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E-book
Author McCann, James C

Title Maize and Grace : Africa's Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500-2000
Published Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 2009

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Description 1 online resource (304 pages)
Contents Contents -- Preface -- 1. Africa and the World Ecology of Maize -- 2. Naming the Stranger: Maize's Journey to Africa -- 3. Maize's Invention in West Africa -- 4. Seeds of Subversion in Two Peasant Empires -- 5. How Africa's Maize Turned White -- 6. African Maize, American Rust -- 7. Breeding SR-52: The Politics of Science and Race in Southern Africa -- 8. Maize and Malaria -- 9. Maize as Metonym in Africa's New Millennium -- Appendix: Tables -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Illustration Credits -- Index
Summary Sometime around 1500 A.D., an African farmer planted a maize seed imported from the New World. That act set in motion the remarkable saga of one of the world's most influential crops--one that would transform the future of Africa and of the Atlantic world. The recent spread of maize has been alarmingly fast, with implications largely overlooked by the media and policymakers. McCann's compelling history offers insight into the profound influence of a single crop on African culture, health, technological innovation, and the future of the world's food supply
Notes Print version record
Subject Corn -- Africa -- History
Grain -- Africa -- History
Corn
Grain
Africa
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780674040748
0674040740