The National Museums of Kenya is set to host a Food Heritage Festival under the theme, “Ancestral Food, Modern Plates” organised through a joint partnership between The Tendet Foundation and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Alliance Kenya (SUN CSA Kenya).
The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 30.
According to the Tendet Foundation, this community-led annual event aims to reclaim and promote traditional food systems as a sustainable, culturally rooted solution to Kenya’s pressing nutrition challenge.
In a statement seen by KBC Digital, organisers said the event was inspired by Kenya’s current malnutrition problem.
“Kenya currently faces a “triple burden” of malnutrition, characterised by persistent undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising rates of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” the statement said. “The Food Heritage Festival responds to these challenges by reconnecting urban and peri-urban consumers with nutrient-dense, climate-resilient traditional foods such as African Indigenous Vegetables, millets, sorghum, and tubers.”
Speaking directly to KBC Digital, Tendet Foundation founder Muusi Nzyoka said the festival would help bridge the gap between policy and people.
“The Food Heritage Festival bridges the gap between policy and people, tradition and innovation,” he said. “By repositioning traditional foods as pathways to a sustainable future, the event seeks to increase dietary diversity while preserving the cultural memory and ecological wisdom of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.”
The festival is expected to satisfy four main objectives:
- Marketplace – create a vibrant space where farmers sell indigenous foods and seeds directly to
consumers, retaining full profits to support local livelihoods. - Knowledge Hub – create an interactive area for nutrition learning, storytelling, and the progressive establishment of a community seed bank in Nairobi.
- Cultural Celebration – create a showcase of African identity featuring music, art, cultural dances, and traditional games.
- Dialogue Space – create a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement on food systems, policy
advocacy, and community-driven sustainability solutions.
The organisers anticipate over 200 participants ranging from smallholder farmers and youth to diplomatic representatives and researchers. The festival seeks to increase dietary diversity while preserving the cultural memory and ecological wisdom of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs).
