Maize and Precolonial Africa

58 Pages Posted: 5 Sep 2017

See all articles by Jevan Cherniwchan

Jevan Cherniwchan

University of Alberta - Department of Marketing, Business Economics & Law

Juan Moreno-Cruz

University of Waterloo - School of Environment, Enterprise and Development

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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

Cherniwchan, Jevan and Moreno-Cruz, Juan, Maize and Precolonial Africa (August 31, 2017). University of Alberta School of Business Research Paper No. 2017-708, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3030545 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3030545

Jevan Cherniwchan (Contact Author)

University of Alberta - Department of Marketing, Business Economics & Law ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6
Canada

Juan Moreno-Cruz

University of Waterloo - School of Environment, Enterprise and Development ( email )

Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Canada

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