How changing diets are creating new markets for Africa’s Indigenous crops

Nairobi bakeries and researchers across Africa are turning cassava, millet, sorghum and even rejected potatoes into gluten-free products as global demand for such foods grows toward a projected 7.38 billion dollar market by 2034.

Nutritionists note the gluten-free trend is driven as much by perceived wellness benefits as by actual celiac disease, while researchers at Pretoria and Stellenbosch universities are patenting marama bean protein and potato flour formulations to solve the texture problems that have long dogged gluten-free baking.

South Africa alone discards about 140,000 tons of cosmetically imperfect potatoes yearly, worth roughly 47 million dollars, that researchers hope to redirect into flour and ready meals instead of the bin.

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