Photo from The NewTimes
Africa ’ s indigenous food production system is founded on principles that centered on respect for the environment . Waste is alien to that food culture . If the inner part of banana was eaten by humans , goats ate the peels , while the leaves were used in wrapping food and other necessities . The same banana tree provided organic , biodegradable materials for shelter , the sort that decomposed into manure and neither clog the waterways with synthetic waste nor pollute underground water with cancer-causing substances . Fewer people fell sick in traditional Africa , and those who did already knew what Hippocrates the Greek Physician popularized in the West , which is , “ Let food be your medicine and medicine your food .” African communities generously utilized medicinal herbs and plant components in health management .
Further , African indigenous food production system values the interdependence of all life , be it plant , animal or human . It does not uphold the principle of mass destruction of the species and the environment in the pursuit of wealth for a privileged few . Contrast the situation in Africa ’ s traditional setting with the outright disdain for the environment that pervades the cultivation of food for profit in the name of modernity . Take fishing , for instance , where methods such as the use of blasts and cyanide to kill fish have brought much harm to the global water body , while being at the root cause of several human health challenges . Global biodiversity is seriously threatened as a result of these harmful practices , and the rest of the species suffer ill-health and death because life is interdependent .
Many might argue that today ’ s Africans are sicker and die younger than their forbears . If that were so , a contributory factor is surely the glitzy marketing of cheap , harmful chemicals manufactured in laboratories and sold as food . Africans must desist from copying the Western models of food production , which are not necessarily for the sake of providing nourishment to the community and replenishing the environment , but often for the sole purpose of amassing wealth . Indeed , food as an essential commodity in the global eco-system has been hijacked by big corporations whose
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