The Development of Swazi Cotton Cultivation 1904-85
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF SWAZI COTTON CULTIVATION 1904-85. Thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in African History. Bonginkosi Azariah Bhutana Sikhondze School of Oriental and African Studies. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Marcji.^1989. ProQuest Number: 10672610 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672610 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 THESIS TOPIC THE DEVELOPMENT OF SWAZI COTTON CULTIVATION 1904-85. CONTENTS PREFACE ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1 THE ORIGINS OF COTTON CULTIVATION 1904-16 pp. 1 - 23 CHAPTER 2 THE FRUSTRATION OF SWAZI COTTON CULTIVATION 1916-31 pp. 24-56 CHAPTER 3 THE WORLD SLUMP AND SWAZI COTTON CULTIVATION 1931-39 pp. 57- 85 CHAPTER 4 COTTON BECOMING KING: THE ADVANCE OF COTTON PRODUCTION AND OF SWAZI COTTON PRODUCERS 1939-60 pp. 86-133. CHAPTER 5 INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN CATTLE and COTTON 1955-80 pp. 134-167. CHAPTER 6 COTTON CULTIVATING ENTREPRENEURS and SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION 1955-85. pp. 168-210. CHAPTER 7 THE ROLE OF COOPERATIVE UNIONS IN COTTON CULTIVATION 1954-85. pp. 211-237. CONCLUSION pp. 238-246. RESEARCH SOURCES pp. 247-269. ABSTRACT Settler farmers in Swaziland failed in their attempt to confine cotton production to their estates partly because of capital limitations. During the First World War some Swazi had fought hard to legitimise cotton production by them, and this became manifest in the 1920s and 1930s when early Swazi cotton growing entrepreneurs emerged, particularly notable being the role of Swazi pastors of religion. But since the cotton price was low, Swazi advances were limited until the late 1950s when some growers made relatively great strides in cotton cultivation especially in the south eastern area. External brokers provided credit for prosperous growers while neglecting other groups, and their produce remained insignificant. Other cultivators among the progressive farmers already owned cattle which were invested in cotton production. Swazi exploitation of credit provided by brokers, the Colonial State, and Swazi Administration in the late 1960s, facilitated social differentiation among cotton growers. Properous growers began to purchase title deed land by the late 1960s, and more in the mid-1970s. At that juncture cotton production expanded due to its high price which attracted more growers from less suited parts of the territory. With prosperity in cotton, traditional cattle were cross-bred to sell for more money to finance cotton. Rich entrepreneurs added other businesses to cotton growing. Cotton expansion led to the formation of a cooperative in south east Swaziland to facilitate trade. To link the area to the rest of the territory, due to multiplied economic activities there, the infrastructure was improved, and economic progress was promoted. Schools, clinics and shops were provided by the cotton growing community. PREFACE This study traces the development of Swazi cotton cultivation from 1904 to 1985. Having begun as a settler monopoly business, Swazi growers who had been shut out fought successfully for participation in the business and the battle was won in the 1950s, when cotton cultivation expanded remarkably in Swazi Areas. Cotton cultivation in Swaziland had been promoted mainly by companies which were based in South Africa. As a result, research had to be conducted both in South Africa and Swaziland Archives and libraries. To accomplish this project and to undertake fieldwork in Swaziland financial assistance was received from the International Development Research Centre in Nairobi. I am very grateful to the organisation because due to the heavy reliance of this study upon oral evidence, many visits were made to the area studied for frequent interviews. The Social Science Research Unit of the University of Swaziland also deserve a similar gratitude for their financial assistance towards the completion of the research. Among those who financed the study are the British Council without whose sponsorship I could not have been able to undertake my training in England and to return to Swaziland for intensive research, and to them I am very grateful. The Swaziland National Archives (referred to in the notes as Sna), under the directorship of Julius S. Dlamini were extremely helpful in allowing me access even to files which were still closed according to laws which govern their perservation and use. The staff of the Royal Commonwealth Society Library in London were also helpful in letting me read their records on Swaziland and on the Empire Cotton Growing Corporation. The Killie Campbell Africana Library in Durban and the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, were also cooperative though their records did not answer those questions which were central to the themes of the study. During my field work there were many people who made an invaluable input towards the completion of the study. Unfortunately there is not enough space to thank them individually, but to do so in general terms. Among them are my brothers Captain Bongani and Dumisani both of whom assisted me in so many ways. It was at the typing stage that Maryjayne of the History Office, SOAS, also proved an indispensable force and to her I am grateful for the assistance she afforded me. I would also like to express my thanks to Catherine Lawrence of the Geography Department, SOAS, for the assistance she gave me while I was drawing up maps for the thesis. Finally, I am extremely grateful to my supervisor Professor Richard Gray whose guidance and interest in the study from its inception served as an eye-opener and stimulus in many respects. 1 CHAPTER ONE THE ORIGINS OF COTTON CULTIVATION, 1904-16 Already by the end of the 19th century some businessmen and politicians had begun to consider the incorporation of the empire to the metropolis in order to solve the problems that were threatening to wreck the British economy. It was at the end of the 19th century that the prices of industrial products began to decline and so did the profits, and these were brought about by the keen competition for the limited European market, made worse by some rapid industrialisation in Germany and the United States of America. These problems were even exacerbated by 'the reduction of the free trade world by tariff barriers'.^ Since these events were a threat to the stability of the British economy, it became imperative to develop the colonies so that some economic cooperation between them and the metropolis could be established. The type of development alluded to here was one whereby the colonies would provide markets for British surplus goods which could not compete effectively in the European markets; it was also thought that colonies could provide the raw materials which British industries needed so desperately to survive the competition.2 Such economic cooperation, it was hoped, would reduce the amount of dependence each of the colonies exerted upon the British economy while at the same time it jerked up their econom y. Politicians such as Joseph Chamberlain, who was Colonial Secretary from 1895 to 1903, had supported the development of commodities such as cotton in the empire as a solution to the declining supplies from the United States of America. It was also during his term of office that the British Cotton Growing Association was formed in Lancashire in 1902 specifically to promote cotton cultivation in the empire. The B.C.G.A., with some British entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce all cooperated to urge colonial governments and the Colonial Office to make the venture a success.3 During Chamberlain's term of office, great 2 strides were made in colonial development but the main handicap was the lack of capital. For instance, between '1875 and 1915 parliament authorised a total expenditure of only about £1,400,000' for colonial development.4 Initially the B.C.G.A. had earmarked West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and South Africa (Zululand and the Eastern Transvaal) as potential cotton producing regions on the African continent.5 It was hoped that by 1900 the infrastructure of this sort could have long been realised in these regions, especially in West Africa due to the region's long history of trade with the outside world, but it was obvious that even so the other regions would still require huge sums of money for the development of the infrastructure before it became usable for trading purposes. The failure of the B.C.G.A. to raise adequate funds to improve the infrastructure to facilitate both trade and communication was adequate explanation for the meagre production of the crop until after the First World War, when production began to rise.6 It would, however, be dangerous to give the impression that the rise in output was due only to the improvement of the infrastructure compared to the market price of the commodity along with other relevant factors of production. However, infrastructural improvements did occur particularly in regions with a high potential for production: these were among areas settled by European producers and in those areas cotton experiments were carried out. There was, however, no deliberate attempt by the colonial regime to provide roads to African areas, and the history of cotton production in Uganda where the African contribution was the dominant factor to Uganda's leading supply of cotton to the market, is a case in point.