White corn storage, Kenya

The Maasai Mara reserve, known throughout the world for its landscapes and its wildlife, together with the Serengeti in Tanzania, is one of the largest protected spaces in the world (25.000 km²). With the creation of the reserve, the Maasais have been evicted from their ancestral land and now live in “ranches” on the edge of the reserve. Therefore, they are no longer able to hunt or let their animals freely graze, forcing the tribe to become sedentary. They still make a living from stock breeding but increasingly rent their land to farming entrepreneurs. This is much more profitable than the traditional extensive stock breeding. Hence, around the reserve, the surface area of rented land for mechanized cultivation has increased a hundred-fold in twenty years. While looking for new pasture, the Maasais’ cattle penetrate more and more into the reserve. White sweet corn, which is one of the staple foods in Africa, is much more popular than yellow sweet corn, which is considered to be a fodder product. In Africa, white corn accounts for almost a quarter of total agricultural production, and it is an important staple food in countries affected by famine. Price rise of raw food materials are maintained by the constant increase inthe world’s population. Developing countries are getting richer and changing their way of life, oil prices are increasing, therefore affecting transport costs and the cost of synthetic fertilizers. World trade speculation is also a contributing factor. In 2008, food price fluctuations caused hunger riots in many countries.