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The African Gourmet: Folktales, Cuisine & Cultural History

Explore Africa’s Heritage

Explore tales that carry Africa’s wisdom, courage, and humor. From river spirits to trickster animals, every story holds a lesson.

From hearty stews to fragrant grains, experience traditional African recipes and the history behind every dish.

Ancient African proverbs and modern interpretations — explore the wisdom passed down through generations.

Dive into Africa’s kingdoms, independence stories, and modern milestones that shape the continent today.

Cassava Leaves, Sweet Potato Leaves, and Cocoyam Recipes

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Three African Food Recipes Using Cassava Leaves, Sweet Potato Leaves, and Cocoyams. African staple foods that can make if you know how to cook cassavas, sweet potatoes, and cocoyams. Carrying cassava home for dinner tonight About popular African food ingredients cassava, sweet potato, and cocoyam toxins and safe African food recipes. Make three easy African food recipes of Curry Cassava Leaves, Saute Sweet Potato Leaves, and Cocoyam Vegetable Soup. African Food Staple of Cassava Cassava is known by various names, manioc, yucca, yuca, mandioca, and tapioca. Cassava originated from tropical America and was first introduced into Africa in the Congo Basin by the Portuguese around 1558. Cassava is a major staple food in the developing world, providing a basic diet for over half a billion people. Nigeria is the world's largest producer of cassava, while Thailand is the largest exporter of dried cassava. Nearly every person in Africa eats around 176 pounds or 80 kilograms of...

Goat Keeping in Africa

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Brief look at goat keeping in Africa on goats and goat keeping. Goats provide their owners with a broad range of products and socio-economic services and have played an important role in the social life of many African people, being used as gifts, dowry, in religious rituals and rites of passage. Being relatively tolerant of drought, goats can survive with little watering. Depending on the breed their fast reproduction rate enables their owners to recover quickly, following a drought. Goats, being small, can be carried or moved easily if a family is forced to leave home. Goats are kept in small herds on mixed farms all over Africa, from the humid coastal zones in West Africa to the highlands of Ethiopia. Farmers and pastoralists all over Africa are increasingly turning to goats as a means of survival and a way of boosting their incomes. This presents African governments responsible for animal resources with new opportunities for reaching the poorest farmers in their countries....

Why do wars occur and recur in South Sudan

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The nature of war and conflict has also changed over the years in South Sudan with interstate conflict, that intrastate conflicts and civil wars are common. War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. – 39th President of the United States of America, James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr., Nobel Lecture, December 10, 2002. When a complaint concerning a threat to peace is brought up, the first action is usually for the parties to try to reach an agreement by peaceful means. When a dispute leads to fighting, the community's first concern is to bring it to an end as soon as possible. The main strategies for preventing disputes from escalating into conflict, and for preventing the recurrence of conflict, are preventive diplomacy and preventive disarmament. Preventive diplomacy refers to action taken to prevent disputes from arising o...

What does cultured meat mean to Africa

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Explanation of cultured meat grown in laboratories and the impact on Africa. What is Cultured Meat? Cultured meat is meat produced outside of a living animal produced by culturing animal stem cells created for humans to eat. Cultured meat is envisioned as a potential to produce a high-quality protein that could complement and or partially substitute for the growing demand for meat proteins due in-part to more than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa and a more environmental and sustainable way to feed people is vital. The world's first cultured meat burger colored red with beetroot juice was cooked and eaten at a news conference in London August 2013. Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, was the project's backer and funded$330,000 for research. Critics of cultured meat opinion technological fixes, whether it is lab-grown meat or GM crops address the symptoms rather than the causes of world hunger. Prof Tara Garnett, head ...

30 Cheetah Stats

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The Greatest Cheetah Stats. In Africa cheetahs live in Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, ESwatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Read on for some valuable cheetah facts so you are knowledgeable about African cheetahs. The largest land areas cheetahs live in are the Southern African countries of Namibia and Botswana. Their range occurs widely but is extremely sparse and fragmented in the regions they still inhabit. However, Southern and Eastern Africa are major roaming areas for cheetah populations. As human populations grow and expand throughout Africa, agriculture, roads, and settlements destroy the open grasslands that cheetahs inhabit. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okavango Delta, and the grasslands of the Transvaal region in Sout...

The United States and Africa Foreign Imports Trade Facts

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U.S.–Africa Trade Facts & Top AGOA Suppliers (Updated 2024–2025) Snapshot:  U.S. goods imports from Africa in  2024 reached $39.6 billion  (↑2.7% YoY). The U.S. goods trade deficit with Africa narrowed to  $7.2 billion .  Source: USTR Africa overview, 2024. AGOA status (2025):  The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) remains the core U.S.–Africa trade preference program. Congress is considering reauthorization beyond 2025; uncertainty plus new U.S. tariff actions have created headwinds for some exporters (notably apparel and autos). U.S. – Africa Trade Overview (2023–2024) In 2024, U.S. goods imports from Africa totaled $39.6 billion , representing a 2.7% increase from 2023. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} The U.S. goods trade deficit with Africa shrank to $7.2 billion in 2024. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1} U.S. imports under AGOA (including GSP provisions) totaled $9.7 billion in 2023 , comprising approximately ...

About Chic African Culture

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About Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet Saturday at home with Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet in Palm Beach Florida Who is Chic African Culture and The African Gourmet Chic African Culture is the brainchild of Ivy Newton a graduate of Florida A & M University in Tallahassee Florida. Ms. Newton’s family history has tentacles on two different continents, Africa and America. The African country of Mozambique in Southeast Africa is her country of origin, specifically from the tourist and fishing port town of Porto Amelia now known as Pemba. Her family's occupation is that of fishing, fishing in the Mozambique Channel is the lifeblood of the family. Many of The African Gourmet, cooking and recipe division of Chic African Culture, recipes derive from Mozambique with limitless seafood recipes. Many recipes from The African Gourmet gleam directly from family and friends still living in Mozambique and every African   Country. Why are we here? Sin...

African Proverbs Six Things I Wish I Knew Before I Quit

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African proverbs are important because they teach life lessons in short simple sayings. Here are six African Proverbs about six things I wish I knew before I quit. Reflect on the important lessons learned from African proverbs to carry with you and not quit life, and look toward the hard times ahead. If there is one thing, you learn as you get older, it is important to know that no one knows what they are doing, everyone is winging it and life is really about how you handle the unknown and being resilient in spite of failing. Society sets many benchmarks that they think we should meet, or conform to, but understand we do not have to live life according to an ideal we do not believe in, and we do not have to apologize for it. The reason why African proverbs speak to our secret places inside us is African proverbs are true statements of how not to quit and love the life we are living. Six Things I Wish I Knew Before I Quit African Proverbs Six Things About Life African Prove...

Folklore Meets Science

Folklore Meets Science
African stories that explain the universe

African Gourmet FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The African Gourmet blog about?

The African Gourmet explores African food, history, and culture through recipes, folktales, and proverbs written for curious readers worldwide.

Who writes The African Gourmet?

The blog is written and curated by Ivy, a lifelong historian and storyteller who highlights Africa’s culinary and cultural richness.

How can I find African recipes on this site?

Use the “African Recipes” category or explore posts like African Recipes for regional dishes and ingredients.

Can I share or reprint your articles?

You may share articles with attribution and a link back to The African Gourmet. Reprinting in print or commercial use requires permission.

Where can I learn more about African proverbs and folklore?

Explore our African Proverbs and African Folktales sections for timeless wisdom and stories.

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African Studies

African Studies
African Culture and traditions