K.R.S. Morris and Tsetse Eradication in the Gold Coast, 1928-51

Grischow, Jeff D.

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Title:	K.R.S. Morris and Tsetse Eradication in the Gold Coast, 1928-51
Author:	Grischow, Jeff D.
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:	76
Issue:	3
Pages:	381-401
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ghana
Subjects:	trypanosomiasis preventive medicine colonial history colonialism History and Exploration Health and Nutrition Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Development and Technology
About person:	K.R.S Morris
External links:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/40022742 http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_the_journal_of_the_international_african_institute/v076/76.3grischow.pdf
Abstract:	This article investigates the anti-tsetse fly work of colonial entomologist K.R.S. Morris in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast between 1928 and 1951. Morris's main programme was directed at the Lawra District of the northwest, where he claimed to have eliminated the tsetse population and trypanosomiasis by the end of his tenure. This achievement allowed farmers to move into the formerly infested land and reclaim the area for agricultural development. As an added benefit, Morris also claimed, eliminating tsetse flies in the Lawra District reduced the incidence of sleeping sickness in the main market towns of northwest Ashanti. The article charts Morris's work, which is historically significant for a number of reasons. First, it reveals much about the connection between anti-tsetse work and colonial development doctrine in northern Ghana. Second, it highlights the importance of studying colonial practices. Morris's clearing programme appears to have worked, but it was almost certainly based on faulty theories of tsetse ecology. In this sense, the story of anti-tsetse work in the Northern Territories shows that we might learn as much from colonial practices as from colonial ideologies. Bibliogr., notes, ref. sum. in English and in French. [Journal abstract]