From kitchen to classroom: Cheflifestyle launches children’s book to protect Ghanaian heritage
Award-winning Ghanaian food entrepreneur and digital creator Bibiana Gyasi, widely known as Cheflifestyle, is turning her attention from digital storytelling to children’s publishing with the launch of a literacy initiative aimed at deepening cultural identity among young Ghanaians.
After nearly six years of documenting Ghanaian cuisine and its cultural context online, the food blogger is set to unveil a children’s book at the National Children’s Library on February 28, 2026. The publication forms part of a broader literacy project designed to address what she describes as a critical shortage of locally grounded, culturally relevant content for children.
Bibiana’s transition into children’s literature stems directly from her experiences chronicling Ghanaian food traditions. Through her work, she observed that many people lacked a deeper understanding of the stories, symbolism and history behind everyday dishes.
“Long before I became a food blogger, I saw how my mother prepared some Ghanaian cuisine. In some cases, she used only traditional or modern methods or a blend of both. Every food has its own story - how names were derived, ingredients were sourced, prepared etc.
If cultural knowledge is not intentionally preserved and transferred, it slowly fades. And if we struggle with that knowledge, children are even more vulnerable to experience cultural disconnection especially in this era. Many Ghanaian children both locally and in the diaspora are introduced to foreign cultural references and content long before they fully understand their own heritage.
Representation and culturally familiar environments play a central role in shaping heritage among children. It is important that we all play our part in telling our stories and creating Ghanaian content children can identify with and shows them who they are before the world tells them otherwise.”
The new book draws on familiar Ghanaian foods and everyday kitchen experiences, transforming them into storytelling devices that children can recognise and relate to. By anchoring literacy in food, family and shared memory, Bibiana hopes to make reading culturally accessible while reinforcing identity at an early age.
Beyond the book launch, the initiative is structured as a long-term cultural literacy programme with ambitions to reach schools and underserved communities across Ghana. Planned activities include structured school tours with interactive reading sessions, literacy and storytelling workshops, creative cooking sessions introducing children to practical cultural food education, and a charity-driven book distribution programme targeting deprived schools and communities.
The project also seeks to build strategic partnerships with educational institutions and policy stakeholders to ensure sustainability and scale. It is currently open to collaboration with corporate brands and CSR departments, non-governmental organisations focused on youth development and literacy, educational foundations, cultural preservation bodies and development agencies operating within the education and sustainability space.
For Bibiana, the initiative marks an evolution in her public role, leveraging her digital influence to create educational materials that extend beyond social media engagement. The project aligns with global efforts to advance inclusive and equitable quality education, contributing to the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education.
