particular tree was to be given a name at a special event. But on the morning of that day the tribal chief passed on.

Mopane varies in size, depending on the soil. It can be a shrub with thin stems or a tall tree with hard wood. The distinctive large and medium-sized leaves are bifoliate and the pods are kidney-shaped. Leaves and pods are green when moist and turn brown when they dry. Crushed leaves and the pods have a turpentine smell. The flat seeds inside the pods contain resin which is suitable as an essential oil in skincare products. The leaves are browsed by livestock and some wildlife. Regeneration of mopane tree stands is an effortless natural process: pods that have fallen to the ground germinate after sufficient rainfall.

Mopane wood is well suited as firewood. We usually deposit the ash in the crop fields. It is said to be high in calcium and therefore a great fertilizer, but I noticed how it actually improves soil texture. The wood is also used to make pestles, or pounding sticks, and what we call oshini, the bowl in which grains such as mahangu and sorghum are pounded. I honestly never liked having to wake up at 4:00 am with my cousins and aunties to pound, but the choice was between a decent beating from grandma or pounding anyway.

Mopane wood is most commonly used for the construction of homesteads and for fencing crop fields. The bast fibre of the branches is used to tie wood horizontally to mopane poles in the ground. It is also used to tie branches when weaving barns for mahangu storage or to tie wood collected from the open communal areas. Mopane wood is durable. It takes time before it deteriorates under environmental conditions.

Interestingly, not only does the mopane tree host the mopane worm – a highly nutritious caterpillar – but also an insect that produces an edible sugary liquid. When the liquid dries on the leaves it forms small whitish flakes, locally known as uutushi. The flakes are really sweet and people with a mind for business are harvesting them beyond household consumption to sell them at open markets.

Agnes Shivute