Page 35 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 9

HEALTH & WELLNESS

everything more than you need as which is a convergence of what is who has been working in
opposed to the balance mentality good. As you said, Covid the silver public health and preventive
where we believe Mother Nature has lining to it, the foods that were said medicine ended up also in
enough for all of us and each one were for poor people the tsagas the field of organics. How
takes as per their needs as opposed (spider plant), the managus (Afrikan
to what we see manifesting globally nightshade), the mitoos (slender- did this come about?
where greed a.k.a. scarcity mentality leaf/crotalaria) they are rich with Many people, including my own
informs most of the policy deci- zinc, they are rich with iron, they mother, ask me that question. The
sions globally, regionally, nationally are rich with all these nutrients that reason why I am doing it is, that is
and even locally. And, sometimes, protect and enhance the immune the essence of preventive medicine.
unfortunately even up to community system. So when Covid comes It’s a deliberate decision I made over
levels. knocking, Covid comes, knocks and time. People will think that it doesn’t
goes away, doesn’t become resident. make money. You don’t go into a
What work are you involved career to make money, you go into
in at Organic Consumers We would like to leave two cents of a career to make a service and at
Alliance? a difference considering that there some stage in my career, I realized
one thing: No matter how hard you
are so many negative forces around.
Preaching the gospel, sounding the We want to be the voice of light as work mopping the floor, there will
alarm, opening people’s minds right opposed to the voice of darkness still be more water coming. It’s in
from the levels of policy, providing we want to be the voice of good- the long term an exercise in futility
evidence to share with policy-mak- ness and wellness as opposed to the because if you don’t seal or repair
ers from FAO from WHO, the glob- voice of pain, hunger and suffering. the leaking tap, the water will keep
al level. We try and work together on flowing. There will be more
with other like-minded people who You also do certifications diabetes, there will be more cancer,
are conscious truth seekers to influ- there will be more hypertension,
ence policy at global level, regional for organic foods or farm- there will be more diseases. The
level, and national level. We work ers? epidemic of non-communicable dis-
with policy-makers with a view to Both food comes from farmers, so eases that you see around has been
shifting policy towards policies that if the farmers are certified the food created by our lifestyles and what we
are more in tandem with Mother is likely to be certified. We don’t consume.
Nature and with these cycles of work alone, there are other certified Meaning, and this is the good news,
balance. We also engage other stake- entities who we collaborate with. we can reverse these diseases.
holders – academia – to generate It is a space where we realize some
the data, we work with other people farmers are going out claiming they How do you deal with that?
who disseminate information to are organic when they don’t grow Organic food, food that is agroeco-
create more awareness and open the (organic). We do it not really as a logically grown, food that is safe,
minds of the target group, which is core portfolio but as a portfolio to that is diverse, that’s natural. And
all the population, so they are aware leverage awareness creation and then I usually tell people, do the simple
of the risks, the challenges and they the farmers that we certify we train Pareto rule of thumb: 80% plant,
can do something about it. so that they can form clusters where 20% animal and of that 80% plant,
they can become communicators 80% raw, 20% cooked. I wouldn’t
Shifting from one form of farm- around their niches. We also certify say the same for animals but if
ing, one form of eating is good for the outlets that sell organic products the animals were safe, do the same
everyone; it’s good for the economy, and those who want to export their again 80% raw including milk, eggs.
it’s good for the soil, it’s good for produce for the different markets That’s where you get the vitality, the
the climate, it’s good for the health, that they want to access. enzymes and the nutrients. And the
it’s good for the entire ecosystem, areas where they practice that kind
nobody loses. The only ones who I have to confess I was very of lifestyle, they call them the blue
lose are those who are greedy. surprised to find that a med- zones, people live a longer life and
ical doctor trained in the they are healthier.
There’s a need for us to shift back
from this convergence of toxicity University of Nairobi and Thank you so much Dr.
to creating an alternative solution, Johns Hopkins, someone
Mokaya.

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