Origin and History

• Okra is thought to have originated in Abyssinia or what is presently Ethiopia and the upper Nile River Region of Sudan.
• Records of okra production date to 12th century Egypt where it was widely grown.
• Over time, okra moved from North Africa to the eastern Mediterranean and India.
• Okra was Introduced into U.S. via French colonists and/or from Brazil which was initially supplied probably from African slave movement.