A Theoretical Framework for Integrating Traditional Food Knowledge Systems into Formal Food Safety Governance in Nigeria

Food safety governance frameworks in sub-Saharan Africa have historically privileged codified, Western-derived regulatory models while marginalising the extensive traditional food knowledge systems that have sustained community health across generations. In Nigeria, traditional food processing and preservation knowledge embedded in ethnic communities across all six geopolitical zones represents an invaluable but systematically neglected resource for developing contextually appropriate food safety governance. This thesis proposes and validates a theoretical framework for integrating traditional food knowledge systems into formal food safety governance in Nigeria, drawing on institutional theory, co-production theory, and indigenous knowledge systems scholarship. The framework was developed through three complementary phases: a systematic review of literature on traditional food knowledge in sub-Saharan Africa, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork across six geopolitical zones documenting traditional food safety practices and their underlying epistemic logic, and a Delphi expert consensus exercise with forty-three food safety governance stakeholders including regulators, academics, food producers, and community representatives. Framework validation was achieved through case study application to the regulatory governance of fermented food products, a food category where traditional knowledge is most dense. The resulting framework articulates principles of epistemic plurality, knowledge translation, participatory standard-setting, and regulatory subsidiarity as essential components of a hybrid food safety governance architecture. The study makes original theoretical contributions to the food governance literature and provides a practical policy pathway for the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control. Keywords: traditional food knowledge, food safety governance, indigenous knowledge, theoretical framework, Nigeria.