Every community has elders with vivid memories of how they ended up consuming colonial food. They use these memories to tell stories around their indigenous food and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in which traditional structures and totems are also part of the story. The elders have also witnessed the impact of external inputs on their environment, water and soils. For instance, they can link the depletion of their soil nutrients to conventional inputs like fertilizers and chemicals which have had direct negative impact on individual households and entire communities.
Toward a shared understanding and meaning of indigenous food
A recent dialogue between eMKambo (www.emkambo.co.zw) and farming communities in Masvingo province of Zimbabwe surfaced interesting views on what communities consider to be indigenous food. From simple categorization of crops, fruits, vegetables and animals, it became clear that there has been enormous dilution of indigenous food by exotic food due to decades of infiltration. For instance, while fruits like guava are largely considered exotic, they now grow naturally in forests together with diverse indigenous fruits. It has become difficult for young people who grew up seeing the guava fruit to consider it exotic. Likewise, to what extent are avocadoes indigenous to communities where this fruit has become part of the local staple? Some community elders recall that the fruits were brought by missionaries. Community discussions also grappled with questions like to what extent are ducks and pigs indigenous? How do we set boundaries between indigenous and exotic food? How deep can communities go in distinguishing indigenous food from exotic food?
The role of culture and tradition in building local African food baskets
Dynamic conversations with communities have also revealed the role of intercultural marriages in food baskets as well as how localized indigenous food has in-built cultural systems that are preserved and passed on through sharing seed and livestock breeds. Some food baskets are controlled by culture complete with beliefs and perceptions. For instance, Bambara nut has to be planted at a particular time of the season otherwise it will affect the planting and growth of other crops. In communities that have been infiltrated by several Christian denominations, Christianity is influencing the composition of indigenous food baskets. For instance, some Christians demonize indigenous food like small grains by associating them with spirit media. Since food increases through being consumed, when Christian values demonize small grains like pearl millet in particular communities, it means that food is ejected from the food basket. Elders are also surprised why some churches are diluting African tradition by using tools like clay pots which are part of African tradition.
There are strong feelings that different structures like political, traditional, religious, government and development agencies structures should promote the recognition, support and protection of indigenous food. In most cases, political leaders bring food from outside without consulting traditional leaders who are supposed to be the custodians of local natural resources including means of producing food. Government programs and input schemes also bring their interventions without seeking guidance from traditional leaders.
Arresting knowledge erosion
Elders who are still knowledgeable about their local food confirmed that at least 75% of the food systems are still available. However, the knowledge is scattered as people remember what they were told by their elders and some remember certain indigenous herbs but have forgotten about other species that have disappeared from the community. While the loss of indigenous food may not be physical loss but loss in related knowledge, this situation can be corrected through a locally-based documentation and knowledge repository system. The formal education system can be used to restore food basket knowledge through contextualizing food in heritage studies. For instance, school children in Chipinge or Binga can easily learn about their local food systems and the knowledge can be patented through schools.
Seed festivals and agricultural shows tend to take the best seed but there is a lot worthy preserving which does not get to agricultural shows and festivals. If African governments are serious about food sovereignty, they should not just leave indigenous seed, soil and culture in the hands of development agencies. That is how communities are losing their knowledge through project reports that are written to funders by NGOs as part of justifying how the funds were used. Unmonitored ways through which development programs are harvesting knowledge and seed from communities may eventually see communities buying back seed that they used to have in abundance.
The government should take the lead in preserving indigenous food
Given that change is possible but can take time, government should take the lead in promoting indigenous food. Thankfully, some indigenous foods are making their own in-roads into commercialization. For instance, indigenous fruits and tubers are getting into cities without any policy support. Governments can support by developing ideal markets for indigenous food by providing competitive pricing models as well as building an efficient and better paying supply chain. The private sector is too profit-oriented to be given such an important national task that has some social safety net elements. In addition, government should set up processing centres for small grains in communities and provide market options like exports.
Dialogues as platforms for mindset change and restoring community well-being
As has been demonstrated by eMKambo, facilitating dialogue creates a platform for consolidating local knowledge about food systems which can be used for investment, market development and mindset change. Documentation can also be a pathway for reflection. For instance, youths need platforms for dialoguing around food and well-being. It is also through dialogue that local leaders can see the need for visiting other communities to learn from how others are implementing indigenous food programs. Unfortunately, too much involvement of government in traditional leadership processes and structures often divide communities in ways that undermine collective development.
Tapping into local community notions of resilience
Every African community has its own medicinal plants and many elders are aware that resilience begins from wellness based on indigenous food that has nutrition elements, medicinal elements and other unique food elements. Another valued form of wellness is in the form of undocumented beliefs or myths that are part of early warnings from the ecosystem. Supporting these values requires organizing communities and setting up systems that help communities too package their knowledge for use in influencing policies and directing the young generation. That is also how investment opportunities around IKS and indigenous food can contribute to physical development of communities rather than extracting minerals and destroying communities. What benefits communities most between producing tobacco or investing in their own IKS and indigenous food and medicine? Village tourism should be anchored on IKS and indigenous food set up in indigenous knowledge centres. This can be an important step toward a community-based holistic movement in which local people become empowered to seek answers to questions like what has happened to our consumption patterns and traditional herbs over the years? How can we start restoring our culture, identity and self-worth through reviving our indigenous food systems and traditional medicines?
Charles@knowledgetransafrica.com / charles@emkambo.co.zw /
Website: www.emkambo.co.zw / www.knowledgetransafrica.com
Mobile: 0772 137 717/ 0774 430 309/ 0712 737 430