Misconceptions About African Food
Storing cereal in precolonial Africa, Courtesy of The New York Public Library
The study of precolonial African food systems debunk the misconception that historically starvation has plagued the continents people. The focus here is on West and Central Africa, from where the majority of people of African descent throughout the Americas have come. These two regions have had different seasons: dry season, rainy season, planting, growing, and harvesting seasons. Over centuries, African farmers have domesticated plants based on these seasons. First, we'll talk about cereals: rice, sorghum, millet, fonio, and teff. In North Africa people domesticated and cultivated barley and wheat from which they became the first humans to bake breads and make beer. More tomorrow on African cereals in West and Central Africa.
