The History of Maize from the New World to Africa - Essay Example

The History of Maize from the New World to Africa Abstract A staple crop that originated from the Americas, the maize or corn plant has been exported worldwide, widening its geographical distribution, and one of the places that has a high corn consumption rate and devotes large acres of land for planting the crop is the continent of Africa. Beginning from the 1500’s, Portuguese settlers brought the cereal, along with some other New World crops in order to increase the food supply in Africa. Corn became widely-accepted due to its high yield per acre, as well as being a hardier crop than the locally-grown sorghum, and it was from these additional benefits that population growth in most corn-producing areas can take credit for. At present efforts are being made in order to increase Africa’s annual local production and at the same time reduce their importation rates since corn is considered to be one of the most important food sources for the people. The History of Maize from the New World to Africa Maize (Zea mays, L.) or more popularly known around the world as corn, is a cereal crop that originated from the New World, now known as the Americas. It is a tall, annual grass, from the family Gramineae, where other important monocot cereal crops such as wheat and rice also belong (Warman, 2003). It is considered to be one of the earliest grains that were borne out of human genetic manipulation, and its high yield was one of the factors that strengthened the early agricultural societies harvesting this crop (McCann, 2005). All of the numerous uses for corn owe it to its high starch content, which can range from being cooked and served as a major carbohydrate source in every meal, to being ground into flour for making chips and bread, to sweets such as desserts or as sources of sweetening agents, and even alcoholic drinks like beer, thus corn shows the flexibility of its products (Warman, 2003). Also, corn is known to have small amounts of minerals such as calcium and iron, even higher than in other cultivated cereals, which adds to the crop’s high carbohydrate content and subsequently, its nutritional value (Mboya, et al., 2011). It is through the wide variety of products that can be made out of corn and rather high nutritional value that made it acceptable in many countries, and its worldwide distribution a success. Among the many areas that have come to learn about planting and harvesting corn, as well as creating a culture that highly utilizes it is Africa, where it was introduced during the time when the Portuguese were still in the process of exploring the New World, as well as beginning to enter into the slave trading business (Maddison, 2007). Starting from a few seeds, the local farmers were able to grow various varieties as well as developing the crops to contain some characteristics that were deemed important, such as having attributes that were similar with locally-grown sorghum (La Fleur, 2012). This initiated a wide acceptance of Africans to a corn corn-cultivating culture, and makes it one of their most important staple crops as of date. Thus, the introduction of maize, a New World crop into the African continent and culture was brought upon by the colonial rule of the Portuguese in Southern Africa around the 1500’s, and the successful propagation of the crop in the continent created an economic boost that brought up the culture of planting and consuming maize across Africa, which remains very much alive even today. Origins of the Maize Unlike other grains and cereals which were originally bred from wild ancestors and have undergone minimal changes, the appearance of the maize or corn plant and its cob has been the product of the deliberate intervention of man in its evolution. It is hypothesized that the corn has no wild ancestor, and it has been extinct long before its cultivation began. However, there is only a distant ancestor, an indigenous corn-looking plant called a teosinte (Euchlaena mexicana) which grows exclusively in the Americas, the place considered to be the maize’s place of origin (Warman, 2003). Much like the modern corn, the teosinte also needed human intervention in order to fertilize itself and produce seeds. It is cultivated as a staple food, along with beans and lentils, and is an essential part of the diet of people living in the New World. In the need to create a high-yielding crop with various uses, teosinte and its mutant descendants were believed to be the origin of the maize and its wide varieties, and the creation of a species with high variability was achieved after several generations of cross-breeding the different varieties and mutants of the teosinte and its descendants (McCann, 2005). In the process of the continued efforts to generate various maize varieties and successful creation of a wide assortment of corn, farmers were able to further develop a wide range of agricultural systems and a culture centered on the maize crop in the New World. Apart from the constant hybridization that produced the large kernels and cobs, numerous husks, increased number of ears per plant, and the plant’s height, even the color of the kernels and the level of starchiness of each variety of maize were all due to the various crosses of early Central and South American farmers, and the survival of so many varieties in this one geographical region alone shows how the teosinte, “the plant that gives life” was able to radiate itself and adapt to survive in various weather conditions and climates (Warman, 2003). The farmers kept a record on each variety’s characteristics as well as to which crosses would yield certain variations and combinations, and this made the gene pool of the maize population in the New World have a high variability and wide adaptability in most environments. This high adaptability made the maize suitable to grow in many parts of the world, especially in Africa where it became a widely-accepted crop after its introduction facilitated by early foreign settlers. How Maize Reached and Thrived in Africa Before the introduction of corn, sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), also a member of the Gramineae family and is its close relative, is one of the most domesticated cereal crops within the African continent, where it is grown along river banks or in places where there is a proximate or ample water supply (de Wet & Huckabay, 1967). The cereal has existed for thousands of years in the African continent long before the introduction maize, and like its close cousin is also a product of human intervention and deliberate breeding. While it shares some characteristics with maize such as being a high-carbohydrate source, along with similarities in plant growth and habit, there are also marked differences such as the corn having wider conditions where the plants can thrive, having a higher amount of yield per hectare, and the ability of the harvested cobs to withstand prolonged transportation, storage, and bearing the elements (Collins & Burns, 2007). Initially, the corn’s spread across Europe, Asia, and Africa was the result of the rapid innovation in navigation systems, as well as in the need to spread religions and commerce outside the European continent. The importation and introduction of various grains and root crops from the New World, along with the early beginnings of the slave trade and the introduction of Christianity outside the European continent were most of the driving forces that initiated the introduction of foreign species to the African continent (Maddison, 2007). After learning what variable crops are commonly cultivated within the South and Central Americas, as well as selecting which ones may have higher chances of successfully thriving outside the continent, the early Portuguese settlers in South America brought out the maize from its native continent and introduced to Europe as an additional food source but mostly for animal feed, and in Africa for the consumption of the locals (La Fleur, 2012). It was initially this need to increase the food supply in order to increase the population of the communities and consequently help the slave trade to remain alive, and at the same time there is also an increased supply of animal feed for the settlers to use and export to Europe as needed (Collins & Burns, 2007). However, the wide acceptance of corn as a cash crop was unintentional since not only were most introduced crops unfit in the African soil, but were also unable to thrive in its wide variety of climates and geographical locations. Most of the cereals that were initially introduced in Africa were unable to grow due to the nearly-extreme differences between the European and African climates, however, maize was the only introduced cereal hardy enough to grow in most areas within the continent. This made it easy for the Portuguese settlers to propagate and distribute the crop among locals from different parts of Africa. The locals appreciated cultivating the corn due to its many properties that were considered to be superior over other traditionally-grown cereal such as sorghum. Corn eventually replaced the sorghum not only due to the former’s high yield but also because it keeps better due to the hardier grains and husks, as well as the grains having a wider range of characteristics, from starchy to sweet (Collins & Burns, 2007; (McCann, 2005). The locals also figured out that since corn shares some similar characteristics with locally-available sorghum, there are more possibilities in terms of preparing the grains and serving them (McCann, 2005). This knowledge was unknown to most Europeans since they were much more used to smaller grains such as oats, rye, and wheat, thus they did not fully accept corn and had limited knowledge in cooking and processing the grains (Warman, 2003). Thus while the Europeans did not consider corn as a new crop fit for their diet, the Africans were able to integrate the crop easily into their own, and this helped in the start of a corn-growing and consuming culture. The Impact of Maize Introduction in Africa After the initial trials for the prospect of growing and cultivating maize in Africa, most of the farmers that were able to gain access to different varieties of the crop found out that these can be cross-bred to create new varieties that can be much more suitable to their needs. In the process, several new varieties were borne out of the experimental hybridizations, which not only led to even more varieties, but also helped in the creation of several new and uncanny dishes (La Fleur, 2012). The farmers became excited in the process of forming new varieties as well as testing new kinds of food with these new hybrids, which increased the wide acceptability of corn among different local farmers. At present, maize has become one of the most important and crucial crops in Africa, especially since as much as 25 million hectares in the continent are now devoted to the cultivation of the crop (Smale, et al., 2011). The fact that maize can now be easily grown just about anywhere in Africa makes it a major staple as well as an income-generating crop, especially since it has greater accessibility due to its affordability and acceptability for approximately 900 million people annually (Forums for Agricultural Research in Africa, FARA, 2009). Around 77% of the annual harvest is consumed as food by humans, while the remainder is used for animal feed, which contrasts the consumption rates of developed nations of only 3% for human consumption and the rest are for animal feeds and biofuel production (Smale, et al., 2011). However, even if maize is considered to be an important commodity since it feeds most of the African population, this does not deter the cultivation of other carbohydrate sources such as root crops and sorghum. Current data show that up to 25% of the total starch consumed by most Africans was attributed to the maize, which makes it a significant carbohydrate source across the continent. Since maize is considered to be one of the cheapest sources for carbohydrates, there has been an increased demand in its production, and hundreds of hectares of land every year are developed for corn cultivation in order to increase locally-sourced supply (FARA, 2009). However, at present due to the lack of rapid developments in the production and post-harvest sectors, the net production of maize has not increased significantly in the past few decades in comparison with the rest of the world. Thus there has been an increase in the importation of corn, up to 12% of the total global imports. Future Aspects of Maize Production in Africa It is apparent that the deeply-ingrained corn-cultivating and consuming culture of Africa will not be leaving for a very long time, which entails for the need to update the existing practices of farmers in corn-growing areas (Smale & Jayne, 2003). Current data show that there has been an increasing demand for corn in Africa, but despite having approximately 25 million hectares devoted to growing the crop, the production per year of about 38 million tons from 2005-2008 which was estimated to have cost roughly between US $14.4B - $18.2 B was not enough to sustain the demand, with importations of at least 5% of the total annual consumption (FARA, 2009; Reiger, et al., 2013). The need for importations was attributed to the relatively low output of only 1.5 tons/hectare, which was low in comparison with other corn-growing countries that were able to increase yield per hectare by up to 3.8 tons/hectare (Smale, et al., 2011). It is expected that to mitigate the need to import high volumes of the crop in order to supply the increasing demand, various methods of increasing the total volume of annual harvests would be undertaken so as to prevent an eventual reliance on corn importation as well as to become self-sufficient in its supply. Among the improvements that were proposed to increase local production of corn in Africa are by increasing researches regarding the identification of factors that influence maize plant tolerance to several stresses, to make efforts in creating and breeding varieties with more nutrient content, to develop efficient integrated pest management (IPM) practices to reduce losses due to production and post-harvesting, as well as to improve existing post-harvest management practices to prevent post-harvest losses, among others (Badu-Apraku, et al., 2007). It is also suggested that farmers increase their collaborative efforts with agriculturists and researchers in order for them to fully benefit from the proposed improvements as well as to increase their harvest volume per hectare. In addition, there is also a need to improve assistance to farmers by creating additional facilities that would prevent further losses in corn production, especially during dry and hot spells in certain parts of the continent (United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, 2013). Lastly, there were additional calls to create maize varieties that were much more suited to the climate and soil of Africa, even more so when data regarding the use of hybrid maize originally grown in the US were found to be unsuitable to some corn-growing areas such as Zimbabwe (Byerlee & Eicher, 1997). Recommendations for the use of locally-available and thriving varieties were also mentioned for current hybridization programs since these hybrids were already established to have better growth on African soil, and thus only minimal changes in the genetic makeup are needed. It is expected that the implementation of various changes and improvements such as the development of maize policy development and the dissemination of technologies that would enhance and improve current maize production practices would greatly increase the yield per hectare from 1.5 tons/hectare to 1.9 tons/hectare and would subsequently stabilize the maize supply and in turn, the levels of food security in Africa (FARA, 2009). Conclusion The maize or corn has come a long way, from a plant with a wide variety of characteristics and uses in the New World, to an important cash crop and commercial food source among the African people. Maize has a wide variety of uses, ranging from an everyday staple food to the production of sweets and alcoholic drinks, which can be attributed to the high starch content and the plant’s high yield. Unlike most cereal crops which did not need human intervention in their evolution, corn has been the product of thousands of generations of cross-breeding by farmers in the Americas, where it was believed to have been the place of origin. It was originally introduced into the African continent by early Portuguese settlers from South America to increase the food supply of both humans and animals. The crop was essentially a product of the explorations of the Portuguese out into the New World, and subsequently became a tool in the beginnings of the African slave trade industry. While the plant was initially intended mostly to address the needs for additional animal feed since most of the early settlers see the corn as food fit only for the consumption of livestock, the corn became widely accepted in the African continent since not only was it able to increase yield per hectare, but also it was the only introduced cereal that was able to thrive successfully in the continent’s diverse environments. The characteristics of modern corn are the results of careful selection of desirable traits such as tall plants, large cobs and kernels, and higher number of ears per plant aside to being able to thrive in any kind of environment. Its comparative hardiness and higher yield were also the reasons as to why it replaced the locally-available close relative, the sorghum as staple cereal crop and major carbohydrate source. Also, some of its characteristics found to be similar with sorghum added to its popularity among Africans since they already knew some ways in preparing corn, and were able to create not only a wide variety of dishes but also several other varieties depending on their needs. Thus the introduction of corn into the African diet created a corn-cultivating culture, even if the crop was not a native of the continent. It has been shown based on the wide distribution of corn-growing areas that the adaptability of corn to most growth conditions helped it gain wide acceptability in the continent of Africa. Currently up to 77% of the total volume of roughly 38 million tons harvested annually within the continent is used for human consumption, which is considerably higher compared to the corn consumption rates of developed countries, which amounts to only 3% of the total volume harvested annually. But it was also found out that despite the high production, there was also an increased demand for the cereal, thus it was necessary to import as much as 5% of the local production just to provide a staple food supply. The need to create agricultural practices that not only increases yield per hectare from 1.5 tons/hectare up to at least 1.9 tons/hectare but also other processes such as post-harvest operations that prevent losses were conceptualized so as to prevent an increase in the overall corn importation rates, especially with the expected population growth for the next half-century. Thus, from its humble beginnings as a lowly crop fit only for animals introduced by the Portuguese around the 1500’s, the corn has gained significant respect and importance in the African diet, where it is consumed by more than 900 million people annually and is currently considered to be the source of life for the majority of its corn-consuming populations, and shall be their source of livelihood and food security for the years to come. References Badu-Apraku, B., Fakorede, M., Lum, A., Menkir, A., & Ouedraogo, M. (2007). Demand-driven technologies for sustainable maize production in West and Central Africa. Proceedings of the fifth biennial regional maize workshop, IITA-Cotonou, Benin, 3-6 May 2005. Ibadan: West and Central Africa Collaborative Maize Research Network & International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. Byerlee, D., & Eicher, C. (1997). Africa's emerging maize revolution. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Collins, R., & Burns, J. M. (2007). 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