page_title: Chaga people
section_title: Cuisine
hierarchical_section_title: Chaga people / Daily life and culture / Cuisine
caption_attribution_description: English: Various food dishes
context_page_description: The Chaga are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and near Moshi. Their relative wealth comes from the favorable climate of the area and successful agricultural methods, which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years. They were one of the first tribes in the area to convert to Christianity. This may have given them an economic advantage over other ethnic groups, as they had better access to education and health care as Christians.
  The Chaga descended from various Bantu groups who migrated from elsewhere in Africa to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, a migration that began around the start of the eleventh century. While the Chaga are Bantu-speakers, their language has a number of dialects related to Kamba, which is spoken in southeast Kenya, and to other languages spoken in the east, such as Taita and Pokomo. They are culturally related to the Pare, Taveta, and Taita peoples.
context_section_description: The staple food of the Chaga people is bananas. Bananas are also used to make beer, their main beverage. The Chaga plant a variety of food crops, including bananas, millet, maize (corn), beans, and cassava. They also keep cattle, goats, and sheep. Due to limited land holdings and grazing areas, most Chaga people today purchase meat from butcher shops.
caption: Various Chaga Dishes
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