Subsistence and Agrarian Conflict: The Coast of Kenya after slavery

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Book chapter

Title:	Subsistence and Agrarian Conflict: The Coast of Kenya after slavery
Author:	Cooper, F.
Book title:	Imperialism, Colonialism, and Hunger: East and Central Africa
Year:	1983
Pages:	19-37
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Kenya United Kingdom
Discipline:	History - General
Subjects:	colonialism cash crops subsistence farming slavery Land - tenure
Abstract:	Coastal agriculture was at its peak on the eve of colonial rule. But in the early colonial era Mombasa was transformed into the outlet of produce from upcountry, while immediate hinterland dwindled as a source of export commodities. The state had tried to persuade coastal people to grow cotton, and they had resisted this crop. On the privately owned land of the coastal plantation zone, few fruit-bearing trees were being planted, but on the less desirable land just inland - and without the seeming security and incentives of legally enforceable land titles - the Mijikenda people were extending the coconut belt. During the Great Depression and more decisively in the postwar boom, cotton and the cashew nut came into production. With cotton and cashews came the social confrontation that both landlords and tenants had, to a large extent, sought to dampen. This chapter explores the relationship between crops and conflict. Notes.