nāfolo

This piece traces Centella asiatica through its Malagasy name, Talapetraka, and the 50,000 women who harvest it by hand each season along the riversides and rice fields of Madagascar. Before it became a global skincare trend, it was and still is stirred into rice, brewed into tea, and pressed onto wounds. It was ordinary in the best possible way. Today it is in over 150,000 products worldwide, at...

This piece traces the marula tree ( Sclerocarya birrea ) through ceremony, landscape, and extraction. From the First Fruits festivals of the Zulu and Tsonga, to the women who crack the kernel and press the oil by hand each harvest season, the marula has long been a tree that marks time and holds community together in southern Africa. Long before it appeared in a glass bottle with a colorful cap, i...

In this episode, we follow frankincense, a resin drawn from a small group of Boswellia trees in the Burseraceae family, growing across the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. These trees thrive in rocky escarpments and dry Acacia woodlands where survival itself seems improbable, sometimes rooting directly into solid stone. In Ethiopia, one of the most valued species is Boswellia papyrifera ,...

In this episode, we follow the common poppy, Papaver rhoeas , a plant often mistaken for its more potent relative, Papaver somniferum . Unlike the opium poppy, it is smaller and more delicate, with bristly stems, jagged leaves, and thin, scarlet petals that bloom briefly before falling away. It thrives in disturbed soils, roadsides, fields, and margins, appearing where the land has been unsettled....

In this piece we explore palm oil as more than a controversial commodity. It becomes a lens to examine environmental narratives, and the tension between individual responsibility and systemic change. From childhood lessons tied to Earth Day to present-day reflections eco-anxiety, the story questions how environmental action has been framed and what has been overlooked. Through palm oil, the text c...

This piece traces moringa ( Moringa oleifera ) through memory, geography, and use. From childhood remedies in West Africa to meals shared in Mali and everyday dishes in South India, moringa appears as a constant yet evolving presence. Long before it was labeled a superfood, it functioned as nourishment, medicine, and a practical response to drought and scarcity. The tree’s resilience and versatili...

In this episode we explore the argan tree as more than a resource. It is a keystone species that shapes an entire ecosystem and way of life in southwestern Morocco. Within the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve, ecological resilience, women-led labor, and ancestral knowledge come together through the production of argan oil. From ancient seed storage systems to modern extraction practices, the story sho...

In this episode, we follow the castor plant, first encountered not in its expected homelands, but on a quiet hill in Bordeaux. From that moment, a single plant opens into a story that stretches across continents, histories, and ways of knowing. With its striking, hand-shaped leaves and spiny seed pods, the castor plant is as visually arresting as it is complex. We trace its origins to regions acro...

Before it became a skincare staple, qasil came from the gob tree, Ziziphus spina-christi. In this episode, we explore the Gob tree in Somalia, known sidr in the Arab world, a plant rooted in East Africa but carried across continents, climates, and cultures. Growing in dry, arid landscapes, this thorny, resilient tree has long provided more than just shade: its fruit nourishes, its wood sustains, a...

In this episode, we follow henna as adornment. We look at early records from the Andalusian geographer al-Bakri, trace how the plant may have traveled through Amazigh and Tuareg communities, and explore the many names it carries across languages. Henna’s story does not live only in written documents. It travels through oral traditions, through hands that grind leaves into paste, and through commun...

In this episode, we follow the henna plant, Lawsonia inermis , a shrub with thin woody branches and small glossy leaves that carry a secret: a red-orange pigment called lawsone. A pigment that stains skin, hair, and cloth in shades of copper and rust, binding to keratin. Its story stretches across North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, moving through deserts, riverbanks, gardens, and trade...

nāfolo means wealth in Bambara. in this episode, we follow black seed, Nigella sativa , a small flowering plant in the buttercup family whose delicate petals give way to tiny matte black seeds. a seed that carries many names: black cumin, kalonji, habbat al-barakah , the seed of blessing. a seed whose story stretches across the eastern mediterranean, north africa, and southwest asia, through kitch...

nāfolo means wealth in Bambara. nāfolo is the podcast that collects and cultivates the stories of seeds related to global african-ness. It functions as a library and digital classroom of seed consciousness that highlights the biodiversity of african products. We do so by rooting ourselves in informed culture, politics, science, economy. join us to hear the stories of seeds told by their stewards....

nāfolo means wealth in Bambara. in this episode of nāfolo, we trace the baobab (Adansonia digitata) across landscape and lineage — from the fruit (bouye) and the leaves (lalo) to soap, bark, and oil — and consider how its meanings shift when translated into global skincare. What happens when tradition enters commerce? What does it mean to center African botanicals in a market that often wants the...

nāfolo means wealth in Bambara. in this episode of nāfolo, we trace the story of Vitellaria nilotica and Vitellaria paradoxa , east and west african shea, across land, ritual, chemistry, and commerce. what appears to be a simple comparison becomes a deeper inquiry into texture, ecology, labor, and the politics of “rarity.” from savannah woodlands to market shelves, shea butter moves through women’...

nāfolo means wealth in Bambara. in this episode of nāfolo, we follow the story of Vitellaria paradoxa (the shea tree), through beauty rituals, memory, medicine, and meaning. what begins as a reflection on beauty rituals expands into a meditation on why rituals endure, who carries them, and how plants anchor care across generations. nāfolo collects and cultivates stories of seeds tied to global afr...

welcome back to the return of nàfolo. nàfolo means wealth in bambara. it is a podcast that collects and cultivates stories of seeds and their connections to global african-ness. it functions as a library and digital classroom of seed consciousness, highlighting the biodiversity of african plants and products. we do this by rooting ourselves in informed culture, politics, science, and economy. in t...

We discuss the uniqueness of the bambara bean ( Vigna subterranea) , an indigenous West African seed, in the role it can play in mitigating the impact of climate change and malnutrition. This episode features Samuel Sarr, founder and executive director of Kailend. He founded Kailend in 2013 and its subsidiaries came later in 2018 (Kailand Farm and Kailekka food company) Kailend is a dynamic thinki...

We discuss how nature comes together in communion to create fabrics with designs. Specifically, looking at the bōgōlanfini, a traditional Mandinga dying technique of cotton. Its iconic patterns that hold cultural significance, sometimes black, are made using a mélange of clay and gum arabic tree or bagana, in Bambana ( Acacia nilotica ). Other plants, such as: ngalama ( Anogeissu leiocarpus ) and...

This episode is an ode to Africa day (May 25) but it is also an exploration of the name change of Acacia, an emblematic genus that was previously shared by Africa, Australia, Americas, and Asia. This episode is a stepping stone for the upcoming episodes on a tree that was part was part of this genus. Relevant link: "How to write about Africa" - Binyavanga Wainaina This is a public episode. If you...

Part 2/2 of this episode is on African rice (Oryza glaberrima) domesticated in the flood plains of the Niger River and carried across the Atlantic. Dr. Tinde van Andel and Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black both highlight the importance that a plant can hold in a culture. Together, we explore the challenges of using interdisciplinary methods when retelling history. We unravel the gender dynamics and technol...

Welcome to the first episode of nàfolo. Part 1/2 of this episode is on African rice (Oryza glaberrima) domesticated in the flood plains of the Niger River. Dr. Tinde van Andel and Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black both highlight the importance that a plant can hold in a culture. Together, we explore the challenges of using interdisciplinary methods when retelling history. We unravel the gender dynamics and...

Trailer This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nafolo.substack.com