Department of Geography, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
Nat Food. 2023 Nov;4(11):949-960. doi: 10.1038/s43016-023-00879-7. Epub 2023 Nov 16.
Central to successful attempts to address food insecurity in Africa are understandings of the historical contexts and meanings of food systems. However, much research into current challenges remains separated from deeper agrarian and alimentary histories. Using qualitative data on food within the historical record alongside the wider multidisciplinary record of the past, this Review traces long-term patterns and drivers of continuity and change in eastern African food systems. Considerable dynamism in place-based and regional trends in the integration of new foodstuffs, agricultural commercialization, resistance and transformations in diets, and diversification and specialization as livelihood strategies is found-each of which emerged within imbricated contexts of African agency, transoceanic exchanges and colonial incursions. Such historical data provide important deep-time perspectives for interventions to address modern food insecurity, as demonstrated through examples of agricultural value chains, 'under-utilized' crops and major infrastructure projects in southeast Africa.
解决非洲粮食不安全问题的关键在于理解粮食系统的历史背景和意义。然而，对于当前挑战的许多研究仍然与更深入的农业和饮食历史分开。本综述利用历史记录中关于食物的定性数据以及过去更广泛的多学科记录，追溯了东非粮食系统中连续性和变化的长期模式和驱动因素。研究发现，在新食物的融入、农业商业化、饮食的抵制和变革以及多样化和专业化作为生计策略等方面，基于地点和区域的趋势具有相当大的活力——这些都出现在非洲机构、跨洋交流和殖民入侵的交织背景下。这些历史数据为解决现代粮食不安全问题提供了重要的历史视角，通过东南非农业价值链、“未充分利用”的作物和重大基础设施项目的例子可以证明这一点。
