| Summary: | Before the introduction to the ancient Slave Coast of several plants with American origins, the diet was based on the consumption of cereals and tubers, namely millet, sorghum, rice and yams. The region studied here is located in southern Benin, a zone of contact between the forest and savannah favoring the diversity of food crops. The diffusion of corn, sweet potatoes and then cassava in the agrarian systems after the arrival of Europeans thus had consequences for the dietary regimes. This article specifically addresses the role of tubers in the diet of this region and the processes leading to the substitution of yams by cassava, a process that was well advanced at the end of the 19th century. A chronology of this substitution is proposed based on an analysis of European written sources, as well as oral sources. The combination of different factors, such as demographic growth, slave trafficking, conflicts between kingdoms and random climatic events leading to subsistence crises, contribute to our understanding of the diffusion of edible plants that provide greater returns than African plants, especially cassava. We will see that today, though yams are no longer cultivated for ordinary human consumption in the southern part of the country, they continue to be grown for use as offerings in religious ceremonies, demonstrating their continuing role in representations.
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