World Food Day: Experts discuss transforming Africa’s natural herbs into sustainable wellness solutions
Nutrition and wellness experts in Nigeria have called for a deeper collaboration in transforming the continent’s natural herbs and foods into sustainable wellness solutions.
The experts spoke during a virtual dialogue hosted by Wholeeats Africa, a wellness and food innovation organisation, on Wednesday as part of this year’s World Food Day.
The webinar, monitored by PREMIUM TIMES, assembled nutritionists, researchers, and entrepreneurs to explore how Afrrica can harness its vast agricultural resources to improve health outcomes and advance sustainable food systems on the continent.
In 1979, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation designated 16 October as World Food Day.
It is marked annually to raise awareness about global hunger and the need for more inclusive, sustainable, and nutritious food systems. The theme for this year is “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future.”
In her remarks , the founder of Wholeeats Africa, Oluwakemi Jeje, said the webinar aimed at creating pragmatic pathways for collaboration that will turn Africa’s herbal and food resources into viable wellness innovations.
“There has been a lot of abuse of herbs, whereas we are supposed to benefit from them,” she said.
“We can’t calculate how much loss that has brought in terms of chronic illnesses and preventable deaths. Africa is one of the richest continents when it comes to herbs, and I desire that we integrate this into our system.”
The session featured three guest speakers: Stella Nwoke, a nutritional consultant; Margaret Ilomuanya, a pharmacist and associate professor at the University of Lagos and Adeolu Akinyemi, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Spinel Technologies.
Lifestyle as Medicine
Speaking on nutrition and lifestyle, Mrs Nwoke urged Africans to embrace food as medicine, stressing that daily habits have implications for long-term health.
“Thy food shall be thy medicine, and thy medicine shall be thy food,” she said.
“Living well means understanding your individuality, knowing what works for your body and maintaining balance across nutrition, fitness, sleep, stress, and love.”
She urged Nigerians to return to natural foods such as bitter leaf, beans, and moringa, describing them as powerful remedies for preventing diseases.
Mrs Ilomuanya, an associate professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, stressed the need for scientific validation of local herbs in boosting their global acceptance.
“Our local herbs have immense therapeutic value, but we need more research to prove efficacy and standardize them for global markets,” she said.
“India and China built global trust in their natural products because they documented and presented their research to the world. Africa must do the same.”
Mr Akinyemi, speaking from an entrepreneurial perspective, emphasised that partnership is key to transforming Africa’s wellness sector.
READ ALSO: Lagos set for Africa’s first customer loyalty festival
“Entrepreneurs, researchers, and nutritionists must work hand in hand to identify pain points, validate solutions, and deliver access,” he said.
“Most of what we call herbs today grow naturally here. The question is how we can turn these natural products into refined, market-ready solutions,” he added.
According to him, such partnerships are capable of multiplying both health and wealth by linking farmers, researchers, and innovators in a single ecosystem.