Using indigenous science to show the benefits of consuming indigenous food

DUE to the absence of a documentation culture, it has remained difficult for African elders to convince the young generation about the benefits of consuming indigenous food. This challenge has been worsened because of limited interest by African policymakers to fully integrate indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) into formal education systems. The majority of Africans are expected to use foreign languages like English, French or Portuguese to unlock the value of their natural resources yet indigenous languages are best at articulating local food systems including diets. Consequently, a lot of IKS and indigenous science remains unknown to the young generation which should take it forward.

Building science around IKS 

Rather than becoming masters at copying Western science, African policymakers should promote learning agendas that unlock the science within IKS. Indigenous diets are part of IKS in which a lot of indigenous science is embedded but not expressed in Western jargon like carbohydrates, proteins, fats and starch.

Having absorbed Western science, it is becoming difficult for young people to make sense of IKS within indigenous food systems. Meanwhile, realising the value of indigenous food, corporates are stealing and commercialising food and beverage recipes that were traditionally honed by African grandmothers as public knowledge.

Given that patenting is a colonial system of protecting knowledge, the best way of protecting indigenous science and knowledge could be converting the knowledge into tangible community benefits. It is when IKS is recognised as a science that Africans can build a strong unique selling proposition for indigenous food. So far, indigenous science has not been used to help young people to see the benefits of consuming indigenous food.

When IKS is embedded in educational curricula, children can learn what informed African forefathers to strengthen food diversity. African forefathers knew a lot about soil fertility and how to maintain wetlands but modern science has failed to maintain wetlands. How did African elders foster fair trade when they did not have scales?

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 Traditional leadership has a role in the knowledge preservation agenda

Traditional leaders have a big role to play in preserving IKS and bringing the Africanness of food systems to the formal education system and policy. Through knowledge management systems, traditional leadership structures can be used to follow trends on how African food and medicine are recognised by foreigners on international forums yet Africans who have been brainwashed by the colonial experience are shunning such key resources.

A large portion of African indigenous science and economies have remained underground because there have not been efforts to generate a deep understanding of socio-economic, environmental and political drivers of this economy. Knowledge, information and expertise that can inform and direct investments should come first.

Absence of systems is one big challenge in how to link the formal education system with the existing economy. As much as there can be useful content in curricula and graduates, there are often no systems to direct graduates where they can apply their education and acquired knowledge. This is a leadership and policy issue that may not be addressed by communities on their own.

 Cultivating collaboration between African territorial markets and supermarkets

Indigenous food and embedded food science can be advanced by cultivating collaboration between African territorial markets and corporates like supermarkets. However, it is strange that, although semi-owned by Africans, some corporates like supermarkets do not want to be seen as having direct business relationships with territorial markets.

This is seen in how they use agents rather than engaging territorial markets directly. It seems they are afraid of losing consumers who look down upon products from territorial markets. Yet building transparent synergies with territorial markets enables them to grow their market share riding on their power to aggregate diverse commodities for both domestic, regional and international markets. 

 While corporates embed their Africanness through aggregation, consistency in supply and improving quality, they lack a public knowledge sharing dimension that characterises the Africanness of territorial markets. That knowledge is extended to diverse consumers. Territorial markets also have undocumented historical trends on the consumption patterns of particular commodities and try to sustain those patterns. To a large extent, pricing models in supermarkets are increasingly influenced by territorial markets. However, there is still a bridge on transaction methods. For instance, territorial markets have their own systems informed by diverse units of measurement and provide opportunities for consumers to taste food.

On the contrary, supermarkets prefer writing information about food on labels stuck on packaging containers like tins and packets. This implies there is not enough face-to-face interaction to ensure the consumer does not just communicate with labels on a product.

 Harnessing the power of ownership, messaging and packaging

Territorial markets have the knowledge of where organic products are produced but lack the messaging prowess that is seen in corporate markets. Corporates that are not proactive in supporting agroecology products are sensitive to not being seen promoting indigenous food through advertisements.

They do not want to disappoint their colonial conventional suppliers. This is seen in how they do not advertise indigenous food like mahewu aggressively, preferring to advertise Coke and Pepsi. Ideally, corporate social responsibility in the indigenous sense should be advanced by corporates that get a lot of commodities from territorial markets.

Hotels, hospitals and other corporates that silently procure commodities from territorial markets should openly provide corporate support to these markets.

The ownership of corporates influences their willingness to build relationships with territorial markets. If corporates in the fast-food industry were fully indigenously-owned, indigenous chickens and sweet potatoes would dominate their menus.

Instead, foreign ownership explains why they are promoting foreign potato seed and foreign broilers owned by foreign science. If indigenous science was strong, African countries would have several indigenous companies promoting indigenous seed and indigenous livestock.

The fact that this is not happening indicates the extent to which formal education systems are not grooming African young people to appreciate their local food and promote it. Traditional leaders should lead indigenous seed celebrations that should not be done in cities but in local communities that are sources of seed and related IKS.

• Charles Dhewa is a proactive knowledge broker and management specialist.