Climate change has taught societies that they can not do away with indigenous food systems because they are resilient to shocks. Let me explain why indigenous food systems are important :
- Traditional food contribute to health and wellbeing. Many many years ago, there were no hospitals but people lived long and health. This means that their local food systems played an important role in enhancing their immunity. So it is wiser to consider exploiting indigenous food sources
- Indigenous food systems maintains and enhances biodiversity. Indigenous food grows naturally allowing other species to grow freely without disturbing the ecosystem. For example, African bees produce honey in the forests, the production of honey does not disturb the growth of trees but human beings benefit from both trees and the honey produced
- Communities are also benefiting from sustainably gathering wild fruits, weeds, and mushrooms. Many villagers are making a living from gathering edible mushroom and selling them in streets.
- Sustainable ways of producing, preparing, preserving and consuming. Most of the indigenous food is very easy to store and preserve. For example many people in Africa preserve their food by sun drying which does not pose any problem to the planet earth.
- Food is not over processed and free from unnecessary additives. Indigenous food is free from diseases caused by chemicals used during preservation.
- Proximity : Food is produced within communities allowing members to eat what they want at any time. This reduces transportation costs and pollution caused by shipping food from other countries.
- Resilience: traditional food systems can withstand shocks , for example each and every region has special grain suitable for for a certain environment. In drought stricken areas, people grow finger millet and sorghum which are drought resistant
So you see, our indigenous food systems have relevance to our livelihoods. We can save our planet by embracing indigenous food systems