i Parkia biglobosa - School of Forest Resources & Environmental ...

cassava (Manihot esculenta) and maize (Zea mays). Gari, a carbohydrate sold in
polythene bags to which one can just add water and eat, is roasted and flaked from
fermented cassava (Campbell-Platt 1980).
Dawadawa is used as flavoring but also adds protein to a protein-poor diet.
Kwashiorkor is a syndrome characterized by a swollen belly. This swelling or ascites is
excess fluid pooling in the abdominal cavity resulting from a protein poor diet. The
name was derived from the Kwa language of Ghana. Kwashiorkor, is the evil spirit
which infects the first child when the second child is born. This condition arises when
the second child is weaned from the protein rich breast milk to a protein poor plant-
derived diet (United States Library of Medicine 2002).
Dawadawa is used as a protein additive to most stews and soups, the main meals
in West Africa (see Appendix). In Togo, the Cabrais tribes of northern Togo used
Table 4 – Average daily consumption of dawadawa (source Hall et al. 1997)
Region Ethnic Group/Religion Consumption
(g person -1 day -1 )
Eastern Nigeria Ibo 1
Northern Nigeria Hausa 1-7
Ghana - 2
Burkina Faso Mossi 3
Togo Kabyé 4
Parakou, Benin - 5
Kodowari, Benin Anii/Muslim 7-10
Western Nigeria Yoruba 10
Northern Nigeria Christian 14
Northern Nigeria Muslim 17
dawadawa in 90% of their meals while the Mobas further north, used dawadawa 60 days
out of 100 (Table 4). In the Northern region of Ghana, ten percent of all meals contained
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