Plantations in the Economy of the Sokoto Caliphate

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Periodical article

Title:	Plantations in the Economy of the Sokoto Caliphate
Author:	Lovejoy, Paul E.
Year:	1978
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	19
Issue:	3
Pages:	341-368
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Northern Nigeria Nigeria
Subjects:	Sokoto polity plantations history 1800-1899 Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment History and Exploration colonialism Economics and Trade
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/181948
Abstract:	At a time when coastal West Africa was responding to the growth of 'legitimate' trade, the Sokoto Caliphate was experiencing dramatic expansion in the plantation section. Plantations (gandu, rinji, tungazi), wich used slaves captured by the Chalipate armies, were established near all the major towns and were particularly important around Sokoto, Kano, Zaria and other capitals. Plantation development originated with the policies of Muhammad Bello, first Caliph. His policy also encouraged the expansion of the textile belt in southern Kano and northern Zaria. The result was the greater integration of the Central Sudan region into a single economic zone. The role of plantations in the economy, however, differed from that of plantations elsewhere in the world. Market forces tended to be weaker, and no single export crop dominated production. Maps, notes, tab.