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  • By Victor Wasike & Aurillia Manjella
  • Posted 07/19/2017

Traditional Foods: The Secret to Long Life

In recent years, the people of Busia County in Western Kenya are witnessing the emergence of a number of diseases associated with diet and lifestyle. The reason for this likely has much to do with the fact that young people in this area, as in other parts of the country, have come to see traditional food as undesirable. Traditional foods have many healthful qualities, however, and by shifting away from the consumption of these foods and towards highly processed imported foods, people’s diets are changing from healthy to unhealthy. Meanwhile, many of these traditional food species are disappearing.

Matilda Oloo is one of the oldest women in Matayos Sub County, but to her, age is just but a number. She is strong and healthy despite her 90 years. Her husband, Jacob Ochiel, who is six years older than her, is also in good health. According to Matilda, she has not entered a hospital since she was born, and Jacob has not been to a hospital since the two married. The key to their enduring health, they believe, is the traditional food that they eat. Matilda and Jacob are strong enough to farm their own land, and they share the responsibility for producing the food that they eat. Matilda grows local tomato varieties and sweet potatoes, while Jacob grows cassava, maize, sorghum and millet. The couple also grows traditional herbs, like okata, aloe vera, and nasunya.

I am happy that my wife is still using our local foods and culture. She takes good care of me. That is the reason I am still alive, healthy, and strong today. The only health Issue I have is [that] my eyes are not so good because of age.” -96-year-old Jacob Ochiel at his homestead in Busia County


90-year-old Matilda at her homestead in Matayos. Even in the dry season her kitchen garden is ever green


Oil salt and fat are produced on-farm and used sparsely. Cooking oil is extracted from fermented cream, while musherekha (local bicarbonate produced from beans leaves ash/banana leaves ash) is used as a salt substitute. The couple take tea without sugar accompanied by sweet potatoes or cassava. The house is food secure and the produce from the kitchen garden is enough to feed the Ochiel household all year round. Matilda only goes to the market to greet her friends and great grandchildren. Are traditional foods the answer to longevity?


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