Africa Factbook

Cassava is a root vegetable cooked like potatoes.  The cassava plant is known under many names manioca, yucca, mandioca, manioc, tapioca, and cassada. Cassava is grown and cultivated in around 40 African countries. The first Portuguese colonists saw the native Indians in Brazil growing the cassava plant used in the preparation of bread.  It is believed that cassava was introduced to the western coast of Africa in about the 16th century by Portuguese slave trading merchants. Cassava flour Root vegetables are grown underground and cassavas are tuberous root vegetables. Cassava are usually grouped in two main categories: Manihot palmata and Manihot aipi, or bitter and sweet cassava.  Currently, about half of the world production of cassava is in Africa. The cassava plant is known under many names such as ubi kettella, kaspe, manioca, rumu, yucca, mandioca, aipim, manioc, tapioca, and cassada. Cassava is grown and cultivated in around 40 African countries, stretching through a wide

Khat Amphetamine Drug Explained in Simple Words At the Chat Market Khat is a stimulant drug derived from a shrub named Catha edulis. Khat (pronounced cot) is an evergreen shrub that grows in areas bordering the Red Sea , including countries in the horn of East Africa particularly Ethiopia . The Khat leaves are chewed by men, women, and children. Cathinone and cathine are chemicals similar to the effects of amphetamines and result in similar stimulant effects in the brain and body. Khat is the locally chewed social drug in places such as Ethiopia and has a long history as social routine dating back thousands of years. Khat plant is widely cultivated and known by a variety of names in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and many other places in and around Africa. Khat is grown in groves and three to four hours per day is devoted to striping the branches chewing the leaves releasing the drug. Other Names for Khat are Abyssinian Tea, Arabian-Tea, Chat, Jaad, Kat, Qaat

Sirocco and Harmattan Dust Winds Facts Sirocco winds of coastal North Africa reach a peak in March and in November. Harmattan wind season in West Africa is November to March. Sirocco and Harmattan dust winds affects the entire worlds respiratory health. Fine particles of African dust can penetrate more easily into the human respiratory and circulatory system than larger particles. Dust Wind Blows Sirocco winds of coastal North Africa The Sirocco wind is a hot, dry sirocco wind blowing north from the Sahara is frequent during the summer season, bringing blinding sand and dust storms to North African coastal regions of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.  They reach a peak in March and in November when it is very hot. Sirocco winds originate in hot, dry air over the Saharan desert. The Sirocco wind picks up a lot of the moisture in the air over the Mediterranean Sea and becomes a humid warm wind.  The wind began as

Learn to Make West African Super Hot Pepper Water Stew Making the super hot West African Pepper Water Chicken Stew is essential African food cooking. Pepper water stew is a fiery stew filled with meats and veggies. This is an African recipe you should always have on hand for family and friends who love flaming hot stews. Super Hot Pepper Water Stew Ingredients 2 pounds cut up stew chicken 1 pound cubed veal 4 cups cold water 2 large onions, sliced 1 tablespoon butter 3 hot chili peppers 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 4 stalks celery, diced 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Juice of one lemon Directions Cut up the chicken and veal, add the cold water to them, and place over a slow fire. Slice the onions and brown them in the butter. Add them and the peppercorns, cloves, chopped celery, and curry powder stirred to a smooth paste with a little water to the meat. Simmer together slowly until the chicken is tender. Remov

Mental illness and mental health are widely neglected on African health and development policies. Article Topics. Depression in Africa, Mental illness in African culture, Chaining the mentally ill. Africa is ripe with war, sexual violence and rape, famine, displacement, and natural and manmade disaster but the epidemic of mental illness and mental health problems are taboo subjects that leave people stigmatized in much of Africa. The epidemic of mental illness and mental health issues in Africa often come last on the list of national and local importance. Banksy Follow Your Dreams Depression is not an illness. Most developing countries dedicate less than 2 percent of governmental healthcare budgets to mental health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 56 percent of African countries have community-based mental health facilities, 37 percent have mental health facilities for children and 15 percent for the elderly. Mental illness is a ta

Livestock, maize, cassava, cotton and coffee are Africa’s top five most important agricultural products. The main staple foods in the average African diet are in terms of energy cereal rice, wheat, maize, millet, sorghum 46 percent, then roots and tubers such as potatoes, cassava, yams and taro 20 percent and animal products as meat, milk, eggs, cheese and fish 7 percent. The highest consumption of millet, oil palm, okra, sorghum, teff, wheat, yams and coffee tops the list. Staple foods are eaten regularly and in such quantities as to constitute the dominant part of the diet and supply a major proportion of energy and nutrient needs. Of more than 50,000 edible plant species in the world, only a few hundred contribute significantly to food supplies . Wild plants are essential for many rural subsistence households; at least 100 million people are thought to use them. In Ghana, for instance, the leaves of over 100 species of wild plants and the fruits of another 200 are consumed. Re