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Tanganyika groundnut scheme
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{{Short description|Failed development plan in Tanganyika}} {{More citations needed|date=June 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} [[File:Tanganyika F13.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Tanganyika Territory]], 1936]] The '''Tanganyika groundnut scheme''', or '''East Africa groundnut scheme''', was a failed attempt by the British government to cultivate tracts of its African trust territory [[Tanganyika Territory|Tanganyika]] (now part of [[Tanzania]]) with [[peanut]]s. Launched in the aftermath of [[World War II]] in 1946 by the Labour Party administration of prime minister [[Clement Attlee]],<ref name="Gunther">{{cite book | last = Gunther | first = John | title = Inside Africa | publisher = Harper & Brothers | year = 1955 | pages = 408 | isbn = 0836981979}}</ref> the goal was to produce urgently needed oilseeds on a projected 3 million acres (5,000 sq miles, or over 12,000 km<sup>2</sup>, an area almost as big as [[Yorkshire]]), in order to increase [[margarine]] supplies in Britain and increase the profits from the [[British Empire]]. The scheme's proponents, including Minister of Food [[John Strachey (politician)|John Strachey]], had overlooked warnings that the environment and rainfall were unsuitable, communications were inadequate, and the project was being pursued with excessive haste. The disastrous project management, initially by the [[United Africa Company]], and subsequently by the government-run [[Overseas Food Corporation]], led the scheme to be popularly seen as a symbol of government incompetence and failure in late colonial Africa.<ref>Alan Wood, ''The Groundnut Affair'' (1950).</ref><ref>Matteo Rizzo, "What was left of the groundnut scheme? Development disaster and labour market in Southern Tanganyika 1946–1952." ''Journal of Agrarian Change'' 6.2 (2006): 205-238.</ref> Despite the enormous effort and spending £36 million (equivalent to over £1 billion in 2020), the project failed abjectly and was finally abandoned in 1951.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westcott|first=Nicholas|title=Imperialism and Development: the East African Groundnut Scheme and its legacy|publisher=James Currey|year=2020|isbn=978-1-84701-259-3|location=Woodbridge}}</ref> It was described in 1953 as "the worst fiasco in recent British colonial history."<ref name="Gunther"></ref> ==Background== In the period after the Second World War, Britain was in significant [[debt]] to the United States, facing what [[John Maynard Keynes]] termed a "financial [[Dunkirk evacuation|Dunkirk]]",<ref name="Toye 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Toye |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Toye |title=Churchill and Britain's 'Financial Dunkirk' |journal=[[Twentieth Century British History]] |date=2004 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=329–360 |doi=10.1093/tcbh/15.4.329 |url=https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10036/17792/Churchill%20%20US%20loan.pdf |access-date=26 May 2019|hdl=10036/17792 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and the [[Attlee ministry|Attlee government]] sought the [[international development|development]] of imperial territories to minimise their financial reliance upon the United States. Increasing the cultivation of food supplies in colonial territories, both for local consumption and export, was a central component of this strategy.<ref name="Hyam 2007">{{cite book |last1=Hyam |first1=Ronald |title=Britain's Declining Empire: The Road to Decolonisation, 1918–1968 |date=2007 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780511802898 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511802898 |pages=131–6}}</ref> The government subscribed to a [[Fabian Society|Fabian]] view of colonial intervention which encouraged a proactive state role in producing primary materials and extending social benefits to colonial populations.<ref name="Esselborn 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Esselborn |first1=Stefan |title=Environment, Memory, and the Groundnut Scheme: Britain's Largest Colonial Agricultural Development Project and Its Global Legacy |journal=Global Environment |date=2013 |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=58–93 |doi=10.3197/ge.2013.061104 |url=http://www.whpress.co.uk/GE/Articles/Esselborn.pdf |jstor=43201729 |bibcode=2013GlEnv...6...58E |access-date=26 May 2019 |archive-date=26 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826062659/http://whpress.co.uk/GE/Articles/Esselborn.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Tanganyika initiative represents part of a "[[Second Colonial Occupation|second colonial occupation]]" within the [[British Empire in World War II|British Empire]], characterised by economic control and technological expertise.<ref name="Darwin 2009">{{cite book |last1=Darwin |first1=John |author-link1=John Darwin (historian) |title=The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830–1970 |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511635526 |page=559|isbn=9780511635526 }}</ref> In 1946, [[Frank Samuel]], head of the [[United Africa Company]], came up with an idea to cultivate groundnuts in Tanganyika, a British colonial territory under [[United Nations Trust Territories|UN trusteeship]], for the production of [[vegetable oil]].<ref name="Gann Duigan 1975">{{cite book |editor1-last=Gann |editor1-first=L. H. |editor2-last=Duigan |editor2-first=Peter |editor3-last=Turner |editor1-link=Lewis H. Gann |title=Colonialism in Africa 1870–1960: Volume 4: The Economics of Colonialism |date=1975 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-08641-8 |page=117 |url={{GBurl|-e88AAAAIAAJ}} |access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> Britain remained under [[Rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II|World War II rationing]] and was short of cooking oils and fats, and especially margarine. He presented the idea to John Strachey, the [[Minister of Food]], and in April 1946, the British government authorised a mission to visit suitable sites, led by [[John Wakefield (civil servant)|John Wakefield]], former Director of Agriculture in Tanganyika.<ref name="Anyonge 1964">{{cite thesis |last=Anyonge |first=Nathan Jumba |date=1966 |title=British Groundnut Scheme in East Africa: Labour Government's Dilemma |type=MA |publisher=[[Kansas State University]] |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33368912.pdf |access-date=26 May 2019}} {{free access}}</ref> After a three-month mission, the team's report in September 1946 was optimistically favourable to the scheme and recommended the cultivation of 3.21 million acres for groundnuts by 1952. The Cabinet approved the recommendations in January 1947, and began transporting personnel and machinery to Tanganyika.<ref name="Esselborn 2013" /> Officials began to recruit men for the "Groundnut Army" and 100,000 former soldiers volunteered for the 1,200 jobs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westcott|title=Imperialism and Development|pages=81}}</ref> ==Cultivation== The advance party set up camp at [[Kongwa]], not far from [[Dodoma]] (now the capital of Tanzania), and scouted out the area. They deemed it suitable for groundnuts despite the large amount of clay and the local shortage of water, and established the scheme's headquarters there. Gradually a whole town was established, known locally as 'Half London', as half the population of London seemed to wash up there over time.{{fact|date=November 2022}} Obtaining the heavy equipment necessary to clear the land for cultivation, however proved difficult. Eventually, the project managers found some suitable [[tractor]]s and [[bulldozer]]s from Canada and bought up U.S. [[Army surplus]] tractors from the Philippines, though many proved to be too rusted to use. These then had to be transported through the [[Port of Dar es Salaam]], which became hopelessly congested, to the inland site using the only available transport, a single-track railway with steam locomotives. A sudden flood of the [[Kinyansungwe River]] wiped out part of the rail tracks, leaving a dirt road as the only means of transport. This delayed the arrival of the bulldozers needed for clearing until April 1947.{{fact|date=November 2022}} Even then, the bush proved far harder to clear than the planners had expected. Besides the natural hazards of local wildlife (on several occasions workers had to face angry [[elephant]]s and [[rhinoceros]]), they found the large local [[baobab]] trees were hard to remove, a task made more difficult by one of them being a local tribal jail, another a site of [[ancestor worship]], and many had [[bee]]s' nests in their hollow trunks. Several workers were hospitalised with vicious bee stings. But the main casualties were the heavy machines. By the end of the summer of 1947, two-thirds of the imported tractors had been rendered unusable. Bulldozer blades that were used to extract ground roots were ruined in a couple of days. In the spirit of 'making do', the scheme bought up surplus [[Sherman tank]]s and got the [[Vickers]] engineering company to take the armour off and put a bulldozer blade on the front, creating what were known as "[[Post–World War II Sherman tanks#Civilian variants|shervicks]]"—but these too proved no match for the African bush. Eventually, in the wooded Southern Province, they discovered that a long chain linked between two bulldozers would flatten all the trees in between, while a third bulldozer was used to overturn any trees that resisted the chain. The first order for a suitable ship's anchor chain from London was, however, cancelled by the managers in London because they thought it was a joke.{{fact|date=November 2022}} In September 1947, the African workers joined a nationwide strike for three days; the expatriate staff were less than delighted to have to do their own cooking. A growing number of Africans were then employed as tractor drivers and, after early errors, became skilled at the job.{{fact|date=November 2022}} With great difficulty, the Groundnut Army was finally able to plant the first nuts. When the rainy season arrived, some of the workshops and stores were swept away by a flash flood. After that, the hot season baked the ground clay into a hard surface that made harvesting the nuts very difficult.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westcott|title=Imperialism and Development|pages=78–113}}</ref> ==Takeover and railway construction== [[File:Groundnut harvesting in Malawi.jpg|thumb|Groundnut cultivation in [[Malawi]]]] In February 1948, the United Africa Company handed over responsibility for the project to the newly formed [[Overseas Food Corporation]] (OFC). It sent a new manager, Major-General [[Desmond Harrison]], to the site. He found the scheme in a state of chaos, and immediately tried to instil some military discipline, which did not endear him to the workers, but subsequently retreated to his tent to concentrate on copious paperwork in a vain effort to contain the spiralling costs. Late in the year he was ordered back home on sick leave. In 1949, the Kongwa region was struck by a terrible drought, which decimated the crop. After two years, only 2,000 tons of groundnuts were harvested, less than had been imported as seed, and an attempt to grow [[sunflower]]s instead proved futile as they were even more susceptible to drought. The scheme's managers therefore began to focus attention on the more fertile regions in the west and south of Tanganyika, but the development of both was proving painfully slow. In the south, not only was a whole new railway line needed, but a deep-water port had to be constructed from scratch at [[Mtwara]]. The [[Southern Province Railway]] was constructed first in order to transport the crops, but never had any to transport and was later dismantled. The original target of 3 million acres was reduced to 150,000 acres (607 km<sup>2</sup>) and then to 50,000 acres (202 km<sup>2</sup>). In the end only 47,000 were ever cleared. By late 1949, the scheme was coming in for robust criticism in Parliament and the press. The author [[Alan Wood (author)|Alan Wood]], who had headed the Information Unit of the Overseas Food Corporation, resigned to publish a book about the failures of the scheme, ''The Groundnut Affair'' (1950).<ref>[[Bertrand Russell]], "Mr. Alan Wood" (obituary), ''[[The Times]]'', 5 November 1957, p. 13; republished in Andrew Bone, ed., ''The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell: Volume 29 Détente or Destruction, 1955-57'' (Routledge, 2005)</ref> In March 1950, in the House of Commons [[John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter|John Boyd-Carpenter]] asked the Minister of Food, [[Maurice Webb (politician)|Maurice Webb]], to make a statement about attempts by [[Leslie Plummer|Leslie Plummer MP]], head of the Overseas Food Corporation, to stop the publication of the book.<ref>[https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1950-03-20/debates/10819b9c-645b-4be8-bf51-ba7088f54164/BookTheGroundnutAffair Book "The Groundnut Affair"], Hansard Volume 472, debate on Monday 20 March 1950</ref> The government persevered, but suffered for it at the [[1950 United Kingdom general election|election in February 1950]] and even more when it lost the [[1951 United Kingdom general election]]. Just before that, in January 1951, it had finally cancelled the project, the Treasury writing off a total of £36.5 million — equivalent in 2020 to over £1 billion. Mechanised production was stopped, and the cleared land handed over to African farmers, who did a better job growing tobacco and cashew nuts and herding cattle.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Westcott|title=Imperialism and Development|pages=114–188}}</ref><ref name="Panton">{{cite book |last1=Panton |first1=Kenneth J. |title=Historical Dictionary of the British Empire |date=2015 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0-8108-7524-1 |pages=220–221 |url={{GBurl|WdFbCQAAQBAJ|p=220}} |access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref> ==Cultural references== The 1950 British [[Comedy films|comedy film]], ''[[The Happiest Days of Your Life (film)|The Happiest Days of Your Life]]'', concludes with [[Alastair Sim]] and [[Margaret Rutherford]] quietly discussing in which remote and unattractive corner of the British Empire they might best try to pick up the pieces of their respective careers, and with her mentioning having a brother who "grows groundnuts in Tanganyika." ==See also== * [[Bãi Bằng]] * [[Jari project]] * ''[[Jatropha curcas]]'' * [[Railway stations in Tanzania]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * Nicholas Westcott (2020), ''Imperialism and Development: the East African Groundnut Scheme and its legacy,'' Woodford, Sussex: James Currey, {{ISBN|978-1-84701-259-3}} * {{cite journal|last1=Kelemen|first1=Paul|title=Planning for Africa: The British Labour Party's Colonial Development Policy, 1920?1964|journal=Journal of Agrarian Change|volume=7|issue=1|year=2007|pages=76–98|issn=1471-0358|doi=10.1111/j.1471-0366.2007.00140.x|bibcode=2007JAgrC...7...76K |doi-access=free}} * {{cite journal|last1=Rizzo|first1=Matteo|title=What Was Left of the Groundnut Scheme? Development Disaster and Labour Market in Southern Tanganyika 1946-1952|journal=Journal of Agrarian Change|volume=6|issue=2|year=2006|pages=205–238|issn=1471-0358|doi=10.1111/j.1471-0366.2006.00120.x|bibcode=2006JAgrC...6..205R |doi-access=free}} * {{cite book | last = Wood | first = Alan | authorlink = Alan Wood (author) | title = The Groundnut Affair | publisher = Bodley Head | date = 1950 | location = London | isbn = <!-- Book predates the ISBN scheme --> | oclc = 1841364}} (A critical account of this project by an Australian/British journalist who worked on the scheme.) ==External links== * [http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/groundnt.htm The Tanganyikan Groundnuts Scheme] [[Category:Tanganyika (territory)]] [[Category:Agriculture in Tanzania]] [[Category:Economic history of Tanzania]] [[Category:Political scandals in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1940s in economic history]] [[Category:1940s in Africa]] [[Category:Peanuts]] [[Category:History of agriculture]] [[Category:Incompetence]] [[Category:1940s in Tanganyika]] [[Category:1946 in Tanganyika]] [[Category:1951 in Tanganyika]] [[Category:United Africa Company]]
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