• CIGAF 2025 hosted 26+ countries to celebrate culinary diversity in Ouagadougou
• Event featured competitions, demos, and talks on food, culture, and entrepreneurship
• Festival highlights efforts to preserve traditional cuisine amid global heritage threats
  

Ouagadougou hosted the second edition of the Carrefour international de la gastronomie du Faso (CIGAF 2025) from October 27 to November 1, bringing together chefs and restaurateurs from more than 26 countries. The six-day event, themed “La gastronomie, vecteur de valorisation culturelle et d’unité des peuples (Gastronomy as a Tool for Cultural Promotion and Unity),” celebrated culinary diversity and exchange in Burkina Faso’s capital.

The event featured cooking and pastry competitions, culinary demonstrations, master classes, and conferences on nutrition, local food processing, and entrepreneurship. Organizers said the event aimed to promote knowledge-sharing, showcase new flavors, and strengthen partnerships in the food and hospitality industries.

Benjamin Compaoré, president of the organizing committee, described CIGAF as “a platform for gastronomic diplomacy, a bridge between peoples, and a symbol of unity in diversity.”

Representing the Minister of Communication, Culture, Arts, and Tourism, Moussa Dicko said the initiative reflected the power of cuisine to connect cultures and generations. “Through food, we speak of resilience, solidarity, and transmission. Every competition and every master class is an investment in the future,” he said at the opening ceremony.

The festival takes place amid growing concern over the gradual erosion of traditional culinary heritage worldwide. According to UNESCO, 135 elements related to cuisine and food practices from 88 countries are now listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage, highlighting both their richness and fragility.

A study published in January 2025 by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) warned that food standardization, the loss of local knowledge, and the effects of climate change threaten many culinary traditions, particularly in rural Africa, where ancestral practices risk disappearing as younger generations move away from traditional food production.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou