Faith, food and the future: Indigenous crops – production, use and benefits

This paper draws on the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute’s (SAFCEI’s) 2025 Faith, food and the future: Indigenous food systems for climate and community resilience publication to describe the benefits of indigenous and traditional foods, as well as the systems in which they are produced and consumed. It gives an overview of common indigenous and traditional foods in Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, including notes on production, preparation and benefits. It aims to inspire policymakers, faith communities, farmers and regional actors to protect and revitalise indigenous food systems through agroecological practices, legal reforms, investment in local markets and knowledge transmission, and the recognition of women’s leadership in food and seed systems. This is the third document in a series of three reports on Food, Faith and the Future, namely: Research report, Policy recommendations and Examples of indigenous foods.

Special thanks and acknowledgement to Claire Roussel for participatory research with faith leaders and experiential research at the 2024 Amadiba indigenous seed and food festival, forming the basis of the earlier working paper on which this study builds, for her drawings and illustrations. We also thank Stefanie Swanepoel for bringing all the initial research together, her further research, and the grounding of this paper in science and faith, as well as for her editing work. We are grateful for the active participation of faith leaders in this study, who generously shared their time and knowledge.