The state, farmers and dairy farming in colonial Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), c.1890-1951

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis uses dairy farming in colonial Zimbabwe/Southern Rhodesia as a lens to explore theintersection of economic, social and environmental factors in colonial agriculture from the 1890suntil 1951, when a new regulatory framework was introduced for the industry. It examines thecomplex and fluid interactions between the colonial state and farmers (both white and black),and the manner in which these interactions shaped and reshaped policy within the context of thelocal political economy and the changing global economic conditions. It examines the competinginterests of the colonial state and farmers, and how these tensions played out in the formulationand implementation of dairy development policy over time. This thesis demonstrates that thesecontestations profoundly affected the trajectory of an industry that started as a mere side-line tothe beef industry until it had become a central industry in Southern Rhodesia's agriculturaleconomy by the late 1940s. Thus, besides filling a historiographical gap in existing studies ofSouthern Rhodesia's agricultural economy, the thesis engages in broader historiographicalconversations about settler colonial agricultural policy and the role of the state and farmers incommercial agriculture. Given the fractured nature of colonial administration in SouthernRhodesia, this study also discusses conflicts among government officials. It demonstrates howthese differences affected policy formulation and implementation, especially regarding Africancommercial dairy production. This thesis also explores the impact of a segregationist agriculturalpolicy, particularly focusing on prejudices about the 'African body and hygiene. It shows howthis shaped the character of both African and white production trends. It demonstrates thatAfricans were unevenly affected by settler policy, as some indigenous people continued tocompete with white farmers at a time when existing regulations were intended to exclude themfrom the colonial dairy industry. It argues that although dairy farming had grown to be a strongwhite-dominated industry by 1951, the history of dairy farming during the period under reviewwas characterised by contestations between the state and both white and African farmers.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University