BESIDES sustaining the vital connection between urban and rural areas, African mass markets are now driving a vibrant cultural revitalisation based on indigenous worldviews and traditions long suppressed by colonisation.
Where the colonial notion separated seed from food and created silos through disciplines like seed breeding and agronomy, indigenous worldviews see seed and food as one entity. Finger millet grain can be planted as seed, consumed raw, roasted and converted to indigenous beverages. It is seed and food at the same time. The same applies to several tubers.
African markets as sources of therapy
Whereas Western medical practice has focused more on healing the physical body, the indigenous worldview that is being revitalised through agroecology and African territorial markets embraces healing at four levels — emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.
That is why traditional medical practitioners like herbalists and healers are part of almost every African territorial market that cherishes its identity. With emotional, mental and spiritual health becoming major pandemics among youth across the world, African indigenous markets are gaining more prominence. Even Western-trained medical practitioners are prescribing medicines and related food that can only be found in mass markets not in pharmacies.
Some of the mental health challenges related to drug abuse among African youths are rooted in inter-generational trauma, poverty and social alienation. For some reason, rehabilitation methods rooted in Western knowledge systems are failing to solve this huge challenge. Emerging evidence from African mass markets shows that throwing money at the challenge will not solve the problem of youth disconnection from self, family, community and nature and a related crisis of meaning.
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To a large extent, indigenous wisdom has much to offer in addressing this challenge. As custodians of indigenous cultural traditions, African territorial markets, indigenous farmers and healers value the interdependence of human beings with the land, water and the spiritual world. Such a worldview is an integral component of cross-cultural and inter-generational approaches key for promoting youth well-being and exploring what constitutes a meaningful life more than just money.
Towards an Africanist design of mass markets
Now that the value of African mass markets and indigenous wisdom is gaining acceptance from policymakers, practitioners and development agencies, urban planners and architectural designers of African marketplaces should take into account the healing power of these markets at different levels. Shopping malls may not adequately represent indigenous aspirations and the healing roles of the market. By bringing food and medicine together in unique ways, African mass markets prioritise the importance of relationships in indigenous food and healing beyond patient and healer to include people’s ties to the Creator, family, community and the world at-large. That is why futuristic modern mass markets should be designed to be environments that nurture health and healing anchored on relationality — an appreciation of the interconnectedness of all life.
The role of mass markets in promoting the mental health and well-being of consumers including youth cannot be over-emphasised. Youths, who struggle with feelings of shame and inadequacy that tend to fuel addiction to drugs, need caring relationships that connect them with their gifts and self-worth. Millions of African youths grow up in environments where historic and contemporary trauma, poverty and negative societal narratives shape their identities from birth.
For too long, the dominant narrative has been that African people are deficient, inadequate, inferior. Such narratives, perpetuated through the media and embedded within educational and formal healthcare systems, reinforce these negative stereotypes. Feelings of low self-worth are so deeply ingrained and unconscious that they cannot be solved through conventional mental health interventions. By nurturing authentic relationships between diverse actors — farmers, traders, healers, transporter and consumers, African mass markets are a big part of the futuristic solution.
When properly designed from an Africanist perspective, mass markets can encourage indigenous cultural practices like beading, weaving, singing, dancing, carving, drum-making which enable youths to connect to their cultural identity and strengthen relationships with peers. Such activities build mindful awareness and engage the senses. Youth should spend time together in the markets — identifying plants and collecting raw materials to use in creating traditional clothing and the regalia worn at sacred ceremonies.
Such practices help to counteract the negative effects of digital technology, including isolation and low self-esteem, on young people’s mental health. Dancing, singing and other group activities nurture a sense of belonging and activate feel-good chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine in the brain. Such practices strengthen young people’s connection to indigenous values deeply rooted in Ubuntu and relationality.
The concept of Ubuntu speaks to living a balanced and harmonious life by honouring and respecting oneself, one’s ancestors, the community, environment and all of creation. The same cannot be said about other markets.