Indigenous foods give a taste of healthier, ‘better future’

They hold immense potential to enhance food security and dietary diversity

- XIKOMBISO MBHENYANE MTHOKOZISI ZUMA FLORENCE MALONGANE AND ZOE NXUSANI

CELEBRATED on October 16 each year, World Food Day’s 2025 theme is “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”.

As we mark this day, we should reflect on the important role of indigenous foods in shaping healthier, more sustainable diets. Indigenous foods are more than sustenance; they are vessels of cultural heritage, ecological wisdom, and nutritional resilience.

Rooted in ancestral knowledge and local ecosystems, these foods offer communities a sense of identity and continuity while addressing pressing global challenges such as malnutrition, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

Nutritionally, indigenous plantbased foods are rich in essential micronutrients like iron, zinc, and vitamin A, which are critical for improving health outcomes, as Thobeka Kunene and his coauthors point out in Food Security for African Smallholder Farmers (2022).

In a 2013 study published in the International Journal of Engineering Research and Development, Vignesh Janarthanan and Dinesh Kumar note that their natural bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, supports disease prevention and overall well-being.

Indigenous grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables also provide dietary fibre, resistant starch, and naturally occurring, health-boosting compounds, which aid in the regulation of blood glucose, how well your body responds to insulin, and weight management.

Despite their proven benefits, indigenous foods remain under-utilised due to market exclusion, erosion of traditional knowledge, and limited policy support.

Yet, they hold immense potential to enhance food security and dietary diversity, particularly in indigenous communities across southern and East Africa.

Studies have shown that staples such as thyeke/thepe, nyawa/Imbumbha, muxiji, mabele, marula, and nsala/ umKwakwa/klapper exemplify this diversity and resilience.