The many uses of millet in Ghana #westafricanfood #travel

cassava (also known as yuca) and corn/maize are indigenous to the Americas where they have been cultivated for about 10,000 years. They hold significant places in indigenous American culture and tradition. These products were introduced to the African continent through European trade (more like thievery) as millions were stolen from the continent, decimating our food systems. Before the introduction of American crops like corn, cassava, chilli and tomatoes, Africans were nourishing themselves with a host of indigenous millets and grains, indigenous rice, seeds from the ancient watermelon, a variety of greens and fruit as well as hunted game. corn and cassava grow much faster than millets and as the demand for food increased to feed the millions of stolen Africans across the middle passage, they were quickly enveloped in the food system. As colonialism made way for neocolonialism, western forms of agriculture were pushed to accompany “aid money” further hurting our food system. Our food system has changed and continues to change so we are losing the essence of what was inherently our traditional foods. Corn and cassava are not inherently bad, they have been indigenized into our food systems with unique cultivars springing up on the African continent. As an aside, as some enslaved Africans returned from present-day Brazil, they had brought with them the knowledge they had acquired from indigenous people in South America on how to better process cassava, mixing it with African methods to make uniquely African foods.

If you want to learn more about millet, you can check out the lost crops of Africa encyclopedia. Details about cassava in Africa can be found in the book titled, the introduction and dissemination of cassava in Africa. There is a lovely account I follow on Instagram called the @thekitchenbutterfly who has a fantastic open access library dedicated to African food on the continent and the diaspora

Ancient grains! Is this in North Ghana?

Kunu is my favorite

Wowww

Your page is amazing such a great tourguide. Thank you

We have to go back to our natural environment and food.

I thought corn originated from Africa?

It's crazy how much hand work goes into preparing these African foods 🙌 gotta respect the efforts 💪

You should host a trip for others to go with you. I volunteer myself to go when you do. Just let me know the costs and I’m there

Loving your channel.

Wow here that's just girl food… Tom Brown is on my list of things I want to rey

This is very cool, thanks for sharing!

They look absolutely delicious 😋. Also, I am guessing rich in fibres and complex carbs, so much better than high glycemic index food.

There is a dairy drink in Yemen called Zom too.