Good
evening! My name is Sung Jiyun, known as Anastasia in this class, and I’m here
to introduce the history of nutrition in East Africa. Just in case, nutrition
is a substance that is essential to life which must be supplied by food. The
reason why I chose this topic is because firstly, I was curious- maybe it’s
because I just don’t know much about Africa, but when I hear that word, I think
of famine and poverty. And that doesn’t usually mean the food culture is really
developed, is it? But who knows- they might have really delicious cuisines. I
thought it was worth investigating, more than cuisines of places that are very well
known.
Well,
as I expected, it was really difficult
for me to find resources. I guess I’m not that skilled yet. In the
Introduction, I will define East Africa and briefly introduce the history of
the region. As for its geographical definition, as well as many other terminologies,
it is pretty much controversial, but I’ll follow the narrower term. I’ll define
East Africa as these ten countries: the Great Lakes Region, including Uganda,
Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. And there is the Horn of Africa, which comprises
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, and Somalia.
The
natural environment of East Africa shows a great diversity. In general, there
are Ethiopian and East African highlands, which is surprisingly humid and cool
for an area of such latitude. Thus, it is very rich in crop cultivation, and
most of the population is concentrated in this area. Also, the area around the
Great Lakes of East Africa is developed in agriculture. Most of the lowland
areas are extremely hot and dry, and the rainfall is erratic. Famine is a
serious issue, especially in the Horn of Africa and northern Sudan. In the dry
lowlands, the main living is by cattle breeding. As a whole, 90% of the people
are involved in agriculture and livestock in East Africa. It is the least
urbanized area even in the African continent itself.
Before
agriculture started, about five thousand years ago, much of East Africa was
occupied by hunters and gatherers, commonly known as ndorobo. Their culture was
assimilated by later migrants, but there are still some remains. The earliest
food crops included sorghum, finger and pearl millets, hyacinth beans, Bambara
ground-nuts, bottle gourds, cowpeas, and yams. There were immigrants from the
south, west (Bantu), and northwest (Nilotes) were those who introduced
agriculture to this region. As for stock farming, the key animals are cattle,
sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys. Milk production was the most important
livestock. People of that time put a lot effort to add flavor to milk, such as
fermenting. Fresh blood of the animals was an important food as well. Pork is
not allowed in most of Ethiopia and other Muslim communities.
Lastly,
interactions with other continents, especially the Arabian and Indian
peninsulas contributed in making the East African culture unique. This
advantage let coastal parts of Kenya and Tanzania to use coconut, as well as
other spices, as a flavoring, which made the foods tastier than in inland
regions.
Around 1000 years ago, the Arabs settled in the coastal areas of East Africa, and Arabic influences are especially reflected in
the Swahili cuisine of the coast – steamed cooked rice with spices in Persian style. After Vasco da Gama succeeded in visiting
India, the Portuguese were able to trade with the Far East by
taking control over Arabs. They had introduced techniques of roasting and marinating to East Africa, as also use of spices turning the
bland diet into aromatic stewed dishes. Portuguese also brought from their
Asian colonies fruits like the orange, lemon and lime. From
their colonies in the New World, Portuguese also brought exotic
items like chilies, peppers, maize, tomatoes, pineapple, bananas, and
the domestic pig – now, all these
are common elements of East African foods. Later Portuguese retreated from East
Africa as the spices became less profitable and the Arabs openly attacked them.
Several centuries later, between 19th
and 20th century, European empires began to compete for colonies in
East Africa. The British colonizing
Uganda and Kenya, the regions appropriate for cultivation of cash crops such as
coffee and tea. Germans took over Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, and Italy gained control of Somalia, Eritrea, and
Ethiopia some later on. These countries brought with them their foods. As a
result, during the colonization era, East African people were introduced to a
variety of foods, such as maize, peanuts, kidney beans, potatoes, cabbage,
kales, banana, cocoyams, sugar cane, pumpkins, cassava, groundnut, and sweet
potato. Such foods spread quickly and became the most important foods in the
region.
Although the cultivation of crops has long
passed the point which it can feed all people in the world, there are still
many people starving to death, and it is a real serious
problem in East Africa. An estimated 11 million people in the Horn of Africa
“are on the brink of starvation” because of severe drought and war. Somalia, Kenya,
Djibouti and Ethiopia need food aid, water, new livestock and seeds. This
is a major hunger crisis in development. In 2011, the rainfall was way below
average again, causing the worst draught ever.
Table of Contents
Anastasia
Mar 6th,
2012
Ⅰ. Introduction
Ⅱ. Development of Nutrition
Ⅱ.
1. Geography and Climate
Ⅱ.
1. A. Great Lakes Region
Ⅱ.
1. B. Horn of Africa
Ⅱ. 2. Agriculture
Ⅱ.
2. A. Before Agriculture
Ⅱ.
2. B. Staple Crops
Ⅱ.
2. C. Animal Production
Ⅱ.
3. Interactions with Other Continents
Ⅲ.
Influence of Colonization
Ⅲ.
1. Arab and Portuguese Eras
Ⅲ.
2. European Imperialism
Ⅳ.
Famine and Malnutrition Problems
Ⅴ.
Conclusion
Ⅵ.
Bibliography
Ⅵ.
1. Online Sites
Ⅵ.
2. Wikipedia Articles
This was first written in April 9th. I should have progressed a lot from that point... unfortunately, I didn't . I say I was busy, but I know that merely sounds as an excuse. Well, I can't turn back the time right now. All I can do is to work hard from now.
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