Chapter 827 Plantation to Farm
Of course, the coastal areas of East Africa have an export-oriented economy and cannot represent the entire picture of East Africa, especially the inland areas where the national conditions are very different. Fernandez had only seen the rapid development and prosperity on the surface of East Africa before. It would take some time to gain a deeper understanding of the specific situation.
…
Maputo city.
"We have restored production in 71 plantations around Maputo. Originally, there were 400 to 500 plantations of various sizes around Maputo. After we took over, we fully integrated the local plantations and eventually formed 71 super-large plantations."
"The main laborers on the plantations are the black slaves left behind by the Portuguese. There are more than 40,000 black slaves in Maputo. During the war, they forcibly conscripted many more blacks. These can maintain the development of the plantations before the arrival of livestock and machinery from the east. By then, the plantations will have to become large farms."
Tropical plantations are typical labor-intensive industries. For example, cotton harvesting was difficult to mechanize in the 19th century.
The world's three largest cotton producing areas, the United States, India and the Far East Empire, are all densely populated areas. The United States, for example, introduced a large number of black slaves due to a shortage of labor on cotton plantations. During the Civil War, there were a large number of black people on southern plantations, and the capitalists in the North must have been jealous.
East Africa’s positioning for Southern Mozambique is obviously not the cultivation of tropical cash crops such as cotton, but grain cultivation.
It would be a shame not to grow crops in southern Mozambique with such high-quality black soil and vast plains. The land here can be said to be more fertile than the land in the Great Lakes region, and the rainfall and temperature are just right. It is located near the Tropic of Capricorn, neither biased nor excessive.
Most of East Africa is located between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, especially in the north. The farthest point is southern Sudan, which is still some distance away from the Tropic of Cancer.
Therefore, the South African region plays a huge role in enriching the climate environment of East Africa. The southernmost Orange River basin has crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and reached around 30 degrees south latitude.
Of course, most parts of East Africa are affected by the terrain, forming a tropical savannah climate. At the same time, due to the high altitude, the temperature is relatively low, which is similar to the subtropical climate in characteristics.
Don’t underestimate this plain in southern Mozambique, which may not look large on the map. Its area is 330,000 square kilometers, making it one of the largest plains in Africa. The largest Northeastern Plain in the Far East Empire is only 350,000 square kilometers.
Of course, compared with the vast territory of East Africa, this area of plains is not enough. The plains of East Africa are basically concentrated on the eastern coast. Although northern Somalia is a plain, it has a tropical desert climate. The plains between Mombasa and Kismayo are mainly arid grasslands due to the scarcity of rainfall.
But Mozambique is different. The average annual precipitation fluctuates between 750mm and 1200mm. There are many rivers and a dense river network. The upper reaches are mostly plateaus and mountains, and a vast alluvial plain is formed in the lower reaches. Under such circumstances, the land in Mozambique is naturally very fertile.
"According to the news from Dar es Salaam, their first batch of agricultural tractors will not arrive in Maputo until at least the end of this year, because they have never mass-produced so many tractors on such a large scale before. As for the livestock from the northern pastures, they may have to wait until August to be delivered here, mainly dispatched from the Port of Mombasa. On the contrary, the Port of New Hamburg can temporarily allocate a batch to help us develop southern Mozambique."
The Port of New Hamburgo belongs to the Southern Pastures of East Africa. The Southern Pastures is a relatively developed area of animal husbandry in East Africa, second only to the Northern Pastures, and may surpass the Northern Pastures in the future. Therefore, the Port of New Hamburgo has the ability to allocate a batch of livestock to support Maputo.
Of course, due to the impact of the war, the livestock industry in the Port of New Hamburg was greatly damaged, and a large number of livestock were transferred to the Province of Hechingen before the war.
However, there was a railway connection between the province of Hechingen and the port city of New Hamburg, so the post-war recovery was quick.
“Once the railway from Nova Hamburgo to Maputo is opened, our problems will be greatly alleviated. Nova Hamburgo is a major industrial city, and basic agricultural tools can also effectively help Maputo. However, the Southern Frontier Province is also recovering, so we have to wait until at least after the New Year to get full support from Nova Hamburgo.”
For the Maputo government, there is a lack of people, tools and motivation... but this is also the case in other regions of East Africa.
But the situation is particularly serious in Mozambique, which was incorporated into East Africa too late. Coupled with the Portuguese's impressive "efficiency", Mozambique and Angola lag far behind other regions in East Africa.
For example, in the restricted development provinces of Hechingen and South Frontier in East Africa, their agriculture is basically comparable to the other two places, and the industry is even more incomparable.
Under Portuguese rule, Mozambique had absolutely no industrial base, with only a few ship repair shops and three arsenals built temporarily because of the war.
These three arsenals are actually large-scale gun repair factories. They do not have the ability to produce weapons at all. Moreover, with the withdrawal of Portuguese technicians, they are now paralyzed. The machines are well preserved. This is different from Angola, where the Portuguese troops finally withdrew from the sea and almost destroyed all the production and living facilities in Luanda and Benguela.
Maputo was blockaded by East Africa in the late stages of the war, and finally fell completely into the hands of East Africa, so Maputo is relatively well preserved among the former Portuguese colonial cities.
Of course, according to the standards, of Portugal's colonies in South Africa, only Luanda, Benguela and Maputo can barely be called cities.
“In addition to integrating Mozambique’s agriculture, Maputo’s urban development should also be restored to normal. Now many places in the city are empty, and hotels, ship repair shops, handicraft workshops, etc. are basically shut down. We must seek help from other cities and include this in the government report.”
Before the war, business in Maputo was relatively prosperous, with a large number of merchants from various countries running local businesses in the city and exporting Mozambique's resources.
However, as the war broke out, Maputo fell into a state of stagnation. After the war, due to the withdrawal of the Portuguese government and a large number of civilians, the entire Maputo management system collapsed directly.
If the problem was only with the government, it would be easy to solve, but the departure of a large number of Portuguese civilians directly led to the destruction of the local grassroots system. Therefore, when the Maputo government dispatched by East Africa arrived, the situation in Maputo did not improve.
Before, Maputo was under martial law, and now there are more soldiers than civilians in Maputo, of course, without counting black people.
Of course, there are still quite a few Portuguese people left in Mozambique, but they have been temporarily requisitioned by the East African government to temporarily manage the blacks and maintain production activities in Mozambique.
That is, the local plantation industry, to prevent the land from being abandoned again. As for Maputo's business, it is completely finished. In the short term, merchant ships from various countries will avoid here and instead dock at the Port of New Hamburg or the Port of Durban in the British Natal colony.
At the same time, the Portuguese also took away their traditional business routes. For example, after the plantations were nationalized in East Africa, the business channels of the original Portuguese plantation owners were also cut off.
These will all need to be dealt with by the future Maputo City Government, but given Maputo's geographical location and conditions, it is only a matter of time before it prospers again.
(End of this chapter)
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