Some Traditional Alcoholic Beverages and their Importance in Indigenous African Communities

Abstract

Fermented honey drinks may have been the earliest alcoholic beverages known to man and the discovery of them has been attributed to the Hamites (Seyffert, 1930).Another hypothesis of the origin of alcoholic liquors is that they were first encountered when wild fruits were stored in clay-lined holes in the ground (Renard, 1929). If beer was not in fact originally brewed by man in Africa, some alcoholic fermentations were developed on that continent. According to the mythology of the Egyptians, their first queen, Isis, discovered wheat and barley growing wild and king Osiris devised means of cultivating them. Osiris is reputed to have introduced the vine from his native country, probably Syria or Palestine, taught its cultivation and the making of wine and the brewing of beer, and, ultimately, he toured the rest of the inhabited earth, which included Ethiopia, teaching mankind how to sow wheat and barley, how to cultivate the vine, and how to enjoy their fruits. One interpretation of this Egyptian tradition is that the knowledge of the cultivation of wheat, barley and the vine, and of the making of beer and wine, was introduced into Egypt by people coming from Syria or Palestine at a very early period-long before the first dynasty, which began about 3400 B.C. ; the knowledge of these arts of civilization later spread to India, Europe and Ethiopia. The mountainous part of

International Review Series: Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Research 1. East Africa

“…The bride price usually paid in cows was traditionally accompanied by several pots of beer' [6]. Platt found an almost identical situation among several ethnic groups in the Rift Valley in Kenya [3]. In addition, he found that collective work, one of the most remarkable features of rural African life (e.g.…”

“…It has been claimed that the mountainous area of Ethiopia in East Africa was one of the seven (fundamental) centres of the world where cultivated plants used for alcohol production originated [3]. These plants, namely wheat, barley, sorghum, maize, millet, cassava, bananas, to mention few, have been cultivated here traditionally for food and cash.…”

“…No wonder a European visitor in the 18th century after travelling through Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika (Tanzania) and Nyasaland (Malawi) remarked of the hundreds and hundreds of sorts of beer he came across [3].…”

“…There have been several interesting studies on the traditional use of alcohol and the role alcohol played in the social life of rural East Africa [3,5,6,7,8].…”

“…If he could not find time to give a beer party, even a small one, he could lose his social standing, he could be considered mean, and would not be asked by neighbours to partake of beer. He would be unofficially, but none the less effectively pushed out of his rightful place in the social life' [3].…”