Forced Labour and Rural Resistance in the Tobacco Farms in Nampula Province: a History of Rural Change in Mozambique, 1961-1975
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FORCED LABOUR AND RURAL RESISTANCE IN THE TOBACCO FARMS IN NAMPULA PROVINCE: A HISTORY OF RURAL CHANGE IN MOZAMBIQUE, 1961-1975 Ernesto Augusto Navohola Submitted for the degree of Master of Arts History Department University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2010 Supervisor: Professor Peter Delius DECLARATION I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other university. __________________________ Ernesto Augusto Navohola i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks to my supervisor Professor Peter Delius who assisted me from the beginning until this final stage. His intellectual insight has contributed greatly towards the development of my critical thinking and his contribution towards my MA is highly appreciated. I devote special thanks to Professor Philip Bonner, former head of Department of History for his support towards the completion of this thesis. I am also grateful to Associate Professor Arlindo Chilundo and Auxiliar Professor Joel das Neves-Tembe for their insightful comments. The success of any academic work is also related to a good rapport between the researcher and the respondents, so I thank all the respondents for they contribution time during my fieldwork. My deep thanks to Núcleo de Estudo de Terra (at Eduardo Mondlane University) for having granted me a scholarship and an opportunity to study at one of the most respected academic institutions in the world. I dedicate this thesis to Emília and Júnior, my mom and son respectively. ii ABSTRACT This study focuses on forced labour and rural resistance in the tobacco producing farms in Nampula Province during the period 1961-1975. Key changes in the period include the introduction of new incentives to produce raw materials for the economy of the metropolis (Portugal); the abolition of the Regulation of Native Labour established in the 19th century; the institution of a new law of rural work to guarantee the co-operation of the African labour force; the construction of settlements and a new salary scale to guarantee the wages of the workers. The adoption of new methods of recruitment of workers and the introduction of forced marriages and unpaid child labour by the Roman Catholic Mission of Nampula are also important factors. The study outlines tobacco production in Nampula, from its beginning until the year of 1960. This theme is explored in the wider context of the colonial experience in Northern Mozambique. The thesis suggests that the production of tobacco was done in a discriminatory manner. White settlers took the forefront of tobacco production and peasants were not allowed to grow tobacco. Although the change of 1960s allowed for a few blacks producers the majority of the Makua population continued working as forced labourers on settlers’ farms. This study explores the impact of the system on men, women, youths and children in rural Makua, and their relationship with the colonisers. It also demonstrates the way the colonizers sought to organize work and how Africans practised forms of resistance as part of their response to colonial exploitation. iii CONTENTS DECLARATION...........................................................................................................i AKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................ii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................iii CONTENTS..................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION, LITERATURE REVIEW, METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES.........................................................................1 1.1 General introduction.................................................................................................1 1.2 Literature review………………………………………………………….……….2 1.3 Methodology and sources………………………………………………………….9 1.3.1 The rationale for the selection of the study area………………..…..………….13 1.4 Chapter outline.......................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 2: ASPECTS OF THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE IN NORTHERN MOZAMBIQUE [THE PRE-1961 PERIOD]..................................16 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................16 2.2 Administrative nomenclature.................................................................................16 2.3 Population...............................................................................................................16 2.4 Forms of colonial administration...........................................................................18 2.5 The economy..........................................................................................................21 2.5.1 Tobacco: from origins to the colonial tobacco regime........................................26 2.5.2 The imposition of the colonial tobacco regime in Northern Mozambique in the 1940s.............................................................................38 2.6 Crisis of labour supply and the response of the state [1940s-1960].......................45 2.7 The effects of colonial tobacco regime on the tobacco production........................49 2.8 Conclusion..............................................................................................................50 CHAPTER 3: THE ERA OF TRANSFORMATION [1961-1975]........................53 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................53 3.2 New agricultural incentives....................................................................................54 3.3 New investment......................................................................................................59 3.4 The expropriation of African land..........................................................................62 3.5 New Rural Labour Code [1961-1962]....................................................................68 3.6 The presence of more settlers in the colonato of Ribáuè in Northern Mozambique [mid-1960]..............................................................70 3.7 The effects of change on the profitability of tobacco production..........................75 3.8 Tobacco trading in Northern Mozambique [1963-1975]………………………...78 3.9 Conclusion..............................................................................................................87 CHAPTER 4: POST 1962 – THE EXTENSION OF FORCED LABOUR..........89 4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................89 4.2 Labour supply.........................................................................................................89 4.3 Conditions of work.................................................................................................93 4.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................110 iv CHAPTER 5: RURAL FORMS OF RESISTANCE [1962-1975].......................112 5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................112 5.2 Absenteeism.........................................................................................................112 5.3 Escape...................................................................................................................116 5.4 Conclusion............................................................................................................123 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION................................................................................124 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................128 7.1 Archives...............................................................................................................128 7.1.1 Admnistrative Archives of Ribáuè (Nampula Province)..................................128 7.1.2 Administrative Archive of Malema (Nampula Province).................................128 7.1.3 Historical Archive of Mozambique (Maputo Province)....................................128 7.1.3.1 Fund of the General Government...................................................................128 7.1.3.2 Fund of the Special Section............................................................................129 7.1.3.3 Fund ISANI (Inspecção dos Serviços Administrativos e dos Negócios Indígenas) and FNI (Fundo dos Negócios Indígenas).....................130 7.2 Official documents...............................................................................................130 7.3 Unpublished dissertations, papers and reports.....................................................133 7.4 Newspapers, books, chapters, and articles...........................................................134 7.4.1 Newspapers.......................................................................................................134 7.4.2 Books.................................................................................................................135