How exactly did maize become most of Africa's staple food - A Brief History

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What does Christopher Columbus, Mexico, Slaves and the Portuguese all have in common …….Maize or corn as it’s known in America. Your favourite plate of nshima, ugali, pap or sadza whatever you call it in your language would not have been possible without Columbus, Mexico, Slaves and the Portuguese. Maize which is the staple for most of southern, eastern and the greats lakes region of Africa, for most Africans that is the African traditional dish, but what if I tell you that Maize is actually not African.

Prior to Christoher Columbus discovering the new world in 1492, well it was a new world to them but not the natives, right, there was no mention of Maize in historical texts the world over, Maize was discovered in Mexico, the locals had been enjoying this delicacy on their own for a while, it draws its roots from a grass called teosinte. The first mention of maize in Africa, was by a Portuguese writer Valentim Fernandes in 1502 in western Africa.

It is believed that the crop was brought down to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa by Arab Traders and the Portuguese. The spread of maize is believed to have been necessitated by the slave trade, it was a cheaper crop to produce which could be used as food for the slaves on the boats to the new world, so maize owes its popularity to injustice. It was also relatively easy to grow with a larger yield compared to other local African cereals.

In Zimbabwe the first mention of Maize was in 1561 in the Monomotapa kingdom according to the written accounts of the Portuguese, but there is no records that it was a staple cereal. Prior to that Zimbabwean families consumed sorghum and rapoko aka finger millet as the preferred cereal, with is a healthier option. Maize is known to contain cancer causing substances according to scientific research. David Livingstone saw maize in the Lake Tanganyika region in 1871. So Maize has been with us for the past 500 years, which means it is highly likely that if youwere to serve your tenth ancestor with maize they’ll probably go like wt is this? The next time you eat you favorite maize based product, thank Mexico. See you in the next video..

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