Exploring food choices and linking nutrition to landscape - understanding drivers of food and nutrition insecurity of a Sub-Saharan African Indigenous group

Research summary

Indigenous people who are historical creators of knowledge about food, are among the most impoverished, food insecure people of the contemporary world. This is often due to regulations over the usage of natural resources and very rapid changes in social settings, climatic patterns and cultural practices. This has significantly transformed the diets of indigenous people’s worldwide, non-exemption of the Khwe San indigenous people of Namibia. Today, not only are less food available to the Khwe, but also in reduced nutritional quality. The widely available processed foods and Food Aid deliveries have created dependencies and undermined traditional food systems and health.

Description

Development projects which targeted food shortages among the Khwe San people, used conventional food aid instruments and top down project implementation, seemingly without understanding the problem and addressing the root causes. My research is focusing not only to explore the shortcomings of the present diets but also looks to identify the drivers of their food choices and the gaps of local nutritional knowledge. These findings may support the design of successful future food and nutritional education programs. In the second phase of my research a participatory mapping process will be used to engage community members to connect nutrition to landscape and explore spatial suitability of different local food system models in a bottom-up manner to serve as a communication tool towards the development agencies.

Research info

Research title
Exploring food choices and linking nutrition to landscape - understanding drivers of food and nutrition insecurity of a Sub-Saharan African Indigenous group

Research timeline
1.2.2015 - 1.2.2019

Keywords
food choice food security indigenous malnutrition San traditional food

Region
Africa

Countries
Finland, Namibia

Institution
University of Helsinki
Department of Agricultural Sciences
Helsinki, Finland

Funding instrument
Other

Project budget
0 - 200,000 euros

Head of research
Anita Heim

Research team
Prof. Juha Helenius, Dr. Aili Pyhälä

Contact information
Anita Heim
anita.heim@helsinki.fi

Record last updated
27.1.2016