A Year in an African Farm Community on
the Brink of Change
Roger Thurow
Public Affairs
May 29, 2012 / ISBN 978-1610390675
Non-fiction / Documentary / World Hunger
Amazon
Reviewed
by Nicole Merritt
Originally
a writer for the Wall Street Journal, Thurow's interest in hunger
became a passion. This is his second book on the topic and is well
written and well documented. He follows the lives of four farm families
in Western Kenya in 2011. These farmers are called Hungry Farmers.
Their names are based on the season's conditions; dry, rains, etc.
Wanjala is the most predominant name for Kenya farmers, meaning
hungry. As the author follows these farmers in their daily life,
the reader gets a sense of the reality of the preparation and harvesting
of their crops through the farming season.
This book is
written in a thought provoking documentary style that keeps you
turning pages in anticipation of the outcomes for these people.
You feel their spirituality. It will open your eyes to the real
people of farming in Africa, aside from the Ethiopian starving faces
you see on TV. He enlightens the reader on the politics, and the
One-Acre Fund. You get acquainted with the families and feel their
plight and the dreams they hold for their children. This is an emotional
story. This is a pass it on book.
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