Peasants, Settlers and Weavers in Africa

400 Pages·2007·1.685 MB·English

by  D.A. Amanor-Wilks

Peasants, Settlers and Weavers in Africa

Submitted for the PhD examination in economic history, 2006.

‘Structural and Institutional Change in a “Peasant” and a “Settler” Economy of
Africa: Ghana and Zimbabwe, 1890-2000’

Department of Economic History,
London School of Economics & Political Science.

Copyright © 2007 D.A. Amanor-Wilks

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of
review and debate, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means without permission.

Cover photos: Maize farmers in Zimbabwe © IFAD
Rhodesian settlers in the 1890s, courtesy of National Archives of Zimbabwe
Young Weaver in Bonwire, Asante © The author

Cover Design by Eibhlín Ní Chléirigh
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Abstract

The thesis compares long-run economic change in a ‘peasant’ and a ‘settler’
economy of Africa. It seeks determinants of the more successful transition from
primary to secondary industry in the ‘settler’ economy, Zimbabwe, relative to the
‘peasant’ economy, Ghana. These countries provide a natural ‘laboratory’ for
viewing divergent growth trends in two former British colonies. The thesis argues
that to explain why both countries did not develop more over the course of the
twentieth century, we need to understand the relationship between endogenous and
exogenous variables. The study draws a link between the distinct patterns of land
ownership in the peasant and settler economies and the pattern of small-scale
manufacturing. Where land remained in African hands, important indigenous
institutions survived the impact of colonialism, including those designed to ensure
the propagation of long-standing weaving traditions. Where land was alienated to
European settlers, indigenous institutions were constrained. Yet no such distinction
exists when it comes to factory production for bulk markets. In both countries
industrialisation is predicated on conscious state intervention. In both countries,
exposure to competition under economic liberalisation sees a collapse of large-scale
firms. The thesis goes inside the textile sector in each country to look at the
determinants of this pattern of economic growth and decline. It works through a
number of variables that might explain African underdevelopment. The thesis
considers geography, climate and population, culture and institutions, the role of the
state in economic development and the role of individual entrepreneurs and
statesmen. It argues that while each of these factors may enhance our understanding
of African underdevelopment, the interplay of variables is so complex and the
obstacles to competitive manufacturing so daunting that only enlightened
intervention by a developmental state can bring about industrialisation in Africa.

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To my mother, Grace Amanor-Wilks, who educated me
and my father, Ivor Wilks, who helped me to discover the historian inside me.

And for my daughters, Qondisile and Zandile Moyo, who made me keep my duty as
an obedient parent, even though I’ve had a lot of work to do.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................10

CHAPTER ONE……………………………………………………………………………………....13
1 Introduction............................................................................................................................13
1.1 Preamble...........................................................................................................................13
1.2 Why Isn’t Africa Developed?...........................................................................................16
1.2.1 The development of African capitalism...................................................................17
1.2.2 Nurturing capitalism in Africa.................................................................................18
1.2.3 The state and industrialisation.................................................................................19
1.3 Methodology.....................................................................................................................24
1.3.1 The ‘peasant-settler’ dichotomy in Africa...............................................................24
1.3.2 Approach to research questions...............................................................................27
1.3.3 Two paths to African development? The case studies............................................29
1.3.4 Definitions...............................................................................................................30
1.4 Primary Sources................................................................................................................31
1.5 Secondary Sources............................................................................................................33
1.6 Outline of the Thesis.........................................................................................................36

CHAPTER TWO……………………………………………………………………………………....38
2 Economic Thought that governed the 20th Century and Controversies about African
Underdevelopment...............................................................................................................................38
2.1 Capitalist Development: Markets or States?.....................................................................38
2.1.1 Adam Smith to Karl Marx.......................................................................................40
2.1.2 From interventionism to modernisation theory........................................................44
2.1.3 The Washington Consensus.....................................................................................49
2.1.4 Which model of industrial development?................................................................53
2.2 Is Peasant Farming Efficient?...........................................................................................56
2.3 Causes of Underdevelopment - Exogenous or Endogenous?............................................57
2.3.1 The impact of dependency theory............................................................................57
2.3.2 Geography and climate............................................................................................60
2.3.3 Culture and corruption.............................................................................................63
2.3.4 Population................................................................................................................66
2.4 Synthesising the Two Views of African Underdevelopment............................................70
2.4.1 A synthesis view......................................................................................................70
2.4.2 Theoretical tools for achieving a synthesis view.....................................................72
2.5 Conclusion........................................................................................................................76

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CHAPTER THREE…………………………………………………………………………………....78
3 The Land Question in Historical Perspective.........................................................................78
3.1 The Limits of the ‘White Man’s Grave’ Thesis................................................................82
3.2 Land, Labour and Capital..................................................................................................84
3.3 Asante and Matebeleland at the Turn of the Century........................................................92
3.4 The Role of the Chartered Company.................................................................................95
3.5 Land Alienation and Tenure: The West African Lands Committee and the Morris Carter
Commission.........................................................................................................................101
3.6 Land and Race Ideology..................................................................................................106
3.7 Conclusion......................................................................................................................111

CHAPTER FOUR...............................................................................................................................112
4 A Question of Property Rights.............................................................................................112
4.1 The Case for Private vs Communal Tenure....................................................................114
4.2 Conflict and the Problem of ‘Tradition’..........................................................................119
4.3 Property Rights and the Rule of Law..............................................................................123
4.4 Is Peasant Farming ‘Efficient’?.......................................................................................133

CHAPTER FIVE……………………………………………………………………………………..135
5 Peasants, Culture and Economic Development...................................................................135
5.1 The Problem of ‘Embeddedness’....................................................................................135
5.2 Moral Economy or Rational Peasant?.............................................................................142
5.3 Capital Accumulation and the ‘Moral Economy’ of Peasants in Zimbabwe..................146
5.4 Peasant Rationality and the Ghanaian Cocoa Farmer.....................................................154
5.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................162

CHAPTER SIX..................................................................................................................................164
6 Behind the Metrics of Supply Response, Culture or Institutions?.......................................164
6.1 Mosley and the Problem of Measurement.......................................................................166
6.2 Methodology...................................................................................................................169
6.3 Metrics of Supply Response: Cocoa and Maize..............................................................171
6.4 Ploughs and Trees...........................................................................................................176
6.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................184

CHAPTER SEVEN…………………………………………………………………………………..187
7 Ideology, Conflict and Change in the Marketing of Cocoa and Maize................................187
7.1 Blaming the Marketing Boards.......................................................................................188
7.2 History of the Marketing Boards.....................................................................................191
7.3 The Beginnings of Commercial Production....................................................................193
7.4 The Depression Years and Beyond.................................................................................195
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7.4.1 Depression and competition in the settler economy..............................................195
7.4.2 Cocoa hold-ups in the peasant economy................................................................203
7.4.3 Peasants and institutional change..........................................................................206
7.5 Ideology and Conflict......................................................................................................208
7.5.1 The cause of a ‘White Rhodesia’...........................................................................208
7.5.2 The Ideology of independence in the peasant economy........................................211
7.6 Social Conflict, Change and Stabilisation.......................................................................221
7.6.1 Social differentiation in Southern Rhodesia..........................................................221
7.6.2 Revolution and stabilisation in Ghana...................................................................226
7.7 Conclusion......................................................................................................................229

CHAPTER EIGHT.............................................................................................................................231
8 Two Paths to African Industrialisation................................................................................231
8.1 The Early History of Large-Scale Manufacturing...........................................................234
8.2 Self-Government.............................................................................................................238
8.3 The Move towards Protectionism...................................................................................241
8.4 The Independence Effect.................................................................................................243
8.4.1 UDI and the impact of sanctions in Rhodesia, 1965-1979....................................243
8.4.2 Ghana: the ‘overdeveloped’ state?.........................................................................247
8.4.3 Applying modernisation theory to Nkrumah’s big push........................................251
8.4.4 Ideology as a motivator for industrialisation.........................................................257
8.4.5 Zimbabwean indigenisation and redistribution......................................................262
8.5 Conclusion......................................................................................................................264

CHAPTER NINE…………………………………………………………………………………….266
9 Industrialisation with ‘Borrowed’ Technology: A Tale of Two Firms................................266
9.1 The Structural Adjustment Context.................................................................................267
9.2 History of the Two Firms................................................................................................273
9.3 Big Plant, More Labour...................................................................................................279
9.4 The Protectionist Route...................................................................................................283
9.5 Effects of Competition....................................................................................................285
9.6 Labour Unrest.................................................................................................................288
9.7 Towards the ‘Developmental’ State................................................................................290
9.7.1 The problem of linkages........................................................................................293
9.7.2 Lessons from East Asia.........................................................................................294
9.8 How Small is Beautiful?.................................................................................................298

CHAPTER TEN.................................................................................................................................302
10 The Kente Weavers of Asante: A Non-Settler Model of Industrial Development...............302
10.1 The Survey......................................................................................................................305
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10.1.1 Gender, age and education.....................................................................................307
10.2 Apprenticeships, Skills Transfer and Technological Diffusion.......................................310
10.2.1 Asante weaving techniques...................................................................................310
10.2.2 Rules of apprenticeship.........................................................................................312
10.2.3 Diffusion of weaving skills....................................................................................314
10.2.4 The purpose of European guilds............................................................................318
10.3 The Economics of Kente Production..............................................................................320
10.3.1 Specialisation and the division of labour...............................................................321
10.3.2 Hours of work and productivity.............................................................................324
10.3.3 Capital investment, savings and entrepreneurship.................................................328
10.3.4 Value and pricing..................................................................................................342
10.4 From Niche Market to Bulk Market? Lessons from Afar..............................................347
10.4.1 The problem of broadlooms...................................................................................347
10.4.2 The lessons of Harris Tweed.................................................................................351
10.4.3 The problem of competition..................................................................................354
10.5 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................355

CHAPTER ELEVEN.........................................................................................................................361
11 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................361
11.1 Summary of Research.....................................................................................................362
11.2 Specific Findings and Overall Conclusions....................................................................365
11.3 The Un-Final Word.........................................................................................................373

Appendix 1: Hospital Returns (Gold Coast)......................................................................................377
Appendix 2: West African Lands Committee Evidence...................................................................379
Appendix 3: Statistical Tables............................................................................................................383
Appendix 4: Background to Southern Rhodesian Textile Agreement..............................................394
Appendix 5: Government’s Attitude to the Employment of Communists.........................................397
Appendix 6: List of Bonwire Weavers Survey Respondents.............................................................399
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Table of Figures

Figure 1: View of African underdevelopment in an exogenous model................................................59
Figure 2: Rhodesian settlers in Bulawayo test the potential of zebras during the 1890s......................62
Figure 3: View of African underdevelopment in an endogenous growth model..................................66
Figure 4: Synthesis view of African underdevelopment.....................................................................72
Figure 5: Cocoa and Maize Output, 1900-2000 (5-year averages)....................................................172
Figure 6: Maize output, Communal and Commercial, 1914-1997 (5 year averages).........................173
Figure 7: Zimbabwe Maize Output, Communal and Commercial, 1914-1997..................................173
Figure 8: Ploughs in Use and Crop Area, 1929-1941.........................................................................177
Figure 9: Ploughs and Crop Acreage, 1905-1951..............................................................................177
Figure 10: Ploughs and Prices, 1931-1951.........................................................................................179
Figure 11: Cocoa Exports and Values, 1900-1938.............................................................................180
Figure 12: Estimated Tree Stock and Real Prices, 1948-1973...........................................................180
Figure 13: Estimated Tree Stock and Real Producer Prices, 1948-1973............................................181
Figure 14: Cocoa Output and Real Prices, 1948-1982.......................................................................183
Figure 15: Peasant Maize Output and Prices, 1980-1996..................................................................183
Figure 16: African Maize Deliveries, 1955-1961...............................................................................201
Figure 17: Cocoa Output and Producer Prices, 1948-1982................................................................214

List of Tables

Table 1: Population of European Settlers in British Territories, 1936.................................................24
Table 2: Classes of Maize and Quality of Sacks, 1943......................................................................178
Table 3: Maize Producer Prices, 1967/68 Marketing Year................................................................178
Table 4: Value of European Crops and Livestock, £m.......................................................................223
Table 5: Gross Value of African Crops and Livestock, £m...............................................................224
Table 6: Changes in GTP Shareholding Structure, 1964-2002..........................................................275

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my supervisors: Gareth Austin, for embracing my thesis idea; and
Colin Lewis, for interrogating a number of my drafts and final drafts. John Sender
gave me valuable advice at a critical time during the evolution of this thesis. In
addition, I thank Jean Allman for her encouraging comments on the earliest
conceptualisation of this project.

I am grateful to all the staff at the LSE economic history department who contributed
to my intellectual development during MSc course work and in PhD workshops, in
particular Nick Crafts, Kent Deng, Larry (SR) Epstein, Philip Epstein, Peter Howlett,
Janet Hunter, Paul Johnson, Mary Morgan, Patrick O’Brien, Max Schulze and
Patrick Wallis.

I also thank John Walker for boosting my confidence in the area of quantitative
analysis and my colleagues Roger Feldman, Arshi Khan and Nat Ishino for their
support.

A special trait that archivists all seem to share is great courtesy together with a
willingness to go the last mile to unbury a hidden document. I thank the directors and
staff of all the national archives visited. In Ghana I thank Judith Botchway, William
Ashalley, Tony Akusah and Bright Botwe in Accra; and Emmanuel Amadu, Mahama
Zakari, Helen Alobah and Balchisu Rufai in Tamale. In Zimbabwe, I thank Malvern
Ndokera, William Tekede, Elisha Kore, Violet Matangira, Cathrine Moyo in Harare;
and Sihle Mabhena in Bulawayo. I thank the Directors of the National Archives in
Ghana and Zimbabwe, Cletus Azangweo and Ivan Murambiwa, respectively, for
their strong support.

In addition, I thank Helen Kimble for helping to make my trips to Oxford so
pleasurable.

I am deeply grateful to Ernest Aryeetey and Chris Gordon for commenting on my
weavers questionnaire in their capacities as Director of the Institute of Statistical,
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