Rejection of African Indigenous Food: The Case of Rwanda

Eugene Baraka Author

04/05/2021 Added

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Lack of diversified diets, due to colonialization and nutrition transition, is the leading cause of the double burden of malnutrition in the country where the progress to reduce undernutrition is slow and obesity rates are rapidly rising. Consumption of indigenous foods has proven to diversify diets, but very few studies have been conducted to assess which ones are available for consumption in Rwanda. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability and use of indigenous foods in Rwanda.

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[00:00:01.830]Hello, everyone.
[00:00:03.410]Thank you so much for attending my presentation today.
[00:00:06.230]My name is Eugene Baraka and I'm a senior majoring in integrated science at UNL.
[00:00:11.690]My research is entitled Rejection of African indigenous food: The case of Rwanda
[00:00:18.380]Rwanda is a landlocked country in East Africa and its population has been
[00:00:22.190]growing exponentially over the past few years.
[00:00:25.040]This makes it the second most densely populated country on the continent.
[00:00:29.060]After Mauritius,
[00:00:30.860]it has been colonized by both Germany and Belgium between 1899
[00:00:35.990]and 1962 and the colonizers controlled the nation's land
[00:00:40.910]and food systems.
[00:00:42.350]They introduced cash crops such as tea that currently takes a huge
[00:00:47.240]portion of the land in the country.
[00:00:50.180]The nation is currently in a nutrition transition.
[00:00:53.510]People are moving towards a Western-style diet and rejecting their own
[00:00:58.220]indigenous crops and knowledge. At the same time,
[00:01:01.730]both undernutrition and obesity as skyrocketing,
[00:01:04.910]but how did the country get here in the first place?
[00:01:08.750]How did we get to a stage where we don't want to conserve and use our own
[00:01:13.250]crops?
[00:01:15.440]In his recently published article, Seburanga States
[00:01:21.380]"in many countries European colonization,
[00:01:24.080]resulted in cultural desintegration and erosion of indigenous knowledge
[00:01:28.910]that made citizens lose interest in their own cultural heritage and adopt
[00:01:34.070]imperial know-how. During the same time, native biodiversity,
[00:01:38.480]that was once maintained by the tradition it shaped declined. Alien crops
[00:01:43.280]prospered, and finally dominated landscapes.
[00:01:47.840]Rejection of
[00:01:48.740]Indigenous food in Rwanda started many years ago,
[00:01:52.940]due to colonial control. This has decreased biodiversity in the country,
[00:01:58.100]which was proven to be one of the main stimulants of malnutrition Worldwide.
[00:02:03.260]Recent research has shown that use, conservation, and protection of
[00:02:08.210]indigenous foods help achieve biodiversity.
[00:02:12.320]Plus they're really affordable, more nutritious, and more resistant to climate change
[00:02:18.320]Despite their importance in achieving zero hunger in the Rwanda, little is
[00:02:23.030]known about what indigenous crops are available.
[00:02:28.970]Therefore, the aim of this study was to answer these questions,
[00:02:33.640]which WHO food categories are available in Kigali's open-air markets,
[00:02:38.570]which African indigenous food can be purchased in Kigali open-air markets.
[00:02:43.760]And finally,
[00:02:45.470]what is the proportion of African indigenous foods to exotic foods in the sampled
[00:02:50.270]markets. To answer these questions,
[00:02:53.690]we inventoried three open air markets in Kigali.
[00:02:57.710]The markets are Nyabugogo Kigali city, and Kimironko markets.
[00:03:03.250]Data collection consisted of walking through all three markets and recording
[00:03:07.720]all consumables available for sale.
[00:03:12.070]Data were collected between October and December of 2020.
[00:03:15.460]Then the data from all three markets were combined in Microsoft
[00:03:20.050]Excel. And finally,
[00:03:22.090]all markets were visited twice to ensure we record the widest number of
[00:03:25.900]consumables,
[00:03:27.790]All consumables were categorized using the FAO/WHO individual food consumption methodology for groups and subgroups
[00:03:39.640]We identified the place of origin for each food.
[00:03:43.180]And then we compare the nutritional value of some African indigenous food to
[00:03:47.950]that of similar items from other continent.
[00:03:50.890]So the results of our research shows that there were a
[00:03:55.600]total of 62 spaces falling into seven categories,
[00:04:00.310]and these categories were cereals, fish, fruits, legumes,
[00:04:05.020]root crops, meat/dairy, and vegetables.
[00:04:10.330]Of all species found in the markets only a quarter,
[00:04:14.440]was indigenous to Africa and the rest from other regions.
[00:04:19.570]Tables 1-4
[00:04:23.020]represent all consumables found in the market.
[00:04:25.720]They are indigenous to four continents, which are Africa, the Americas,
[00:04:30.310]Asia, and Europe.
[00:04:33.880]Table 1 shows food indigenous to Africa.
[00:04:37.630]Most of these species in Kigalis market where fish
[00:04:42.730]Tables 2 and 3 show that
[00:04:47.380]fruits were mostly from the Americas and Asia. For the fruits
[00:04:52.450]available in the markets,
[00:04:53.890]only watermelon and the African eggplants are indigenous to Africa.
[00:04:58.240]And they make up to 10% of the fruits in the markets.
[00:05:03.970]Most vegetables were indigenous to the Americas and Europe,
[00:05:08.590]as they're presented in Tables 2 and 4
[00:05:10.330]indigenous vegetables,
[00:05:13.960]which are lettuce and mushrooms made up to
[00:05:18.700]14% of all vegetables available in open-air markets
[00:05:23.440]inventoried. And finally,
[00:05:25.720]there were no legumes from Africa in the sampled open-air markets,
[00:05:31.690]Because Rwanda is currently in a nutrition transition.
[00:05:35.260]it needs to diversify diets to reduce the double burden of malnutrition.
[00:05:40.210]Indigenous millet species like as finger millet.
[00:05:43.750]Were not present in any of the markets despite their high nutrition value.
[00:05:50.260]Finger millet is rich in methionine, an amino acid.
[00:05:53.250]that is lacking in many diets around the world.
[00:05:56.730]The pearl millet has three times as much iron and more
[00:06:01.250]protein than maize. However,
[00:06:04.340]it was only available in flour form.
[00:06:08.780]Millet and sorghum, uh, are the only African indigenous
[00:06:13.670]species in the cereals category.
[00:06:18.140]But there were also only available in the flour form; they're more drought
[00:06:23.150]and heat resistant than either rice, wheat, and maize,
[00:06:27.050]which are commonly used in Rwanda, African indigenous legumes,
[00:06:32.150]such as cowpeas and pigeon peas were not found in any of the sample
[00:06:37.160]markets.
[00:06:38.480]they have higher folic acid and vitamin A
[00:06:43.160]levels.
[00:06:44.630]Briefly indigenous foods are often more nutritious than exotic ones.
[00:06:49.490]They're also more resistant to drought and heat stress
[00:06:53.930]They can also be grown in high altitudes. However,
[00:06:58.670]these species are seldom available in markets.
[00:07:03.380]Most indigenous foods, uh, are near extinction.
[00:07:10.810]To conclude adoption of global food systems is
[00:07:14.980]inevitable. However consumption, consumption,
[00:07:19.240]and conservation of traditional food crops and indigenous knowledge is vital
[00:07:24.970]use and appreciation of indigenous food is essential to
[00:07:29.650]improving the nutrition status and reducing the double burden of malnutrition
[00:07:36.610]Because of this, we have five recommendations.
[00:07:40.480]The first one is educating about the importance of indigenous foods in schools,
[00:07:45.130]clinics, farmers cooperatives, and communities.
[00:07:49.270]The second one is focusing on investing in nutrition,
[00:07:53.680]research on food indigenous to Africa, and Rwanda.
[00:08:00.130]Thirdly focus on a more nutrition sensitive agriculture,
[00:08:05.620]and then focus on management and conservation of indigenous food resources
[00:08:10.660]and last but not least strengthening,
[00:08:13.960]the already existing programs to encourage the use of indigenous
[00:08:18.820]foods. For example, in Rwanda, we can use
[00:08:21.820]the kitchen gardens to strengthen and encourage the cultivation of
[00:08:26.650]indigenous food crops. That was the end of my presentation.
[00:08:31.030]Thank you so much.

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Rejection of African Indigenous Food: The Case of Rwanda

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