The African Gourmet

Growing up on a coffee plantation, Asnakech Thomas is proud that her family comes from a coffee-rich region in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region. She is also proud that, in February 2007, her coffee was ranked highest in a pre-selection process for Ethiopia’s first-ever private coffee auction. This enabled her to sell the coffee for $2 per pound, a 50 percent increase from before the auction.

Asnakech is participating in a USAID program focused on improving specialty coffee production and quality in Ethiopia. The program helped Asnakech install and operate an eco-friendly coffee processing machine. The project also provided her with expertise on how to create specialty coffee throughout the production process — from tree care, to picking and drying techniques. At the same time, USAID worked with the coffee chains to organize a coffee auction. The auction connected Ethiopian farmers with buyers from more than 40 countries. Some of these specialty coffees sold for as much as $5 per pound, 280 percent more than typical prices.

As Asnakech finished processing coffee for the season, samples of coffee from her and 20 other growers with the program were shipped around the world for buyers to taste and grade. The auction gave producers like Asnakech an opportunity to reach new markets and showcase their specialty coffees. The samples sold at the auction were small and select, and enabled buyers and producers to connect and make long-term trade commitments. After USAID assistance from seed to sales, Asnakech’s samples were bought by an exporter and she made connections with other buyers for future sales.

Asnakech knows she stands out in the coffee industry as a woman, but being the only woman coffee producer and exporter makes her want to work harder. She explained that at first, the farmers who brought their coffee berries (the fruit that contains the coffee beans) to her mill could not believe a woman was in charge. “Now they are used to it. It’s good — almost 80 percent of the people who pick my coffee are women. I want to encourage them,” she said.

As for her coffee placing highest, Asnakech says that it was good, but not good enough. “I received a score of 95. Next time, I want 100.”

Credit USAID

The communities in Bié Province’s commune of Cassumbi have been producing honey for a number of years. They perfected their methods to produce good quality honey, but had no way to sell it. It was a wasted resource.

“We spend a lot of time and have a lot of skills in producing honey, but the problem is we don’t know who to sell it to. The roads are so bad here that even if there were people who were interested in buying it, it is hard for us to go to market to sell it,” said Domingos Cassinda.

However, when a USAID-funded program in the municipality of Andulo (where Cassumbi is located) did a community mapping exercise with the villages, some interesting results emerged. After villagers identified the honey as a local asset, the project team helped them think collectively about ways to use this asset for income-generating activities. With a bit of collective brainstorming and the insights in Andulo, a new solution was found.

Rather than thinking that they themselves had to go to market, the community members found that they can get the market to come to them. They decided to seek businessmen who already had capital and contacts the community didn’t have. The communities looked into linking with local businessmen in Kuito, Bie’s provincial capital, to see if they would be interested in working with the community.

“Before, we just made the honey and did not think about how to exploit it. Now, having worked together, we have managed to get not only someone to buy it all from us in bulk, but a contract with them to protect our agreement. And better still, they can come to us and we do not even need to go anywhere! We hope now that this will increase the standard of living in the community and we can start to invest for our future and that of our children,” said Maria Henda, a peasant woman in Cassumbi.

Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry Rawlings took power in 1981 and banned political parties.

After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, Rawlings won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John Kufuor succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John Atta Mills took over as head of state in early 2009.

Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. The domestic economy continues to revolve around agriculture, which accounts for more than a third of GDP and employs more than half of the work force, mainly small landholders.

Plantain Chips

Ingredients:
4 firm yellow plantains 
2 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp cayenne pepper
oil for frying

Directions:
Slice the plantains into rounds 1/2-inch thick, and sprinkle lemon juice over the pieces, stirring to moisten. In a separate bowl, combine the ginger and pepper. Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a heavy skillet until a test piece of plantain sputters. Roll plantain pieces a few at a time in the spice mixture to coat surfaces, then transfer to the skillet. Fry until outsides are crisp and golden. With a slotted spoon, remove plaintains to a paper toweling to cool.

Newtown is a vibrant area with a unique and extraordinary character based on existing cultural facilities, new commercial and residential developments, and a rich historical past.It’s an ideal inner city location with a distinctly European feel with its early post Victorian industrial buildings, period or modern feel, large open spaces, historic houses, pavement restaurants, colorful markets, period buildings and facades. Johannesburg’s cultural precinct is set in the heart of the ‘old city’, with safe and easy access from either the Nelson Mandela Bridge or the MI and Carr Street interchange.

Newtown has been in existence since the turn of the century and contains a remarkable mix of old and new. There is the outer casing of the original Victorian park station seemingly abandoned on an open piece of land right next to a new award-winning low cost housing development known as ‘Brickfields’.

Some location highlights include: Mary Fitzgerald Square: This is a vast open square, probably Joburg’s largest public space. Museum Africa: 1919 the City’s original fresh produce market was built. Providing a space 200 meters high, the building is unique in Africa in that it has a series of steel arched supports running across a vaulted roof, with no vertical supports.

Market Theatre: The Market Theatre houses three theatres and a gallery, and the complex still retains the ambience and spirit of a marketplace.

Workers’Museum: This was an original municipal workers compound. Sci-Bono Discovery Centre: 1n 1906 a power station was built in President Street. This became the Electric Workshop, and is now the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre.

Turbine Hall: The first section of the Jeppe Street Power Station came into operation. The physical development included the Turbine Hall. The Turbine Hall and South Boiler House are superb industrial buildings. A new structure to accommodate the international head quarters of AngloGold Ashanti was built in 2005 after the North Boiler House was demolished.

Old Park Station: The metal and glass shell of the original old Park Station sits on a heavy concrete platform overlooking vacant land that was erected in 1897.

Kippies: Situated next to the Market Theatre, was an international jazz venue of note. Its original old section has attractive small arched windows, and a small domed roof. It was modeled on the classic architecture of the Edwardian public convenience, which can still be seen through the shrubbery in the Market Theatre parking lot.

Newtown Park: This outdoor venue is grassed and surrounded by numerous buildings all with an industrial feel including Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Moving into Dance, The Dance Factory and Bassline. A beautiful bronze statue of Brenda Fassie, South African pop icon, is situated outside the Bassline overlooking the park. Author: Sandra Olivier