Edward, I wanted to thank you so much for bringing this important topic up for discussion- I think we can learn a lot about increasing food security by focussing on indigenous knowledge. I'm currently working on a project that focusses on innovation for underutilised and 'orphan' crops in SSA with a specific focus on the types of dishes and even products can be developed that can benefit local food security as well as increase livelihoods and income for the farmers growing or harvesting these foods. A very interesting element is what Gill mentioned regarding the increase in urbanisation and a shift towards more Western diets, which is resulting in health implications, loss of knowledge about these crops, how to eat them and also the agro-biodiversity that they bring to the system.
My current focus is on cassava in Nigeria- and the case of cassava bread that is a new 'technology' being promoted by the government as a type of import subsitutition policy for wheat flour. During this research I've become fascinated with the different types of cuisine that involve cassava- from its native Latin America, across different regions of Africa through to South-East Asia. What's even more interesting is the nutritional aspect that you mentioned- cassava is a great source of carbohydrates (once it is prepared post-harvest to get rid of its cyanide content), but it is severely lacking in protein. However, the leaves contain a high protein content and it's interesting that many cooking practices in Central and East Africa (as you mentioned) involve usuing the leaves in food preparation. The 'markets' for these products, however, remain at the village or household level, whereas in West Africa there is a much larger industry for processed cassavatubers in the form of fufu and garri. Latin America and Brazil in particular lies at the other extreme where cassava is very much a part of the formal market and varieties of cassava based products exist- whether it's the street food from Minas: Pao de queijo, farofa or even povilho that is made from very fine cassava flour.
Thus I think an important aspect for increasing nutritional benefits in urban environments as well as for maintaing local culture and encouraging agro-biodiversity that a focus on indigenous knowledge in food preparation is key. However, the next step needs to be taken for it to become successful in the market- whether through processing of the products making them easier to store and less time-consuming to make or whether it requires more of an education and marketing campaign taken on by, for example, a celebrity chef.
I'm interested to hear what you find out in your project- as you can see this is a topic close to my heart!
Laura Pereira