Chapter 171 Developments in 1868
December 28, 1868.
This year's East African statistical data has slowly been released. Due to factors such as the growth of various data, geographical expansion, population growth, and the addition of industries, the statistical process is much slower than in the previous two years.
The immigrant population could previously be simply calculated from the archives of the port area, as every immigrant was registered when they landed.
But this year, this model no longer works because of the explosion in the number of newborns, which all need to be reported by every place in East Africa and verified by relevant personnel.
By the end of November 1868, the population of the entire East African colony was more than 1.75 million, close to 2 million.
Although it is an exaggeration to reach this level in nearly three years, East Africa has indeed done it. After all, in this era, no one has taken the trouble to actively recruit immigrants like East Africa has, spending so much time, effort and money.
The journey from the time the immigrants set out to reach East Africa was almost entirely covered by the East African colonies, with the shipping and food all provided by the Hexingen Consortium.
1.75 million is the total data of East African immigrants and newborns, and does not include the indigenous people of East Africa. The number of indigenous people should be between 1.3 and 1.5 million. When there are many projects in East Africa and the demand for labor is high, East Africa will go to the west to capture more slaves. When there are fewer projects, the number of slaves is in a state of continuous decline, and a batch is sent away from the port of Dar es Salaam every day.
The number of slaves was so large that it was almost one to one with the local population. Even the southern United States did not have such a terrifying ratio. So it was ridiculous to worry about the lack of labor in the East African colonies. East Africa was not a fool.
Even so, Ernst was still relatively restrained. After all, immigrants from all over the world came to East Africa to enrich East Africa's strength, not to support a bunch of bosses. Therefore, the East African colonies still squeezed the value of immigrants as much as possible instead of letting black slaves do all the work.
Throughout 1868, the expansion of East African colonies was not very prominent because the opponents were too weak and the area of the northwest region was not large compared to East Africa. As for northern Kenya, although it was also developed this year, it was less difficult.
Because this is the sphere of influence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Although the Sultanate of Zanzibar does not actually rule this place, the local tribes and northern forces have basically been beaten up by the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
Including the Geredi Sultanate in the Somali region, it was also a younger brother of the Omani Empire and only broke away from the control of the Omani Empire more than a decade ago.
According to the normal historical trajectory, within a few years, the Sultanate of Zanzibar (the Omani Empire was composed of two parts, Muscat and Zanzibar. Later, the Sultanate of Zanzibar became independent and belonged to the royal family) would turn the Geredi Sultanate into its vassal again.
It can be said that the emergence of the East African colony temporarily rescued the Geredi Sultanate from its predicament and prevented it from being annexed by the Zanzibar Sultanate.
In the northern part of East Africa, in addition to the Geledi Sultanate, there is also the traditional overlord of East Africa, Ethiopia. However, this year the Abyssinian Empire of Ethiopia was beaten badly by the British, and the emperor committed suicide, so naturally it could not maintain its status.
Therefore, the development of northern Kenya has been very smooth. In addition, the population is relatively sparse compared to the south, so it is easier to colonize and develop.
The Northwest Territories and northern Kenya bring the territory of East Africa to approximately two million square kilometers (excluding water areas such as Lake Victoria).
In terms of industry, East Africa is still negligible. To be honest, the dozens of factories and workshops in East Africa are not enough in a feudal country, let alone compared with European countries.
Take Prussia 20 years ago as an example. It had more than 78,000 workshops and factories of all sizes and more than 550,000 workers. One can imagine how terrifying Prussia is now after integrating the North German Confederation.
Therefore, agriculture remains as stable as a rock in the industrial structure of East African colonies.
As of November 26, 1868, the East African colonies had a total of approximately 20.4 million acres of arable land, with an average per capita cultivated area of approximately 12.75 acres (excluding slaves and recent immigrants to East Africa).
Among them, the rice planting area increased slightly, totaling 1.1 million mu. The new development was mainly in eastern Kenya and near the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) area, and the output was expected to reach 220 million jin.
The wheat planting area is about 6.6 million mu, or about 440,000 hectares, almost four times as much. The expected output is more than 1 billion jin, or about one million tons.
This year, corn planting has made a leap forward. As the main food for livestock and slaves, the planting area has reached more than 5 million mu, or more than 300,000 hectares.
In addition, the sorghum and millet planting areas have reached more than 2 million mu.
Among them, sorghum is one of the native species in Africa and is very suitable for cultivation, mainly as a supplement to corn.
Corn, millet and sorghum are easier to care for than rice and wheat, especially sorghum. In East Africa, the method of planting widely and yielding little is relied upon, and that's it. Just sow it in the fields and that's it.
The above are the main food crops in East Africa, among which rice, wheat and millet are the main staple food of East Africans, while corn and sorghum are mainly used as food and livestock. In addition to these crops, the remaining land is used to grow cash crops.
Sisal is still the largest cash crop in East Africa, followed by soybeans and coffee. In addition, there are also large-scale crops such as peanuts, sesame, rubber, cloves, cotton, tea, etc.
Sisal's status is being overtaken by soybeans because soybeans, as a nitrogen-fixing plant, are used in rotation crops and are mixed with wheat and other crops.
Although the coffee planting area is not small, the harvest is still a long way off.
Interestingly, many cash crops are concentrated in the Great Lakes region, such as rubber, which is currently distributed along the coasts of the Great Lakes and near the rivers in the Great Lakes basin.
Tanzania, as a tropical region, is suitable for rubber cultivation, but the prerequisite is to ensure water supply. East Africa is not actually short of water, but the amount of water is less than that in tropical rainforest areas.
In the past, Africa was the second largest rubber producing country after Southeast Asia, and Tanzania's rubber planting scale was among the top ten in Africa.
However, because the Tanzanian government does not pay much attention to rubber planting, the planting technology is updated slowly, and the locals are not keen on taking care of this delicate crop, the cost of rubber production in East Africa is much higher than in Southeast Asia and other regions, and even needs to be imported from Southeast Asia, while Tanzania can actually achieve self-sufficiency in rubber planting. (Source: East African General Tire's data report from 1978 to 1991, the company has a direct rubber plantation in Tanzania)
Therefore, the main factor restricting East African agriculture is the uneven distribution of precipitation in time and space. For example, in the wheat-growing areas of East Africa, water resources are mainly used to ensure the priority of wheat and other food crops, while in the more water-scarce north, millet, sorghum and other crops are widely planted.
Many cash crops require large amounts of water during their growing season, and the Great Lakes region and the eastern coastal plains are the places with the most rainfall in East Africa.
Especially in the newly occupied lands of the Great Lakes region, the Mitumba Mountains, to the west of which is the Congo Basin, rainfall is even more abundant.
Of course, some cash crops do not require too much water and are suitable for dryland cultivation, such as cotton, sesame, etc.
The development of so much land requires the widespread use of slaves and advanced iron tools. Although East Africa cannot achieve the level of mechanization in Europe, it is still good compared to other regions.
Importing iron farm tools from Europe was a major expense for the East African colonies, which led to East Africa prioritizing almost all available funds on the import of ironware. In order to ensure that farm tools were popularized first, many families in East Africa did not even have an iron pot. Clay cookware and ovens were popular, and tableware was mostly made of wood.
The amount of iron ore mined in East Africa is quite small, and it is only a by-product of coal mining. There is not even a modern steel plant in East Africa, and it only relies on the traditional kilns and several small iron workshops (blacksmith shops) left by the Sultanate of Zanzibar in the east.
It’s certainly not that East Africa doesn’t want to build steel mills. The problem is how to transport the machines in. Moreover, in this era, steel mills are absolutely a hot industry that determines a country’s level of development.
The price of importing it is very high, and the most uncomfortable thing is that the transportation conditions in East Africa are still at the level of people pulling and horses pulling.
East Africa's coal and iron resources are all distributed inland. In this era, steel mills are built near resource areas and are resource-oriented. For example, the Ruhr area was built on a coal mine.
Unlike the previous life, 21 is actually market-oriented. The big country in the Far East has built many large steel mills in coastal areas. Coal and iron resources rely on sea transportation to import, and at the same time it is convenient for products to be sold all over the world by sea.
Therefore, Ernst has never built a steel plant in East Africa. The little coal produced by slaves in East Africa is only provided to a few steam-powered factories. Even so, there is still a large surplus. As for the amount needed by the factories, even a wheelbarrow can support the operation of the factories in East Africa, not to mention that there are such things as horse-drawn carriages in the world.
The only industrial advantage that East Africa had over its contemporary backward countries was that there were several factories using steam engines located along the coast, including the only steam engine used for drainage in the Mwanza coal mine.
Except for a few primary agricultural product processing factories (sisal, tobacco, flour, etc.), the rest in East Africa are slightly larger "factories" and workshops that rely purely on manpower. For example, the ship engines used by the Mwanza Shipyard are shipped from Germany, and the rest of the hull is built entirely by hand.
In other words, how developed the handicraft industry in East Africa is depends entirely on how developed the Sultanate of Zanzibar is along the coast of East Africa. It is a pity that the economic center of the Sultanate of Zanzibar has always been on Zanzibar Island, and Ernst, who adhered to the principle of leaving a way out for others, did not copy Zanzibar Island. After all, he had to leave a way out for the Sultanate of Zanzibar (the most important thing is that the Sultanate of Zanzibar has connections with Britain. During the Omani Empire era, the British supported Oman to compete with Portugal and other countries).
Of course, there is also a military factory in East Africa, which is considered to be the most advanced industry in East Africa, but it is only at the stage of repairing broken guns in East Africa and making simple explosives and bullets.
Compared with industry, East Africa's agriculture is really good. It can meet local demand while also exporting.
But this is based on the premise that East Africa is vast and sparsely populated and the slave economy is prevalent, rather than on the high level of agricultural productivity in East Africa. East Africa's agricultural productivity is only at an upper-middle level in the world. The comprehensive application of windmills, advanced agricultural tools, chemical fertilizers and scientific cultivation methods has made East Africa a leader among backward countries and regions.
(End of this chapter)
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