Chef Nicola Kagoro
THE CHEF WHO IS PIONEERING A VEGAN MOVEMENT IN AFRICA LUTHO PASIYA It was Nompumelelo Mqwebu who reminded us in her book, Through the Eyes of an African Chef, that African cuisine has always been plant-based. She met a person who heard about the book and without having read it, commented: ’Oh it’s an African cookbook, it must be full of meat, I am a vegetarian.’ Mqwebu says she had the pleasure to educate her on our food history and our relationship with meat and how African cuisine is
mostly plant-based. And now more chefs are realising that and are going back to the roots of African cuisine, like Chef Nicola Kagoro. The founder of African Vegan on a Budget Nicola Kagoro, aka Chef Cola has been challenging the common misconception surrounding plantbased diets in Africa. A hospitality management graduate whose path took her not only to veganism but also to be on
the culinary front-lines of presenting vegan food and lifestyle in Africa and advocating its great benefits-both nutritional and environmental. One of Kagoro’s primary aims is to spread awareness of vegan culture across Africa and give people the tools and knowledge to actively integrate plant-based eating into their lifestyles. Her love for cooking started when she was 16 years old, and that is when
