Culinary expert and founder of the Atiję Experience, Moyosore Odunfa-Akinbo, has called for greater consumption of indigenous Nigerian foods, saying locally grown grains, legumes and vegetables could help improve child nutrition and address malnutrition.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Saturday, Odunfa-Akinbo identified the country’s reliance on a limited range of staple foods as a factor that could undermine dietary diversity.
She said Nigerians often prioritise familiar staples such as rice and corn while overlooking indigenous alternatives that are affordable, nutritious and locally available.
“As Nigerians, we focus on a few staples most of the times, and those staples might not be the healthiest things for us at this point in time. But we do not focus on those ones that are indigenously grown, that are good for us, that are affordable, and will help us tackle what is going on now nutritionally,” she said.
She identified Fonios, Millet and Bambara groundnuts among the indigenous foods that could contribute to better nutrition, particularly for children.
“If we look at the fonios, the millets, the bambara groundnuts, that have a very big potential to push childhood nutrition in the right direction, they’re not as celebrated as the rice, the corn and things like that,” she said.
Odunfa-Akinbo also highlighted the nutritional benefits of several locally available ingredients, including vegetables and indigenous grains, which she said could provide essential nutrients such as iron, calcium and protein.
“Egusi, Ewedu, Moringa, Baobab, these are affordable things that can be added into the daily diet and have a very big impact on nutrition, whether that be iron, calcium, protein,” she said.
She further urged Nigerians to diversify their diets rather than rely on rice as their primary staple, arguing that other locally produced foods could provide nutritious alternatives.
“So I think it just takes a little bit of intentionality, thinking outside the box, and diversifying our diet. We don’t have to eat rice every day. Why not the other things that we grow and we produce and are very, very good for us.”
The culinary expert said the perception that some indigenous foods are inferior to more popular staples also limits their consumption.
Speaking about fonio, she explained that negative perceptions surrounding the grain had discouraged some people from eating it.
“If you look at something like fonio, traditionally people didn’t eat it, because it’s a very tiny grain, and it used to be sand. Some people hear fonio, they’re like, ah, that thing that is full of sand.”
She also stressed the need to make indigenous foods easier for households to prepare and incorporate into their daily meals.
“Can we be creative, as people in the food industry, to say, oh, this is how you can enjoy millet.
“This is how you can enjoy fonio, bambara, baobab, and incorporate it into your healthy diet. Because most people are like, I don’t know what to do with these things.”
Odunfa-Akinbo called for greater efforts to promote practical nutrition education, particularly for pregnant women and parents of young children.
She said clearer, locally relevant guidance would help Nigerians make informed dietary choices using ingredients that are readily available in their communities.
“People don’t even know what is right for them to eat during pregnancy, what is good to give to a six-month-old baby. So I feel that more effort needs to go into simplifying this information and bringing it home, making it local.”
She added that chefs could contribute by demonstrating how to prepare indigenous ingredients and incorporate them into everyday meals.
“And let it be real to people. Let there be practical demonstrations. To our chefs, go into communities, show people that, okay, this is how to use these ingredients in these particular ways.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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