In Africa, a rising population means more mouths to feed and as demand increases, so does the need to innovate and vary our relationship with food. In the most recent episode of Inside Africa, CNN journeys across South Africa to meet the visionaries and entrepreneurs looking to change what we eat.
Wendy Vesela-Ntimbani is a South African ‘worm-trepreneur’ and founder of Matomani, an insect-based food company that packages and sells the superfood she grew up with. She explains her experience with using Emperor moths, in their caterpillar lifecycle phase, as food, “for me, eating mopane caterpillars is the most normal thing that they can be. So I like to say that I was born into it. So it’s part of our daily diet. It’s been part of diet of my ancestors for many, many years. So yeah, it’s something that I love eating.”
Vesela-Ntimbani was born into a community that thrived by eating natural, indigenous food. With global populations continuing to grow, she has turned this knowledge and experience into a thriving alternative protein business; “I wanted to play my part into creating a solution using the knowledge that comes from our ancestors. We have this amazing natural product, mopane caterpillars with 60% protein so we can take it and use it to partially solve some of these world challenges.”
Hayley Clements, Research Chair at the African Wildlife Economy Institute at Stellenbosch University, explains how insect protein is environmentally friendly as well as a source of nutrients, “insects are a much more productive, efficient form of nutrition compared to, for example, grazing cattle, which also contributes to emissions, et cetera. I think it’s important to recognize that in an African context, insects in many places are already quite a prominent part of people’s diets.”
At Pahari African restaurant, in the centre of Cape Town, mopane worms are a staple on the menu. The restaurant’s owner, Caleb Mutakwa, describes their use of the worms in a fan favourite way, “We showcase the sneaky option, which is just fried and dry crispy, and it’s also very popular with our customers as a starter or an appetizer.”
Nikki Brighton is a writer, food activist and forager who encourages wild and local food consumption. Uncultivated food, she says, not only helps the planet but also your health. She believes, “we’ve lost all our connections to the land, to our neighbors, to our food. Once you start foraging, it really does connect you back to your landscape and you start to value places that otherwise you wouldn’t value.”
Brighton explains the RICO farmer’s market, which epitomizes slow food by ordering online ahead of time, “There’s no wastage because they only bring one bunch of beetroot, if somebody ordered one bunch of beetroot, they leave the rest in the ground. And so I get my milk from there, beautiful, ethical dairy, small scale, I can buy eggs from there, Chinese cabbage, pumpkins, beautiful pumpkins and unusual vegetables too, like horned cucumbers. So that really is a lovely way to connect and build your community.”
If the future of food is found outside supermarkets, what comes next may tell a different story – of ancestral knowledge and modern science, fresh produce and fresh ideas.
This interview was featured on the latest episode of Inside Africa on CNN International.
Black Mustard
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