Every meal tells a story of resilience, sustainability, and community empowerment. This is what the "Taste of Change" series is about. It highlights Africa's indigenous and sustainable food solutions, promoting practices that benefit people, the planet, and economies.
By collaborating with visionary chefs, we aim to build awareness and advance sustainable farming practices, better nutrition, and advocate against food waste. These chefs unite communities and reshape perspectives, showcasing innovative cuisines that are delicious, accessible, and healthy.
It highlights the transformative power of food and its connection to education, health, women and youth empowerment, fragility, and job creation. Each episode explores the link between chefs and development, supporting efforts to tackle food insecurity and promote climate-smart agriculture.
“Taste of Change" fosters creative partnerships, drives positive narratives about the region, and underscores the broader impact of food on social and economic dimensions. Through this series, we aim to inspire viewers to appreciate the rich culinary heritage of Africa while embracing sustainable practices.
💡 Concept: The idea was born when a team member, frustrated by fresh produce spoiling in her fridge, turned to Instagram for inspiration. Influenced by renowned chefs promoting zero waste and sustainable cooking, she shared her experience with our team. This led to the birth of a unique concept: collaborating with chefs and organizations to promote resilient food systems through 90-second Instagram reels. Each episode features a dish, a local ingredient, and the story of a chef passionate about empowering communities through food. The recipe is shared in the caption, making it accessible for all to try in their homes.
🤝 Outreach to Chefs and Organizations: Our mission resonated with African chefs who share our commitment to sustainability. We reached out to them via Instagram and collaborated with organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP). These collaborations enriched our series with ideas and connections to a broader network of chefs.
For our pilot series, we worked with Chefs Fatmata Binta, Maame Boakye, Christian Abegan, and Georgiana Viou.
🌐 Social media: With the hashtag #TasteOfChange we focused our efforts on messaging and organic promotion. Through cross-promotions between the chefs, World Bank, FAO, and WFP accounts, we were able to reach various audiences.
Our Challenges: Crafting compelling 90-second stories that highlight affordable and accessible dishes was no small feat. It required meticulous coordination with the right chefs and organizations. In January 2024, we piloted an episode to establish a format and formula, which we then applied to the rest of the series. We also had to maximize our resources. We were fortunate to have found chefs and videographers who believed in the project and became our collaborators.
Originally focused on highlighting the culinary artistry of chefs from Western and Central Africa, our series will now expand to feature chefs from across the entire continent. This broader approach will continue to increase awareness and engagement on Instagram, and we plan on producing content in multiple languages such as English, French, and Spanish to cater to our diverse audience.
Our series is more than just a collection of cooking videos— it is a movement that celebrates the rich culinary heritage of Africa while promoting sustainability and community empowerment. By highlighting the stories of visionary chefs and the local ingredients they use, we are telling the story of Africa, one dish at a time.
“Taste of Change” has achieved remarkable success, highlighting Africa's rich and diverse culinary traditions using locally grown ingredients. Hosted on Instagram and Facebook reels with a total of 233,000 views and over 11,000 engagements, the overall response from audiences has been positive, encouraging the chefs, increasing interest in sustainable practices, and reflecting pride in the continent's excellence.
Additionally, this approach has led to a significant increase in partnership requests and a growing interest in replicating the series for other regions. These factors collectively make our series distinct, as it not only highlights African culinary heritage but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the continent's diverse cultures through the universal language of food.
