Mazao (the crops)
Mazao, Swahili for “crops”, are the fruit and vegetables set out on the mat at Kwanzaa. They stand for the African harvest festivals the holiday is modelled on, and for the reward of productive work done together.
Meaning
Mazao (ma-ZA-o) is the plural of zao, which Madan’s Swahili-English dictionary of 1903 defines as “fruit, produce, product, offspring”. The official Kwanzaa website calls the crops “symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor”. Britannica lists them as fruits, vegetables and nuts. They lie on the Mkeka (the mat) with the other symbols, and the holiday’s guidance asks for the best: time taken to choose the most beautiful objects, African cloth and “fresh fruits and vegetables”. Buffalo Toronto Public Media described the centrepiece in 2021 as fruit and vegetables native to Africa.
Origin and history
The crops carry the holiday’s name. Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili matunda ya kwanza, “first fruits”, and Maulana Karenga modelled it on African first-fruits celebrations. The official website traces these back to ancient Egypt and Nubia and names some of them: Umkhosi among the Zulu, Incwala among the Swazi, Afahye or Odwira among the Ashanti. Kwanzaa lasts seven days, Karenga explains, partly because Umkhosi of Zululand has seven, though the central reason is to stress the seven principles.
In his 2024 column for the Los Angeles Sentinel he calls the mazao “the harvest of good and the reward of collective and productive work”, and finds all seven principles in the idea of a harvest. Cooperative economics, Ujamaa, “rightfully represents the harvest as the product and practice of shared work and shared wealth”.
The crops and the karamu
The harvest on the mat is matched by a feast. On 31 December, the sixth day, families and communities hold the karamu (Swahili for “a feast, banquet, festive entertainment”, in Madan’s dictionary). The National Museum of African American History and Culture writes that any dish can be part of it, and that through the week favourite African American dishes are on many menus beside African, Caribbean and South American recipes.
Read next
- Next in Kwanzaa symbolsMuhindi (the corn)Muhindi are the ears of corn (maize) on a Kwanzaa table, one for each child in the household. Maulana Karenga calls the corn “symbolic of our children and thus our future which they embody”.
- Both are harvest symbols of a North American holiday tableCornucopiaThe cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is a horn overflowing with fruit, grain and flowers, the ancient sign of abundance. It comes from Greek and Roman myth, where it is either the horn of the goat Amalthea who nursed the infant Zeus or the horn Heracles broke from the river god Achelous; in the United States it is a harvest and Thanksgiving decoration.
See also
Mkeka (the mat), Kinara, Mishumaa saba (the seven candles), Kwanzaa colours (bendera), Kikombe cha umoja (the unity cup), Zawadi (the gifts).
Sources
- The Symbols of Kwanzaa (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “The Symbols of Kwanzaa”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Primary Symbols: Mazao
- Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa: Deep Meanings and Expansive Message (Maulana Karenga, Los Angeles Sentinel, 2024), Maulana Karenga, “Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa: Deep Meanings and Expansive Message”, Los Angeles Sentinel, 4 December 2024, Los Angeles Sentinel, paragraphs on the mazao
- Swahili-English Dictionary (A. C. Madan, 1903), A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), Internet Archive (University of California Libraries scan), entries Zao; Karamu
- Kwanzaa: Roots and Branches (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “Kwanzaa: Roots and Branches”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), The First-Fruits Celebration
- Frequently Asked Questions About Kwanzaa (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “Frequently Asked Questions About Kwanzaa”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Where does the word “Kwanzaa” come from?; Why is Kwanzaa a seven-day holiday?
- The Celebration (Official Kwanzaa Website), Organization Us, Official Kwanzaa Website, “The Celebration”; text summarised from Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture (University of Sankore Press, 2008), Official Kwanzaa Website (Organization Us), Preparation
- Kwanzaa (Encyclopaedia Britannica), The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Kwanzaa”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, article text
- Kwanzaa (National Museum of African American History and Culture), National Museum of African American History and Culture, “Kwanzaa”, Explore: Moments, National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian), paragraphs on food
- HEAR: The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa (Buffalo Toronto Public Media, 2021), Buffalo Toronto Public Media (WNED/WBFO), “HEAR The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa”, What’s Next?, 29 December 2021, Buffalo Toronto Public Media, segment for 26 December
- What is Kwanzaa? (International African American Museum), International African American Museum, Charleston, “What is Kwanzaa?”, International African American Museum, Seven Symbols of Kwanzaa
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from circles or curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 8, 2026. How we research
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