Cash Cropping, Currency Acquisition and Seigniorage in West Africa, 1923-1950

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Periodical article

Title:	Cash Cropping, Currency Acquisition and Seigniorage in West Africa, 1923-1950
Authors:	Hogendorn, Jan S. Gemery, Henry A.
Year:	1982
Periodical:	African Economic History
Volume:	11
Pages:	15-27
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	English-speaking Africa West Africa United Kingdom
Subjects:	colonialism monetary policy cash crops Economics and Trade Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3601215
Abstract:	Colonial monetary systems that drew a close link between agricultural cash crop exports and money supply changes invite examination both as monetary regimes and as mechanisms of agrarian change. This paper defines the connection between cash crop agriculture and the West African money supply, concentrating on the experience of the British colonial territories, Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia: I. brief survey of the institutional and analytical link between agriculture and the sterling exchange system; II. empirical evidence demonstrating that agricultural cash crops (produced by and large by the small farmers of the colonial territories) were the prime contributors to the surpluses necessary for currency acquisition; III. the benefits and costs that the colonies experienced under the currency board regimes; IV. summary evaluation. Notes, tab.