Salt was used to preserve and flavor food. It was especially important in West Africa as people needed extra salt to replace what their bodies lost in the hot climate. Through trade in gold and salt, Ghana reached the height of its power in the 800s C.E. and 900s C.E.
Why Was Salt A Necessary Resource For West African Traders?
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Why was salt important in ancient West Africa?
People wanted gold for its beauty, but they needed salt in their diets to survive. Salt, which could be used to preserve food, also made bland food tasty. These qualities made salt very valuable. In fact, Africans sometimes cut up slabs of salt and used the pieces as money.
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Why did people need salt in Africa?
Once cultures began relying on grain, vegetable, or boiled meat diets instead of mainly hunting and eating roasted meat, adding salt to food became an absolute necessity for maintaining life. Because the Akan lived in the forests of West Africa, they had few natural resources for salt and always needed to trade for it.
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Was gold or salt more important in West Africa?
West African gold provided rulers and merchants in Saharan centers with the means to acquire goods from afar. Rock salt, mined in the heart of the Sahara, was among the most important of these.
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Why was the salt trade important?
The gold and salt trade routes were important trade network lanes that connected sub-saharan West Africa with the Middle East and Europe. This connection also made states in West Africa incredibly wealthy when they had control over the mines and trade routes.
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Why did Africans use salt?
Salt was used to preserve and flavor food. It was especially important in West Africa as people needed extra salt to replace what their bodies lost in the hot climate. Through trade in gold and salt, Ghana reached the height of its power in the 800s C.E. and 900s C.E.
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Why did Africa trade gold for salt?
This trade was crucial to the states of West Africa as gold was used by much of the world as currency, and salt was important as a preservative and chemical component.
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Why was salt important in North Africa?
Salt was a highly valued commodity not only because it was unobtainable in the sub-Saharan region but because it was constantly consumed and supply never quite met the total demand. There was also the problem that such a bulky item cost more to transport in significant quantities, which only added to its high price.
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Why did people trade for salt?
It helped eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by certain people.
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Which was more important salt or gold?
So salt was valuable because it was useful and could prevent you from starving in winter, but was far, far less costly than gold. It was imported from places closer to the sea by the ton in Roman times – in comparison the usual Roman coin was silver, because gold was too costly for everyday buying and selling.
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Was salt more valuable than gold in the Sahara?
Indeed, salt was such a precious commodity that it was quite literally worth its weight in gold in some parts of West Africa.
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Why was salt important to West Africa?
Salt was used to preserve and flavor food. It was especially important in West Africa as people needed extra salt to replace what their bodies lost in the hot climate. Through trade in gold and salt, Ghana reached the height of its power in the 800s C.E. and 900s C.E.
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What was the significance of the gold and salt trade in West Africa?
The gold and salt trade routes were important trade network lanes that connected sub-saharan West Africa with the Middle East and Europe. This connection also made states in West Africa incredibly wealthy when they had control over the mines and trade routes.
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Why was salt trade important in West Africa?
Salt was used to preserve and flavor food. It was especially important in West Africa as people needed extra salt to replace what their bodies lost in the hot climate. Through trade in gold and salt, Ghana reached the height of its power in the 800s C.E. and 900s C.E.
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Why was salt an important trade good in the Mali Empire?
Salt was an important natural resource for people in the desert; salt was traded for gold. — Interdependence (depending on others) in the production of goods and services The people of Mali traded (gold for salt) with other people.
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