The residency

Fulani Heritage Village

Rooted in the essence of Fulani heritage, this living residency honors our identity through cuisine, storytelling, and craftsmanship. Inspired by ancestral rhythms and the resilience of Indigenous women, it breathes life into generations of wisdom.

A group of women in colorful dress gather together in a village setting.

What began as Dine on a Mat, a communal meal and sacred gathering, has evolved into a deeper offering: a space for learning, cultural exchange, and preservation. Guests are welcomed to see where the food comes from — the hand-harvested ingredients, and the stories and techniques passed quietly from elders to the next generation.

At its heart is fonio — an ancient grain that holds the spirit of our past and the seed of our future. Through it we reconnect with sacred foodways and time-honored practices.

Press & stories
Built by hand

Craft and tradition

The architecture of the Village is deliberate — built from the same materials, in the same forms, that have sheltered Fulani communities for generations. Nothing here is set-dressing.

Close on hands braiding pale cord together, seated on the ground. Thatched-roof huts with goats walking past, under an overcast sky. A rustic wooden-framed, thatched-roof structure, with a goat standing beneath it.

A cultural awakening: a vow to protect our culinary legacy, and a celebration of Indigenous women as keepers of tradition and fire.

The grain

The power of fonio: a grain for the future

A young woman in a patterned headscarf stands in a green field, holding freshly picked fonio stalks up to the camera.

At the heart of Chef Binta’s work is fonio, an ancient West African grain celebrated for its nutrition, versatility, and climate resilience.

Through the Fulani Kitchen Foundation, launched in 2020, she partners with women farmers in Northern Ghana to enhance fonio production, improve processing, and expand market access. By preserving indigenous food systems and creating sustainable livelihoods, she champions fonio as both a cultural treasure and a solution for Africa’s food security challenges.

It is also one of the fastest, least thirsty grains there is: fonio needs little to no irrigation, thriving on rainfall alone in soil too poor and dry for most staple crops.

90–130 Days to maturity
2020 Foundation launched
300+ Families supported
From field to flour
A young woman in a patterned headscarf stands in a green field, holding freshly picked fonio stalks up to the camera.
I · The field Fonio, picked by hand, held up before it ever reaches a plate.
Hands passing woven baskets full of white fonio flour between each other.
II · Passed along Baskets change hands the whole way through the process.
A woman in a blue hijab grinds fonio by hand in a white bowl, working it with her knuckles.
III · By hand Ground by hand, the way it has always been done.
Two women in orange and yellow pour liquid from a calabash into a carved wooden mortar, washing the grain.
IV · Washed Washed in a carved mortar before it is dried.
A group of women in colorful patterned dress stand around a yellow mechanical mill.
V · The mill Where hand-processing meets a machine built for scale.
Looking straight down at many hands gathered around a mound of grain on the ground.
VI · Many hands No single pair of hands does this alone.
The interview

In her own words

Chef Binta, speaking to camera.

Chef Binta speaking to camera, in a tie-dye top with a small clip microphonePlay · 0:16
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Foundation

The Fulani Kitchen Foundation supports over 300 families, empowering women with education, skills training, and income-generating enterprises.

It empowers rural women and girls through farming, food education, and enterprise.

Foundation