Grow African foods to combat food insecurity

Researchers at Stellenbosch University look at the reasons why the consumption of indigenous foods in South Africa is on the decline, and what can be done to help promote their use.

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Despite an abundance of indigenous vegetables and fruits in Southern Africa, people in the region continue to suffer from food insecurity. It appears that they do not value these foods and their potential to eradicate poverty and hunger, promote health and nutrition, and provide an income for households.

“The consumption of indigenous foods such as Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas, green leafy vegetables, and pumpkin leaves is declining in most Southern African countries. This decline has been attributed to several factors, including the westernisation of African diets, the bitter and discouraging taste of wild vegetables, culture, and the perception that wild vegetables are lowincome foods,” say researchers in the Division of Human Nutrition in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University.

They add: “A lack of interest in learning about indigenous foods or the absence of the older people passing on information to the younger generation about the identification, harvesting, preparation and preservation of these foods, have also contributed to this decline. Also, commercial farming, research and development have significantly ignored these foods, making them less competitive than established major crops.” The researchers did a systematic review of existing data (2011–2021) about the availability of indigenous foods in Southern Africa, including factors leading to their utilisation. They wanted to determine the availability, regularity of consumption, utilisation, preparation, harvesting and preservation of indigenous foods. They also wanted to detail the knowledge, perceptions and beliefs of indigenous foods under these themes.

The findings of their review were published recently in the international open access journal Sustainability.

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