"Kulikuli" gradually losing popularity in Bolgatanga

Bolgatanga, June 21, GNA - "Kulikuli", a delicacy made from groundnut paste and enjoyed mostly by the people of the Northern Ghana, especially children, is fast losing its popularity due to the introduction of a wide range of pastries on the market.

"Kulikuli" used to be the delicacy school children enjoyed as snack, is made by frying the residue groundnut paste after the oil had been extracted.

Mothers, who travelled or went to market usually, brought "kulikuli" to their children at home.

A grind "kulikuli" with added spices is commonly used to enhance the taste of Khebab and fried yam.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) interviews with women engaged in the making and sale of "kulikuli", school children in Bolgatanga and its surrounding rural communities, found out that the delicacy, which had served as a "local" snack for many years, now has little market value. Comments gathered indicated that children now feel that "kulikuli" was no longer in vogue and therefore those who continue to consume, would only be exposed as backwards to their peers. Vida Nyaba, a primary two pupil said she preferred chips, made from bread flour and pop corn for snack in school, but would not mind an occasional "kulikuli" when at home.

"All my friends buy chips and pop corn when we go for break and I join them," she said.

Mothers from small communities, who visit the market in Bolgatanga to sell and buy various needs, said they bought chips for the children back at home because that was what they now liked. "When we were young, our mothers used to buy "kulikuli" for us, it was what we expected to get on market days, and we enjoyed it but now the children want modern things, so we have to get that for them," Madam Ayampoka Asaa from Winkogo near Bolgatanga said. Madam Helen Azuma, a young mother from Yorogo said: "kulikuli is more filling because when you eat it and drink water you do not get hungry but our children don't understand some of us adults." Madam Fuseina Imam, in Bolgatanga said she had been in the "Kulikuli" business since she was a small girl. She said she used to help her mother extract groundnut oil but was afraid she might go out of work as the market for "kulikuli" had reduced drastically and groundnut oil did not fetch much.

She explained that when the oil was extracted from the groundnut paste, one could make money by selling both the oil and the "kulikuli". Madam Imam said the oil alone does not fetch enough money and those in the business depended more on the sale of "kulikuli" for their daily income. "I used to process a maxi bag of groundnuts every market day but it is becoming more difficult to keep doing that because while the oil sells fast, it is difficult to get the 'kulikuli' sold and so I now send most of it to Yelwongo, a border community in Burkina Faso where the people still enjoy the delicacy," she said.