Praia Baixo, Cabo Verde, March 23, 2025 (Lusa) - Praia Baixo, on the island of Santiago, is one of the Cabo Verde's communities that still preserves the tradition of exchanging food between neighbours: the sign of friendship and solidarity passed down from generation to generation.

"I've always swapped food ever since I can remember, back home in Monte Negro. When I moved to Praia Baixo with my husband, I found the same tradition," Maria dos Santos, 59, tells Lusa as she prepares a plate of rice, fish and vegetables to share.

The gesture, common especially at dinner, goes beyond the need for food.

"It's out of friendship," says Maria, explaining that the neighbours end up being closer than her own family members, who live far away.

"Before my siblings hear that I'm sick or struggling, my neighbour has noticed and helped," she says.

One day she came home from the fields with nothing ready for dinner.

"The children were hungry and I was trying to prepare something, when my neighbour turned up with a plate of food. I was very happy," says the Praia Baixo resident, who manages the house where she lives with her husband and others around, with nine children close by.

Domingas Martins, 55, says that swapping things is a habit. It is done for the pleasure of sharing and as a symbol of solidarity. Small gestures like this can create very strong bonds.

"I make cachupa [a typical dish, a symbol of the country] and I always prepare a little more to share. Today, I went to mass, and when I came back, my neighbour had brought a plate for my daughter. This is pure friendship," she explains.

The exchange of food between neighbours is an ancient custom in Cabo Verde. Rooted in values of solidarity and mutual help, it is a traditional practice in this arid archipelago, where food scarcity is part of the history and cultural identity.

This tradition is mainly found in rural areas, where relationships between neighbours are more frequent and mutual help is part of everyday life.

For José Fernandes, 37, who now lives in the capital, Praia, the food exchange marked his childhood.

"In the area where I've been living for more than 10 years, in the city of Praia, I don't know my neighbours, not even those who live in the same building," which makes the habit of “exchanging a dish” unfeasible.

"In Praia Baixo, my parents and neighbours always did it," he told Lusa, recalling when his parents exchanged a plate of cachupa for another of rice, “always at dinner time”.

Victor Gonçalves, 30, blames globalisation for diluting traditions such as Cabo Verde's, which have been disappearing, but believes that not everything is a bad sign.

"If something is lost, new ways of connecting are also gained. Each generation has its ways of socialising," he points out.

Sociologist Henrique Varela believes that food swaps show the "enormous spirit of solidarity and sharing with others" in Cabo Verde.

The practice also makes it possible to "develop another value in social relations, which is empathy", he told Lusa.

"It shows that togetherness strengthens neighbourhood ties, functioning as a true family in which fraternity and altruism prevail," he says, pointing out that the exchange of food demonstrates an attitude that can serve as an example for the development of public policies aimed at tackling food insecurity.

Social initiatives already in place to directly support the most vulnerable families could evolve into partnerships between the public and private sectors to distribute food baskets, among other things.

RS/ADB // ADB.

Lusa