What does kawanzaa in Swahili mean?

Answer 1

Kwanzaa is not a Swahili word. It was created about 50 years ago in the U.S.A. It appears to be a Portmanteau word made up from the Swahili ordinal kwanza (first) and the verb kuzaa to (to give birth, of animals, or to bear fruit, of plants). No Swahili-speaking African would recognize the meaning of the noun kwanzaa unless he or she were familiar with American culture.

If kwanzaa were Swahili it would be pronounced with the accent on the last syllable (the penultimate a, actually). If a Swahili speaker wanted to say "fresh fruits," or first food harvested, the words would be mazao ya kwanza.