Abstract
Although the trends of international reports show an increase in overweight and obesity, even in developing countries, there are still areas of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, strongly affected by undernutrition. Specifically, in Madagascar, the percentage of stunted children under 5 is extremely high. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the risk of all forms of malnutrition, especially in low-income countries, including Madagascar, with serious intergenerational repercussions. This narrative review aims at investigating eating habits and cooking methods of the Malagasy population, addressing sustainable healthy diets through promotion of novel foods. While novel foods are a recent concept, there are data that describe how they may contribute to counteract food insecurity and malnutrition considering context and place. Efforts to promote native, traditional foods as Moringa oleifera, an indigenous plant in Asia and Africa including Madagascar, rich in protein and micronutrients, as well as edible insects, alternative sustainable source of protein, lipids, iron, and zinc, would provide not only nutritional but also cultural and economic benefits. The potential synergies between food traditions and agroecology have the potential to impact health addressing larger issues of sustainability and food security. Regional, national, and international policies are needed to develop and support one health approach actions.
Highlights
Novel food is defined as “food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before 15 May 1997”, when the first regulation on novel food came into force [25]
Even though entomophagy is not common in the western world, insects are consumed by around two billion people globally [51]
While there are multiple underlying determinants of malnutrition, sub-optimal diets serve as a common factor for poor nutrition outcomes
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Direction for Analamanga (City of Antananarivo), aware of the current condition, have built a consortium to operationalize the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) approach proposed by FAO and RUAF partners (the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)) and the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems). This approach was committed to create regional food strategies, and to design and implement a “post-COVID-19” strategy, which may serve as an effective tool to reinforce food system and increase resilience [14]. Moringa and insects in this case—could represent a sustainable approach to counteract malnutrition in developing countries
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