Madungo, more than food to the nation – Gonsalves

Madungo, derived from the residue of the arrowroot starch, is more than just food. “It is something steeped in our history, in our society, to which we have to come home to. But coming home to Madungo is not just the food, it is everything which is wrapped around Madungo,” said Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves as he spoke at the Madungo Festival on October 26, 2025 held at the Chatoyer National Park in Georgetown.

Dr. Gonsalves explained that, “When the British arrived here in 1763 as a consequence of the general carve-up in the eastern Caribbean between Britain and France at the Treaty of Paris, European powers didn’t ask the Kalinago and the Garifuna people who to allocate St. Vincent and the Grenadines to”.

He said among the foods that the Kalinago and the Garifuna, the original settlers produced was that derived from arrowroot, cassava and other commodities, “And it is from there we have had the tradition of Madungo. It is from there that we have had the tradition of cassava bread. It is from that tradition that we had many fruits and vegetables and root crops, ground provisions.”

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