Indigenous food key to promoting healthy populations

A nyevhe (Cleome Gynandra) field belonging to Paul Muchineripi (74) a farmer in Gutu, Masvingo Province. Over the last few decades, consumption trends of indigenous foods have decreased among younger populations in favour highly processed foods. PELUM Zimbabwe is working to promote the growing and consumption of safe indigenous foods to address food, nutrition and income security challenges faced by small-scale farmers in the face of climate change. Photo credit: PELUM Zimbabwe

Chronic diseases and auto immune diseases have reached epidemic proportions because the quality of our diet is declining. The health of Zimbabweans has been worsening for the past 20 years because the primary driver is diet.

Heavens Piti (22), is one of the young people working with the Participatory Organic Research and Extension Training (PORET) Trust in Chimanimani district, eastern Zimbabwe. Heavens says the majority of Zimbabweans do not know what they are doing to their bodies when they eat highly processed foods.

“Young and old people are now at the highest risk of contracting non-communicable diseases because they lack knowledge and are reluctant to change their habits and diet. For many people, changing their diet is the last option,” says Heavens.

Heavens says there is a need to begin to appreciate nutrition because good nutrition can reverse many kinds of diseases.

“Processed foods are difficult to eliminate and citizens have been hooked but with more knowledge and support they stand a better chance to change and adopt healthy and sustainable diets,” says Heavens.

Solomon Mwacheza (46), the Programmes Coordinator for Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organisation (TSURO) Trust says foods grown with chemicals have severe health implications in the development of children and adults.

“Chemicals used in crop production sometimes result in compromised development of children and it has been proven that later on in adulthood, these chemicals have a huge contribution in the development on non-communicable diseases,” says Solomon.

Dennis Chisevure (31), a Business Development Manager at Zimbabwe Farmers Union also concurs with Solomon and says in order to address the knowledge gap among the young generation there is need for different stakeholders to work together to spread knowledge among the youth.

“The biggest support would be capacity building workshops and to ensure that young people are knowledgeable about nutrition and benefits of indigenous foods. Technocrats can come in and teach young farmers who then teach their peers. This way the knowledge on indigenous food systems can be maintained,” says Dennis.

PELUM Zimbabwe is working with and through its membership to create spaces and platform for such capacity building to occur.