The Last Hunger Season, a book about the struggle of Kenyan farmers written by Roger Thurow, was chosen as the next featured work for One Book One Northwestern, the University announced in a release Monday.
The book, subtitled A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change, follows four average farmers from Western Kenya as they continue to struggle in an agricultural environment that still produces only a fraction of the amount of crops farmers in other parts of the world are able to grow. The book also goes into the help they are now receiving from One Acre Fund, a nonprofit founded by Kellogg graduate Andrew Youn and funded in part by a grant from Kellogg itself that aims to help East African farmers achieve agricultural and economic security.
The book's author, Roger Thurow, was a reporter for three decades at The Wall Street Journal, with much of that time being spent as a foreign correspondent in Africa. He also serves as a ONE agricultural fellow. In addition to authoring The Last Hunger Season, Thurow is also executive producing the partner documentary of the same name.
This book will be the focus of the OBON program for the 2013-2014 school year. This program is meant to engage the student body through a common book to encourage universitywide discussion. In the past, free copies of the OBON book have been sent to incoming new students.