Time: 10:00 – 12:30 SAST
Venue: Online / CSIR Tshwane Campus - Building 20, Baobab Conference Room
A local variety of sorghum in Malawi. Photo Swathi Sridharan/Commons Wikimedia.
Traditional and indigenous foods offer many advantages — culturally, nutritionally, environmentally, and in terms of climate change resilience. Emerging evidence suggests that they promote health by cultivating a diverse and beneficial microbial community in our bellies.
Yet, farmers and food enterprises promoting indigenous and traditional food face significant challenges in aligning supply and demand to grow this neglected economy sustainably and equitably. Growing this economy faces risks, including ecological repercussions, privatisation, and the entrenchment of unequal power and race dynamics.
Join this Food Imbizo for a lively discussion with researchers, government officials, community representatives and food entrepreneurs:
- How can the developmental state create a fertile governance environment that enables such farmers and enterprises to flourish?
- What role can research institutions play in supporting the development of technical know-how and institutional savvy?
Speakers:
- Dr Lodama Kafua, Agricultural Research Council (ARC)
- Dr Nomusa Dlamini, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
- Rémi Piot, Chipkins Puratos
- Dr Yisa Njowe Kieran Bong, University of Pretoria (UP)
Panelists:
- Rethabile Maimane (Golden Goose)
- Sinegugu Zukulu (Amadiba Community)
- Kholofela Kamenya (Technology Innovation Agency)
- Roger Tuckledoe (Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development)
Who should attend: State officials, academics, NGO and development workers, community activists, farmers, SMMEs, traders, retailers.
Date: 11 February 2026
Time: 10:00 – 12:30
Venue: Online / CSIR Tshwane Campus – Building 20, Baobab Conference Room
*Food and Microbiota in Africa (FAMA), a multi-stakeholder action-research project including CIRAD, the DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security, CSIR, ARC, INRAE, LARTES/UCAD Puratos and NGO Siyazisiza Trust, is supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Please note that the event will be recorded to enable knowledge sharing and learning. Please read this information sheet about the Food Imbizo.
Upcoming Events
Food Imbizo: Traditional and Indigenous Food Enterprise
Time: 10:00 – 12:30 SAST
Venue: Online / CSIR Tshwane Campus - Building 20, Baobab Conference Room
Our GOALS
We recognise that producers, processors, distributors and consumers are incorporated into the food system under varying terms and returns. We also recognise the economic, social, human and environmental health impacts associated with food security. Therefore our goal is to conduct research, build capacity and disseminate findings that will promote a sustainable food system in South Africa.
Our MISSION
Our research is concerned with the scale, nature, causes and consequences of food insecurity in South Africa and elsewhere on the African continent. Thus our mission is to investigate products, technologies, processes and policies that can reduce food insecurity and mitigate its negative outcomes. We seek to make a difference to food security by linking innovative science with critical enquiry.