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Traditional and indigenous African foods must be repositioned within contemporary food systems challenges. These foods include fermented sorghum products, sorghum-based staples and leafy greens such as amaranth. Photo Salil Kumar Mukherjee/Wikimedia Commons.

The DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security (CoE-FS), together with international partners, convened an online Food Imbizo policy workshop to explore how traditional African foods can improve nutrition and food system resilience. The workshop formed part of the Food and Microbiota in Africa (FAMA) project, a two-year collaborative research initiative supported by the French Embassy in South Africa, and led by Dr Arlène Alpha of the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) and CoE-FS, with contributions from researchers including Dr Florian Kroll of the CoE-FS.

Through interdisciplinary research, policy engagement and pilot interventions, the FAMA project investigates how traditional diets can support healthier gut microbiota and address food insecurity in South Africa and Senegal. The gut microbiome is the community of microorganisms that live in the human digestive system and interact closely with the food we eat. It plays a key role in nutrient absorption, immune function and disease prevention, making it central to understanding how diets shape health outcomes.

The FAMA project builds on growing recognition that food security is not only about production, but about the quality of diets and their relationship to health. Across many African contexts, dietary transitions driven by urbanisation and changing food environments have led to increased consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, contributing to what is widely described as the triple burden of malnutrition.

“The FAMA project is a two-year project, and the objective is to explore the role of African traditional foods in improving gut microbiota and reducing the triple burden of malnutrition, mostly in South Africa and Senegal, secondarily,” Dr Alpha explained.

The project focuses on research sites in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in South Africa, as well as a site in Dakar, enabling comparative insights across diverse food environments.

Linking food systems and microbiomes

A key contribution of the FAMA project is its focus on the relationship between food systems and the human microbiome. Diets dominated by ultra-processed foods are associated with reduced microbial diversity and increased risks of non-communicable diseases. In contrast, traditional diets rich in diverse, plant-based foods may support healthier gut microbiota and improved overall health outcomes.

FAMA seeks to generate scientific evidence on these relationships by examining dietary patterns, perceptions of traditional foods, and their biological effects through laboratory-based analysis. This work reflects a broader shift in food systems research, towards integrated approaches that link agriculture, nutrition, health and environmental sustainability.

Dr Florian Kroll’s work within the CoE-FS highlights that food insecurity in South Africa is not simply a question of supply, but of access, inequality and the structure of food systems. In discussion, Dr Kroll proffered the following:

“There is a growing consensus that traditional and indigenous African food offer a number of benefits in terms of their nutritional qualities, their resilience to climate change, as well as the opportunities they present for livelihoods and economic development. Moreover, they are rooted in rich and diverse African cultural heritage, and therefore developing these foods provides an opportunity to revitalise this heritage and facilitate connection to the land and connection to ancestral wisdom.”

Interrogating the enabling environment

A key focus of the workshop was the presentation of preliminary findings from the project’s analysis of the governance environment shaping traditional African foods. This work examines three interrelated dimensions: policy, institutions and governmentalities.

From a policy perspective, discussions highlighted that, while there have been limited recent innovations recognising indigenous foods, public action remains weak. Existing regulatory frameworks, particularly those governing microbiomes and food safety, tend to prioritise control and standardisation, often disadvantaging smaller producers and traditional food systems.

At the institutional level, the landscape is fragmented and under-resourced, with responsibilities distributed across multiple departments and agencies. This siloisation limits coordination and weakens the ability to support integrated food system interventions.

The analysis also draws attention to governmentalities, or the underlying collective mentalities shaping food systems. Participants reflected on how colonial and modernist assumptions continue to frame traditional foods as backward or associated with poverty, while privileging conventional agricultural modernisation centred on commodity production. These perspectives are reinforced by neoliberal paradigms that prioritise deregulation, private certification regimes and export-oriented value chains aligned with global standards.

As Dr Alpha noted, this raises important questions about how “modernisation” is understood, and points toward the need for more progressive and forward-looking approaches in which traditional foods are recognised as central to sustainable and resilient futures.

Together, these factors create a challenging environment for producers and enterprises working with traditional foods, while contributing to food systems that are nutritionally, ecologically and socially vulnerable.

The workshop provided a platform for stakeholders to interrogate and validate these findings, and to begin identifying pathways for more enabling governance frameworks.

Repositioning traditional African foods

A central theme of discussion was the need to reposition traditional and indigenous African foods within contemporary food systems challenges. These foods — including fermented sorghum products, sorghum-based staples and leafy greens such as amaranth — are nutritionally dense, rich in fibre and micronutrients, and well adapted to local climatic conditions.

Beyond their nutritional value, traditional foods are embedded in cultural practices and local knowledge systems. They also present opportunities for livelihoods across value chains, from production and processing to retail and food services. However, traditional foods remain marginalised within dominant food systems, where highly processed foods are often more accessible and widely consumed. Dr Alpha reflected:

“We want to understand people’s perceptions toward these types of foods. Secondly, we want to focus on the co-design of pilot actions with smallholder farmers and processors to overcome their challenges in producing traditional African foods. The third step is the analysis of policy and the institutional landscape that could support traditional African foods.”

Discussions with the group of key stakeholders, including government actors, researchers and civil society actors in attendance, robustly explored this critical policy and government component. Participants highlighted how this marginalisation is not only economic, but also social and institutional, shaped by perceptions of modernity, regulatory frameworks and market dynamics that favour large-scale, industrial food systems.

Strengthening partnerships for transformation

Considering these opportunities and challenges, this Food Imbizo underscored the importance of collaboration across disciplines, institutions and countries in addressing complex food system challenges. The FAMA project brings together a diverse consortium of partners from South Africa, Senegal and Europe, including universities, research institutes and development organisations.

Participants emphasised that addressing food insecurity requires not only scientific innovation, but also stronger connections between research, policy and communities. By centring traditional African foods within this work, the project contributes to a broader rethinking of food systems that values cultural heritage, local knowledge and ecological resilience.
As discussions concluded, a clear message emerged: addressing food insecurity requires integrated, systems-based approaches that connect agriculture, nutrition, health and policy.

Through initiatives such as FAMA, the CoE-FS and its partners are contributing to the development of more inclusive, resilient and sustainable food systems across the continent.