African Enterprise in the Mangrove Trade: The Case of Lamu

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Periodical article

Title:	African Enterprise in the Mangrove Trade: The Case of Lamu
Author:	Curtin, Philip D.
Year:	1981
Periodical:	African Economic History
Volume:	10
Pages:	23-33
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	exports forest products Economics and Trade History and Exploration
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/3601293
Abstract:	The best conditions for the growth of the principal merchantable species of mangrove in east Africa are found in the Lamu archipelago on the north Kenya coast, and again in the delta of the Rufiji River in Tanzania. The Lamu archipelago in fact normally accounted for about 60% of Kenya's mangrove production. Aside from poles, mangrove has other uses - its bark is a source of tannin, it can be burnt for firewood or as a raw material for charcoal - which help to create a complex forestry problem. The present author describes the mangrove industry in Lamu and the production of and trade in mangrove poles, especially with the regions around the Persian Gulf. App., notes, tab.