Maize and Precolonial Africa
58 Pages Posted: 5 Sep 2017
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Maize and Precolonial Africa
Maize and Precolonial Africa
Date Written: August 31, 2017
Abstract
Columbus's arrival in the New World triggered an unprecedented movement of people and crops across the Atlantic Ocean. We study an overlooked part of this "Columbian Exchange": the effects of New World crops in Africa. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the introduction of maize during the exchange increased population density and Trans-Atlantic slave exports in precolonial Africa. We find robust empirical support for these predictions. We also examine the effects of maize on economic growth and conflict, and find that it had little effect on either channel. Our results suggest that rather than stimulating development, the introduction of maize simply increased the supply of slaves from Africa during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Keywords: Agriculture, Columbian Exchange, Slave Trades, Maize
JEL Classification: J10, N00, O10, Q10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation