An economic history of the Kenya coast: the Mijikenda coconut palm economy, ca. 1800-1980

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Dissertation / thesis

Title:	An economic history of the Kenya coast: the Mijikenda coconut palm economy, ca. 1800-1980
Author:	Herlehy, Thomas James
Year:	1987
Pages:	372
Language:	English
City of publisher:	Ann Arbor, MI
Publisher:	University Microfilms International
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	Nyika economic history coconuts dissertations (form)
Abstract:	During the 19th century the Mijikenda planted coconut trees in order to secure access to palm wine ('uchi') and other coconut palm products. The ARavai emerged as the most prominent Mijikenda coconut tree farmers and tappers by 1800. As a result, ARavai society and their economy underwent a fundamental change: ritual use of palm wine increased and the ARavai sold so much wine that they became a wine-exporting and food-importing people, a phenomenon unique in precolonial East African history. Rabai became the center of Kenya's coastal trade in palm wine, a position it maintained throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. App.: Questionnaire and a sample interview - Population statistics - Currencies of the Kenya coast - Biographical notes on 19th-century 'uchi' traders - Mission chronology - Biographical notes on Mijikenda Christians - Colonial era chronology - Ordinances regarding palm wine and 'piwa' (gin) (1897-1954) - Palm wine tapper's license (1930-1971) - Cashew nut and cotton cultivation at Kenya's coast.