NAIROBI Kenya Oct 24-Kenya agricultural and livestock research organization(KALRO) is set to hold African indigenous food system expo to restore the presence of indigenous food in Kenya.
The event which is a collaboration between the African Union and KARLO which will be the first of it’s kind in Africa, is set to take place between November 21st to November 26th 2023.
The event will see it host a number of six other African countries who have already confirmed their representation in the expo. The countries include; Burundi, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, and South Africa.
Each of the country will present their indigenous foods and scientists from each country will explain about their foods in the expo.
“The expo is specifically for Africans to start thinking within ourselves, we are the one who have knowledge and we are the ones who can start a change so the expo and the program is like a food liberation for Africa by Africans,” said Dr.Njoki Mitugo former economic development advisor Kiambu county.
The aim of the event is to rejuvenate the heritage of indigenous foods which were overtaken by the exotic modern foods such as cabbage, spinach and others. These exotic foods have raised health concern and have emerged to be a major contributor of sophisticated diseases such as diabetes, cancer and hypertension.
This comes as a result of inhaling or consuming the chemicals that have aided in the growth of those exotic foods which is opposite to indigenous foods which in most cases are grown using organic and natural methods
“Our food have been classified as ‘weed’ and Africans tend to consume exotic foods creating new diseases which do not have indigenous names unlike other recognized diseases,” added Dr Mitugo
.KARLO has set up DEMO farms that they will use to showcase the foods which will include indigenous fruits such as cactus, Mac Donald’s eye, Tuber crops which will include indigenous sweet potatoes and arrowroots, Cereals which will include indigenous sorghum, maize, millet, indigenous pastures and indigenous legumes.
The Expo will be a 3 tyre where the first one will be a Demo far where people will be rained about those exotic foods and how to grow them, the second one will be conference which will be a platform where people will be taught the role of scientists in indigenous plants development, and the third one will be a a expo village where it will be open to any business person to showcase their products.
Over 75 percent of a typical Kenyan or African income goes to food and KALRO believes that every home can grow food on it’s own without spending a lot on it and thus storage is very important.
The institution is aiming to incline the food security of a Kenyan home in line with this years theme ‘Restoring granary in African home’.
KARLO has declared that it will stand to fight against the mindset that exotic foods are considered to be of the rich forgetting where our indigenous foods which are considered to be of the poor can do and KARLO have thus taken a step to take measure that will motivate people go back to their roots.
