https://en.sputniknews.africa/20250506/food-is-power-fighting-culinary-colonialism-and-reclaiming-sovereignty-in-africa-1072719134.html
'Food is Power': Fighting Culinary Colonialism and Reclaiming Sovereignty in Africa
'Food is Power': Fighting Culinary Colonialism and Reclaiming Sovereignty in Africa
Sputnik Africa
Securing food sovereignty is not just an agricultural ambition—it is a national security imperative. This was underscored by Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk... 06.05.2025, Sputnik Africa
2025-05-06T18:59+0200
2025-05-06T18:59+0200
2025-05-06T18:59+0200
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The African continent is still in the grip of a powerful but often overlooked form of domination: culinary colonialism, Million Belay, co-founder and general coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, told Sputnik Africa.This phenomenon is deeply tied to Africa’s colonial past and present, Belay argued. From seed monopolies to skewed trade agreements, multinational corporations exert control that echoes the extractive patterns of old.At stake is far more than taste—Belay sees food as a battlefront in the fight for cultural, ecological, and political freedom.He points to AGRA’s “Green Revolution” as a cautionary tale. Instead of reducing poverty or malnutrition, he said, it has replaced essential African crops—like millet, sorghum, cowpeas, and indigenous leafy greens—with imported alternatives labeled as “modern” while dismissing traditional foods as “poor people’s food.”Belay commended Ethiopia’s leadership in developing an agroecology strategy and called on African policymakers to support research grounded in local contexts. He also sees hope in partnerships like BRICS—if they uphold environmental sustainability and cultural integrity.
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africa in details, ethiopia, africa, sputnik africa, brics, food, food security , sovereignty, neocolonialism, west
'Food is Power': Fighting Culinary Colonialism and Reclaiming Sovereignty in Africa
Christina Glazkova
Writer / Editor
Securing food sovereignty is not just an agricultural ambition—it is a national security imperative. This was underscored by Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commissioner Shiferaw Teklemariam. But what does it mean to truly control one’s food system in today’s Africa?
The African continent is still in the grip of a powerful but often overlooked form of domination: culinary colonialism, Million Belay, co-founder and general coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, told Sputnik Africa.
“Culinary colonialism is an imposition and dominance of foreign foods and foreign food systems over African culinary traditions,” Belay said. “It’s a process by which African diets are shaped, not by local cultures or needs, but by colonial legacies and modern capitalist forces.”
This phenomenon is deeply tied to Africa’s colonial past and present, Belay argued. From seed monopolies to skewed trade agreements, multinational corporations exert control that echoes the extractive patterns of old.
“The control of African agriculture is happening now by global corporations, seed monopolies and trade systems. And they all reflect the same logic of control, extraction, and erasure,” the speaker said.
At stake is far more than taste—Belay sees food as a battlefront in the fight for cultural, ecological, and political freedom.
“Food is deeply linked to identity, memory, spirituality, and autonomy… The fight over food is really a fight over sovereignty,” he explained.
He points to AGRA’s “Green Revolution” as a cautionary tale. Instead of reducing poverty or malnutrition, he said, it has replaced essential African crops—like millet, sorghum, cowpeas, and indigenous leafy greens—with imported alternatives labeled as “modern” while dismissing traditional foods as “poor people’s food.”
Belay commended Ethiopia’s leadership in developing an agroecology strategy and called on African policymakers to support research grounded in local contexts. He also sees hope in partnerships like BRICS—if they uphold environmental sustainability and cultural integrity.
“If BRICS comes with that kind of agenda for the future, then we are fine at the end of the day,” Belay concluded.
