Page 6 - Barefoot guide

A MESSAGE FROM COORDINATOR OF THE ALLIANCE

FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN AFRICA (AFSA)

– Million Belay –

Like most mothers, mine is a magician as far as food is concerned. I marvel at the speed of her cooking as well as the
taste of her dishes. One thing that fascinates me is the power of the porridge that she brought to each of my children
when they reached six months of age. It included a variety of beans, leaves and a mix of grains. At first, they found it
difficult to eat but slowly they got used to it and even craved it.

Why I mention this is that I had a chance to be a keynote speaker at the 2015 EAT Stockholm Food Forum, a yearly
event focusing on food system change. There was someone representing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation who
came to launch the Foundation’s new program on nutrition for Africa and one of the countries chosen was Ethiopia.
We had a panel debate and remembering my mother’s porridge I asked if the Foundation talked to African mothers
when they prepared their nutrition recommendations for Africa? The
answer was ‘probably not.’ I think this is where this guide will make a
significant contribution – highlighting the significant contribution of
African mothers to nutrition. This is a much-forgotten issue. We are
losing the knowledge of African elders not only as they pass on but also
because of the growing disconnect between elderly knowledge holders
and the younger generation.
‘We are what we eat.’ Is this true? The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes!’.
Recent findings in science, both behavioural and biological, show that the
food that we eat affects our mood, our health, our mental capacity, our
energy level and, in general, our health. Therefore, it is appropriate
that this publication connects nutrition and COVID-19. The
data across nations has proved that the disease compromises
those with poor health.
The emphasis in this Guide is on the use of natural
fertilisers and biopesticides instead of nutrient-limiting
agrochemicals, the value of a diverse diet, as we find
in our traditional African meals, and the connection
between microbial diversity in the soil with the
microbial diversity in our stomach. In this way, this
Guide is groundbreaking. AFSA feels that agroecology,
with its emphasis on diversity, natural ways of farming,
traditional ecological knowledge and a farmer-centered
approach is the best way of countering COVID-19 and future
pandemics, as well as other diseases. This Guide is a much-awaited
response to the call for the best diet in these times of COVID-19 in
Africa, and a further testimony that agroecology works for Africa.

I think if my mother was living today and if I asked her what kind
of farming she prefers, she would definitely say agroecology. This
is because she would know that it works and that it would keep
supplying her great grandchildren with the best porridge.

iv www.barefootguide.org