1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820557903321

Autore

McCann James <1950->

Titolo

Maize and grace : Africa's encounter with a New World crop, 1500-2000 / / James C. McCann

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge, MA, : Harvard University Press, 2005

ISBN

0-674-26590-4

0-674-04074-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

xiii, 289 p. : ill., maps

Classificazione

NW 2570

Disciplina

633.15096

Soggetti

Corn - Africa - History

Grain - Africa - History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-274) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- 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

Sommario/riassunto

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.