Traditionally, the various cuisines of Africa use a combination of plant and seed based, and do not usually have food imported. In some parts of the continent, the traditional diet features an abundance of root tuber products.

Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and West Africa each have distinctive dishes, preparation techniques, and consumption mores.

The roots of African cuisine goes back thousands of years to the Bronze Age in Northeast Africa, when early civilisations began cultivating grains such as barley and wheat. Part of North Africa is in the Fertile Crescent, and settled agriculture was practiced by the Ancient Egyptians in this area. Animals such as donkeys and sheep were also domesticated, and agriculture spread to other parts of Africa, notably West Africa, although most tribes still lived a simple hunter-gather diet.

Arab explorers Leo Africanus and Ibn Battuta provide accounts of African foodways encountered on their travels through sub-Saharan Africa. Most European travelers stayed close to coastal areas until the 19th century. Many of their diaries also recorded details on foods and crops. Many staples were introduced later when Africa was colonized by the Europeans. Foods that are now important parts of African cuisine such as maize and potatoes were not common until the 19th century.^[7]

The influence of African foodways on Caribbean, Brazilian and American Lowcountry cuisine, and Cajun cuisine from Louisiana is seen in rice dishes and green stews like the Afro-Caribbean efo, duckanoo and calaloo. The vegetable okra, introduced from Africa, is used in classic Louisiana gumbos, and American rice growing in the Carolina Lowcountry was influenced by West African techniques of rice cultivation and especially in the Lowcountry many slaves hailed from rice growing regions of West Africa. Lowcountry cuisine is still known for its distinctive rice dishes.