Manger la semoule du manioc (Gari) : une culture alimentaire du Bénin transposée à l’Université d’Abomey-Calavi

Pierre Codjo Meliho a, ?, Jacqueline Folaké Tinouola b, Charles Lambert Babadjide b

Abstract

Food does not only fulfill a biological function to meet the nutritional needs of the body but constitutes one of the important supports for the construction and recognition of individual and  collective  identity under  a cultural background. As such,  the  objective of this research is to describe  the  eating  behavior of students of the  University Campus  of Abomey-Calavi  in connection with  the  identity and  cultural factors  underlying the  practice of mixing  cassava  semolina commonly called  gari.  Th is objective must  make  it possible  to respond to the hypothesis that  "Basic eating  behaviors can be recovered and tran sposed  into  multi-identity and multicultural university spaces". Based on a qualitative approach, the research used the reasoned-choice sampling technique to interview forty-three people.  These informants took part  in semi-directive interviews supplemented by participant observations which  gave a corpus  analyzed by the approach of social interactions restored in three  results.  Fi rstly,  to circumvent the  financial accessibility of food,  the  Association  of Nocturnal Delayers  (ADN) was  created, integrated into  the  Artistic  and  Cultural  Ensemble  of Students (EACE) to promote the  feeding  of cassava  semolina (gari).  These organizations bring  together all categories of students to celebrate th e cassava  flour  festival  (gari),  a moment of conviviality that  promotes a food culture that  marks  Beninese identity. Second, the results  focus on the history  of cassava  production and its derivatives . Third, the results shed light on the costs of buying  gari by measure, the order  of the party  of the best night  mixer, the quanti ty needed, used and the prizes for the winners. As a result,  food practices relating to cassava  semolina (gari)  food in academia enhance this staple  food of Beninese  and contribute to food se curity  at the cost of the SDGs by 2030.