Journal of Food Security, 2020, Vol. 8, No. 1, 11-21 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfs/8/1/2 Published by Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfs-8-1-2 The Utilization of Traditional and Indigenous Foods and Seeds in Uganda Charles L. Tumuhe 1,* , Kasfa Ategeka 1 , Christopher Sunday 2 , Dennis Tibaijuka 2 , Crispus B. Muhindo 3 1 African Rural University P. O. BOX 24 Kagadi-Uganda 2 Uganda Rural Development and Training ProgrammeP. O. BOX 24 Kagadi-Uganda 3 Kagadi District Local Government *Corresponding author: ctumuhe@aru.ac.ug Received December 29, 2019; Revised February 08, 2020; Accepted February 25, 2020 Abstract There is an immutable need to preserve and utilize the genetic materials of indigenous crops and plants for nutrition and preservation of genetic diversity. The scientific community needs to support farmers in the preservation of indigenous foods and seed. African Rural University (ARU) participated in indigenous seed and food fairs to collect data while showcasing the preservation, preparation, value addition and consumption of local seeds and foods in Uganda. The purpose of the traditional seed and food fair events was to demonstrate both the existence and resilience of African culture in food and nutrition through participation of farmers and ARU students. There were three series of such fairs at local (10 groups), regional (49 groups) and national levels (30 groups). ARU research team and students participated in all the fairs as both exhibitors and researchers. Results indicate that exhibitors showcased traditional/indigenous foods both in raw and cooked forms. There is still a wide variety of beneficial indigenous and traditional foods in Uganda. It may be helpful to establish a complete traditional food data system for all ethnic groups in Uganda and prepare recipes for preparation of their traditional dishes, establish botanical gardens for conservation, earth markets and more regular food and seed fairs for farmers to interact and exchange the planting materials. Keywords: indigenous foods, conservation, consumption, propagation Cite This Article: Charles L. Tumuhe, Kasfa Ategeka, Christopher Sunday, Dennis Tibaijuka, and Crispus B. Muhindo, “The Utilization of Traditional and Indigenous Foods and Seeds in Uganda.” Journal of Food Security, vol. 8, no. 1 (2020): 11-21. doi: 10.12691/jfs-8-1-2. 1. Introduction The Government of Uganda through the Vision 2040 envisages to have all citizens attain middle income status by 2020 [1]. Uganda’s economy is, however, largely dependent on agriculture as its mainstay [2]. The World Bank report of 2018 says that the agriculture sector remains critical to Uganda’s economy, in that it employs approximately 69% of the labour force, 77% of who are women, and 63% are youth, mostly residing in the rural areas. However, according to National Seed Policy document of Uganda, up to 85% of the seed which Ugandan farmers plant is through the informal seed sector [3]. A seed is any propagative material, plants and parts of plants intended for propagation and multiplication of a variety. Indigenous and traditional foods and seeds are getting extinct from the ecosystems yet the Sub Saharan Africa is still faced with food and nutrition insecurity. Uganda faces malnutrition i.e. under nutrition among the urban poor and over nutrition – obesity among the urban rich [4,5]. This is because African diets are gradually being replaced with more convenient and conventional food alternatives [4]. The conventional foods include; fatty meats, highly sugary, salty and oily street and supermarket foods, and exotic vegetables and cereals [4]. It has been noted in many studies that reduced dietary diversity has serious effects on the nutrition and health of rural and urban populations. Dietary diversification is widely accepted as a cost-effective and sustainable way of improving malnutrition. Neglected and underutilized food resources constitute the bedrock of the diversity in traditional and indigenous food systems of developing countries [6,7,8]. Consumption of indigenous foods changes as people move from villages to towns. Indigenous foods are consumed in fresh form [4] and these include; small grain cereals, dark green leafy vegetables, tropical fruits, legumes, starchy stem, wild yams, root tubers and a range of edible insects [4,9]. The consumption of indigenous foods is, however, constrained by the underdeveloped production and marketing systems, inadequate awareness of benefits, limited processing and cultural acceptance [10]. The indigenous/traditional plants are propagated by both sexual (seed) and asexual (vegetative) methods [11]. Vegetative propagation methods include; use of cuttings, splits, rhizomes, suckers, crowns, slips, tubers, bulbs, vines, corms and runners [11,12,13,14].