Beyaa (standing) and Afirye (seated) process fufu in a shallow "Asante" style mortar. The heavy wooden pestle is frayed at the base. This helps to break down the fiber in cassava tubers and make a softer, smoother fufu. Afiriye periodically turns the fufu with a moistened hand as Beyaa pounds using a technique more characteristic of southern Ghana where cassava is a typical ingredient in fufu. The preference in Banda is to make fufu using only yam (Dioscorea sp., finyjie in Nafaanra). Heard in the background is the rhythmic sound of young women pounding in a deep mortar nearby. See the related video at the link below. Household of Sampson Attah, Ahenkro, 27 May, 2009. Length: 00:00:53 minutes.
An educational poster with pictures and text focused on how past people in the Banda area fed their families. It describes foods eaten in the past, the changes in foods eaten today, and how people in the past coped with food shortages. It is one of five posters prepared for a Banda community event held in 2014. Printed versions of the posters are housed in the Banda Cultural Centre, Ahenkro.
Typical farm from the 1980s, showing intercropping of yams (finyjie in Nafaanra), cassava (dwa), calabash (chrԑ) or gourd and other crops. Banda, 1982.
Magdalene Attah uses a small wooden mortar and pestle to process cassava flour while two goats forage in the background. The large wood pile to the rear (left) is associated with the tobacco drying barns that line the south edge of Ahenkro. Ahenkro, May, 1995.
T.Z. (short for "tuo zafi," which means hot porridge in Hausa) is a staple food made from milled grain and served with soup. This short video shows how T.Z. and cassava leaf soup are prepared, following Abena Kuma as she makes her family's evening meal. The video is excerpted from a longer interview with women of Sulɔɔ Katoo, who shared information on changing practices of food preparation and sharing over recent decades. The full video is available at a link shown below. Sabiye, 13 November, 2018. Length: 00:04:27 minutes.
A woman uses her hand to mix water into a flour made from ground dawadawa (Parkia biglobosa) beans and cassava flour held in a calabash bowl (chrɛgbɔɔ in Nafaanra). The moistened mixture will be steamed in a pot to make wehan. The cooked cake is eaten with a sauce made from shea oil, pepper, garden eggs and salt. This dish was prepared and served at the Olden Times Food Fair held at the Banda Cultural Centre with sponsorship from Amanda L. Logan. Ahenkro, 31 July, 2014.
A young cassava plant (dwa in Nafaanra) growing in an intercropped field. Manihot esculenta was introduced to Africa from the western hemipshere. It can be grown on soils that have been depleted of nutrients by other crops. Its cultivation requires little labor and its tubers, which provide a starchy staple, can be left in the ground for long periods. Other than as a source of calories, the tubers have little nutritional value. Cassava leaves, however, are used as vitamin- and nutrient-rich additions to soups. Lying on the ground around the cassava plant are dried maize stalks (bleju in Nafaanra) left behind from a previous planting cycle. Sabiye, 15 July, 2022.
A cassava tuber (dwa in Nafaanra). Manihot esculenta was introduced to Africa from the western hemipshere. It can be grown on soils that have been depleted of nutrients by other crops. Its cultivation requires little labor and its tubers, which provide a starchy staple, can be left in the ground for long periods. Other than as a source of calories, the tubers have little nutritional value. Ahenkro, 12 July, 2022.
A roadside agricultural field is planted with cassava (Manihot esculenta). The palmate leaves of the mature plants are visible growing among trees that were left standing when the intercropped field was first prepared. Regular weeding is needed to control spear grass, which can be seen growing at the edge of the field. Cassava is grown for its tubers, which can be harvested over a long period and store well when processed and dried. Its leaves are valued as an ingredient in soups. Planted early in the rainy season (April-May) the tubers mature in 6-18 months, depending on variety. Cassava tolerates poorer soils than yams (Dioscorea sp.), which are a preferred food in the area. Therefore, cassava it is grown in intercropped fields after yams are grown in the first year or two and before fields are left to fallow. Roadside near Nyire, August, 1994.