ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1612325
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable Food Consumption and Production in the 21st Century: Volume IIView all 11 articles
Eating healthy and sustainable: Consumer awareness, perceptions and attitude towards mushroom consumption in Kigali, Rwanda
Provisionally accepted
- 1International PhD Programme in Agricultural Economics, Bioeconomy and Sustainable Food Systems, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Nutritional Sciences, and Environmental Management, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- 2Rwanda Agriculture Board, Kigali, Rwanda
- 3Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
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While the health and sustainability aspects of diets in high-income countries have received great attention, the dearth of research on food-related health and sustainability aspects in low-income countries needs to be addressed. Focusing on mushroom consumption as an example of a healthy and sustainable dietary practice, this study examines consumers' awareness and knowledge towards healthy and sustainable eating and explores the attitudes and barriers towards mushroom consumption in Kigali, Rwanda. Data from 16 in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were thematically analyzed using MaxQDA 24.3.0 through the lens of the Theory of Planned Behavior and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale. The results indicate that awareness on food related sustainability issues is limited, and most respondents reported being indifferent to environmental concerns in their food decision making process. While healthy diets are perceived as those containing plenty of vegetables and fruits, unhealthy diets are defined as those containing excessive amounts of sugar, salt and fats, including overconsumption of meat products. The results also highlight mixed attitudes toward mushroom consumption, shaped by cultural misconceptions, limited availability, and cooking knowledge gaps. The findings underscore the need for interventions to enhance awareness on healthy diets and sustainability, while mushroom consumption could be strengthened by developing the value chain to ensure all-season availability, accessibility and affordability.
Keywords: mushrooms, Rwanda, sustainable consumption, eating healthy, TPB, New Ecological Paradigm Scale
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 31 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ndayisaba, Mediatrice, Umarishavu and Teuber. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Felix Ndayisaba, International PhD Programme in Agricultural Economics, Bioeconomy and Sustainable Food Systems, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Nutritional Sciences, and Environmental Management, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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