First African Chefs Gathering Issues Declaration that Celebrates Culinary Heritage, Recognizes Opportunities and Challenges

Addis Ababa, July 25, 2025 (ENA) -- The First African Chefs Gathering and Policy Convening on African Food Systems has issued a declaration that celebrates the rich heritage of African cuisine while acknowledging the challenges and opportunities within the continent's food systems.

More than 140 participants from 23 African nations gathered in Addis Ababa from July 23 to 25 emphasized the importance of centering African values of sharing, dignity, and healing in food systems.

In a declaration they issued today, the participants affirmed the beauty and sacredness of African food systems that have historically nourished bodies and connected communities.

The declaration highlighted the essential role of indigenous foods in ceremonies and healing practices, traditional dishes that embody ancestral wisdom, culinary rituals that honor ancestors and foster community cohesion, and youth-led enterprises that creatively adapt African fast food by honoring local ingredients.

The gathering also confronted significant challenges threatening the survival of African food traditions.

 

A growing disconnect among youth from traditional food practices, culinary education systems that marginalize African knowledge, structural exclusion of African cuisine from global gastronomy, negative impacts of climate change and policy neglect on traditional crops, and persistent colonial narratives that undermine food cultures are cited among the challenges that persist in African food systems.

Moreover, the declaration recognized opportunities for African cuisine expressing optimism about the future of African food systems, envisioning numerous opportunities for restoration and revival.

The declaration further pointed out that strengthening intergenerational knowledge through schools and digital platforms, documenting ancestral food wisdom via cookbooks and festivals, empowering women and youth as key agents of culinary transformation as well as advocating for policy innovations that prioritize local sourcing and community-led research, are ways for African cuisine revival and restoration.

A robust commitment to center African values in food systems work, advocacy for food sovereignty in policy and education, fostering regional collaborations to amplify culinary knowledge, and support storytelling that uplifts local chefs and farmers as guardians of heritage are also included in the declaration.

Furthermore, the declaration stated that the participants left with a collective vision to nourish Africa through their cultural pride and ancestral knowledge, emphasizing the need for this declaration to transform from words into actionable commitments, shaping the future of African food systems from kitchens and farms to policies and classrooms.