Ghana
Food preparation during Ghana’s Homowo Festival.
Similar to Barbados’ Crop Over festival, Ghana’s thanksgiving-style celebration is also centered around the harvest season.
The Homowo festival pays tribute to the endurance of the Ga tribe’s ancestors during a famine centuries ago. The Ga tribe settled on Ghana’s coast and legend has it that when they arrived in Ghana, there was no food available for them to eat. The soil wasn’t fertile and there was no rain for a long period of time.
When the rain finally did return and the harvest was abundant, the Ga people celebrated the blessing of food with a huge and loud celebration. “Homowo” translates to “hooting at hunger,” which is exactly what the Ga people did when the long famine was finally over.
To commemorate the famine, Ghana’s capital city of Accra goes silent for a month. The Ga Traditional Council (GTC) enforces a noise ban, which is meant to be a time to reflect on those that died due to the famine. Fishing in the lagoons is also banned for the period of time, memorializing the lack of food.
After the noise ban is lifted, a church service to honor the deceased takes place in the morning, followed by a very loud celebration. Special dishes are prepared for the harvest feast, which includes one made from cornmeal called kpokpoi, which is served with a palm nut soup.
