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. Africa’s experience with maize is distinctive but also instructive from a global perspective: experts predict that by 2020 maize will become the world’s most cultivated crop.

Originally published: 2005.

Africa and the world ecology of maize -- Naming the stranger: maize's journey to Africa -- Maize's invention in West Africa -- Seeds of subversion in two peasant empires -- How Africa's maize turned white -- African maize, American rust -- Breeding SR-52: the politics of science and race in Southern Africa -- Maize and malaria -- Maize as metonym in Africa's new millennium -- Appendix: Tables.