Long before the
first bento box was laquered in Japan, Africans were carrying their lunches
to school and work. The traditions vary from country to country and
across ethnic groups. I haven't managed to find any specific information
on special containers, but here and there I've found various things that
well...don't fit much other than a lunch situation. One of them is
the lunch basket.
Some resemble the Indonesian style lunch basket, while others are either bucket or somewhat vase shaped. Generally, whatever type of basket weaving is common for one's area, will determine what kind of lunch baskets people carry to school or work. That is, if they carry a basket at all. Baskets have lost favor in the age of plastic and metal.
In some cases, lunch is a communal meal. Students or workers will each bring a dish they specialize in, and it's all brought together to one meal, which everyone shares.
If you're just starting out carrying African style lunches though, it's best to do it as an individual, and then later include others if they're interested.
You may need:
To decide what to
put in your lunch basket, just decide which regional or cultural cuisine
you like best, and select recipes that are portable. If you're used
to taking a sandwich for lunch, try making one with flatbread or griddle
cakes instead of regular sliced bread. Injera and spicy chicken stew
are a good combination from Ethiopia. Though it's not technically
traditional South African fare, you can fill a hollowed out half baguette
with chicken curry. Be creative with it.
Also, you may want to research the eating etiquitte of various regions. In most of Africa and the middle east though, folks didn't traditionally eat with utensils except perhaps a spoon for a thin soup. It is said that it was considered somewhat rude to bring "weapons" to the table. So utensils were for cooking and serving, not for the eating of meals.
When you make things like porridges for your lunch, you may want to keep that in mind. Make them somewhat stiff and not soupy, so that they can be easily scooped up with the fingers, and dipped in whatever sauce or stew you make to go with them.
So basically your constraints are:
to prepare a lunch that won't require the use of forks or knives to
eat
to have some degree of consistency in regional style or to make it
practical for your own region
to be economical about it
not to use disposable items for carry or storage that aren't easily
degradable, since this would be bad for nature and if you believe, anger
the spirits
and to be ready to share what you have if one of your classmates or
coworkers is in need
