Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
1
Introduction to Human
Geography
Field Note
Awakening to World Hunger
ETHIOPIA
LakeTurkana
UGANDA
KENYA
0
°
Equator
Lake
Victoria
Kericho
Masai Mara
INDIAN
OCEAN
TANZANIA
40
°
E
Figure 1.1
Kericho, Kenya
.
Tea plantations established by British colonists in western Kenya.
© H. J. de Blij.
Dragging myself out of bed for a 9:00
A
.
M
. lecture, I decide I need to make a stop at
Starbucks. “Grande coffee of the day, please, and leave room for cream.” I rub my
eyes and look at the sign to see where my coffee was grown. Kenya. Ironically, I am
about to lecture on Kenya's coffee plantations. Just the wake-up call I need.
When I visited Kenya in eastern Africa, I drove from Masai Mara to Kericho
and I noticed nearly all of the agricultural fi elds I could see were planted with cof-
fee or tea (Fig. 1.1). I also saw the poor of Kenya, clearly hungry, living in substan-
dard housing. I questioned, “Why do farmers in Kenya grow coffee and tea when
they could grow food to feed the hungry?” Trying to answer such a question sheds
light on the complexities of globalization. In a globalized world, connections are
many and simple answers are few.
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