The Political Economy of Sugar Production in Colonial Kenya

The Political Economy of Sugar Production in Colonial Kenya

Author: Godriver Wanga-Odhiambo

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2016-07-29

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 1498511643

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This book describes the Asian agency in sugar production in colonial Nyanza and additionally examines the Asian initiative and the development of commercial cane farming in Central Nyanza. It provides a different perspective on the Asian initiative in agriculture by showing how Asians were involved in sugarcane farming and how production of sugar in colonial Nyanza was eventually made possible by Asian capital. This study relies mainly on primary sources, secondary sources, and oral interviews. The archival sources were derived from the Kenya National Archives. The primary materials included annual reports of the Department of Agriculture, District annual reports, Provincial reports, monthly intelligence reports, colonial officials’ correspondence, and correspondence from East Africa India National Congress. Oral interviews were also conducted to verify some information while the secondary sources were used to supplement thesources. This work is unique first due to its extensive use of archival sources, as most of these archival sources have not been used by other scholars in the field. Secondly, it deals with all parts of the sugar production process; it shows the connection to the current sugar situation in Kenya and also provides a framework in which to understand the persistent insufficiency in Kenya’s sugar industry. This workprovides an important contribution to Kenyan economic history.


Kenya

Kenya

Author: Charles Hornsby

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 976

ISBN-13: 0755627970

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Since independence from Great Britain in 1963, Kenya has survived five decades as a functioning nation-state, holding regular elections; its borders and political system intact and avoiding open war with its neighbours and military rule internally. It has been a favoured site for Western aid, trade, investment and tourism and has remained a close security partner for Western governments. However, Kenya's successive governments have failed to achieve adequate living conditions for most of its citizens; violence, corruption and tribalism have been ever-present, and its politics have failed to transcend its history. The decisions of the early years of independence and the acts of its leaders in the decades since have changed the country's path in unpredictable ways, but key themes of conflicts remain: over land, money, power, economic policy, national autonomy and the distribution of resources between classes and communities.While the country's political institutions have remained stable, the nation has changed, its population increasing nearly five-fold in five decades. But the economic and political elite's struggle for state resources and the exploitation of ethnicity for political purposes still threaten the country's existence. Today, Kenyans are arguing over many of the issues that divided them 50 years ago. The new constitution promulgated in 2010 provides an opportunity for national renewal, but it must confront a heavy legacy of history. This book reveals that history.


The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800–1920

The Giriama and Colonial Resistance in Kenya, 1800–1920

Author: Cynthia Brantley

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2024-07-26

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0520377834

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The Giriama of Kenya's coastal hinterland persistently resisted colonialism, and they were unreceptive both to Christianity and to Islam. In 1912 the British colonial authorities earmarked the Giriama as a key source of labor for the plantations Europeans were trying to develop along the coast. The Giriama, prosperous producers and traders, could not become wage laborers and maintain their successful economy, and the British demands upon this scattered people therefore were spontaneously rejected. Increased pressure increased Giriama recalcitrance. Finally, military action brought defeat to the Giriama, whose only weapons were bows and arrows and whose decentralization prevented coordinated resistance. They lost their best lands, paid a heavy fine, and had to contribute a thousand laborers to the Carrier Corps. But the British costs were also heavy. The coastal plantations failed, few Giriama ever became wage laborers, and the entire area became depressed economically. Cynthia Brantley explores the precolonial Giriama's political and economic system and their dynamic trade relationship with the coast of Kenya in an effort to explain why the Giriama were so determined in their resistance to British pressure. She shows that even when the political and social structures of a people seem weak, it is unlikely that the population will submit to changes that undermine the economy. Moreover, their very lack of a centralized political or religious organization made the imposition of foreign administration extremely difficult. The British won the war, but their victory was hollow. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1981.


Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya

Communal Labor in Colonial Kenya

Author: O. Okia

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-07-25

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0230392962

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This book advances research into the government-forced labor used widely in colonial Kenya from 1930 to 1963 after the passage of the International Labor Organization’s Forced Labour Convention. While the 1930 Convention intended to mark the suppression of forced labor practices, various exemptions meant that many coercive labor practices continued in colonial territories. Focusing on East Africa and the Kenya Colony, this book shows how the colonial administration was able to exploit the exemption clause for communal labor, thus ensuring the mobilization of African labor for infrastructure development. As an exemption, communal labor was not defined as forced labor but instead justified as a continuation of traditional African and community labor practices. Despite this ideological justification, the book shows that communal labour was indeed an intensification of coercive labor practices and one that penalized Africans for non-compliance with fines or imprisonment. The use of forced labor before and after the passage of the Convention is examined, with a focus on its use during World War II as well as in efforts to combat soil erosion in the rural African reserve areas in Kenya. The exploitation of female labor, the Mau Mau war of the 1950s, civilian protests, and the regeneration of communal labor as harambee after independence are also discussed.


Quest for Equality

Quest for Equality

Author: Robert G. Gregory

Publisher: Orient Blackswan

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780863112089

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A Study Of The Role Of Immigrants From The Indian Subcontinent In The Development Of Political Consciousness In Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda And Zanzibar. The Author Believes That With Their Great Economic Strength, Industriousness And Ability To Articulate, The Asians Played A Pivotal Role In The Transition Of These Countries From Colonies To Independent States. This Is Apparently The First Book Which Comprehensively Covers The Role Of Asians In East African History Until Independence Came To These Territories.


Colonial Kenya Observed

Colonial Kenya Observed

Author: S. H. Fazan

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2014-11-14

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0857737848

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The coast of East Africa was considered a strategically invaluable region for the establishment of trading ports, both for Arab and Persian merchants, long prior to invasion and conquest by Europeans. In the initial stages of the scramble for Africa in the 18th century, control of the area was an aspiration for every colonial nation in Europe - but it was not until 1895 that it was finally dominated by a sole power and proclaimed The Protectorate of British East Africa. In the early 20th century, the coast was brimming with vitality as immigrants, colonisers and missionaries from Arabia, India and Europe poured in to take advantage of growing commercial opportunities - including the prospect of enslaving millions of native Africans. The development of Kenya is an exceptional tale within the history of British rule - in perhaps no other colony did nationalistic feeling evolve in conditions of such extensive social and political change. In 1911, S.H. Fazan sailed to what later became the Republic of Kenya to work for the colonial government. Immersing himself in knowledge of traditional language and law, he recorded the vast changes to local culture that he encountered after decades of working with both the British administration and the Kenyan people. This work charts the sweeping tide of social change that occurred through his career with the clarity and insight that comes with a total intimacy of a country. His memoirs examine the fascinating complexity of interaction between the colonial and native courts, commercial land reform and the revolutionised dynamic of labour relations. By further unearthing the political tensions that climaxed with the Mau Mau Revolt of 1952-1960, this invaluable work on the European colonial period paints a comprehensive and revealing firsthand account for anyone with an interest in British and African history. Fazan's story provides a quite unparalleled view of colonial Africa and the conduct of Empire across half a century.


African Labor History

African Labor History

Author: Peter C. W. Gutkind

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-04-01

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1040021220

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Originally published in 1978, this book was distinctive in translating the work of French labour specialists and includes chapters on Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Kenya, Tanganyika, Madagascar and Botswana. Although all the papers are set in historically specific events, some of the larger issues receive further treatment. These concern the reality of the existence of an African working class and its class identity and consciousness. Each contributor adds to the debate by means of demonstrating how African workers have responded to their work situation, to deprivation and exploitation, and to the political authority of the colonial or neocolonial state