Why it’s important to recognise multiple food systems in Africa

Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Unfortunately, an understanding of how food systems change in terms of agricultural revolutions typically means that we don’t recognise the existence, or nutritional contributions, of older food production systems that may be important for the poor. It’s not that one type of farming or food procurement is better than the other, but that these different approaches –- all along the spectrum of agricultural revolutions – often complement one another and correspond to particular constraints and opportunities. The way forward Modern agricultural development often amounts to the building up of wealthy people’s food production strategies at the expense of poor people’s approaches. This means moving away from “agricultural revolution thinking” that favours one type of farming dominating an area, towards using an all encompassing approach that recognises multiple food production approaches and makes these work together as a system.