As health-conscious consumers increasingly look beyond wheat, Africa’s indigenous crops are finding new commercial value. Growing demand for gluten-free foods is encouraging bakeries, researchers and food manufacturers to transform traditional staples such as cassava, millet, sorghum and teff into premium products for domestic and export markets.
Bonface Orucho, bird story agency
Wheat has long dominated Africa’s bakeries. But inside Nairobi’s Kirsten Bakery, shelves increasingly feature breads, cakes and pastries made from naturally gluten-free ingredients such as cassava, millet and sorghum.
The bakery is one example of a broader shift unfolding across Africa, where changing consumer preferences are creating new commercial opportunities for entrepreneurs, food scientists and manufacturers to transform indigenous crops into premium food products.
The growing appetite for gluten-free foods is not driven solely by people diagnosed with celiac disease, according to Judith Moraa, a Nairobi-based nutritionist.
“Nowadays, people are choosing gluten-free foods not only because they have celiac disease but also because they are sensitive to gluten and experience allergic reactions after consuming products that contain it,” Moraa said.
She noted that eliminating gluten is not, by itself, a weight-loss strategy, explaining that many consumers mistakenly associate wheat with weight gain when the larger contributors are excess calories from fats and sugars added during food preparation.
For consumers who can tolerate gluten, Moraa argues there is no medical reason to eliminate it entirely. However, she added that naturally gluten-free indigenous crops such as cassava, millet and sorghum offer valuable nutritional benefits because they are rich in dietary fibre that supports digestion.
Those changing dietary preferences are increasingly translating into commercial opportunity.
The global gluten-free bakery products market was valued at approximately US$2.6 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach US$7.38 billion by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights, reflecting growing demand for specialised bakery products.
Although Europe and North America continue to dominate much of the market, African businesses are increasingly positioning indigenous crops as locally sourced alternatives capable of supplying both domestic consumers and international markets.
For many African food manufacturers, indigenous crops offer advantages beyond nutrition. Cassava, millet and sorghum can often be sourced locally, reducing dependence on imported wheat while strengthening domestic agricultural value chains. Many of these crops are also more resilient to drought and changing climatic conditions, making them increasingly attractive as governments pursue food security alongside industrial development.
Researchers are already developing technologies that could make African gluten-free ingredients more competitive.
At the University of Pretoria, Food Science PhD researcher Daddy Kgonothi has developed a patent-pending modified marama bean protein concentrate designed to improve the quality and affordability of gluten-free baked products.
Marama beans, drought-resistant and nutrient-rich legumes native to Southern Africa, are being used to tackle one of the biggest technical and commercial challenges facing gluten-free baking: replicating the structure, elasticity and soft texture that gluten naturally provides in bread.
“A growing number of consumers with celiac disease are unable to consume gluten-containing foods such as bread and therefore rely on alternative gluten-free products,” Kgonothi said. “However, many commercially available gluten-free products are expensive due to the large number of ingredients required to achieve desirable product quality.”
The invention, which emerged from Kgonothi’s doctoral research and is currently at the prototype stage with a patent application filed, is aimed at food manufacturers producing gluten-free bakery products.
“I hope that this invention will ultimately reach the right stakeholders, particularly those actively involved in the FMCG industry,” he said. “
South African researchers are also exploring ways to transform cosmetically rejected potatoes into premium gluten-free foods, creating new markets for produce that would otherwise go to waste.
According to Potatoes South Africa, around 140,000 tonnes of potatoes worth roughly R759 million are rejected from the formal market each year because they fail to meet retailers’ aesthetic standards, despite being suitable for consumption.
Researchers are now investigating how those potatoes can be converted into gluten-free flour and other value-added products. At Stellenbosch University, food science researcher Tanja du Toit has developed gluten-free breads, muffins and pancakes using reformulated potato flour, overcoming one of the biggest technical barriers in gluten-free baking.
“Potato flour is naturally gluten-free, which presents an enormous opportunity for product development, especially using lower-grade potatoes, since the defects in potatoes are masked when they’re made into flour,” she said.
At the University of Pretoria, researchers have also developed gluten-free ready meals, including beef and potato lasagne, using lower-grade potatoes.
Consumer trials found that willingness to buy the products increased significantly once shoppers learned they helped reduce food waste, suggesting sustainability is becoming an important driver of purchasing decisions alongside growing demand for convenient gluten-free foods.
Researchers believe such innovations could create new value chains for potatoes previously treated as waste, improving farmers’ returns while supplying the expanding market for gluten-free food products.
Governments are also beginning to build the institutional foundations for the sector.
Nigeria recently secured approval through the Codex Alimentarius Commission to lead the development of an international standard for root and tuber flours, including cassava, yam and sweet potato flour.
Similar developments are emerging across the continent. Cassava is increasingly being processed into gluten-free flour across West and Central Africa, while sorghum and millet are finding new applications in speciality foods in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Ethiopia’s teff is also moving beyond its traditional market. In February, British International Investment committed US$5 million to Lovegrass Ethiopia to expand production of teff-based foods for domestic and export markets, highlighting growing investor confidence in indigenous grains.
The crop is also beginning to spread beyond Ethiopia, with Kenya’s Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) piloting drought-tolerant teff varieties in Marsabit as part of efforts to strengthen climate resilience while positioning farmers to serve the expanding global market for gluten-free foods.
Fonio, cultivated across parts of West Africa, is similarly attracting commercial interest as demand grows for nutrient-rich alternative grains.
The commercial opportunity is also extending to finished consumer products. South African producer Colleen’s Handmade Sauces recently expanded into the United Arab Emirates through premium online grocery retailer Kibsons, illustrating how African manufacturers are increasingly exporting gluten-free and clean-label foods alongside ingredients.
That commercial momentum is becoming increasingly visible at industry exhibitions such as the AFMASS Food Expo in Nairobi, where millers, ingredient suppliers, equipment manufacturers and food processors are dedicating growing attention to specialised flours and value-added African ingredients.
New product development is also accelerating. Companies such as Mugala Naturals are formulating snack bars using indigenous ingredients, including teff and amaranth, to meet growing demand for clean-label foods made without artificial additives.
bird story agency
Useful links for editors:https://www.up.ac.za/news/qa-young-researcher-turns-phd-work-patent-pending-food-science-innovation,https://www.farmersweekly.co.za/agri-news/south-africa/tapping-into-the-gluten-free-trend-could-improve-potato-margins/,https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/p/is-this-crop-nigerias-next-big-agribusiness
