Local foods as an impetus for strengthening leisure, recreation and sustainable tourism in East Africa

Leisure and recreation are relatively young fields of study in East Africaas such, there is a scarcity of published information in these fields. Tourism on the other hand, has been extensively studied in this area. However, studies have focused on economic benefits of tourism. Food is considered to be a central component in all three fields but only a handful of studies have focused on the contribution of local food in the field. This study proposes that promoting local food can enhance leisure, recreation and tourism management leading to sustainability of parks and protected areas in the region