Chapter 2: The Colonial Economy in East Africa

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

(a) understand the economic conditions before and after the introduction of the colonial economy.
(b) know the features of the colonial economy
(c) understand the reasons why the colonial administration encouraged both peasant and plantation farming in East Africa
(e) know the impact of the development of modern transport systems in colonial East Africa.

f) understand the health and social problems which were faced during the colonial economy period.

Keywords

• agriculture
• colonial
• economy
• peasants
• plantation
• Uganda
• railway

Introduction

After studying this chapter, you will be able to understand the impact of the construction of a road network and general colonial economy features in East Africa.

A colonial economy refers to the system of production and trade exchanges used by colonial masters to fulfil their economic intentions in East Africa. In this system, colonialists were superior while the Africans were inferior. East Africans supplied raw materials and provided markets for manufactured goods from Europe. They also exploited African land and labour for their investments.

The Pre-Colonial Economy in East Africa

The pre-colonial economy was predominantly subsistence agriculture. It involved the growing of crops and rearing of animals for domestic consumption. Beyond agriculture, there were some people involved in fishing and hunting while others were involved in rudimentary iron and metal works.

The economy was based on the direct exchange of goods for goods commonly known as barter trade. This system later used cowrie shells as a medium of exchange.

Trade in the pre-colonial period was carried out among different communities within the East African region. It involved selling of slaves in exchange for manufactured goods from European and Asian countries. Intertribal trade involved the exchange of surplus products that included hides and skins, iron tools, cheese and food products.

The trade mainly existed amongst the kingdoms of Buganda, Ankole and Bunyoro. There were three main ethnic groups involved in the pre-colonial trade. They were the Cushites, Nilotes
and Bantu.

The Colonial Economy in East Africa

After the British and Germans had set up colonies in East Africa, the next step was to establish an economy that would support their activities in the colonies. The colonial economy was an economic system planned by the colonialists to make use of the natural resources of East Africa. It was a system of production and consumption which was introduced in the colonies in order to fulfil the colonialists’ economic demands. These included raw materials, markets, areas for investment and areas for settlement. The colonial economy included agricultural and mining activities, communication, transportation and trade. It was during this period that the East African economies were transformed but also made inferior.

The colonies were expected to provide raw materials, both agricultural products and minerals, to the factories in the European countries. Examples of agricultural raw materials include cotton, coffee, sisal, pyrethrum, tea, cocoa and palm oil. The economy was based on land acquisition and the development of a basic money economy. It was based on using cowrie shells, unlike the pre-colonial economy that was based on the barter system.

Figure 2.1: Cowrie shells used as a medium of exchange in the pre-colonial and the early colonial East Africa economy

Activity 2.1 Finding out about the pre-colonial and colonial economy
1. Using ICT or library research, identify the challenges of the pre-colonial economy in East Africa.
2. Explain how the colonial economy addressed the challenges of the pre-colonial economy.
3. In groups, compare the situation in the pre-colonial and colonial periods and present your ides to the class.

The Features of the Colonial Economy in East Africa

The main features of the colonial economy were agriculture, minerals, industries, commerce and financial institutions. The colonial agriculture model was introduced to produce cash crops which would be exported to Europe to feed the various industries as raw materials. Colonial agriculture existed in three different categories. These were plantation agriculture, settler agriculture and peasant agriculture.

Plantation agriculture was large-scale production agriculture which produced for sale. It employed a large number of unskilled labourers who were closely supervised.

Huge agricultural plantations with a single crop were either owned by the colonial government, settlers or absentee capitalists who had representatives to look after the farms. Examples in Uganda include Kakira, Kinyara and Lugazi sugarcane plantations, tea plantations in Ankole and Toro, tobacco plantations in Bunyoro and others.

Figure 2.2: A tea growing plantation introduced by colonialists in East Africa

Settler agriculture was commercial agriculture carried out by immigrants from a foreign country. These thrived on using cheap African migrant labour and forced labour. The foreigners settled permanently in the colonies and began the commercial production of crops. An example of this settler agriculture was in the Kenya Highlands.

Peasant agriculture was carried out on small plots of land. It depended on using family labour to produce food and cash crops for sale. The small-scale farmers were allowed to grow cash crops on their small plots alongside food crops using crude technology. These grew coffee, cotton and other cash crops alongside beans, maize, sorghum and other crops.

The colonial industry involved the production of raw materials and foodstuffs, and secondary processing or manufacturing. The development of industries was not the main objective of the colonial economy. Therefore, there was little development of industries.

The main focus of industries was processing and extractive industries. This was intended to reduce the bulkiness and weight of raw materials in order to make exportation easier and cheaper.

Figure 2.3: A cotton ginnery: Industries processing cash crops were introduced

Commerce was managed and controlled by merchants, middlemen and marketing boards. The marketing boards and cooperative unions were also introduced by colonialists to discourage middlemen.

The flow of settlers into the colonies changed the nature of the pre-colonial trade drastically. The settlers introduced a new kind of trade to serve their interests, including financial institutions like banks. The Asians, and specifically the Indians, dominated commerce and trade during this period.

Figure 2.4: Commercial buildings: Businesses and commercial buildings in most towns were occupied by Asians

Forced labour involved making people work against their wishes. The lack of reliable labour supply was one of the major problems facing colonialists in East Africa. The labourers were needed to build the colonial infrastructure, such as roads and railways as well as government offices and prisons.

Labour was also needed on the plantations, as well as in the mines and other sectors. In areas with farms and plantations, and those rich in minerals, the landless people were forced to seek employment on the plantations and mines.

The colonialists also introduced Western education to get skilled labourers to work in the administration of the colonies.

Figure 2.5: Africans were forced to either grow cash crops like coffee (a) or work in mines (b) so as to pay taxes
Therefore, the colonial economy was a cash export-oriented economy established mainly to support colonialism. It was characterised by the production of raw materials and survived on the exploitation of Africans.

East Africans were oriented to export raw materials to Europe. They also imported finished/manufactured goods from Europe.

Activity 2.2 Finding out the features of colonial economy in East Africa

1. Using ICT or the library, research and identify the weaknesses of the colonial economy.
2. Explain how the colonial economic policy has continued to influence the economies of East African states today.
3. In groups, discuss how East African states can address the weaknesses in the colonial economic policy to their advantage.

Reasons for the Establishment of both Plantation and Peasant Agriculture

Plantation agriculture was a form of commercial farming where crops were grown on a large scale for profit. The success of plantation agriculture depended on the availability of large land
areas.

Most of the land in Uganda was occupied by people, unlike in Kenya where vast lands were unoccupied. Removing people from land for plantation agriculture would have caused more resistance to the colonial administration in Uganda than in Kenya. It was wise, therefore, to have plantations in Kenya and peasant agriculture in Uganda, all contributing to the development of either economy.

The introduction of plantation agriculture was intended to increase profit gained from the colonies. The success of African coffee production in Uganda had persuaded the colonial government to withdraw vital support from European plantations.

Plantation agriculture required the investment of capital unlike peasant agriculture where only a policy directive from the colonial administration would force peasants to produce cash crops.

The colonialists wanted to encourage Africans to continue being part of the production process and expand African agriculture. Meanwhile, they wanted Europeans and Asians to concentrate on the commercial and processing side of the agricultural industry.

Further, the price of African cash crops from peasant farms competed favourably with both settler farms and plantations.

Lastly, peasant agriculture was essential to teach the Africans the importance of and valuable habits in the economy.

Much as plantation agriculture would quickly result in the realisation of profits for the colonial government, the European enterprises could not be allowed to break up African societies through the grabbing of huge tracts of agricultural land. The encouragement of peasant agriculture would delay the process of disintegration as both the African and European enterprises had roles to play in the economy.

The Africans would be encouraged to produce raw materials and the Europeans to sell them. The smallholder system, therefore, stalled the consolidation of land for acquisition by prospective planters.

Activity 2.3 Finding out about the colonial agriculture in East Africa
1. Using ICT or the library, research and identify the areas where colonial plantation agriculture was introduced in East Africa and the cash crops are grown.
2. Explain how Uganda can benefit from expanding plantation agriculture today.
3. In groups, discuss the disadvantages of colonial plantation agriculture in East Africa.

Development of Industries in East Africa

The development of industries in East Africa was only based on the economic exploitation of resources in the colonies. The development of industries was not the main objective of the colonial economy. It was mainly focused on the processing and extractive industries, and limited to light industries involved with foods and beverages, processing agricultural products, textiles and other light consumer goods. The processing industries were meant to reduce the bulkiness of raw materials to make exportation easier and cheaper.

Figure 2.6: Kilembe mines: Copper was mined in Kasese but its processing was done in Jinja, denying the development of the area

The allocation of funds to develop industries was minimal. The colonial masters did not allow other countries to invest in the colonies for fear of creating competition.

The colonialists were against heavy industrial development in the East African colonies. This was intended to safeguard the interests of manufacturers back home in Europe.

Industrial development was only reconsidered after World War Il when the settlers in the colonies failed to access goods from Europe. From the 1940s onwards, the British eased restrictions on industrial development and allowed the establishment of industries to manufacture essential items for the settlers.

Activity 2.4 Finding out about the development of industries in East Africa

1. Using ICT or the library, research and identify the types and locations of industries set up by the colonial administration in East Africa.
2. Explain the reasons for the setting up of those industries in those areas you have identified.

3. In groups, discuss the challenges that were faced by colonial industries and the changes that have taken place in colonial policy in Uganda today.

Development of Modern Transport Systems

The development of transport systems was one of the most important colonial economic policies. The colonialists did not find any reliable transport system in East Africa. Lack of a transport system was badly affecting the work of colonialists in the colonies.

The British and Germans, therefore, found it necessary to develop transport systems to connect different areas of the colonies to ease the exploitation of raw materials. The transport system was developed in order to ease the mobility of colonial administrators and their troops. For example, the Uganda Railway connected the British colonies of Uganda and Kenya.

In East Africa the British and Germans built a road network and railway lines which connected the interior to the ports at the coast. In addition, the road network was developed to serve different areas inside the colonies. This enabled the transportation of raw materials and processed goods from the deep interior to the railway stations.

Among the several reasons for developing the transport system was the strategic position of East Africa to the commercial interests of Britain, specifically in Uganda. There was a need to protect the source of the River Nile which lay in Uganda and was essential for Egypt’s survival.

It was also intended to make it easy for missionaries to spread the gospel to different places in the colonies. This was also one way of effectively occupying the colonies as had been agreed at the Berlin Conference where the partition of Africa was carried out.

Figure 2.7: A cargo train on the Uganda Railway which was constructed to exploit East Africa’s mineral wealth and agriculture

The development of the transport system was also intended to support the development of legitimate trade and the elimination of the slave trade.

The road network was established in order to make colonies reliant on the cultivation of cash crops which they could easily transport to the coast for export.

Activity 2.5 Finding out about the colonial transport network
1. Using ICT or library research, identify the impact of constructing the Uganda Railway.
2. Explain the course of the Uganda Railway and why it passed through some areas and not others.
3. In groups, discuss the challenges faced by colonialists in developing the road network in East Africa.

Health Facilities in Colonial East Africa

East Africa was one the areas infested with diseases like the plague, leprosy, blackwater fever, venereal diseases and enteric fever. These diseases were not only killing Africans but were also threatening missionaries and colonial administrators. Therefore, health services in colonial East Africa were necessary for the colonialists who came to operate in the area to support the colonisation process of East Africa.

The colonial administration started building hospitals and supported missionary work in building hospitals. Being the first people to penetrate the interior of East Africa, the missionaries spearheaded the establishment of health services. The health centres were spread across the colonies and focused their attention on dealing with diseases that threatened human life.

The services involved the provision of education, health care, water, housing and electricity.

The first missionary hospitals in Uganda were Mengo, built in 1897, followed by Rubaga and Nsambya hospitals, built in 1899 and 1903 respectively. More health centres were built as the missionaries spread across Uganda. In Kenya, the missionaries set up health centres in Nairobi, Lamu and Kisumu. In Tanganyika health centres were set up in the agricultural zones to treat labourers working in European projects.

In the period before 1940, a number of Church Missionary Society (CMS) doctors negotiated for double roles as missionaries and colonial medical officers. Many of the missionaries who were qualified medical personnel began to manage government hospitals as well.

Figure 2.8: Mengo Hospital built by missionaries in Uganda

Activity 2.6 Finding out about the colonial health facilities in East Africa
1. Using ICT or library, research identify the reasons why colonialists constructed health facilities in East Africa.
2. Explain the impact of the construction of health facilities in colonial East Africa.
3. In groups, discuss how East African states can overcome the challenges in the health sector in the region.