The morama bean is highly prized by the people of the Kalahari Desert (Botswana, Namibia and South Africa), where it occurs naturally in grassland and open woodland. Seeds are usually roasted, resembling roasted cashews or chestnuts. The extracted oil is similar to almond oil and is suitable for domestic purposes, having a pleasant nutty flavour, although with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Morama beans are also boiled with maize meal, or ground and pounded to a powder, for making porridge or a cocoa-like beverage. In some areas small tubers and young stems are also roasted and eaten, having a pleasant flavour.