Maize and Grace: Africa’s Encounter with a New World Crop, 1500–2000

by McCann

Sometime around 1500 AD, 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. Africa’s experience with maize is distinctive but also instructive from a global experts predict that by 2020 maize will become the world’s most cultivated crop.

James C. McCann moves easily from the village level to the continental scale, from the medieval to the modern, as he explains the science of maize production and explores how the crop has imprinted itself on Africa’s agrarian and urban landscapes. Today, maize accounts for more than half the calories people consume in many African countries. During the twentieth century, a tidal wave of maize engulfed the continent, and supplanted Africa’s own historical grain crops―sorghum, millet, and rice. In the metamorphosis of maize from an exotic visitor into a quintessentially African crop, in its transformation from vegetable to grain, and from curiosity to staple, lies a revealing story of cultural adaptation. As it unfolds, we see how this sixteenth-century stranger has become indispensable to Africa’s fields, storehouses, and diets, and has embedded itself in Africa’s political, economic, and social relations.

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.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, School, Food History, Grad School

Paperback

First published March 28, 2005

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corny title but more than just a kernel of interest

Before 1492 "and all that", African farmers grew a variety of crops, but certainly not maize or corn, as it is often called in North America. Very early on, during the Columbian exchange, maize came to Africa. It arrived from several different directions, as is evident in the names given by Africans to their new `wonder' crop. It came overland from Egypt and Arabia, it was brought by Portuguese traders, or later by other Europeans. At first, maize would have been used as an additional vegetable in forest plots along with many others. Later, though, it became a basic food, a monocrop plant, which formed the basis of the diet in many areas. Today, of 22 countries in the world where maize forms the highest percent of the diet, 16 are in Africa (p.9). In Lesotho and Malawi over 50% of the caloric intake is from maize and Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya are not far behind. Maize farming in southern Africa is often done by women to support families while men are off in the South African mines----the maize may also be sent to the men as flour, or turned into beer for their daily consumption.

McCann tells some interesting tales. Though the title seems to promise a religious aspect to corn, there is nothing of the kind. You can read an interesting comparison of the influence of maize in the Venetian Empire and in Ethiopia. Corn radically changed both but in different ways. You'll find a blow-by-blow story of the so-called American rust disease that hit corn and the battle against it. Breeding SR-52, the most important hybrid maize variety developed for African conditions in what is today Zimbabwe, provides an interesting story of science and racial politics. Then there is a very interesting story of maize's relationship to malaria in modern highland Ethiopia and how this was traced. For those, like me, who have never been involved in the scientific process, it draws connections between public health and agriculture very clearly. All in all, MAIZE AND GRACE is well-worth reading. If you are a specialist in African agriculture, the history of how crops spread and evolve, or in corn breeding, you can't avoid the book. If you are a general reader like me, you will find a lot of information you've never thought about, you can learn a lot. Give it a try. It's clearly written with a number of illustrations, good footnotes (at the back !) and tables in the appendix

[Phil Gould · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class. It has plenty of interesting information, but it became very tedious to read. After a few chapters, it seemed like I was reading over and over about various summaries of studies on corn yields, different kinds of hybrid breeds of corn and yada yada. I wasn't all that interested in knowing the COMPLETE history of corn's (maize's) usage and development in Africa, but if you are interested then this is a good book for you.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

James C. McCann argues that the socio-economic and political fluctuations of nearly the entire African continent can be tied to maize production and regulation. McCann argues that maize, while initially forced upon Africans by European colonizers, became a staple of African culture that caused fluctuations in colonial and local control via government subsidies and research for varieties favored by industry farms or local (largely subsistence) growers. McCann later goes as far as to tie racial unrest, political uprising, gender roles, and the spread of disease to maize. McCann’s use of case studies rather than broad generalizations calls for the reader to make their conclusions (though McCann seems to favor local production methods over industrial ones in his language) and allows for the ambiguity of science by not directly stating any of the relationships between socioeconomic/political relations as correlative.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

this prominence (of maize) suggests to optimists that maize will be an engine of African economic growth, though the evidence of the past also makes it plausible that it may prove an unsustainable folly.

If I were to pick one line from this book, it would be the above. It captures perfectly the vibe of the book, it is neither a negative book nor an optimistic book and I do have the feeling the author let's the readers make up his mind on the subject (based on the information he gives). There is a political agenda to this book, it is book making a case against biased optimism in development (related to maize) but in particular against homogenizing tendencies in maize agriculture in Africa and supportive of inclusive bottom up approaches towards agricultural production in Africa.

The book is well structured but at times felt a bit to slow, the author gives attention to a wide array of aspects all which were interesting and relevant but at went a bit too deep into detail making me skip parts of paragraphs (after I got the essence). Some chapters such as why African Maize is white were less interesting to me personally as were the many linguistic segments on identifying the origin of maize. The built up chapter wise is twofold, the first chapters are chronological and regional the second groups are thematic yet in every chapter two or more different but related developments are mirrored to highlight the point to be made (comparing non maize west Africa to maize west Africa and precolonial statehood, Malawian farmers compared to white commercial farmers in Rhodesia). The book does however focus on the last 60 years and this was a bit of a letdown considering the title promising a 500 year history. The point to be made by the author, as said, is development politics one, but based on an intriguing and convincing premise; maize cultivation is a choice of survival and culture yet with a distinct political dimension to it that cannot be ignored. Never a man to make maize the determining factor yet insistent on it's role in African societal changes the last few centuries and as an indicator of a variety of developments and decisions facing Africans.

The book starts off with a personal experience of the author on Ethiopian farmers, familiar with maize for centuries, suddenly embracing it as a field crop instead of a snack vegetable in the early 80ties. A choice made not because maize is superior but because it's qualities and characteristics were better suited to the insecure life in communist Ethiopia. This starting point, his own realization on how political the choice of Ethiopian farmers where is the foundation if his study on the impact of maize on The African continent. We are presented with the historical spread of maize, the role of maize cultivation for the foundation of both the Asante kingdom and independent Rhodesia, the impact of maize on art as well as gender relations and a lot more. nearer to the end, the final chapters are less historical and more political. convincingly McCann highlights with use of a historical near catastrophic fungus spread (early fifties) how vulnerable a homogenic maize mono crop is when compared to diverse plots (diverse both in crops as in genetic types of the same crops) and how dangerous this is for the food supply of millions of Africans, increasingly dependent on it. Intriguing was the chapter following that on how in a region of Ethiopia that never had malaria now has epidemic malaria cases due to a switch to mono culture of maize (apparently the new rural landscape brought about by the new mono culture has allow the mosquito to thrive were it could not before). As said a wide array of subjects but connected by approach and message of careful analysis to be made of the incredible impact of maize on Africa, an impact increasing with it's production.

The book ends with a plead to allow maize to unlock it's full potential, for the author loves the crop and does acknowledge it's potential, by addressing the needs of the farmers and appreciating the long ( in many regions 500years) of African maize history in the genetic, cultural and political dimensions of it's cultivation. Something I can wholeheartedly support. So a worthwhile to read for anyone interested in Africa and/or agriculture even if I would have preferred a bit more on precolonial Africa and perhaps a bit less technical details on the cultivation of different types of maize.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucidly written ecological history of maize as it came to Africa. Linguistic analysis of African languages to track maize's spread across the continent is fascinating. Ecological description of maize as it is used both commercially on smallholder and largescale farms, as well as domestically in the ubiquitous kitchen gardens of African families, is invaluable information and insight. A compact, tight, and lean book despite its page count it is a publication targeting it seems the field extension worker or those who are in the field. It not only answered many questions I had about maize in Africa, it also increased my appreciation for maize's role in the Columbian exchange - the cross-pollination of plants and wildlife between the New and Old Worlds - and of the global impact this had, taken in terms of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. A thoughtful, well-presented, and engaging read all around with a nice tone and measured insights. Likely the most surprising research McCaan presented was his finding of the the likely relationship of maize as a vector for the spread of malaria in Ethiopia. A very compelling book on the whole.

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was incredibly revealing about how maize (corn) transformed the entire continent of Africa both agriculturally and human culturally. The book attempts to answer the question of what the true blessings of corn have been.

It's a question that ends up creating more questions than answers by the time the work is done. As a historical or scientific work, it's a little bit on the light side, but it's reasonably well annotated with end notes and informative collections of data.

If you've got an interest in African history or really want a deeper understanding of how fragile our seven billion population is because of it's dependence on limited agriculture... read this.

[Carolyn Vieira-Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cross between Jared Diamond and Chris Ehret.

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Jenna W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. Had to read it for a class. Not really something I care about.

[Fredore Praltsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading Maize and Grace felt like visiting an art museum with paintings of different styles hung in the same rooms: I know McCann made a conscious choice to select and order the chapters in the way he did, but I am left wondering if this choice was motivated by a genuine desire to juxtapose chapter topics or instead by an aim to impress the audience by showing them only the most interesting work in the repository. Maize and Grace is, in other words, disjointed. Though each chapter is coherent, the chapters do not cohere with one another—the book moves, for example, from examining the emergence of white maize in South Africa (Chapter 5) to examining a maize fungus epidemic in the African Maize Belt (Chapter 6) with no transition or comparison. I was left to construct connections between the chapters myself—an interesting and not altogether unenjoyable exercise, but one with which I would have appreciated some help, especially from someone as knowledgable and well-versed as McCann clearly is.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

My people call it corn. Four major types of maize came to Africa from two directions, the west coast, and from the north. If you are not thrilled by minutia, this book is not for you. This book trumps Omnivore's Dilemma for number of pages devoted to corn.