The History of the Fava Bean on the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands, the volcanic archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, hides a mostly unknown chapter in human agricultural history. Settled around 1,800 years ago by Amazigh (Berber) farming communities from North Africa, these islands became the extreme western outpost of agriculture.

Archaeobotanical research, reveals a consistent series of crops, introduced by the first settlers[1]. These included hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare), durum wheat (Triticum durum), lentils (Lens culinaris), peas (Pisum sativum), figs (Ficus carica), and fava beans (Vicia faba). Since these plants were not native to the islands they must have been transported across the sea, also reflecting agricultural (and maritime) traditions from northwestern Africa.

Fava beans have one of the longest cultivation histories of any legume. Domesticated potentially as early as 10,000 years ago in the Levant, they were a staple long before New World beans reached Europe after 1492 AD.

Rather easy to grow in varied conditions, nutritious, and capable of fixing nitrogen in the soil, favas provided essential protein in pre-industrial diets.

In the Canary Islands, evidence from sites across the archipelago, and especially well-preserved remains in granaries and rock shelters on islands like Gran Canaria, shows that fava beans formed part of a diversified subsistence strategy alongside herding goats, sheep, and pigs.

The Guanche (the indigenous Amazigh-descended people of the Canaries) cultivated these crops in terraced fields and stored them in communal granaries carved into cliffs or lava tubes. This system allowed long-term preservation in the islands’ arid and semi-arid microclimates.

Their presence across multiple islands, from the more fertile central ones (Gran Canaria, Tenerife) to outlying La Palma, underscores the trust of these early farmers to their North African agricultural heritage despite geographic isolation[2].

After the Castilian conquest in the late 15th century, European influences introduced new crops and practices, yet many indigenous varieties and traditions persisted. Genetic and archaeobotanical continuity in related crops like lentils and barley suggests that local landraces of fava beans likely endured through farmer selection and seed saving. Today, fava beans remain part of Canarian cuisine. They feature in stews, salads, and traditional dishes. Thus, the fava beans were already part of the diet of these islanders long before conquistadores and tourists swamped them.

What began as exported, transported and imported crops, these crops helped sustain isolated populations for over a millennium. In an era of climate challenges, these hardy, ancient crops offer valuable lessons in resilience and survival. Both of people and of crops.

A hair in the soup
Rather strangely, a new species of fava bean has been discovered on El Hierro Island, one of the Canary Islands[3]. The species is called Vicia sabinarum. The species is named after the 'emblematic species Juniperus canariensis, locally known as 'sabina', the botanical symbol of El Hierro, although it is native to all the Canary Islands and Madeira.

[1] Morales et al: Agriculture and crop dispersal in the western periphery of the Old World: the Amazigh/Berber settling of the Canary Islands (ca. 2nd–15th centuries CE) in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany – 2023. See here.
[2] Mitchell: Archaeological Research in the Canary Islands: Island Archaeology off Africa’s Atlantic Coast in Journal of Archaeological Research – 2023.
[3] González et al: Vicia sabinarum (Fabaceae) a new species from El Hierro Island (Canary Island) in Vieraea Folia scientiarum biologicarum canariensium - 2022. See here.