The Food Bridge recently presented the final report of the second phase of its citizen science research project, Vyakulani Africa II, to the Impetus Accelerator. This milestone marks an important step in advancing community-led approaches to preserving and transmitting African culinary heritage within diaspora communities in Europe.

Vyakulani Africa II is a women-led initiative that introduced a more focused, action-oriented, and solution-driven approach to safeguarding African food traditions. Building on the first phase of the Vyakulani Africa project, the second phase moved beyond documentation to co-creating practical and transferable solutions that address intergenerational and cross-cultural gaps in culinary knowledge within migrant communities.

From Documentation to Co-Creation

One of the project’s key innovations was the training of older African women; the traditional custodians of culinary knowledge, to translate oral, practice-based recipes into user-friendly and teachable formats. African culinary knowledge is often passed down through observation, storytelling and hands-on practice rather than written recipes. Although this approach preserves authenticity and cultural context, it can be difficult for younger generations especially those growing up in Europe or non-African learners who are more accustomed to structured, step-by-step recipes.

Through Vyakulani Africa II, participants worked together to adapt traditional cooking knowledge into clear, structured learning materials while maintaining the cultural essence of the dishes. This process transformed informal knowledge into formats suitable for culinary education, workshops, and intergenerational learning.

Why This Project Matters

Vyakulani Africa II addresses a growing culinary knowledge gap between older and younger African diasporans. Many traditional African recipes are not written down and the methods used to teach them rely heavily on observation and practice. However, younger Africans in Europe and many non-Africans interested in African cuisine are more familiar with written recipes and structured cooking methods.

Through interviews and community engagement, the project gathered valuable insights into how culinary knowledge is currently transmitted and where the gaps lie. The findings highlighted the differences in learning styles between generations and cultural contexts. By transforming lived culinary knowledge into accessible and teachable formats, the project demonstrates how community-held knowledge; often overlooked in formal research and education, can be mobilised through citizen science to create practical solutions for cultural preservation, learning and social cohesion. This represents a practical and scalable solution to bridging the gap between traditional knowledge transmission and modern educational contexts.

Join the Culinary Classes

If you are interested in learning how to cook authentic African dishes while discovering the cultural stories behind them, we invite you to join our upcoming culinary classes.

Register here: https://forms.gle/y67hsUN6VDj8gtG88