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Home , Apam, David Asante, George Kingsley Acquah, Kola nut, Mossi people

KOLA PRODUCTION IN (GOLD COAST AND ASANTE) 1865-1920.

EDMUND ABAKA

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of Yoxk University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF

Graduate Programme in History York University North York, Ontario, Canada

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by Edmund Abaka a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Permission has been granted to the LIBRARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or seIl copies of this dissertation, to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this dissertation and to lend or seIl copies of the film, and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this dissertation.

The author reserves other publication rights. and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or othetwise reproduced without the author's written permission. This work is dedicated to the memory of my younger brother, the late Emmanuel Abakah, who died in December 1997. AB STRACT

This study documents the Ghanaian experience in the economic development of kola nuts as a major cash crop from the mid nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. It examines the production, marketing, and organisation of the kola nut trade in Ghana (Gold Coast and Asante) between

1865 and 1920, and argues that kola nut production in Ghana increased to feed both the interior markets of , as well as markets in Latin America, Europe and North America.

Between 1865 and 1874, the northern axis of the Asante kola trade witnessed remarkable growth. Kola exported to

Northern , Borno, and other parts of the Central and beyond, came mainly fxom Asante, Brong , and to a lesser extent . These areas constituted the kola heartland of Ghana in the 19'" century.

New areas were brought under kola cultivation, especially after the 1860s, to satisfy the growing consumerism and the expanding market. This was facilitated by the renewed interest of farmers in kola cultivation. In addition, the penetration of Hausa, Mossi and Yoruba traders into Southern Ghana after the defeat of Asante in 1874, improvements in communication - by road, rail and sea - and later, colonial government policies, provided a further

v impetus to kola cultivation.

The penetration of Hausa traders into the -

Voltaic basin in the 1880s led to the growth and development of new commercial centres such as Adawso, , and many others. Hausa traders also settled in the coastal cities of , , Sekondi, Shama and

traded in kola. The activities of these traders led to a re- orientation of the kola trade southwards by sea to Lagos.

Traders took advantage of the introduction of steam vessels and mail boats for trade and communication along the West African coast. One of the major problems which bedevilled the kola industry was labour supply. Kola farmers and traders utilised different types of labour in clearing farms, harvesting kola and preparing the kola for the market. labour was extensively utilised, and when it proved insufficient, slave labour became an important supplement, especially in the period before, and imrnediately after 1874.

After emancipation (1874), pawns became increasingly important as a source of labour. In the colonial period, wage and migrant labour constituted important sources of labour. From 1920, however, kola was overshadowed by cocoa as

vi an international crop. Kola farmers, therefore, transferred

resources £rom kola to cocoa. This attitude killed the kola

'revolution,' and kola failed to take off as an overseas

export comrnodity.

The study, therefore, adds to the historiography of the

Gold Coast and Ghana by examining the role of the Hausa in

particular, and the Sokoto Caliphate in general in Asante

economic and social history. In addition, it shows that at

the beginning of the twentieth century, the Atlantic basin was linked together throughthe kola trade. Furthermore, the study also enhances Our understanding of kola as a psychoactive substance and, hence, the importance of kola as a medicinal agent. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project of this magnitude is always the cumulation of long hours of painstaking work, guidance, and support. The list of people who have contributed to this work is therefore a very long one. It will not be possible to include everybody' s name.

First and foremost, the study benefited from institutional support provided by the History Department and the Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University, which enabled me to spend six months in Ghana doing fieldwork.

1 would also like to thank most sincerely my supervisors, Paul E . Love j oy, Sydney Kanya-Forstner and David Paul Lumsden. Under Lovejoy's guidance the study was given direction, focus and grounding. His painstaking reading of the drafts helped refine and direct the study.

In addition, his expertise in the Sokoto Caliphate informed the Hausa role in the study and kindled my interest in the

Hausa diaspora in Ghana. My association with him has ushered me into the international academic community and thrust me squarely into a new mods of research and scholarship - international collaborative research. 1 also gratefully acknowledge the use of Lovejoyfs fieldwork notes

viii and archiva1 collection at York University. Sydney Kanya-

Forstner's painstaking reading of some of the earlier drafts helped refine and direct the study. My sincere thanks also goes to David Paul Lumsden, who not only read some of the rough drafts, but also directed me to the relevance of kola as a psychoactive substance in the current discourse on drug use and drug abuse in North America.

1 owe a debt of gratitude to the former director of the graduate history program, Professor John Saywell, and the

Graduate Program administrative assistant, Diane Jenner.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies also deserves mention for offering me tuition fee waivers and bursaries at the time when 1 was an International Student. I would like to thank my colleagues in the graduate history programme, Dr. Philip Afeadie, Dr. Ibrahim Jumare,

Dr. Kwabena Opare and Dr. Femi Kolapo, who read parts of the work.

1 wish to express my appreciation to the staff of the

Inter-Library Loan Section of the Scott Library for their help in accessing material £rom other Universities in the

United States, Europe and Africa.

1 am also grateful to the staff of the State Oil Palm

Plantations at Akwanserem (especially Mr. Nketia Dwomoh) and Dwaben, and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG),

Kade, especially Dr. Abdul Karim, Dr. Frank Amuah, Mr.

Samuel Lowor (Asst. Research Officer), Messrs. Enin Agyei,

Forster Arnoah and Owusu Gyekye. 1 extend my gratitude to the staff of the Institute of African Studies and Balme

Libraries (), the National Archives of

Ghana - , (Rose Donkor, Georgina Insarku) , Tamale, (Mx. Kojo Arnoasi), and Sekondi-Takoradi

(Benjamin Kwof fie, Rosina Yeboah etc. ) . The Kola sellers at Tamale, , , Accra and

Bekwai, and al1 my informants also deserve mention for taking time off to chat with me about kola production and trade. A special word of thanks goes to the Sarkin Zongo,

Nkawkaw, Mr Ashsong, (affiliated with the Kumasi Cultural

Centre), Madam Zaratu, Rakyia, Kotumi and Baby Amina of

Obuasi, Mr Richard Enin of , Dr. Emmanuel Yiridoe and

Dr. Daniel Bagah, then graduate students of the University of Guelph and York University respectively.

1 also received invaluable support £rom Mr. Ahmadu, the assistant archivist at the Ghana National Archives, Tamale, who not only arranged al1 the interviews with the members of the Tamale Kola sellers Associationrlbut also assisted in

'~heinterviews were conducted at the Tamale Central interviews and provided concurrent in English,

Hausa and Dagaaba. He enabled me to gain access to the

Tamale Central market and the Tamale Kola Sellers

Association. His participation in the project put people at ease and enabled them to talk to me. In the same vein, 1 also acknowledge the help of Mr. Peter Arthur, Senior House

Master of Opoku Ware Secondary School, Kumasi, who arranged the interviews with the Kotokoli women of Obuasi.

My research assistants, George Abakah, Alberta Acquah,

Mohammed Nkrumah, Peter Arthur, deserve special mention.

George accompanied me on al1 my trips and did invaluable work even after the field trip. Finally, the forbearance of my family - Florence, Victoria, Sophia, Thomas, Esther, Jane, Matilda, Lily and

Peter - in waiting patiently for eight years while 1 completed my graduate work in Canada is commendable.

Market by Mr. Ahmadu, myself, and my research assistant George Abakah of the Higher National Diploma Department, Cape Coast Polytechnic.

xi' Table of Contents

Title Page Copyright Page ii

Certificate Page iii

Abstract v viii Acknowledgements xii Table of Contents xv List of Illustrations

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Kola Cultivation and Stages in Production 28 Kola nuts Kola varieties in Ghana Production: soils Propagation Fruiting Crop yields Harvest management Post-harvest management Pests

Chapter Two: Asante Organisation of the Kola Trade

Kola trade in the Volta basin 86 Kola and state policy 94 Organisation of the northern kola trade (pre-1874)98 Links with the Muslim diaspora 110 Who or what is Hausa 114 The Hausa and long-distance trade 117 Trade items 123 Exchange 133 Marketing centres 137 Caravans 141 Chapter Three: The Diffusion of Kola Nut production in Ghana The wild Theory Diffusion theories Original kola zone New kola zones Early colonial policy Improved Transportation - road, railway, steamship

Chapter Four: The Southern Axis of the Kola Trade Expansion in the southern axis of the trade

The Hausa diaspora and the kola trade in southern Ghana Organisation Who took part in the trade Hausa soldiers Landlords and the southern kola trade Markets The kola 'wars' between Ghana and Nigeria Price Transport

Chapter Five: Labour, Kola Production and Trade

Family Labour Co-operative labour or nnoboa Kola and slavery Pawnship Wage labour, migrant labour and share-cropping

Conclusion: Consumerism and Increase in Kola Production in Ghana 258 Islarnic interest European interest in kola

xiii Bibliography

List of Tables and Figures List of Tables

1. Vegetable and Agricultural Utilization in 4 6 2a. Kola Yields in Ghana (Labozhie White) 68

2b. Kola Yields in Ghana (Kumasi White) 69

3. The northern kola trade 114

4. Kola exports north from Kintampo 145

5. Overseas kola trade to U.K. 186

6. Volume of the kola trade 215

Figures

1. Relocation-type Diffusion

2. Expansion-type Diffusion

Maps

1. Vegetation zones 2. Kola-producing areas Vi sono altri arbori che producono frutti nominata ; i quali sono grando corne una pigna, e hanno devtro altri frutti a guisa di castagne, in cui sono quattro polpe separate dirosso colore e incarnato; li tengono in bocca e masticano per is pignere la sete a far saporita l'acqua.

There are other which produce fruits called cola; which are as big as a pine cone, and contain other fruits like , in which there are four different (separate) pulps of a red, fleshy colour; people keep them in their mouth and chew them to quench their thirst and to make the water tasty.

Odoard Lopez, Relatione del Reame di Congo. Filippo figafetta (ed.), Rome 1591. INTRODUCTION

This study attempts to establish a bridge between the history of food and the history of 'drugs' in both

'traditional' and 'modernr societies (with emphasis on the psychoactive properties of kola). The focus is on the production and distribution of kola nuts in Asante, including its export trade. Using kola as a case study, this work attempts to explain changing patterns in consumerism in Africa, the Middle East and Europe between

1865-1920. Such a study involves international trade and even politics. It also concerns the perception of a specific substance (i.e. kola), its consumption, control of exploitation, and the development of trading patterns. More importantly, the study illuminates the role of the 'north- eastern factorr in Asante history. This factor has been under studied, except for Lovejoy's work that looks outward from the Sokoto Caliphate. Profits from the sale of kola to the Sokoto Caliphate enabled Asante to husband its gold for the purchase of firearms on the coast. Furthermore, the kola trade enabled Asante to minimize the "crisis of adaptation" which bedevilled some African states during the transition £rom the slave trade to "legitimate" trade.

The study highlights the link between kola production and the rise of cocoa production. It will show that kola

was the "bridgehead" for cocoa because the capitalistic outlook of Asante traders, the capital needed for cocoa

production and even the instruments used were al1

transferred when kola failed to take off as a viable

international cash crop.

Contrary the argument Hopkins that the West African domestic economy was,

largely ignored by the colonial administration because it was not, on the whole, an important source of public revenue, and it was also neglected by the expatriate commercial firms, which chose to concentrate on the staples of the import and export trade,~ the British, French and Gerrnan colonial governments actively promoted the kola trade. In addition, expatriate firms bought and exported kola nuts. They competed with a dynamic group of African merchants - Hausa, Sierra Leoneans, Afro-Brazilians, and others - in developing the kola trade

the late nineteenth century. The reasons for the failure of kola as an export crop overseas are far more complex than a neglect of the crop by the colonial administration. Kola was no longer needed as a major

IA. G. Hopkins, An Economic (London, 1973), p. 244. ingredient in the production of -cola. At the same time, cocoa became an international drink, and resources were shifted from kola to cocoa production.

Finally, the study also adds to the growing spate of literature on African economic history. The field has been characterized by three main schools - neo-classical, dependency and Marxist. The first two paradigms Say very little about pre-colonial economic history. The neo- classical economists place emphasis on market processes and problems of resource allocation but pay very little attention to growth and de~elopment.~~he dependency theorists, on the other hand, emphasize external economic linkages rather than interna1 processes. They focus on exchange relations rather than production processes. In addition, very little is offered about the economic before its incorporation into the world capitalist system. 3

*~eePaul Tiyambe Zeleza,A Modern Economic History of Africa. Vol. 1: The Nineteenth Century (Dakar, : CODESRIA, l993), p. 4. For details of the dependency paradigm see Immanuel Wallerstein, The Modern World System (New York: Academic Press 1974), idem, "The Three Stages of African Involvement in the World Econorny." In Peter Gutkind and Immanuel Wallerstein (eds.), Political Economy of Contemporary Africa (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1976); idem, The Capitalist World Economy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979); Marxist scholars have criticized the two approaches mentioned above for emphasizing exchange rather than production relations and for ignoring class struggle. As

Zeleza has argued, it has proved difficult to fit Africa squarely into the Marxian categories of 'primitive comrn~nism,~'feudalism,' or the 'Asiatic mode of

production.^^ In the same way, African 'tributary' and \lineaget modes of production theorists have tended to emphasize surplus appropriation of the fruits of labour at the expense of the actual organisation and control of the labour process, and the use of productive resources.5

This study adopts some aspects of both the neoclassical and Marxist approaches. More important, it focuses on the material and social conditions of production - the complex

Sarnir Amin, Accumulation on a World Scale (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974). Modern Economic History. pp. 4-5. 5 See Emmanuel Terray, "Long Distance Exchange and the Formation of the State: The Case of the Abron Kingdom of Gyaman," Economy and Society 3, 3 (1974): 315-345; Raymond E. Durnett, "Precolonial Gold Mininq and the State in the Akan Region: With a Critique of thé Terray Hypothesis," Research in Economic Anthropology, 2 (1979): 41-43; Terray, "Gold Production, Slave Labour, and State Intervention in Precolonial Akan Societies: A Reply to Raymond Dumett," Research in Economic Anthropoloqy, 5 (1983), p. 100; Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, "The Political Economy of the African Peasantry and Modes of Production." In Peter Gutkind and Imrnanuel Wallerstein Political Economy of Contemporary Africa. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1976. interplay of kola farmers, kola traders - men, women and children, local people as well as foreigners and "stranger comrnunities." For, as Zeleza notes, "Economic history is about people, how they produce and reproduce their daily lives in their households, communities, societies, states, regions, and within the continent as a wh01e."~

The study, therefore, documents the Ghanaian experience in the economic development of kola nuts as a major cash crop in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

It seeks to examine the production, marketing, and organisation of the kola nut trade in the Gold Coast and

Asante between 1865 and 1920. It will argue that kola nut production increased to feed African, Middle Eastern,

Brazilian, European and North Arnerican consumption during the period of the study. This increase was due in large part to the increased consumerism and the widespread use of kola in Muslim Africa, especially after the Islamic jihads of the nineteenth century, and its widespread adoption in

Europe and the United States of Arnerica for medicinal purposes, as an ingredient in the chocolate industry, and as a tonic.

After 1920 the export of kola to Nigeria declined as the latter began to supply its own kola needs. However,

6~eleza,Modern Econornic History. p. 5. there was no serious decline in aggregate production because the interior markets of Africa - , , , and even North African and Middle Eastern countries

continued to absorb kola produced in colonial Ghana.

The approach to this study is historical. However it

will be informed by "central place theory" and the concept

of "spatial diffusion." Central Place Theory will be used to explain the fact that Asante expansion was motivated by

political and economic calculations. The conquests resulted

in the creation of an interlocking economic grid which

regulated the kola trade. Second, the concept of spatial diffusion, as used by historical geographers, will be utilised to explain the process by which kola production spread from Asante and Brong Ahafo to other parts of Akyem,

Fante, , and Agona. In the process, the specialised roles of men, women, children, slaves, pawns and village co- operatives (nnoboa, -ebunu, -ebusa)' in kola production and marketing will be analysed. The preponderant role of missionaries, foreign companies, Lebanese and Syrian entrepreneurs in cocoa

7~ordetails of the ebusa system, See M. J. Field, Akim Kotoku. An Oman of the Gold Coast (Westport, Connecticut: Negro Universities Press, 1970) pp. 74-75; F.R. Bray, Cocoa Development in Ahafo, West Ashanti (Achimota, February 1959) , pp. 23; 39-42 (Unpublished). production and other econornic enterprises have been

delineated. However, indigenous initiatives, and more

important, the role of women in commercial agriculture -

especially kola production and marketing - have not been given adequate attention. This study attempts to address this problem.

Organisation of the Study

Chapter one deals with the "kola quadrangle." It will demarcate the kola-producing zone during the period under study and outline briefly the historical geography of the area to explain why kola grows in this zone. It will highlight the types of kola found within the zone and examine the stages involved in kola production - £rom cultivation to harvesting. It will also analyse and put in historical context local and indigenous kola farming techniques as well as the introduction and utilization of improved farming techniques and propagation such as hybridisation to facilitate increased output.

Chapter two focuses on the organisation of the northern axis of the kola trade from the producing areas in the forest zone to the consumption centres of the savanna zone of Africa, and to a lesser extent to the Middle East and parts of Europe, notably, England, France and Germany. Methods of capital accumulation and labour supply for the production and marketing of kola will be dealt with in detail. The relative importance of men, women, children, slaves, pawns and village CO-operatives (nnoboa, ebunu, ebusa8) in kola production and marketing will be considered. The focus of chapter three is the spatial diffusion of kola from Asante, and to a lirnited extent, from Akyern as well, to new areas after 1865. The notion that kola was always gathered £rom wild trees as opposed to deliberate cultivation will be examined. It will be shown that the additional output of wild trees alone cannot account for the increased volume of kola produced during the period under study. The chapter will utilise the theory of spatial diffusion to show the pattern of expansion £rom Asante and

Akyem to -Wassa, Asuantsi-Fosu-Agona, Swedru,

Koforidua-Nkawkaw, Ho-Kpandu, and other areas.

Chapter four will examine the southern axis of the kola trade and the interrelationships between , ethnicity, and the trade. It will also examine the preponderant role of certain ethnic groups (especially Hausa, and to a limited extent, Kotokoli, etc.) in the kola trade, as well as the spread of comrnunities of trade diaspora through the creation

'~ield, Akim Kotoku. pp. 74-75; Bray, Cocoa Development. pp.39-44. of zongo and other similar "nodal centres" in the kola-

producing zones in Southern Ghana to handle the trade. Using

concepts of central place theory, a hierarchical

classification of places will be drawn up to show the

shifting importance of cities and towns as the pendulum of

growth of the kola trade swung frorn one area to another.

Chapter five focuses on problems faced by kola nut

farmers, traders, retailers and other agents in the kola

trade during the second half of the nineteenth century and

the early twentieth century. Emphasis will be put on labour

because it was one of the major problerns that bedevilled

both kola farmers and traders. It will argue that kola

farmers and traders relied on four main types of labour -

farnily labour, slave labour, pawn labour and, in the

colonial period, migrant and wage labour.

Chapter six will show the correlation between

consumerism and increased kola production in Ghana. It will

demonstrate the connection between the expansion of kola

production and the increase in its demand in the Sokoto

Caliphate. In addition, European and American interest in

kola as a medicinal agent and a potential ingredient in

carbonated beverages will be outlined. Kola was on the

verge of breaking into the international market. It will be

shown, however, that the anticipated overseas export "revolution" did not take off. Kola's place was taken by

cocoa which has continued to be the mainstay of Ghana's

economy. The expansion of the Islamic frontier in the

Central and Western Sudan led to increase in kola production

and export £rom the Gold Coast. Even when the Nigerian market began to rely increasingly on locally-produced kola in the mid 1920s, it still absorbed a fairly large portion of kola from the Gold Coast. At the same time, producers of cola drinks switched to artificial preservatives. Kola thus failed to become a crop that would link the various parts of the Atlantic together.

Literature review

Over the past two decades, a number of historians have worked on various aspects of kola production and trade in

Africa. Research on kola has been undertaken within the framework of long-distance exchange between the Voltaic peoples (centred on Asante), and the Savanna/Sahel zone

(centred on Hausaland).' Lovejoyrs work in particular has

'~aulE. Lovejoy, Caravans of Kola. The Hausa Kola Trade 1700-1900 (Oxford & Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1980); idem, "The Kamberin Beriberi : The Formation of a Specialised Group of Hausa Kola Traders in the Nineteenth Century, Journal of African History, XIV, 4 (1973) : 633-651; idem, "Kola in West Africa, " Cahiers dlEtudes africaines, 20, 1/2 (1980): 97-134; Babatunde Aremu Agiri, Kola Production in Western Nigeria 1850-1950. A documented the trade from the Hausa perspective.

Unfortunately, the important connections between Asante and

the Sokoto Caliphate have been understudied £rom the perspective of Asante.'' Ivor Wilks did recognise the

connection but did not explore the kola trade in his major works on Asante. In fact, he treated the kola trade more as an appendage rather than a central facet of Asante political economy. J.S. Beidufs brief work on kola production in

Ghana centred only on , Tepa and the district in the Brong ." Adu Boahenys short article entitled "The Ghana Kola Traderu only highlights the origins of the kola trade and the importance of kola as an item of

History of the Cultivation of Kola nitida in Eqba-Owode,

Iiebu-Remo.- - Iwo and Ota Areas (Ph.D. Thesis,- - Universitv of -, -& -- Wisconsin, 1972) ; idem, "The Introduction of Kola into Nigerian Agriculture 1880-1920," African Economic History, (Spring 1977): 1-14, on the spread of cultivation; Kwame Arhin, West African Traders in the 19th and 20th Centuries (London, 1977) ; idem "Transit Markets in the Asante Hinterland in the Late Nineteenth Centuryrt' ODU. A Journal of West African Studies, 9 (Awril 1974): 5-22.

''A lot of data was, however, collected by Marion Johnson. See Marion Johnson, Salaga Papers (Legon, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1965). 2 vols.

"J.s. Beidu, A Study of Cola Production and Sale in the Bechem, Tepa and Sunyani Districts, Brong Ahafo. (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 1966). trade with the north.12

Other scholars have focused their analysis of Asante history on the institutional framework of the kola trade - markets, market structures, trade diaspora,13 trade routes14

and credit facilities.15 The literature has focused on

trade, including a consideration of the substantivist

paradigm of Karl Polanyi in the context of "ports of trade"

and "administered" markets.16 Whereas kola production in

'*A. Adu Boahen, "The Ghana Kola Trade," Ghana Notes and Queries 1 (January-April 1961): 8-10. 13~bnerCohen, 'Cultural Strategies in the organisation of Trade Diasporas," in Claude Meillassoux, The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West Africa (London, 1971), pp. 266-281; Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History (Ibadan: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1978); Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 29-38; See also Enid Schildkrout, People of the Zongo (Cambridge: C.U.P. 1978).

14 Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 58-112; Francis Agbodeka, African Politics and British Policy in the Gold Coast 1868- 1900 (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1971); Ivor Wilks, The Northern Factor in Ashanti History (Institute of African Studies, Legon, 1961); idem, Asante in the Nineteenth Century: The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975), pp.1-42; G.E.~etcalf,Great Britain and Ghana. Documents (Legon, 1964), p. 80. 15see Polly Hill, "Landlords and Brokers. A West African Trading System," Cahiers d'etudes africaines, VI, 23 (1966): pp 349-366; Gareth Austin and K. Sugihara (eds.) Local Suppliers of Credit in the Third ~orld1750-1960 (London, 1993). 16~arlPolanyi examines market structures in Dahomey in the context of what he calls an archaic economy. Paul Bohannan and George Dalton (eds.), Markets in Àfrica Nigeria has been studied by a number of scholars, there is

no major study of kola production in Asante and the Gold

Coast.

Much work has been done on the social and economic history of Asante and the Volta-Afram basin (the area

defined in this study as the kola belt). Nehemiah Levtzion

provides an analysis of Islamization in the Volta Basin.17

Ivor Wilksf magnum opus, Asante in the Nineteenth Century, deals with the spatial aspects of Asante government; the

demographic politics metropolitan and the relations between Asante and her coastal dependencies on the

one hand, and the Europeans on the coast on the other.l8

(Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1962); Lovej oy, "Polanyi 's Ports of Trade, ) Canadian Journal of African Studies, George Dalton (ed.) Tribal and Peasant Econornies (N.Y.: The Natural History Press, 1967); idem (ed.) Studies in Economic Anthropoloqy (Washington: American Anthropological Association, 1971). It should be pointed out that the Polanyi argument has been disputed by economic historians. For example see Robin Law, "Posthumous Quest.ions for Karl Polanyi: Price Inflation in Pre-Colonial Dahomey," Journal of African History, 33 (1992), pp. 387-420. Polanyi is in fact, buried here in Toronto. "~ehemiah Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa. A Study of Islam in the Middle Volta Basin in-the Pre- Colonial Period (London, 1968) .

ls1vor Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 26- 124. See also Ivor Wilks, Forests of Gold. Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1993); T. C. McCaskie, "Empire State: Asante and the

Historians, " Journal of African History, 33 (1992): 467-476. Wilks describes the way in which Asante rulers created a national territory based on a hierarchy of service and

administrative centres al1 of which were linked into a grid

of routes which converged on, or radiated from the capital,

K~masi.'~ This proved to be very important for the kola

trade which had become the backbone of the Asante export

economy by the middle of the nineteenth century, and

remained the principal cash crop until it was replaced by

cocoa at the end of the nineteenth century.

Wilks recognised the important connection between Asante and the Sokoto Caliphate in an article dealing with Asante policy towards Hausa trade. However, his analysis of

Asante political authority has failed to integrate the contribution of the Sokoto Caliphate and Borno into the analysis of Asante history. The Sokoto Caliphate supplied numerous commodities - livestock, textiles, leather goods, jewelry, salt, natron, items of clothing and slaves, who were in turn sold at the coast to finance arms purchases.

This market (Central Sudan) absorbed Asante kola and enabled

Asante to survive the disruption to its economy after the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade.

Ig~orcentral place theory see P. Haggett, Locational Analysis in Human Geography (London, 1965); Wilks, "On Mentally Mapping Greater Asante: A Study of Time and Motion," ~ournalof African History, 33(1992) : 175-190 Like Wilks, neither Larry Yarak nor Tom McCaskie

focuses on the relations between Asante and the Sokoto

Caliphate 'O. Whereas McCaskie examines the state as the

vehicle for the accumulation of wealth, Yarak's interest is

in Asante relations with European powers such as the Dutch, as well as Asante dipl~macy.~'Gareth Austin's interest in

Asante history lies in trade organisation, credit creation

and pawnship in the context of cocoa.22 Even though Kwame Arhin is interested in the political economy of Asante, the

"Sokoto factor," has not been explored in his work. His

interest in the kola trade and the markets of Northern Ghana have al1 been confined to Asantefs immediate neighbours to

the n~rth.*~Paul Lovejoyrs social and economic history of

'l~homas C. McCaskie, State and Society in Pre-Colonial Asante (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); idem, "Office, Land and Subjects in the History of the Manwere Fekuo of Kumasi, " ~ournalof African ~istor~,21 (1980): 189-208; idem, "Accumulation, Wealth and Belief in Asante History, Part 1," Africa, 53, 1 (1983): 23-44; idem, flAccumulation,Wealth and belief in Asante, II. The Twentieth Century, " Africa, 56, 1 (1986): 3-23. ar are th Austin and K. Sugihara (eds.) Local Suppliers of Credit in the Third World, 1750-1960 (London, 1993); idem, lfHuman Pawning in Asante, 1800-1950,f1in Toyin Falola and Paul Lovejoy, (eds.) , Pawnship in Africa. ~ebt-~onda~ein Historical Pers~ective (Boulder & Oxford: Westview Press. 1997), pp. 119-159.

23~.Arhin, West African Traders in Ghana in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1979); idem, the Hausa kola trade traces the developrnent of Mande and

Hausa trading activities in the Volta Ba~in.~~Caravans of

Kola attempts to address the Asante connection with the north east. However, it looks outwards from the Sokoto

Caliphate towards Asante. Given the importance of kola to the economy of Asante, the "eastern and north-eastern factor" in Asante history cannot be overemphasised. Kola enabled Asante to acquire northern goods and slaves, and freed gold for the purchase of guns and gunpowder in the south. This, therefore, enabled the Asante to rnaintain a high level of technological superiority in warfare over its

"Savanna Contributions to the Asante Political Economy," in Enid Schildkrout, (ed.) The Golden Stool: Studies of the Asante Centre and Periphery (New York: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 65, Pt. 1, 1987); J. Goody and K. Arhin, "Ashanti and the North- westfl'Research Review, Supplement No. 1, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1965; See also J.K. Fynn, Asante and Its Neighbours. 1700-1807 (London, 1971). K.Y. Daakufs work and several doctoral dissertations such as those of Berberich, La Torre, to mention a few, have adequately dealt with Asante in particular and the Akan in general. See Charles William Berberich, Locational Analysis of the Trade Routes of the Northeast Asante Frontier Network in the Nineteenth Century (Ph.D. Thesis, Northwestern University, August 1974); La Torre, Wealth Surpasses Everything: An Economic History of Asante, 1750-1874 (Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1978) . Again, Bruce Haight, Neherniah Levtzion, J.A. Braimah and others have done a lot of research on the relations between the Gonja and the peoples of Northern Ghana on the one hand, and the Asante on the other. 24~ovejoy,Caravans. pp. 29-39 vassal states. 25

Chevalier and Perrotfs seminal work, Kolatier, represented the most comprehensive attempt at studying the

2sFor a discussion of kola elsewhere, see Howard Allen, "Kola Production and Trade in , 1850-1930." Paper Presented at the African History Seminar, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, Institute of Commonwealth Studies on Wednesday May, 1979. Allen examined kola production as part of a larger study of the economy of Northern Sierra Leone and the neighbouring parts of the Guinea-Conakry axis, l8OO-l93O. Similarly, Frances White studied Sierra Leonean women, the trade diaspora and the kola trade. See Frances White, Sierra Leonean Women and Nitida Cola: The Organisation of a Nineteenth Century Trading Diaspora." Paper Presented at the ~went~-~hikd Annual meeting of the African Studies Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 15-18, 1980. In , Martin Ford has shown that there was a distinct link between kola production and the land use pattern of the Dan. See Martin Ford, "Kola Production and Settlement Mobility Among the Dan of Nimba, Liberia," African Economic Historv, 20 (1992) : 51-63. 4. In Nigeria, Agiri's work stands out in the sense that he is one of the few scholars who have been interested in the production of kola. See Agiri Kola in Western Nigeria, 1850-1950, A History of the Cultivation of in Eaba-Owode. Iiebu-Remo. Iwo and Ota Areas (Ph.D. Thesis, d a University of Wisconsin, 1972). A.G. Adebayo has also examined the impact of British colonial policy on the kola trade, and has argued that British colonial rule created new tariff walls, promoted the use of alternative routes and enhanced the rise of a new class of kola merchants based in Lagos. See A.G. Adebayo, "The Kola Nut Trade in West Africa: A Note on the Nigerian End of the Trade Under British Rule, 1900-1945," (Unpublished, Obafemi-Awolowo University, Ile- Ife, Nigeria). L.E. Larson, analysed kola nut production in German and showed that the German colonial administration was very much interested in the potential of kola as an important cash crop. See L.E. Larson, "Some Notes on Kola Nut Production and Trade in German Togo," Paper Presented on 15'~ March 1977, at the Senior Staff Cornrnon Room, Bayero University College. botanical aspect of kola. Chevalier and Perrot laboured in

the heart of the kola production belt in Cke d'Ivoire where

they made extensive observations and talked to kola farmers.

They were interested in the kola species that yielded the

edible kola, the methods of cultivation and propagation,

flowering, harvests and uses. They argued that the Dyula possibly spread the story that anyone who grew kola would

die so as to control propagation and maintain their

m~nopoly.~~Chevalier and Perrot made the link between kola

production and kpanlanu since they found trees not far £rom villages near grave sites.27

Following Chevalier and Perrot, a lot of scientific work was done in Nigeria and Ghana on propagation, storage

weevil infestation and marketing of kola. Toxopeus and Okolo , Ashiru,m Clay and Po~pisil,~~haveal1 worked on

26~ugusteChevalier and Emile Perrot, Les Kolatiers et Les Noix de Kola (Paris: Augustin Challamel, 1911), pp. 289- 290. *' Kpanlanu, plural for kpanla, was used by the Dan of Liberia to refer to abandoned village sites. These sites, indicated by the presence of kola trees, had been abandoned for other sites or places. Thus, it also provided information about the migratory habits of the Dan. Kola was found along paths leading to villages, near graveyards, and near or around houses on the periphery of villages and near the villages. Ford came across the word among the Dan of Nimba, Liberia.

2e~.A. Ashiru, "Vegetative Propagation of Tropical Tree Crops with Emphasis on Cacao, L. and kola propagation with varying success. Their major focus was increase in production and resistance to diseases and weevil attack. Toxopeus and 0kolok0,~~andAshiru worked on marcotting as a method of kola propagation. Ashiru and

Quarcoo reported some success in patch and flute budding.

Ashiru also concluded £rom another research that tropical trees which are propagated vegetatively corne into early f ruiting opposed their counterparts that are propagated from seedS3' Similarly, Ibikunle studied the factors which influenced the germination of kola acuminata and concluded that increased nut size influenced and increased the number of cotyledons and impacted on the

Kola, Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott and Endlicher) ," in 1972/73 Annual Report, Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, 1974, pp. 26-41; See also D.W.T. Clay, "Vegetative propagation of kola (Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott and Endl. ) " Tropical Aqriculture, (London) 41, 1 (Jan. 1964) : 61-68.

"G. A. Ashiru, T. A. Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola (Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott and Endlicher) ," Tropical Agriculture, (London) 48, 1 (Jan. 1971) : 85-92; F. Pospisil, "Cola Propagation." In 1967/68 Annual Report of the Agricultural Research Station, Kade, University of Ghana, 1969.

30~.Toxopeus and G.E. Okololo, 'Cacao Marcotting in Nigeria: 1 Use, Technique and Monthly Rooting Success," Nigerian Aqricultural Journal, (Ibadan) 4, 2 (Oct. 1967) : 45-50.

31~.A. Ashiru, "Vegetative Propagation of Tropical Tree Crops With Emphasis on Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) and Kola (Cola Nitida, (Vent.) (Schott and Endlicher) ," Acta Horticulturae 49 (1975): 67-73. percentage and the speed of germination. Large seeds germinated faster than small onese3*

J.K. Ossei pioneered research on kola in Ghana in the early 1960s, but he was more interested in propagation methods.33 Brown and Afrifa compared the germination of whole kola nuts with nuts whose cotyledons had been partially cut. They concluded that there was a significant increase in the rate and percentage of germination in those nuts with half the cotyledon rern~ved.~~

In more recent years interest has been shown in the chemical composition of kola and its impact on users. This derives partly from the recently renewed interest in 'licitf and 'illicit' drugs in the context of the war on drugs currently being waged in the Arnericas. Jaman Anjarem examined the effects of kola nut (cola nitida) extraction on the locomotor and other behavioural activities of laboratory mice using direct ethological observations in open-field

32 B.O. Ibikunle, "The Germination of (P. Beauv.) Schott and Endl.," Acta Horticulturae 49 (1975): 75- 81. 33 5. E. K. Ossei, "Cola - Some Aspects of its Cultivation and Economics in Ghana," The Ghana Farmer, VII, 3 (Aug. 1963) : 96-97.

34 D. A. L1. Brown and M .K. Afrifa, "Effect of Cutting Cola Nut on the Germination Rate and Subsequent Seedling Characters," Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science, 4 (1971): 117-120. arena.3s It was evident in the study that kola nut extracts influence the normal locomotive activity of male mice and

that the effect is dose and time dependent. From a

pharrnacokinetic point view, dose body weight produces the most prominent effect which is stimulating in nature and statistically significant in the sense that the stimulating effect gradually builds up over

the 120-minute observation peri~d.~~On the other hand, a

low dose of 2.5 mg/kg produces no significant change and a

higher dose of 10 mg/kg produces a slightly depressing

effe~t.~'Thus, kola's importance as a psychoactive substance explains why it was in demand in the Central Sudan

and beyond - Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean

Sources

This study is based on material collected in part during fieldwork in Ghana in 1994/95. The research was carried out in seven - Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Eastern, Western, Central and Volta

"~arnan S. Anjarem, "Effects of Fresh Kola-Nut Extract (Cola nitida) on the Locomotor Activities of Male Mice," Acta Physiologica et Pharmacologica Bulqarica, 16, 4 (1990), p. 14. regions. In these areas, kola production and marketing were,

and still are, important economic ventures. In the period under study, these regions formed part of Asante, the Gold

Coast, and later, the Northern Territories and Togoland respectively . The sources fox the study fa11 into distinct categories. They are both archiva1 and oral - African, European and Muslim. The archiva1 sources derive from the

National Archives of Ghana at Accra, Kumasi, , Tamale, Cape Coast, Sekondi and Ho. Secondly, archiva1

material (published) £rom the Institute of African Studies

and the Balme Library, University of Ghana, Legon; the Ministry of Agriculture, Ghana, and various universities in

Canada and the United States, especially, Northwestern University are ~sed.~~Thirdly, the research utilizes material from the major agricultural stations in Ghana,

namely, the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (Kade - , which serves as the agricultural research

station for the University of Ghana, Legon), the State Oil

"81 am gwateful to the staff of the Inter Libraxy Loan/Shared Resources Section of the Scott Library, York University, for their help in acquiring material from other universities in Canada, the United States, Europe and Africa (mostly Ghana and Nigeria). Palm plantation3', Dwaben () , which also serves as a research station for the Department of Agriculture, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and

Technology (Kumasi), and the Akwansrem State Oil Palm

Plantation Kumasi (Ashanti). 40 Some of the early primary material consisto of accounts

of European travellers who passed through the Volta basin and saw kola used first hand, witnessed transactions

involving kola or heard about it from other people. The

work and accounts of Joseph Dupuis (~824)~~~Thomas Edward

Bowdich ( 1819)~42 Heinrich ~arth~~(1857) Austin ~reeman~~

39~tstarted as a State Farm under Kwame Nkrumahfs State Farm Scheme. Presently, emphasis is on palm oil and kola nuts, the latter at the request of the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi and to some degree the Cocoa Research Institute, which carried out experimental work on kola at the station. 40~hesestate farms or plantations were set up during the First Republic to boost agricultural production.

4 1 Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1824) .

42~.~.Bowdich, Mission From Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee (London, 3rd. edn. 1966) . 43~einrichBarth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (London, 1965) .

44R. Austin Freeman, "A Journey to Bontuku in the Interior of West Africa," Roval Geosra~hicalSocietv Su~plementarvPaDers, 3 (1893): 117-146 ; idem, Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1967). (1857) Captain La Trobe Lonsdale (1882)~45 Gouldsbury,46 L. Wolff, E. ~1ir-1~~'~von Francois," Richard Buttner, H. Kl~se,~~Graf von ~ech;" Louis-Gustave Binger, (Salaga and

Kintampo, 1889) ,51 and M. J. Bonnat, 5z provide very helpful and rich material on kola production and trade in Ghana. The papers of the Gold Coaster George Ekem Ferguson

(edited by Kwame ~rhin)'~a Fanti ernployed by the British

"~apt. La Trobe Lonsdale, Report on Mission to Coornassie, Salagha, &c., October 1881 to February 1882, Parliamentaxy Papers, 1882, XLVI, C.--3386 Enclosure 2 in #42.

46Marion Johnson, Salasa Pa~ers(Legon: University of Ghana, 1965). vol. 1; (hereafter SAL) SAL 11/1; SAL 21/1; SAL/76/1; P.R.O. CO 96 119 #S 516-5.

4 7 Johnson, Salasa Pa~ers.~~L/13/1; ~~~/14/2; s~L/15/1; S~~/67/1.

48 Johnson, Salasa Papers. SAL/18/1; SAL 18/5; SAL/35/1.

4 9Johnson, Salasa Pa~ers.SAL/17/1-17/15.

50Johnson, Salasa Papers. SAL/10/1-10/5; SA~/82/1.

51 Johnson, Salasa Pa~ers.SAL/19/1-SAL/19/12; Louis- Gustave Binger, Du Niser au Golfe de ~uinebpar le xlavs de Kons et le Mossi. (Paris, 1892) . 2 vols. ; idem "Transactions, objks de commerce, monnaie des contri'es dl entre le Niger et la cite dtOr, Revue i'conomiaue iranuaise, XII (1889): 77-90. 5 2 Johnson, Salasa Pa~ers.SAL/1/1-1/4; 2/1-2/5; 7/1; SAL/34/1.

5 3 Kwame Arhin (ed.), The Papers of George Ekem Ferguson Cambridge: African Studies Centre, 1974; See also N.A.G. (Accra) ADM 12/147 4 July 1892; C.O. African (West) 448, 449, 496. government as a surveyorfS4also provide valuable information about kola production and trade in Ghana. Due

to his knowledge of both Fanti and Hausa, Ferguson obtained valuable information about the kola and gold trade.

Furthermore, British Colonial Office files; material

from Kew Gardens, and reports from various British officials

in the Gold Coast provide valuable archival material for the

study. The Colonial Office kept records of agricultural

comrnodities imported into or exported out of the colony for

tax purposes. These reports include the Gold Coast Blue Books and Year Books, and official reports by the

Agricultural Officers stationed in each of the provinces, as well as reports of the Commissioners of the various

provinces of the Gold Coast. These were sent from the various administrative provinces to the headquarters of the

colonial government in the colony (Cape Coast Castle, and

later Christianborg Castle, Accra) and were then callated

for onward transmission to the Colonial Office, London.

More importantly, as civil government was extended from the

Colony to the Northern Territories, a cornmissioner was

'¶~iswork included demarcating the British-controlled modern Northern Ghana, making treaties with some of the chiefs of the Northern Territories and establishing a British sphere of influence to offset the French advance into the region. stationed at Salaga in 1875. This led to an improvement in data collection as the provincial administration attempted

to collect caravan tax at Salaga and other entry points to

the North.

Material from the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria,

Kew Bulletin (the publication of the Royal Botanical

Gardens, England) and numerous research on kola done by botanists and chemists in Nigerian research Institutions and universities as well as in other research institutions, shed further light on, and add to the archiva1 information and oral data which have been gathered. In addition to these sources, oral interviews were conducted by the author between September 1994 and May 1995 during a field trip to Ghana. Researchers and workers at the State Oil Palm Plantations at Akwansrem, Dwaben, and the

Cocoa Research Institute at Kade; and kola traders and producers at the Tamale Central market, Obuase, Foso, Koforidua, Kumasi, and Nkawkaw, were interviewed. In addition to the above, questionnaires were also administered to kola farrners by two research assistants working in the Fosu and Koforidua areas. CHAPTER ONE

KOLA CULTIVATION AND STAGES IN PRODUCTION

The soil cornes first. It is the basis, the foundation of farming. Without it nothing; with poor soil, poor farming, poor living; with good soil, good farming and living. An understanding of good farming begins with an understanding of the soil.'

This chapter examines the process of kola nut production from cultivation to the fermentation period when the nuts are ready for the market. First, it will demarcate the kola producing zone(s) and briefly describe the types of kola in Ghana in the period before the expansion of production after 1874. Second, it will examine the soil/geological conditions which facilitate the cultivation of kola with a view to explaining why kola does well in some parts of the forest region of Ghana (Gold Coast and Asante) and not in others. Thirdly, methods of propagation - practised by farmers and those of the agricultural research institutions - will be discussed. The point will be established that the low yields of kola trees, coupled with a high preponderance of sterile kola trees, made

'GRASS: The Yearbook of Agriculture (Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1948), p. 425. hybridization necessary for greater yields, especially after

the establishment of botanical gardens in Ghana in the

1880s. The chapter will analyse and put in historical context, local and indigenous kola farming techniques, as well as the introduction of new techniques after the establishment of botanical gardens in the 1880s. Thirdly, cultural maintenance practices - from occasional cutlassing to permanent clearing at plantations - will be assessed to show the impact of these practices on overall production. Fourthly, methods of harvesting, fermentation and preservation will be described in detail to delineate one of the major problems that bedevil kola production - preservation of the nuts. In looking at this critical aspect of kola production, insect infestation of the nuts will be given detailed consideration.

What is Kola?

Kola is one of the most interesting and valuable plants in Africa. It is the size of a , a or a chestnut2 and varies £rom dark-red to cream white in

'A Portuguese traveller in 1593 likened kola to "a but splitting into four parts, of a red or pink colour." It was, however, not until 1805 that Palisot- Beauvois named the tree sterculia acuminata. See A.M.F.J. Palisot-Beauvois, Flore drOware et du (Paris, 1805); T.A. Russell, "The Kola Nut of West Africa," World Crops, co10ur.~ Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen maintain that kola contains roughly as much per 100 grams of coffee and as much theobromine per 100 grams of tea. 4

Kola belongs to the sterculiacae farnil~.~It is the

ripe seed of sterculia a~urninata,~a tree of about 40-50

feet with light brown carpels containing one to fifteen

~eeds.~It is chewed and has a bitter but not unpleasant

(June, 1955), p. 221.

3 Johnson, Salaqa Papers. SAL/48/1; Abner Cohen, "The Politics of the Kola Trade," Africa, XXXVI, 1 (Jan. 1966), p. 20; Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 3-4; idem, "Kola in West

Africa, " pp. 97-134.

4~.1.Heckel and E. Schlagdenhauffen, "Comptes Rendus, 20th." p. 802. In British Parliamentary Papers. Papers Concerning Gold Coast and Ashanti Affairs, 1890-1906. Africa Colonies 62, p. 30. See also Auguste Chevalier and Em Perrot, Les Kolatiers. pp. 219-230; Egil Rarnstad, Modern Pharmacognosy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1959), pp. 316-317; Henry Kraemer, A Text-Book of Botany and Pharmacognosy (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1910), pp. 332, 334 and 351. '~he sterculia family is a large genus whose species are most abundant in tropical Africa and Asia. See Daniel Oliver, Flora of Tropical Africa vol 1, (Asford, Kent: L. Reeve & Co., Ltd., 1868); E. Heckel and F. Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas, In Their Botanical. Chemical and Therapeutic Aspects," The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, (January 26, 1884), p. 584; Russell, "The Kola of Niaeria and the Cameroons," Tro~ical d Aqriculture, 32 (1955), p. 211. 6~alisot-~eauvaisgiving an account of a kola tree he had seen near Benin in 1805. See Palisot-Beauvais, Flore dfOware et du Benin; Russell, "Kola Nut," p. 221. 7 Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Royal Gardens, Kew 4 (1890), p. 253; Austin Freeman, "A Journey to Bontuku in the Interior of West Africa," Royal Geographical Society taste. Known by various African names such as goro or qourou, ombkné, nangoué, kokkorokou, and matrasa, kola contains a heart stimulant, kolanin, caffeinefg traces of theobromine, 'O strychnine, quinine, 'l theine, l2 and . l3

Supplementary Papers, 3 (1893), pp. 143-144; Chevalier and Perrot, Les Kolatiers; see also W. B. Morgan and J. C. Pugh, West Africa (London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1969), p. 93; James Anquandah, Rediscovering Ghana's Past (Accra: Sedco Publishing Co. Ltd., 1982), p. 37; F. R. Irvine, West African Crops (London: O.U.P., 1969), p. 22. Kola seeds are borne on young branches and consist of a star-shaped group of 'podsf or follicles about five in number.

'P. L. Simmonds, "The Kola Nut of Af rica, " Arnerican Journal of Pharmacy, 62 (1890), p. 595. '~affeine belongs to a family of chemical compounds called xanthines. Caffeine and its related compounds stimulate the central nervous system and the heart. They also act as diuretics and muscle relaxants. See "caffeine - A Healthy Habit," Environmental Nutrition Newsletter, 2, 6 (Sept./Oct 1979), p. 1. The proportion of caffeine , according to Heckel and ~chla~dënhauffen,is higher than that observed in any coffee, or except in rare instances, in tea, and exceeds that of theobromine in cocoa. Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, p. 586; Kew Bulletin, 4 (1890), p. 256; Also Report of Dr. Neish, Port Royal, Jamaica," cited in the Annual Report of the Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica, for the Year Ending 30 September, 1882, Royal Gardens, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 4 (1890), pp. 257-258. Austin Freeman states that kola contains upwards of 2% of caffeine and theobromine, and that the amount of caffeine exceeds that contained in coffee. See Freeman, "Journey to Bontukoo," pp. 143-144; See also Ramstad, Modern Pharmacognosy, pp. 316-317. 'O~he caffeine and theobromine are found in a mass of cells gorged with large starch granules beneath the epiderm; See E.E. Osim and P.M. Udia, "Effects of Consuming a Kola Nut (Cola nitida) Diet on Mean Arterial Pressure in Rats, " International Journal of Pharmacology, 31, 3 (1993), Both caffeine and theobromine stimulate the nervous system

and the skeletal muscles. l4

The genus Cola is of tropical African origin.15 Over

forty species16 of the nuts grow in the region between

Sierra Leone and the Congo.17 A new type of kola (Schott & p. 193; Simrnonds, "The Kola Nut of Africa." pp. 595-597.

"0sim and Udia, "Effects of Consuming a Kola Nut, " p. 193.

12Kew Bulletin, 4 (1890), p. 255. See Dr. Attfield, Paper read before the Pharmaceutical Society in January 1865. According to Attfield, "The proportion of theine present in dried kola nuts is 2%. Coffee, on the other hand, contains from 0.5 to 2.0, and tea from 0.5 to 3.5 parts in 100. "~hisis the astringent principle which gives coffee and tea beverages their pleasant and rough taste. Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen found tannin in kola to the extent of 1.618%. The small quantity of tannin approximates to caffeo- and may- be useful in its dietetic value. See Kew Bulletin, 4 (1890), pp. 255-256; Heckel and Schlagdenhauf fen, "Some African Kolas, " p. 584. 14"~affeine- A Healthy Habit," pp. 1-2. "F.R. Irvine, "The Indigenous Food Plants of West Africa," Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, 49, 586 (Oct. 1948), p. 229; Kwamina Bosomafi Dickson, A Historical Geography of Ghana (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1969), p. 73; Cohen, "Politics of the Kola Trade, " p. 20. 160f the large number of species, the two most important are Cola nitida or Gbanja and Cola acuminata or abata. See Chevalier and Perrot, Les Kolatiers; Oliver, Flora of Tropical Africa. p. 220. isThe Ghana Farmer, 1, 6 (1957), p. 222; Royal Gardens, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 4 (1890), p. 253. The German explorer, Heinsich Barth, drew attention in 1855 to two kinds of kola nuts, one of which he had seen on Endl.) was recently collected in Southexn Somalia. However, the identification of the material species is not

conclusive. It seems to be related to Cola clavata Mast. 18

Kola is also found near Lake Nyanza in East Africa (locally called kokkorokou), including zairelg and Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). In addition, kola has spread to the

East Indies, Seychellesfz0Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Demerara

(now Guyana) , Dominica, and Mauritius .21 It is also found

a tree on the island of Fernando Po, and near the Niger. The other, according to his informants, grew in Asante. ~ee Heinrich Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa III (London, 1965); Russell, "Kola Nut," p. 221; Heckel & Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 584; Kurt Kreiger, (trans. extracts from) "Kola Karawanen," Mitteilungen des Institutes fur Orientforschung, Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 2, (1954), pp. 289- 322; The Ghana Farrner, 1, 6 (l957), p. 222; ~eor~e-~rooks, "Kola Trade and State Building: Upper Guinea Coast and Senegambia 15th to 17th Centuries," Working Paper No. 38, (African Studies Center, Boston University, 1980); James Anquandah, Rediscovering Ghana's- Past. p. 37; Morgan & Pugh,

West Africa. p. 93; Dickson, yHistorical Geoqraphy. p. 73. 18 Ib Friis, Forests and Forest Trees of Northeast Tropical Africa. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Bulletin Additional Series XV (London: Her Majestyrs Stationery Office, l992), p. 253. "c.L.M. van Eijnatten, Report on the Study of Kolanuts in Zaire (7 to 17 February, 1977) (Dept. Of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, 1977). 20~eportof Mr. C. S. Salmon, Chief Civil Commissioner of the ~e~chelles,Kew Report 1881, p. 15. In the report, Mr. Salmon stresses the possibility of cultivating kola in 'Eastern countries .' "1t was introduced into these places from Africa by the British. near the southern coast of Venezuela and in Martinique. 22 Kola also does well in Guadeloupe and Cayenne. 2 3

In Ghana, kola is found in Asante (especially in , Effiduasi, Jarnasi, , and around Techimentia

and Dema), and Ahafo (around , Kenyase and Ntronso),2 4

in Akyem, 2s Tar kwa,26 ~osu~~Swedru and Asuantsi .

22~eckeland Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 584; See also F. Karsten, "Flore de Colombie" argues that African 'Negroes' introduced the fruit into Venezuela and Martinique during the slave trade. 23~eckeland Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 584. Kola was introduced into these areas from Africa by the French.

24~~~(Accra) ADM 56/1/238; Ghana Year Book 1929 Paper XXVII; J.C. Muir, "The Cola Industry in the Western Province

of Ashanti, " Gold Coast Aariculture De~artmentBulletin, d vol. 22, Paper XXVII, 1930, pp. 218-223; J.C. Muir and J. D. Broatch, "Agricultural Survey of the Western Province," Ghana Year Book 1928 Paper XVIII, p. 169; Distribution of Principal Commercial Crops," Ghana Year Book 1928.

25~.~.Danquah, Akyem Abuakwa Handbook (London: Forster Groom & Co. Ltd., 1928), p. 53; F. Crowther, "Notes on a District of the Gold Coast," Quarterly Journal, (Liverpool Institute of Commercial Research) (1906): 167-182.

26~.~.~.(Accra) ADM 5/1/93 Departmental Reports 1916. "~ieldwork Notes: Interview with kola farmers and traders in in April and May 1995. The interviews were conducted by Muhammed Nkrumah, a primary school teacher who lives and works in one of the outlying villages near Assin Fosu. Kola Variaties in Ghana

Several varieties of kola exist in Ghana (Gold Coast

and Asante) .*' They include Cola cordifolia, 2g Cola

heterophylla (Schott & End1 . ) ,30 Cola johnsonii (Stapf), 3 1

Cola lateritia (K. S~hurn),~~Cola nitida,33 Cola togoensis

"~hetrees of edible kola are largely more robust than cacao trees. In stature, the kola tree is like a horse- chestnut, but with shining leathery leaves like a cherry- laurel. See Russell, "Kola Nut of West AEricarr' p. 221

2g~hisis a large buttressed tree whose bark peels off in strips. The flowers are brownish yellow and the fruits bright red with a smooth, pink irLterior. It is commonly found in Deciduous and Secondary Forests and often in depressions. The Asante cal1 it watepuo/watakpuo; the name is Owotaku; the Sefwis Awari-Kokori. For more information, see Irvine, Plants. D. 120

30~tis found at Ankassa and Western Apollonia in Ghana. It has yellow flowers with red stripes, and red ridged fruits with long beaks. Irvine, Plants. p. 120.

31~olajohnsonii was named after the Director of Agriculture, Mr. W.H. Johnson, a plant breeder who had worked with the Director of Kew Gardens to determine three species of kola. See S. La Anyane, Ghana Agriculture. Its Economic Development From Early Times to the Middle of the Twentieth Centurv (Accra: Oxford Univessitv Press. 19631, D. ,. & 26. Kola johnsonii is found in the deciduous forest, it is a small tree with waxy yellow flowers and produces a large red soft and slippery nut. The Fante/Twi name is Bise toro; the a name is Tsere. See Irvine, Plants. p. 120.

32~eportedlyfound at Swedru, and Dunkwa. It is a medium-sized tree with heart-shaped leaves (7-lobed), yellowish red flowers and red, wrinkled fruits containing 4- 6 seeds. Irvine, Plants. pp. 120-121.

33~hisis the commercial kola, otherwise referred to as Gbanja kola. However, Irvine mistakenly does not categorise it as such. 3 4 (Engl. & Krause) , Cola verticilata (Stapf & A. Chev) ,35 and Cola ac~rninata.~~In addition to the type of kola identified above, Cola caricifolia (K. Schum), a small tree with five- lobed leaves, and commonly called Ananse adodowa in Ashanti, and Osonkurobia in Twi has also been identified in Ghana.37

Finally, there is Cola chlamydantha (K- ~churn)~'which has a

34~tis found in , and . It grows up to 60 feet high, produces 3-5-lobed flowers and has red seeds with a fleshy yellow coat. See Irvine, Plants. p. 121. "~his is a small tree with simple leaves, and bright yellow flowers with red stripes inside the petals. It can be found in the Deciduous forest and is cultivated. It produces one of the good edible cola nuts. The twi name is simply bese. See Irvine, Plants. p. 121 36~heTwi name is Bise or Bise Kyem (Twi/Asante), Bese Hene (Twi/Fante - which is again questionable), Ewese (~owin/Sefwi),Ebesele (Nzima), Bisi (Ewe/Krepi), -Evi (Quittah- now ), Tsere (GZ/Krobo). These names give an indication as to where the kola nut can be found. See Irvine, Plants. p. 118. Irvine not only calls acuminata the true or commercial cola nut, but also states that large quantities were sent by caravans to the north, or were exported to Lagos, and hence, to Kano. However, he is mistaken because al1 the scholarly as well as the scientific work done on kola have arrived at the conclusion that nitida is the kola of the celebrated caravan trade. 37~hename Ananse adodowa means "spiders1 spools (or bobbins) and derives from the shape of the fruits which resembles a spool or bobbin. The fruits are produced in 'fingers,' green in colouration but turn briqht-qolden yellow. The tree grows in the deciduous and-secondary forests and the fruits are edible. See Irvine, Plants. p. 119. 38~toccurs in the Deciduous Forest, and the fruits have a sourly-sweet taste. Tt is a small tree with palmately-lobed leaves, deep red flowers and bright orange sour-sweet taste. Of al1 the types of kola found in Ghana, three species, namely Cola nitida, Cola acuminata and Cola verticillata were identified by the staff of the Division of Agriculture (now Ministry of Agriculture) in 1969 as the types farmers ~ultivate.~' However, the commoner variety, and the most important for trade in Ghana was, and still is,

Cola nitida, and to some extent Cola acuminata.

White kola was much more valuable and more rare, occurring in the same pod as white and pink or red nuts.

Where red and white nuts were borne by the same tree, the proportion of white nuts rises as the tree grows older. Red kola was the preferred kola of trade because of its long- lasting q~ality.~' In 1916, a few white kola trees flowered in a plot of one hundred and sixty nine trees at Aburim4l fruits like little bunches of bananas. The Asante cal1 it Asonkrobia (Ashanti/Twi). Krobo - Askonalebia; Krepi - Aletsu or Domevo; Nzirna - Kendeba ebesele; Ekendawose - ; Tenanfera - Wassa). The Aowin and Nzima names mean "Spider's kola nut." See Irvine, Plants. p. 119. 39~taffof the Division of Agriculture, "Crops Other Than Cocoa, " in J.B. Willis (ed.) Agriculture and Land Use in Ghana (London, 1969), p. 361. "J.E.K. Ossei, "Cola - Some Aspects of its Cultivation and Economics in Ghana, " The Ghana Farmer, VII, 3 (Aug. 1963), p. 96; J. Sholto, "Masticatories: Their Origin, Purpose and Derivation," Flavour Industry, 2, 3 (1971) pp. 152-4. 41~.~.G(Accra) ADM 5/1/93, Departmental Reports 1916. The following year, twenty nine of the trees produced 3,328

nuts. 4 2

Production

a. Soils

Intercropping has been very important for kola production. As Howard Jones long ago cautioned, there is a tendency to misjudge the efficiency of African agriculture.

As he argued, intercropping is carried out in such a way that the soil is always covered so that it is neither dried by the sun nor heavily leached by rainfall. In this way, its fertility is pre~erved.~~In fact, intercropping maximises land use and available sunlight and minimises soil erosion.

West African farming methods were, and are, similar, and in some ways, different £rom methods elsewhere. This difference raises questions about some early European commentators who asserted that African agriculture was backward. 44

42 N.A.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/94 Departmental Reports 1917.

43~.Howard Jones, The Earth Goddess: a Study of Native Farmina on the West African Coast (London, 1936). 44~eefor example, G.C. Dudgeon, The Agricultural and Forest Products of British West Africa (London, 1911); E.V. Doku, "Are There Any Alternatives to the Traditional Bush Fallow System of ~aintainin~Fertility," The Ghana Farmer, 11, 1 (1967), pp. 27-29; K.A. Haizel, "The Evolution of Peter Ahn correlates soil type with agricultural

methods. Because the soils of the forest zone of Ghana are

poor, their exploitation must avoid the complete clearing

characteristic of European agriculture. Otherwise, heavy

rains remove the topsoil, and the constant sunshine heats

the surface of the soil, thereby accelerating destruction of

the organic matter through increased bacterial a~tivity.~~

Ahn maintains that the so-called "primitive" or swidden

method of bush rotation, involving only partial clearing of

the forest and allowing for long fallow periods after a

season or two of cropping, is the system best adapted to the

local soils. This swidden system protects the soil against

both Sun and rain and provides for a natural restoration of

fertility after use. 46 However, this system allows only a

Farming Systems in Africa," The Ghana Farmer, X, 2 (May l966), pp. 99-102.

4S~eterAhn, "Soils and Geography in the Ghana Forest Zone," Bulletin of the Ghana Geographical Association, 3 (1958), pp. 15-16; idem, West African Agriculture, vol. 1, West African Soils. (London, 1970) . 46~hn,"Soils and Geography in the Ghana Forest Zone," pp. 15-16; idem, West African Soils. See also Wilks, "Land, Labour, Gold and the Forest Kingdom of Asante: A Mode1 of Early Change, in Wilks, Forests of Gold: Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1993), p. 43; Doku, "Are There any Alternatives to the Traditional Bush Fallow System of Fertility?" pp. 27-30, 38; Willis (ed.), Agriculture and Land Use in Ghana. Haizel, "Evolution of Farming Systems," pp. 99-1-2. low population density, and the standard of living of farmers is kept perpetually low since they have to expend time and energy clearing new farms every two or three years.47 It should be pointed out that this type of farming is not specific to Africa.

As Ahn points out, the system which is best suited for intensive agricultural exploitation of the African forest zone mixes crops and therefore modifies the swidden regime.

This system, ... consists of planting forest areas with semi- permanent tree crops such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, oil and palm, and using the lowland areas for swamp rice. On the uplands, the trees protect, shade and anchor the soil much as the original forest protected it, while the swamp rice can be cropped year after year without soil exhaustion, gives heavy yields, and thus forms the basis of the local food supply. In this way, both upland and lowland soils [have been] used without danger of their destruction, and the effort of annual clearing and burning is av~ided.~~

The forest zone which Ahn describes constitutes the major area of kola production - Asante (including and ), Akyem, Asuantsi-Fosu, Swedru (Agona, Abodom,

Kwanyako), Aburi, and Asante-Akyem (including ,

Koforidua, Osiem). Al1 these areas also fa11 within the

47Ahn, "Soils and Geography in the Ghana Forest Zone," zone where coffee, rubber and palm oil are pr~duced.~'

That is, Cola nitida grows under the same climatic

conditions as cocoa, in areas of clayey loams. 5 O

Asante lies in the main ochrosol zone with 45-65 inches

of rainfall. This zone includes the more fertile soils of

the forest, and constitutes the major kola-producing region

of Ghana." Leaching, and therefore, acidity is relatively

moderate in this region as compared to the oxysol zone to

the north. In the north of the ochrosol belt, the forest

thins out and kola does better only on the lowland soils

bettes supplied with water. Most of the upland soils are

fertile enough to support kola and cocoa, but dry out in the

dry season. The ability to support kola cultivation

- 49~.~.G(Accra) ADM 56/1/238; Muir and Broatch, "Agricultural Survey of the Western Province," Ghana Year Book 1928 Paper XVIII, p. 169; J-C. Muir, "The Cola Industry in the Western province of Ashanti," Gold Coast Aqriculture Department Bulletin, 22, Paper XXVII; Ghana Year Book 1929 Paper XVIII; Danquah, Akyem Abuakwa Handbook. p. 53.

'O~hisis the case in both Ghana and Nigeria. See Russell, "Kola Nut of West Africa," p. 222; P.H. Nye arld D.J. Greenland, "The Soil Under Shifting Cultivation," Technical Communication, #51, Commonwealth Bureau of Soils, 1960; 0. Ekanade, "Spatio-Temporal Variations of Soil Properties Under Cocoa Interplanted With Kola in a Part of the Nigerian Cocoa Belt," ~~koforestr~Systems, 5 (1987), pp. 419-428; E.O. Jaiyebo and A.W. Moore, "Soil Fertility- and Nutrient Storage in Different Sub-vegetation Systems in a Tropical Rain Forest Environment," Tropical Agriculture, 41 (1964), pp. 129-143.

'l~hn, "Soils and Geography," p. 16 therefore hinges on the extent to which the soil can retain

sufficient moisture during the dry season.52 In the

ochrosol zone to the south, rainfall is generally sufficient

to keep the soil moist in the dry season, but insufficient

to leach the soil. In this productive zone, the uplands

are more important than lowland alluvial soils

The upland soils of the oxysol zone are deeper, due to an even greater depth of weathering than is found in the ochrosol zone. In terms of colouration, the soils are paler, generally only yellow-brown to orange-brown and much more acidic in nature.53 The oxysol zone is characterised by low topsoil reaction, and is much more acidic in content.

This zone occurs where the rainfall is above 70 inches per annum.54 Kola does well in parts of this region.

To the south of this zone lies an intergrade zone which is characterised by poorer soils and lower yields of kola cocoa, food crops, and a lower standard of living of the inhabitants. The rainfall is so high that the upland soils are heavily leached. Here, it is only the lowland alluvial

53~hn, "Soils and Geography" p. 12; See also E.A. Boateng, Geography of Ghana 2"* ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966) . 54~hnf"Soils and Geography" p. 12. soils which are productive and kola and cocoa can only be

f ound on river banks .55 The forest oxysol zone itself coincides closely with the moist evergreen forest in the extreme south-west. This

is the wettest part of Ghana, with a rainfall maximum averaging 70 inches a year. The southern portion of this

zone is a densely-populated coastal area which extends from in the east to Takoradi in the west. Neither

kola nor food crops do well in this region. Rather, the economic life of this xegion was revolutionized from the

1920s onwards by the introduction of by the Gold

Coast Department of Agriculture. The deep, free-draining

sandy soils developed over tertiary deposits and are well suited for coconut production. 56 Both the old and the new kola producing belts of Ghana lie mostly in the forest ochrosol zone. In some instances, the fringes of the forest-oxysol intergrades also support kola production. Kola is in fact a very hardy tree and can be cultivated near the coast as well as in the interior in places where fertility ranges £rom moderate to e~cellent.~'

57~.~.G. (Accra) ADM 5/335 Report on Economic Agriculture on the Gold Coast, 1895. It is an evergreen tree which grows to about 9-12 metres high, and sometimes reaches 25 metres. It generally has a short stem and a dense low crown with thick branches.'' Kola does well in forest soils as well as in the Savanna areas of forest outliers with adequate moisture in the rooting zone, where the soil has a high organic matter content. The tree likes low elevations and deep well-drained soils, moderate rainfall and only slight shade, if any. In addition, good drainage is essential because the kola tree cannot withstand f looding. 59

To conclude, in Ghana, a rich red lateritic loam overlying basic and ultravasic intrusive rocks, and stretching £rom Techimentia in the south-west to Achirensua in the south-east is very good for kola. Kola cultivation also occurs in the southern half of the main central zone, where the soil derives £rom intrusive rocks - granite and gneiss - as found around Ntronso in the Ahafo district. 60

5B~zolnoki,Food and Fruit Trees of the Gambia. p. 52; Chevalier & Perrot. Les Kolatiers.

59~griculturalExtension and Research Liaison Services, Guide to the Production of Kola (Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Extension Guide No. 48, 1982) (repr), p. 1.

60~.~.~(Accra) ADM 56/1/238; Muir, llCola IndustryI1I p. 218. Map of Ghana showing the Vegetation Zones

C 13. 12- Ir-

Source: James Anocandah, ?sCiscovtri?.~Ghana's ?ast. p. 33 Table 1

Vegetable and Agricultural Utilization in West Africa

Rainfall Clirnatic Agricultural Utilization (inches) zone

80 - 120 Tropical Forest Especially suitable for Evesgreen perennial crops demanding high rainfall (e. g. [kola], rubber, oil palm, cocoa,

banana); but wide range of

annual crops also grown. Stock not important.

40 - 80 Mixed Well suited to many

Deciduous perennial crops (e.g.

[kola] banana, cocoa, tea,

coffee) and a wide range of

annuals. Stock not of great importance.

35 - 50 Savannah Woodland Only higher rainfall areas High grass - low suit perennials. Very wide tree savanna range of annuals. Stock at (Guinea) present ranched or not

integrated with crop

husbandry but big potential

for mixed farrning.

20 - 30 Acacia - grass Marginal for crop husbandry

Savannah (SUDAN) Important pastoral area.

10 - 20 Thorn Forest

Acacia - desert Pastoral country of low

gwass Savannah carrying capacity.

(SAHEL)

Desert Scrub Sparsely populated with

nomadic pastoralists.

0 - 5 Desert Nil

Source: 1. M. Ofori (ed.), Factors for Agricultural Growth in West Africa. Proceedinqs of an International Conference Held at Leqon. April 1971 (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, 1973), p. 82.

The table shows the agricultural zones of West Africa and their utilization for agricultural purposes. Kola production

occurs mostly in the tropical and mixed deciduous forests

due to the heavy rainfall and high temperatures. Kola is

also produced in a few well-watered areas of the Savanna

woodland.

Propagation

The propagation of kola nuts takes place after the land

had been prepared at the beginning of the rainy season. In

the past, the farmer initially cleared a portion of the

forest by slashing and burning the dried leaves and trees;

and scraped the soi1 into "hills" which become the "beds"

for yam, cassava, cocoyam etc. Kola seed was then planted

between the "beds" at a spacing of about 20 X 27 feet apart.

In this way, the food crops provided shade to the young

seedlings .

Kola nut trees were propagated from the seed. After

the nuts had been taken from the pod, they were wrapped in plantain leaves, buried in the ground and watered every day until they spr~uted.~~Kola takes one to three months to

germinate. When seedlings are transplanted they take four

62~.~.~.(Kumasi) D. 1346, Botanic Gardens, Aburi-Gold Coast, 30/11/1905 to five years to bear Seedlings can also be raised in bamboo pots before being twansplanted to the field. Banana, plantain and cocoyam have been used in sorne cases to provide shade for the young plants.64

Although kola trees can and do germinate naturally, four different methods of vegetative reproduction have been identified by botanists and agricultural officers. These included rooting of cuttings, grafting of shoots on suitable rootstocks, budding and aerial layering (mar~otting).~'

The branch of a healthy kola tree was cut into pieces two or three feet high and planted. After germination, these take two to three years to bear fruit.66 plant

63~.~.G.(Kumasi) D 1346, Botanic Gardens, Aburi-Gold Coast, 30/11/1905; Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services ~uideto the Production of Kola. (Hereafter AERLS), pp. 1-2; Szolnoki, Fruit Trees of the Gambia. p. 52; T.A. Quarcoo, llDevelopmentof Kola. Its Future in Nigeria," Proceedinss of the Asricultural Societv of Niseria, 6 (l969), p. 21. 64 Ossei, "Cola - Some Aspects of Its Cultivation and Economics in Ghana," p. 96.

65~.E. Pyke, A Note on the Vegetative Propagation of

Kola (Cola acumina ta) By Softwood Cuttings, " Tropical Aqriculture, (Trinidad) 11, 4 (1934); St. C. G. Feilden and R.J. Garner, "Vegetative Propagation of Tropical and Sub- Tropical Plantation Crops," Tech. Commun. Imp. Bur. Hort. Plant Crops, 31, pp. 1-99; R.J. Garner and E.S.J. Hatcher, "Aspects of Rootstock Propagation V. The Behaviour of Root Cuttings From Plants of Different Age of Establishment," A.R.E. Malling Res. Sta., (1957), A41, pp. 57-61.

66~.~.~(Kumasi) D. 1346, 30/11/1905; See also AERLS, Guide. p. 1 cuttings, one of the most frequently used present-day techniques in cloning fruit trees remains one of the oldest methods of vegetative pr~pagation.~~Kola farmers used this method of propagation too. Many tropical trees (kola included) which are vegetatively propagated in this way, mature and bear fruit within a few years as opposed to trees raised from ~eeds.~'However, it is very important that cloning is done only from high-yielding trees and more importantly, £rom trees with a high degree of self and cross

~ompatibility.~~In the past, the choice of trees for

"G.A. Ashiru, "The Vegetative Propagation of Tropical Tree Crops With Emphasis on Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) And Kola (Cola nitida, (Vent.) (Schott & Endlicher) ," Acta Horticulturae, 49 (1975), p.67; J.F. Archibald, "The Propagation of Cacao by Cuttings, Technical Bulletin of the West African Cocoa Research Institute, #3, 1955; G.A. Ashiru and T. Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola (Cola nitida, (Vent.) Schott & Endlicher) Tropical Agriculture, (Trinidad) 48, 1 (1971): 85-92; B.A.O. Ibikunle, The Propagation and Growth of Nursery Stock of Cola nitida (Vent.) (Schott & Endlicher) (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 1972) ; Norman Jones, "Plant breeding: Problems With Forest Tree Species in West Africa," Ghana Journal of Aqricultural Science, 48 1 (1968), p. 27. 6B~shir~,'Vegetative Propagation of Tropical Tree Crops," p. 67; See also Ashiru & Quarcoo, "Vegetative propagation of Kola," ; C.L.M. van Eijnatten,-~ola:Its Botany and Cultivation Comrn. #59, (Department of Agricultural Research, Koninklijk Instituut Voor de Tropen, Amsterdam, 1969), pp. 1-100. 69~shiru,"Vegetative Propagation," p. 67; See also Ashiru and Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola," pp. 85-92. vegetative reproduction was usually done after an extensive

study to determine the health and vigour of trees as well as

their response to changing climatic conditions - drought and

excessive rainfall. In addition, flowering habits are very

important for good kola yields.

The yield of kola trees varied from nothing to 2,000 nuts per tree per annum, and hence it was important to

select trees with an average yield of at least 3,500 commercial nuts per annum to try to reproduce seedlings from them. 7 O

With hardwood cutting, the tirne for taking the cuttings, the source of the cuttings and the age of the parent stock are very important for successful rooting.

Basal cuts at the nodes, and averaging 8 to 24 inches in length, root better than basal cuts at the inter no de^.^^ On the other hand, softwood cuttings of fruit trees are taken when the growth is about 10 to 12 inches in length and are fairly mature but before the terminal buds show any signs of dormancy ." However, with kola, Ashiru and Quarcoo, D.W.T.

Clay, van Eijnatten and Gnanaratnum showed that semi-

70~shir~,"Vegetative Propagation, " pp. 67-68.

71~bid.p. 68.

72 Ibid. p. 68. hardwood cuttings were ideal for rooting. 73

The second method of vegetative propagation of kola was by grafting. Arnong the methods of grafting used in the production of clones in kola, cocoa, coffee and other fruit treesr7' patch budding was first tried and yielded limited success. Wedge and saddle-grafting, and the splice and whip-and-tongue grafts yielded better results. However, the time of year and physiological conditions of the grafting material should be taken into consideration for success.75 A constant temperature of about 20-50' C and a relative humidity of 75 per cent are very important for the healing of the scion-rootstock union.76 Jacob reported that it was better to graft kola and cocoa at the four-leaf stage when the cotyledons are still nourishing the seedlings. In Ghana and Nigeria, the side and wedge grafting technique had been

73~shir~and Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola, " pp. 85-92; D. W .T. Clay, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola ( cola nitida (Vent.) Schott & Endlicher) Tropical Aqriculture, (Trin.) 41, 61-68; J.K. Gnanaratnum, "Rooting of Cacao Cuttings, a New Technique," World Crops, 16, 61-63. 74~shir~and Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation," D.W.T.

Clay, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola, " pp. 61-68; Gnanaratnum, "Rooting of Cacao Cuttings," pp. 61-63. 75~eeNorman Jones, "Plant Breeding: Problems With Forest Tree Species in West Africa," Ghana Journal of Aqricultural Science, 1 (1968): 26-27. 76~shir~,"Vegetative Propagation," p. 67. used on a large scale in kola cultivation because it was seen to yield the best results. On an experimental basis,

one year-old C. nitida and hybrid C. acuminata and nitida seedlings were approach-grafted ont0 year old clones of C. nitida. Since cuttings are capable of producing fruits in the first year of planting, the purpose was to investigate

the possibility of inducing early flowering in kola

seedlings. The scions grew well on the rooted cuttings but failed to produce flowers during the two-year observation period. Prolonged juvenility and other factors accounted

for the failure to produce fl~wers.~' The rooting of shoots £rom grafted seedlings

represented a big leap forward in the attempt to solve the problem of incompatibility in a graft union. Agricultural officers made this information available to farmers at the turn of the century. However, the extent to which farmers utilised this technique previously has not been investigated. Budding was another method of vegetative propagation. Again, this was one of the methods popularised by agricultural officers even though varying forms had already

77~.Quarcoo, "Studies in Flowering in Kola Seedlings (Cola nitida Schott & Endl.) Grafted on-to Clona1 Rootstocks, " The Nigerian Agricultural Journal, 11 (October 1994), p. 189. been tried by kola farmers. G.A. Ashiru, T.A. Quarcoo,

D.W.T Clay, van Eijnatten and L. Aré asserted that the

technique of budding has been used to clone several tropical

crops. fact, one method had been known produce good bud take. However, both nursery budding and in situ

budding have been successful in producing clones in tropical

trees. Nursery budding ensures the production of vigorous budlings and the possibility of a hundred per cent survival

rate in the field. On the other hand, in situ budding

cannot guaxantee a hundred per cent bud-take but the tree usually grows faster than those transferred from the nursery which still have to develop root systems after transplantinq." Both methods were been adopted on a large scale in the propagation of kola.

Aerial layering, also known as marcottage, was a method of vegetative propagation of kola in which "an intact branch of a tree was induced to produce roots before it was severed

78~shir~& Quarcoo, "Vegetative Propagation of Kola (Cola nitida) , (Vent) Schott & Endlicher) , Tropical Agriculture, (Trinidad) 48, 1 (1971): 85-92; B.A.O. Ibikunle, The Propagation and Growth of Nursery Stock of Cola nitida (Vent). Schott & Endlicher (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 1972); J.F. Archibald, The Propagation of Cacao by Cuttings," Tech. Bull. West African Cocoa Research Institute, # 3, 1955, L ~rh,"Performance of Cacao frorn Roughly Handled Rootsocks Grown Under Different Conditions," Niqerian Agriculture Journal, 2, 2 (1965): 61-65, van Eijnatten, 1969, pp. 61-65; Ashiru, "Vegetative Propagation," p. 7 0. from the mother tree."79 Such branches were usually between

two and three years old. As a method of kola and cocoa

propagation, marcottage is old and well known, although it

is recognised as a very cumbersome one. After severance,

the cutting was either raised in a nursery or planted

directly in the field. Branches which were growing

vertically or nearly so are the best types to select for marcotting. This method was used by farmers generally fox many types of tree crops, not just kola.

Kola was also grown from seedlings raised in nurseries, although Godfrey-Sam-Aggrey had noted that kola farmers in

Ghana rarely nursed kola seedlings. More often than not, they relied on volunteer seedlings under mature kola trees which they re-planted with a bal1 of earth around the roots into permanent positions on the farm.81 Although colonial botanical gardens and agricultural stations encouraged the

79Ashiru, "Vegetative Propagation," p. 71.

80~. Toxopeus and G.E. Okololo, "Cacao Marcotting in Nigeria. 1: Use, Technique and Monthly Rooting Success," pp. 45-48.

81~.~.Karikari, "The Effect of Maturity and Storage on the germination of Cola Nut (Cola nitida (Vent. Schott and ~ndlicher),"Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science, 6 (19731,.. -p. 87. See also J.M Dalziel, The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa, Being an en en dix to the Flora of West Tropical Africa by J. Hutchinson and J.M. Dalziel (London, 1948). practice of nursing kola seedlings, grafting and budding for disease-resistant types and for better yields, the use of chernical fertilisers, and hand pollination, farmers relied on vegetative propagation, including marcotting and plant cuttings before the colonial era.

To produce fertile kola trees and enhance crop yield, agricultural officers experimented with the possibility of inducing multiple shoot/root production in ~eedlings.~~The germination of split kola nuts showed that some nuts could potentially produce as many seedlings as there are nut cotyledons. Brown and Afrifa have found that the benefit from cutting occurs when the nuts are approaching maturity. " In fact, splitting or cutting the nuts enhanced quicker germination. However, initial growth after germination as well as nut size wexe reduced. In addition, some of the cotyledons produced multiple roots and shoots while others produced roots with no shoots." The study

83~.~.Li Brown and M.K. Afrifa, "Effect of Cutting Cola on the Germination Rate and Subsequent Seedlings Characters," Ghana Journal of Agwicultural Science, 4 (1971): 117-120; See also W. Godfrey-Sam-Aggrey, "Cola Production in Ghana," Wild Crops, 21 (1969): 196-199.

"0ladokun & Adepipe, "Polyembryo and Multiple Shoot Production," p. 136; Eijnatten, "The germination of Kola Nuts (Cola nitida) (Ventenant) Schott & EndLicher)," Nigerian Aqricultural Journal, 5 (1968): 72-82; Li Brown "A showed that as much as 20 per cent of multiple shoots were

produced naturally. However, when multiple shoots were

induced by clipping the primary seedling axis, each -C. acuminata seedling showed a potentiality of producing

axillary shoots from the apical shoot.85 High temperatures and light seemed to have no effect on the germination of kola. On the other hand, chemical application affected germination. It served to reduce considerably the time required to produce seedlings for

planting and grafting and, therefore, produced a high

percentage of uniform ~eedlings.'~ Kola seeds require a

period of dormancy or after-ripening treatment for effective

germination and good seedling growth. In fact, stored and

fresh kola seeds were used to study rnethods of inducing

quick germination within 30 days to obtain uniform

Review of Germination of Kola Seed (Cola nitida) (Vent.) Schott & Endl.) Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science, 3 (1970): 179-186.

8501adokun & Adepipe, "Polyembryo and Multiple Shoot production," p. 130; Li Brown and Afrifa, "Cutting Kola Nuts (Cola nitida) (Vent) Schott & Endl. ) To hasten Germination," Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science, 4, 1 (1970).

86~blohanA. Ashiru, "Effect of Kinetin, Thiourea, and Thiourea Dioxide, Light and Heat on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Kola," (Cola nitida (Ventenant) Schott & Endlicher)," Journal of American Society of Horticultural Science, 94 (l969), p. 429. seedlings." Freshly-harvested kola seeds took 3-9 months

to germinate but seeds stored for about seven months usually gerrninated within 3-4 months of sowing. There was also a definite difference between the germination pattern of

stored and fresh kola seeds. The seedlings Erom stored

seeds tended to grow bigger than those from fresh seeds.

Both produced normal seed types but seedlings from stored

kola seeds were more vigorous. Thus, splitting or cutting kola seeds enhanced quicker germination but initial growth

after germination and nut size were affected. In addition, stored seeds germinated faster and exhibited robust growth.

Chevalier and Perrot have pointed out that in Guinea, kola seeds, when heaped together and kept damp, germinated after a few weeks and the seeds were then planted.89 In

Nigeria, Mallison observed that farmers generally generated

87~shir~,"Effect of Kinetin, Thiourea, and Thiourea Dioxide," p. 429; Eijnatten & Quarcoo, "Studies on Kola, Germination Studies," Report. Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, 1966-67 1968, pp. 46-50. 88~shir~r"Effect of Kinetin, Thiourea, and Thiourea Dioxide,) pp. 429-430; Li Brown, "A Review of Germination of Kola Seed (Cola nitida) (Vent.) Schott & Endl. ) , " Ghana Journal of Aqricultural Science, 3 (1970): 179-186; S.K. Karikari, "The Effect of Maturity and Storage on the germination of Cola Nut (Cola nitida (Ventenant) Schott & Endlicher)," Ghana Journal of Aqricultural Science, 6 (1973): 87-91.

89 Chevalier and Perrot, Les Kolatier. seeds in soi1 beds near streams. The seedlings were allowed to grow for five to six months, after which they were

transplanted. However, this often resulted in damage to the well-defined tap root ~ystem.~'

Apart £rom these "normal" propagation methods, kola may

also be planted on special occasions. In the south of the

Sudan, it is recorded that the umbilical cord of a new born

baby was buried with a kola seed to mark the safe delivery and the kola tree which sprouted, became the property of the

~hild.~'However, in some parts of West Africa, the belief that anyone who planted kola would die as soon as the plant flowered, militated against cultivation. This belief encouraged farrners to transplant self-sown seedlings,'* but this belief did not exist in Asante.

"G.N. Mallison, Agricultural Notebook for Bunu-Ijamu- Kabba Native Authority (Ministry of Agriculture, Northern- Region, Nigeria, 1959), pp. 1-35.

gl~ussell,'The Kola Nut in West Africa," p. 222. 92~bid.Fieldwozk observation - interview with farm personnel at the State Oil Palm Plantations at Akwansrem (January 20, 1995), Dwaben (January 28 1995) in the Ashanti region, and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) in the Eastern Region. Some of the farmers I interviewed in the two regions indicated that they came across a few kola trees when they cleared the land for cocoa farms; See also Ossei, "Cola-Some Aspects of Its Cultivation and Economics," p. 96. Fruiting

Unlike most fruit trees, natural pollination in kola is very inefficient and inadequateg3. For example, only 127 or

12.7 per cent Of 1000 flowers tagged for observation in

1987, recorded fruit set.94 This inefficient pollination, coupled with the scarcity of compatible pollen, fruit sets and the occurrence of partial and total sterility, relatively few hermaphroditic (functionally female) flowers, and poor performance of hybrids explain why kola yields can be very low. Insects are, therefore, the major pollinating agents of kola.95 However, insect pollination is an ineffective way of ensuring high fertility and high kola yield.

- - 93~elfpollination is the transfer of pollen £rom the male flower to the stigmatic lobes of the same flower' Natural pollination is the work of insects and wind. 94~toH. Brew, "Natural Pollination in Kola," Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, Annual Report. 1985, p. 41.

95~.~.Jacob, Hand Pollination Technique in Kola (Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, Gambari Research Station, Ibadan, Nigeria, July 1976), p. 1; A.C. Adebona, "Biotechnology for Kola Improvement," in G. Thottapily, L.M. Monti, D.R. Mohan Raj, and-A.W. Moore (eds.), I3iot&hnology: Enhancing Research on Tropical Crops in Africa Technical Institute for Agricultural and Rural Co-operative (CTA), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), p. 52; See also K. Badaru, "Advances in Kola Breeding Research in Nigeria," Progress in Tree Crop Research," pp. 103-110. Several atternpts have been made, especially in recent times, to increase the level of fertility in kola trees, and boost production. One such method is hand pollination - open and controlled hand pollination. In the case of open hand p~llination,~~freshly-opened male flowers from any tree (pollinator parent) compatible to the female parent are first selected. Then, the "perianth from the male flowers are removed and the fused stamenç with the exposed pollen is rubbed on the stigmatic lobes of the selected freshly opened female flower . "" In the case of controlled hand pollination, female flower buds are removed from the inflorescence and bagged with brown paper bag. Twenty four hours later, freshly opened male flowers are collected from pollinator parents and the bags protecting the female flowers from insects are opened. Then pollen grains from the male flower are transferred to the stigmatic lobes of the female flo~er.~~The pollinated flowers are then re- bagged for the next 48 hourç. Controlled hand pollination

96~ontrolledhand pollination has been carried out at the University of Ghana Agricultural Research Station, Kade, the University of Science and Technology Agricultural Research Station, , (Ghana) the Gambari Experimental Station, the Ifo Kola Nursery Centre, the Agege Outstation, and Alata Farm Institute (private) al1 in Nigeria.

9 7 Jacob, Hand Pollination Technique. p. 3.

90 Jacob, Hand Pollination Technique. p. 3. in selected kola clones showed large variations in the

degree of cross and self-incompatibility. Six clones were,

however, found to be self-c~rnpatible.~~Whereas 12.7 per

cent or 127 out of 1000 tagged kola flowers recorded fruit sets, hand-pollination on cross-pollinated flowers yielded

an estimate of 30 per cent fruit set.'''

Crop Yields

The kola tree in general has a low fertility rate which

affects overall crop production and yield. From the 1890s,

it becarne increasingly common to use hand-pollination

techniques and improved seedlings and breeds to improve kola yield.

The kola tree starts to fruit in the fourth or fifth yeax but yields continue to be scanty until the tree cornes to rnaturity by the tenth year. Full production is attained by the twentieth year and the tree continues bearing until it is about seventy or one hundred years old.lol In

99~.~.Morakinyo, N.E. Egbe, Y.A.O. Olamiran, "Compatibility Studies and Yield Components of Recent Cola Nitida Selections," café Cacao hi, XXV, 2 (Avril-Juin 1981) : 121-126. loO~rew,'Pollination in Kola," p. 41; See also Adebona, "Biotechnology for Kola Improvement," pp. 51-52. 101~ussell,p. 222; The information was confirmed in oral interviews at the University of Science and Technology experiments carried out in 1905. A single tree yielded

about one hundred and twenty pounds (120 lbs.) of seed a

year;lo2 and a full grown kola tree yielded 2 crops in a

year. 'O3 A single kola tree can yield anywhere £rom O to

2,000 nuts. At the experimental agricultural stations at

the Aburi, Kumasi, and Tarkwa, 90 numbered trees yielded

76,262 nuts, in 1915. Four trees produced over 2,000 nuts each, and twenty £ive trees over 1,000. The highest individual yield was 3,051. 'O4 On the other hand, while several white kola trees fruited they only produced 12 nuts.lo5 In 1917, 4,650 trees yielded 411,913 nuts, an increase of 358,398 nuts over the 1916 yields. A large proportion of these were infected by insects because they became over-ripe. This was a result of inadequate labour to handle the very large kola crop. A large quantity of spoiled

Agricultural Experimental Station at the Dwaben, Oil Palm Plantation, Dwaben, and at the Akwanserem Oil Palm Plantation, al1 in the Ashanti region of present day Ghana in January/February 1995; See also Ossei, "Cola-Some Aspects of Its Cultivation," p. 96.

lo2~eckeland Schlagdenhauffen, "Sorne African Kolas," p. 584.

lo3N .A.G (Kumasi) D. 1346, Botanic Gardens, Aburi-Gold Coast, 30/11/1905.

lo4N .A.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/93, Departmental Reports, 1916, p. 28.

lo5bl.~.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/93, Departmental Reports 1916, nuts were split and dried, and 8 cwts. of such dried nuts

were on hand at the end of year.lo6

To control disease, trees can be thinned out to prevent

contact with one another, thereby lessening the transfer of diseases £rom one tree to the other.

Other factors such as climatic changes (excessive rainfall for example) and overcrowding affected kola yields. The 1916 kola crop at the Aburi gardens, for example, was lower than the 1915 crop. In addition, the trees fruited later than usual. In al1 148,702 nuts made up of 29,922 large nuts, 53,463 medium and 65,317 srnall ones were collected. 'O7 Thus the average yield of numbered trees at

Aburi decreased from an average of 847 nuts per tree in 1916 to only 687 in 1917. In aggregate terms, a plantation of fifteen year old trees produced a total of 211,169 nuts in

1917 as compared to 411,913 for 1916.'08 Similarly, at

Tarkwa, 29 acres of trees planted in 1909 which produced

287,605 nuts in 1915 and 148,702 in 1916 yielded only

lo6N.~.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/93, Departmental Reports, 1916, p. 30. lo7N.A.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/93, Departmental Reports, 1916, p. 35. lo8~.A.~(Accra) ADM 5/1/94 Departmental Reports 1917. 119,074 nuts in 1917.~~'

Other areas of the country also experienced a decrease in kola yields between 1916 and 1917. In a kola plantation

at Kibbi, 35 trees (i.e. 20.7 per cent of the whole plot)

yielded 153 nuts of which 69.2 per cent were white. Il0 90

nurnbered trees produced a total yield of 61,844 nuts which

was less than the previous year by 14,418 nuts. Three other

trees produced over 2000 each and thirteen others 1,000.

The highest individual yield was 3,400 nuts.

This aggregate decrease in production was attributable

largely to excessive rain which militated against the

setting of fruits. Similarly, overcrowding of trees was

another important factor which limited crop yields. In

overcrowded conditions, kola fruits developed at the epices

of branches, and this created problems for fruit setting.

Overcrowding also perrnitted the branches of adjacent trees to overlap and in addition, the kola trees fought for the soi1 nutrients. Consequently, kola yield or output was minimal. '11 Thus, to offset this problem, periodic thinning of trees was gradually undertaken.

lo9~.A.G (Accra) Departmental Reports 1917, ADM 5/1/94, p. 7.

ll'~.~.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/94 Departrnental Reports 1917. Two other major factors were found to militate against the productivity of kola trees - self-incompatibility and sterility. M. Bodard reported that self-incompatibility of

kola was total in ~dted'Ivoire.l12 He also showed that

"pollination with compatible pollen, a few hours after pollination with incompatible pollen, resulted in fruit formation. "Il3 Eijnatten found out that 76 per cent of trees £rom the kola population of Nigeria were incompatible. 11 4

These technical details of kola are significant for this study because they raise questions about the extent to which kola producers consciously expanded production in the second half of the nineteenth century. The various details of output demonstrate what farmers could do and what they could not do. For example, producers understood well the importance of thinning trees, whether or not they had mastered the techniques of grafting. They certainly

11ZM . Bodard, "Contributions a l'etude systematique du genre Cola en Afrique Occidentle," Annales Fac. Sci., University of Dakar, 1962; idem "Contributions a l'etude de cola nitida: Croissance et Biologie Florale," Centre Rech. Agron. Bingerville, Bull. 11 (1955): 3-28.

'l4v.J. Jacob, "Pollination Fruit Setting and Incompatibility," Incompatibility Newsletter, 12 (1980), pp. 50-56; C.L.M Van Eijnatten, Kola: Its Botany and Cultivation. Cocoa Research Institute of Niaeria, Memo No. understood the importance of intercropping in tropical rain conditions. Table 2a - Kola Yields in Ghana

KOLA - Best Selected Plants

LABOZHIE WHITE (374 trees)

Rows Plant No. No. Of Pods

19

6

15

15

15

12

5

19

11

18

get kola farmers to adopt specific practices with a view to improving kola yields.

Harvest

The kola farmer must allow the fruits to attain the right degree of maturity. A lot of wastage occurs if kola

is harvested prematurely. Entire harvests were lost in the

past. On the other hand, delayed harvest also results in weevil infestation.

The kola tree is usually very ta11 (sometimes up to 50

feet) so a climbing rope, behoma, was often used to scale the tree. Kola was harvested in the same way as cocoa. The

nuts are ready for harvest when the bright green coats

darken to an inconspicuous pale green or light brown and

begin to dehisce and drop.'16 A harvesting hook or a long picker or picking knife on a pole (kotokro) made £rom the branches of the raffia palm, and known in Ghana as "go-to-

115~nterviewwith Messrs Anin-Agyei and Forster at the Dwaben Oil Palm Plantation on January 28, 1995. 1 was informed that the plantation lost an entire kola crop in storage in 1992. ll61rvine, West African Crops. vol.2. (London: Oxford University Press, 1969), p.22; T. Quarcoo, "Processing of Kola in Nigeria." in Proqress in Tree Crop Research in Nigeria. (Cocoa, Kola and Coffee) (Ibadan: Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, 1971), p. 113. heli., "Il7 was used in plucking kola from the branches.l18 However, the nuts were also allowed to drop £rom the trees and are then collected by the farmers, and especially women and children.'lg The kola harvesting season lasted from September to January. The peak period was in October and tapered off in December. A small mid-season crop was harvested in late May and June.lZ0 This pattern has changed very little up to this day. The literature on kola production in West Africa

117This long 'picker knife,' was given the name "go to hell" (Egya pini no ho) because red ants made their home in kola trees and often bit those who climbed the trees. Thus, anybody who climbed the trees to pick kola would often be going to 'meet the demons of hell' - the attack of a \colonyf of ants. In the past some people used to besmear themselves with ash before they climbed kola trees to pluck the nuts. This was designed to keep away the ants. Information from personal interviews at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation. '"J.s. Beidu, A Study of Cola Production and Sale in the Bechem, Tepa and Sunyani District, Brong Ahafo (1.A.S., University of Ghana, Legon, 1966), p. 7; Interview with Messrs. Anin-Agyei and Forster at the State Oil Palm Plantation, Dwaben on February 25, 1997. See also The Ghana Farmer, 1, 6 (1957), p. 222; The picking knife, kotokro, is usually a long pole bearing a curved knife blade at the tip; See also Ossei, "Cola - Some Aspects of Its Cultivation," p. 97.

"g~ssei,'Cola - Some Aspects of Its Cultivation," p. 97; Beidu, "Study of Kola Production," [p. 41. lZO~eidu,"Study of Kola Production", p. 4; See also The Ghana Farmer, 1, 6 (l957), p. 223; Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 584. indicates that there are two main harvesting seasons or two

crops were harvested each year. However, in the 1960s, some of Beidu's informants at Techimentia asserted that as many

as five crops could be harvested in a year. These were: the main crop Abiribiri (plenty) which began in October or early

November; Awia bese (sunny kola) which was harvested in

February or early March; Nkyerkye bese (squirrel kola), in

April or early May.12' In addition to these three, others mentioned Nnsuusu bese (June) and Kofitemu (October). 122 According to Beidu, it was alleged that farmers concerned themselves more with Abiribira or the main crop because the nuts were very big, (besebo) and they sometimes paid little attention to the other crops unless kola was very scarce. 123 On the other hand, Kurt Krieger mentioned three harvests a year - jan klaraqo (first on the market) in October and November; gama gari (fills the town) in January and

February, and nata (last harvest) in A~ri1.l~~ Decadal figures collected at the Dwaben State Oil Palm

12'~eidu, "Study of Kola Production," p. 5. l2'P?ana Oppong Anansre, Akwamuhene of Techirnentia, interviewed by Beidu in 1966.

123~eidu,"Study of Kola Production," p. 5.

l2'IXurt Kreiger, "Kola Karawanen," p. 293. The last type is very susceptible to the attack of the kola worm. Plantation show that there are more than two major seasons

or crops because kola is harvested almost throughout the

year .12' Different areas, however, have slightly different

kola harvesting seasons which conform to the geographical

and climatic pattern.

In the principal kola areas in Asante, the nuts were

generally picked by the owner who prepared them for sale.

Sometimes, the owner would also sublet his trees to another

who would do this work for one-half of the crop. 126

Very little damage was done to the crop during the

regular harvesting season. However, if the fruits are left

on the trees until they becorne fully ripe, weevils play

havoc with the 'nuts. lZ7

Harvest Management

The kola pods were collected and heaped together at one place and cracked open by women and children with cutlasses.

After harvesting, the nuts were "skinned." Skinning involved removing the tough, white pulpy coating or testa

itsFieldwork Notes, data collected at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation.

'26~nnualReport on the Sscial and Economic Progress of the People of the Gold Coast 1933-34. (Accra: Government Printer) , p. 23.

'27~.A.G. (Accra) ADM 5/1/93 Departmental Report 1916. (bese hono) surrounding the nuts prior to sale to the kola buyers. This was, and still is, usually done by women and children.12' The women bought the kola which had been

rernoved £rom the pods, peeled off the tough white pulpy

coating and sold them for a profit to the buyers. 12' On the

other hand, the pulpy-coated nuts could be heaped in small

piles under trees for a few days to allow the coating to ferment. This process aided the removal of the white coating - by simply rubbing. In other instances, the fleshy

seed coat was removed by soaking it in water for about a day

and drying in the Sun for another day. For this

contribution to kola processing, women and children were given the cracked and weeviled nuts, which, they in turn, sold to local traders.130 Peeled nuts were sold at a higher price than unpeeled nuts. 131 Pre-skinning in Ghana and Nigeria involved soaking

-- - 128~ieldworkNotes: at Nkawkaw on the Kumasi-Accra road, 1 conversed with women who were skinning nuts. Interview with Abiba Nalayeh and Abena Musa at Nkawkaw on March 21, 1995. 12'!?ield observation and interviews at Nkawkaw with Abena Musa and Abiba Nalayeh, kola traders, on March 21, 1997. 13'~eidu, "Study of Kola Production, " p. 7. 13'1nterview with Abiba Nalayeh and Abena Musa on March 21, 1995; See also Beidu, "Study of Kola Production," p. 7. the nuts in water for 18-24 hours, leaving unskinned nuts in baskets, heaping unskinned nuts on the ground with occasional moistening, and burying them in moist sand to soften the testa by partial decomp~sition.~~~If the kola pods were dehusked immediately after harvest, the seeds were often attacked by fungi. Fungal deterioration depended in a large measure on environmental conditions during post- harvest handling and storing.133 Skinned nuts were washed in water and collected in baskets through which excess water drained off. The nuts were then spread on a mat (asrene) under a shade for 2-3 hours. At this point, defective nuts were picked out and good nuts were placed in unlined baskets and covered lightly with banana leaves for about five day~.'~~This process is called curing. It involved considerable "sweating" to reduce the moisture in the nuts. It was, and still is, a very important and delicate process . Excessive loss

132~rogressin Tree Crop Research in Nigeria (Ibadan: Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, 1971), p. 114. 133~.A. A. Oludernokun and D. McDonald, "Effects of temperature and relative Humidity on Mould Deterioration of Stored Kola Nuts, Cola Nitida," Plant Disease Reporter, 60, 12 (December l976), p. 1008.

13's.~. Adenikinju, K. Badaru & C.R. Obatolu, "Harvesting, Processing and Storage of Cacao, Kola. Coffee, and Tea," ~rogressin ~ree~ro~Research, p. 51. moisture often resulted in wrinkled and dried nuts. After

curing, the nuts were transferred into baskets lined with

Mitraygna ciliata, leaves which resist rot. Partially-dried

banana leaves were also sometimes used. 135

Post-Earves t Management

Fermentation and Preservation of kola

Kola nuts were carefully picked and damaged and worrn- eaten nuts were separated from whole nuts. The healthy nuts are then stored in large baskets made £rom the raffia palm, lined with plantain, partially-dried banana, milnerhead or benth (anwonomoo) or mitrayqna ciliata 1ea~es.I~~The baskets were then covered up with more leaves and a little water was sprinkled over them to keep the nuts £rom drying. The baskets were kept in well shaded places in compounds or often under special huts (apata), roofed with leaves to keep out the Sun. To prevent an exposure of the preserved nuts to Sun and air, the tops of the baskets (nkonno) were often

'36~herationale behind the use of the plantain or benth leaves (anwonomoo) leaves is to keep the nuts £rom contact with dry air, according to informants at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation and Kotokoli women at Obuasi interviewed on March 28, 1995. See also Beidu, "Study of kola Production, " p. 8. covered with rags and stones are placed on them.137 Routine

picking was done almost every four weeks to check weevil

damage and fresh leaves are used to cover the baskets. 138

The nuts "mature" in storage and were sprinkled with water

from time to time to prevent "sweating" or drying out. In

that state, they could be kept and transported for a long

time, and over long distances. The olci measure, the apakan

- a spindle-shaped basket holding eighty pounds (80 lbs.) -

is now rarely seen. This was a convenient head load.13'

Care was taken to ensure the preservation of kola.

This was done in numerous ways. Kola nuts were stored in dry ground about 6-9 inches below the surface. In this instance, a layer of nuts was spread out on dry soi1 and covered up with a six -inch layer of soil;l40 in other instances, kola was stored in ant hills.141 Preserved nuts were carefully tended to prevent rot. Care was taken to preserve the nuts because preserved nuts surpass fresh nuts

t37Beidu, "Study of Kola Production," p. 9.

138~heGhana Farmer, 1, 6 (1957), p. 223; Heckel & Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 555.

13'~heGhana Farmer, 1, 6 (1957), p. 223.

14oBeidu, "Kola Production, " p. 9.

1411rvine, West African Crops. p. 23. in flavo~r.'~~The nuts were also stored in large baskets of

raffia palm mats, and to a lesser extent, in sacks also

lined with plantain, milnerhead or benth 1ea~es.l~~

Pests

Apart £rom the low fertility of many kola trees, the

other most important problem that hampered the economic

production of kola nuts both in the field and during storage

was weevil infestation. Various scientists have shown that

the principal pest of kola nuts in tropical Africa was, and

still is, Sophrorhinus insperatus (Faust); 144 but Ghana,

Nigeria and other kola-producing African countries

Sophrorhinus quadricristatus (Faust) S. qbaniaensis (sp. nov) and Balanogastris kolae De~br.,~~~are also dangerous.

143~ieldworkObservation. Interview at Obuasi with Kola traders who were storing kola in their compound house prior to retailing the kola.

144H . Alibert and A. A. Mallamaire, "Les Characons de la Noix de Cola en Afrique: Moyens de le Combattre," Bull. Prof. Veg. Gouv. Gen. Occ. Franc. Dir. Gen. Serv. Econ. Insp. Gen. Agric., 29 (1955): 69-88; B.M. Gesard, "The Control of Balanogastris Kolae (Debsr. ) And Sophrorhinus Insperatus (Faust) (Coleoptera: Curculioidae) in Srna11 Samples of Stored Kola Nuts Using Phosphine," Bull. Entomol. Soc. Niger, 1 (1967): 43-48.

14'~jibola M. Daramola, "Preliminary Studies on the Control of Kola Weevils by Gamma Radiation in Nigeria," p. 24; T.C.N. Ndubuaku, "Economic Insect Pests of Kola," Soprorhinus quadricristatus is the largest in size and the most destructive of the kola ~eevi1s.l~~Unlike other

weevils, S. quadricristatus bores into the kola husk to

infest the nuts. The holes later become channels of

infestation by other weevils .147 In Guinea, Cote dfIvoire, Nigeria, and Ghana weevil infestation of 34-70 per cent and

100 per cent were recorded in the past, whenever there was a

late hal-~est.'~~Multiple infestation of nuts in the field

and field-infestation sometimes persisted for a period of 3-

4 months in ~torage.'~~ Weevil infestation was controlled by gathering fruits

from the trees as they mature, allowing no seeds to remain

on the ground under the trees or in the plantation, cracking open the kola fruits outside the plantations and burying al1

Progress of Tree Crop Research. p. 115. ld6~jibolaM. Daramola, "Studies on the Reactions of the Large Kola Weevil, Sophrorhinus quadricrista t us Faust to Moisture and Temperature, Nigerian Journal of Entomoloqy, 4 (1983), p. 106.

147~aramola,'Studies On the Reactions of the Large Kola Weevil," p. 106.

14'~jibola M. Daramola, Preliminary Studies on the Control of Kola Weevils by Gamma Radiation in Nigeria. (Department of Agricultural Biology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria), p. 24. discarded seed~.'~~Methylbromide and aluminium phosphide

(fumigants) were used in the early twentieth century to

control weevils but due to the fear of pesticide residue the

use of these chernicals was not strongly encouraged.lS1 Before

then there does not seem to have been any means to control

weevils other than careful handling of nuts.

Kola trees affected by the root diseases manifested an unhealthy looking foliage initially and trees with full

crowns manifested extensive nut and root decay which were visible in the form of a pink to violet stain in a

longitudinal section of the main root. The rnost effective

method of detecting the disease was by collar inspection. 152 Like cocoa and rubber, the incidence of root disease in kola

was highest where there was contact between the roots of

kola trees and forest trees which serve as hosts to the pathogens. lS3 In these instances, farmers cleared such trees

away £rom the kola trees.

lSO~.~.~.(Accra) ADM 5/1/95 Departmental Reports 1918, p. 21.

152~.~.Odebode & O.A. Olunloyo, "Important Diseases of Kola," Progxess in Tree Crop Research. p. 111; A A Adebayo, "Studies on the Fomes root diseases of Kola," pp. 11-15. Very little information was obtained £rom the responses

of Asante kola farmers to questions about how they coped the

attack of the destructive kola pests. However, if responses

to other pest attacks are anything to go by, one can surmise

that farmers cut down those kola trees that had been

seriously affected by insect or fungal attack. In addition,

it is also likely that they "sprayed" some of the diseased

tree with ashes to drive away the pests.

Conclusion

This chapter has examined kola nut production £rom cultivation to the end of the fermentation period when the

nuts are ready for the market (i.e. from producer to

consumer). First, the geological conditions which

facilitated the cultivation of kola were discussed. Second, methods of propagation were examined to show the types used by farmers and agricultural researchers. The point was made

that low yields of kola trees, coupled with a high preponderance of sterile kola trees, resulted in cloning for greater yields. Finally, harvesting, fermentation and preservation methods were described to delineate one of the major problems which bedevil kola farmers - insect infestation of kola nuts.

It is worthy of note that the technology of production has undergone some important changes in recent decades.

However, the description presented in this chapter applied

to the period of kola production under imperial Asante rule as well as the period under colonial rule after 1874. Under imperial rule, the Asante state administered the trade to the north tightly, which benefitted the core region of production. But in the afterrnath of the Asante defeat in

1874, such tight control was no longer possible. Some kola began to be taken by sea to Lagos and other places. As demand increased, kola production expanded to new area that previously had not been important in the kola trade. CHAPTER TWO

ASANTE ORGANISATION OF THE NORTHERN KOLA TRADE

The forest and the savanna regions of Africa have been complementary in some basic natural products. This

complernentarity and the requirements of the forest and savanna dwellers stimulated long distance exchange between the Volta basin and the Inner Niger Niger basin.' Gold,

kola nuts and salt, constituted the most important items of medieval trade in the Volta Basin.* The Asante kola trade

of the nineteenth century utilised and built on these early links which existed in the Volta basin.

This chapter examines the organisation of the northern

l~eeKwame Arhin, "Savanna Contribution to the Asante Political Economy," in Enid Schildkrout, The Golden Stool: Studies in the Asante Centre and the Periphery (~ewYork: The Arnerican Museum of Natural History. Vol. 65, Pt. 1, 1987), p. 51; Dixon Denham, Hugh clapperton, and Walter Oudney, Narrative of Travels and Discoveries in Northern and Central Africa in the Years 1822, 1823, and 1824 (London, 1828), pp. 68, 75, 282; Richard Lander, Records of Captain Clapperton's Last Expedition to Africa ... with the Subseauent Adventures of the Author I (London, l83O), pp. 126, 141, 372; Robin Hallet, (ed.), The Niger Journal of Richard and John Lander (London, 1965); Joseph Dupuis, Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London, 1894); T. E. Bowdich, Mission

From Ca~eCoast to Ashantee 3rd. edn., (London. 19661.- - ,- Eva ~e~erowitz,The Early History of the ~kan tat tés of Ghana (London: Red Candle Press, 1974). 'J.K. Fynn, Asante and Its Neighbours.1700-1807 (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 19711, p. 3; Wilks, "Medieval Trade to the Niger," Journal of African History, 2 (1969): 337-341. axis of the kola trade from Asante, and the trade to the Sokoto Caliphate in particular. First, it seeks to

establish that by 1865, as Lovejoy has previously argued,3

the Asante kola industry was expanding, and during the

nineteenth century, state support stimulated the northern kola trade. Before 1820, Hausa operations were closely

associated with the Juula diaspora, but from the middle of

the nineteenth century, Hausa commercial networks dominated the Niger Valley. This occurred at a time when Asante had

shifted production from slave export to kola prod~ction.~ It argues that an analysis of the Asante kola trade cannot

be confined to the enabling role of the state in

establishing law and order, transport and communications.

Rather, an active intervention of the state (both at the

centre and the periphery of Asante administration) was

crucial in generating and maintaining the conditions for the production and marketing of kola. These interventions included control over trade routes, changes in the terms on which indigenous people and strangers could engage in the trade, taxation and provision of capital to the professional traders, the Asante abatadifo, to exploit the advantages of

3~ovejoy,Caravans. pp. 113-118 4 See Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 35-44. the excess of dernand over the supply of kola.' An analysis

of these changes will help to understand the increase in

kola production in the period under study. Apart £rom state intervention, private enterprise - indigenous and foreign - played a very important role in the kola trade.

Unfortunately, not much emphasis has been put on this

dimension of the Asante kola trade in particular and long- distance trade in general.

The chapter will first look at kola trade in the Volta

Basin and show how it set the stage for the expansion in the Asante kola trade to the north in the nineteenth century to satisfy the changing consumer demand of the time. Second,

it will discuss in detail the role of the major producer,

Asante, in the northern trade. This will be examined frorn the levels of both state as well as private initiatives as

engines to the growth and sustenance of the kola trade. Third, the contributions of other ethnic groups, particularly Hausa, - strangers - and itinerant traders as well as autochthonous Ghanaians - will also be analysed. The existence of an established network of Muslim merchants in the middle Volta basin and beyond set the stage for

The analysis draws on the earlier works of Wilks. See Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 414-476. See also Forests of Gold. pp. 151-156. Asante political measures to control the kola trade. It will be established that the role of the Sokoto Caliphate in

Asante historiography has been downplayed by several s~holars.~Fourth, the currencies and the items which were involved in the trade will be described in detail.

History of the Kola Trade in the Volta Basin

Evidence from Pacheco Pereira's Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis published between 1501-1508, on information apparently £rom

Gambian merchants, attests to the existence of the West African kola trade as early as the late fifteenth century.

He indicated that if one wished to buy a slave one first inspected him or her and bargained for the price which was paid after one had disposed of one's kola for cowries, for it was with the latter that one paid for the slave.' Mahmud Kati also asserts that the kola trade was evident in Mansa Musats time.8 A materia medica written in 1586 by al-

Ghansani, a doctor, to the Moroccan Sultan Ahmed al-Mansur,

This is in spite of the seminal work of Marion Johnson. See Marion Johnson, Salaga Papers (Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1965). 2 vols. 7~uartePacheco Pereira, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis (trans.), G.H.T. Kimble, Hakluyt, 2"*. series, LXXIX, 1937. Kati, Tarikh al-Fattash. also mentions the fact that kola came from the Western

Sudan, from "a place called ~itu' where there are mines of

gold and gold dust ."1° Several references therefore suggest the existence of an established kola trade by the 16th century .

The Kola Trade and the Political Economy of Asante.

In addition to consolidating access to the sea, Asante developed a northern policy which commenced with the incorporation of Bono and the surrounding region into its hegernony by 1721. Asante encouraged the location of the major trade exchange centres outside "Greater Asante." These included first, , but in the nineteenth century most importantly at Salaga. Only in 1874, after the British conquest created an unstable political climate did Asante establish a major centre south of the Black Volta River at

Kintampo." Thus, the major kola markets lay to the north of metropolitan Asante.''

"itu is Begho in the middle Volta. 'Owilks, Early Dyula Towns, Unpublished Seminar Paper, 1969, p. 15.

"~rantois J. Kense, 'The Impact of Asante on Trade Patterns of Northern Ghana and ," in Schildkrout (ed.), The Golden Stool. pp. 29-35. I2~rhinr"Transit Markets in the Asante Hinterland in The consequence of the Asante conquests was the incorporation of the political economies of the conquered

States into a vast interlocking grid which transcended the

Volta basin and spread into the Niger bend. In the process,

Asante thus shaped its economy in ways consistent with the geographical concept of central place theory. The theory concerns the study of retail activities and the location of market centres. To some scholars, this form of organisation results in the subordination of the laws of demand and supply to a process by which the state seeks ways and means of providing for the welfare of the majority of its citizens. By this, accessibility to services is maximised through the elimination of duplication and overlap in the distribution of service centres and the organization of administrative territories.13 In the case of Asante, this process benefited the state. By regulating the market in this way, state traders were given priority in access to markets. The profits thus made reverted back to the state and the Asantehene used these to finance "state projects."14 the late 19th. Century," ODU. A Journal of West African Studies, (April 1974) : 5-22. 13see M. Chisolm, "In Search of a Basis for Location Theory: Macroeconomics or Welfare Economics," Proqress in Geoqraphy, 3 (1971): 111-133. Asante in the Nineteenth Century. Thus, the major concern of Asante after the initial

period of consolidation in the eighteenth century was to

secure control of the trade routes to the north and a

guarantee of the supply of guns and gunpowder (supplied by

Europeans) in the south. The Asante thrust to the north-

west ended in the early eighteenth century. It had been

prompted by a desire to control the southern section of the

ancient route to the Niger, especially the important

commercial centre of Begho, the southernmost settlement of

the Juula merchants.15 Thus, Asante obtained a footing in

the vast trade network which covered a large section of the

Western Sudan, and which was in the hands of Muslims. In

the end, Asante conquests not only gave her control over the

trade routes and trading centres to the north (Kafaba,

Salaga and later Yendi), but also the north-east and north-

west.16 The economic importance of Greater Asante lay in

idem "Aspects of Bureaucratization in Ashanti in the ~ineteenthCentury," Journal of African History, 7, 2 (1966) : 215-232; Kwame Arhin, "The Structure of Greater Ashanti (1700-1824)," Journal of African History, 8, 1 (1967) : 65-85.

'5~ilks,Dyula Towns. pp. 17-20; idem, See also M. Posnansky, The Origins of West African Trade (Legon, 1971).

I6~rhin,"Savanna Contributions to the Asante Political Economy," in Schildkrout (ed.), The Golden Stool. p. 52; Wilks, The Nowthern Factor in Ashanti History (Legon: University of Ghana, 1961 unpublished); idem, The Northern Factor in Ashanti History: Begho and the Mande," Journal of the establishment of relative peace and order over a wide area which made possible Asante exploitation of the resources and skills of both the Asante and other forest peoples on the one hand, and the conquered savanna people on the other. Therefore, Greater Asante became the political basis of an Asante trading system which covered the entire

Volta Basin. l7

The transformation of the Asante state from kingdom to empire in the eighteenth century had an impact on the northern kola trade in a major way. Asante conquests of the

Brong and Abron to the north-east and north-west, and the Gonja and Dagomba districts facilitated the forest-savanna exchanges, especially in kola nuts which became the backbone of the noxthern trade and contributed to the welfare of the

Asante people. The demand for kola nuts by the peoples of the savanna and desert regions stimulated a continuous trade between the forest and the savanna. Furthermore, it led to the creation of a diaspora of zongos or tradersr outposts along the trade routes £rom the Brong districts to

-African History 2, 1 (1966): idem, "A Medieval Route From the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea," Journal of African Historv, 3, 2 (1962): 337-341. 17~heconcept of Greater Asante was used by Kwame Arhin to encompass Asante and its dependencies. the Mande, Hausa and Mossi co~ntries."~~This demand

cweated a favourable balance in favour of Asante and the forest producers. 19 By the early 19'" century, Asante promoted this growth in trade through state policies which were designed to protect the kola trade and ensure that the "professional

class" working for the state enjoyed advantages over other

traders.20 Asante controlled the trade by ensuring that northern traders did not come south of Salaga, nor Coast

traders go to the north until after 1876. It is more likely

though, that coastal traders could travel further, but northern traders could not even come to Krachi.*l

Asante maintained tight control over the northern trade

in "Greater Asante." Officiais stationed in the conquered

"~shin, 'Savannah Contributions," in Schildkrout (ed.) The Golden Stool. pp. 51-52; see also Bowdich, Mission From Cape Coast. m. 169-182. lg~rhin,"Savannah Contributions," in Schildkrout, The Golden Stool. p. 52. 20~childkrout,The Golden Stool. pp. 109-130 Wilks, Asante. pp. 445-455; idem, Forests of Gold. pp. 155-6; idem, "Aspects of Bureaucratization," pp. 215-232; Arhin, "The Structure of Greater Ashanti 1700-1824," Journal of African History, VI11 (1967): 65-85. 21~.~.Bonnat, "Journey With Robert Bannerman of Accra and Ada, " L' Explorateur, 1876; See also Johnson, "Ashanti East of the Volta," Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, VI11 (1965): p. 42. territories were used to control trade. In addition, favourable conditions were created for Asante state traders." It is very significant to note that the income from the kola trade led to active market activity in other comrnodities both from the north as well as £rom the coast.

It provided the capital which made other exchanges possible and at the end of the nineteenth century, facilitated the changeover to cocoa production. Furthermore, foreigners were prevented from entering the "inner provinces" with a view to ensuring Asante monopoly in the domestic markets. 23

Finally, the Asante government regulated the importation of certain commodities such as salt from Daboya with a view to protecting its own producers. 2 4 This control over trade was a source of cornplaint by chiefs who resented the Asante ability to dictate not only the terms of trade but more importantly, the direction of the trade. For exarnple, King

Inkansa of Adansi complained to Captain Rupert La

Trobe Lonsdale in 1881 that:

22~ilk~,Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 267-270; Kense, "The Impact of Asante on the Trade Patterns of Northern Ghana and Ivory Coast, " in Schildkrout (ed. ) , The Golden Stool. p. 33; See also Adjei, Diplomacy and Diplomats in Nineteenth Century Asante (Lanham and London, 1984).

23~ense,'The Impact of Asante on the Trade Patterns of Northern Ghana and Ivory Coast," p. 33. the market which had formerly been at Edubiasi, where Ashantis and Adansis met and traded, had been removed by the king of Ashanti to Akankowasi, to which place the Adansis were not permitted to 40 - 2 5 King Inkansa obviously enjoyed a sizeable revenue from tolls and duties collected from traders when the market was at

Edubiasi, and therefore, resented the removal of the market to Akankowasi and the loss of revenue accruing from the

trade. Akankowasi, though a very small town, was of tremendous importance as a trading centre. It was more of a

relay centre where non-Asante traders sold their goods. 26

Most merchandise, especially imported goods, cost more in

Kumasi (25 to 50 per cent) than they did at Akankowa~i.~'

People from the surrounding towns and villages congregated

for the Friday market. Even though the town was under the control of the Akankowasi chief, several Asante court

25(~.--3386): 4466, 1882, XLVI; Report of Captain La Trobe Lonsdale of his Mission to Coomassie, Salagha, Yendi, &c.; October 1881 to February 1882; encl. #2 in # 42; Samuel Rowe to Earl Of Kimberley, 10 May 1882.

26(~.--3386): 4466, 1882, XLVI; Report of Captain La Trobe Lonsdale of his Mission to Coomassie, Salagha, Yendi, &c.; October 1881 to February 1882; encl. #2 in # 42; Samuel Rowe to Earl Of Kimberley, 10 May 1882.

27 (C.--3386) : 4466, 1882, XLVI; Report of Captain La Trobe Lonsdale of his Mission to Coomassie, Salagha, Yendi, &c.; October 1881 to February 1882; encl. #2 in # 42; Samuel Rowe to Earl Of Kimberley, 10 May 1882. officials were permanently stationed there to decide petty

cases, and report al1 they thought of sufficient importance

to Kumasi. It is likely that these officials were also

responsible for collecting the Asanteheners share of tolls

and duties. The intervention of the Asante court in the economic

activities of Edubiase was part of the Asante plan to control and CO-ordinate al1 trading activities in Greater

Asante. More importantly, the removal of the market to

Akankowasi which was about one and a half dayls journey £rom

Kumasi, was designed to ensure closer monitoring of the trade as well as to keep a close eye on traders from the

coast, especially at this time when the Asante court was

concerned about the breakaway territories. Thus, Asante

controlled the trade, trade routes and markets in order to maximise the returns accruing £rom the kola trade.

Kola and State Policy

The Asante socio-political structure was such that

there was complementarity between office holding and wealth.

The state, therefore, appropriated the profits of long- distance trade in order to maintain the wealth and splendour of the Asantehene's court. J.E. Casely Hayford captured the

Asante policy towards trade when he wrote that: It was part of the State System of Ashanti to encourage trade. The King once in every forty days, at the Adai custom, distributed among a number of chiefs various sums of gold dust with a charge to turn the same to good account. These chiefs sent ... caravans of tradesmen, some of whom would be their slaves, sometimes two to three hundred strong, to barter ... or buy such goods with gold dust, which the King obtained £rom the royal alluvial workings ... The trade Chiefs would, in due course, render a faithful account to the King's stewards, being allowed to retain a fair portion of the profit. In the King's household, too, he would have special men who directly traded for him. Important Chiefs carried on the same system of trading with the coast as did the King. Thus every member of the State, from the King downwards, took an active interest in the promotion of trade and in the keeping open of the trade routes into the interi~r.~~ This observation also applied to the kola trade. The state provided some official and traders with the capital for trade to Salaga and other northern markets. Asante proverbs encapsulate Asante attitude towards commercial activity and wealth, and, therefore underscore the rationale behind Asante policies towards the northern kola trade. These proverbs include: Sika nko adidi nsan mma

28~.~.Casely-Hayford, Gold Coast Native Institutions (London, 1903), pp. 95-96; See also F. Boyle, Throuqh Fanteland to Coomrnassie: A Diary of the Ashantee Expedition (London, 1874), pp. 109-110. kwa - money that is put out does not corne back with no profit; sika ne hene - money is king; sika ne biribiara - money surpasses everything; odehye wonnoa wonni, na sika ne

asem - nobility cannot be cooked and eaten; money is what its al1 about.29 Thus the Asante political economy was predicated on trade and ability in credit creation. This

the Asante governments did by sending out trade functionaries to trade in kola at Salaga. Asante had a hierarchy of administrative agencies in Kumasi to ensure that trade in kola and other commodities

was carried on unimpeded. They included the akwanmofo,

nkwansrafo and asok~afo.'~ Among the three groups, the

great roads (akwantenpon) to the North were kept open for

trade purposes. The akwanmofo (road clearing people)

regularly inspected the roads. In the eighteenth century, they charged a fee of two fowls and one thirty-second of an

29~ohannGottlieb Christaller, A Collection of Three Thousand and Six Hundred Tschi Proverbs (Basel, 1879); R.S. Rattray, Ashanti Psoverbs (Oxford, 19161, # 648, 656 437. 30~oyalAnthsopological Society, Rattray Fieldnotes, hereafter cited as Rattray MS); Rattray, MS 107: 2; Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 268-9; idem, Forests of Gold. pp. 189-91; idem "Aspects of Bureaucratisation," Adjaye, Diplomacy and Diplomats; Kwame Arhin, The Development of market Centres at Atebubu and Kintampo Since 1874. (Ph.D. Thesis, University of London, 1969) . ounce of gold when villagers made complaints to them.31

They could also levy fines on the spot for each nuisance or

infraction that was regarding the roads . The

Apebosohene of Kumasi was the head of the Akwanmofo. 3 2

Recruited from the nseniefo (heralds) and afenasoafo

(messengers), the nkwansrafo - the road-guarding people -

located at various stages of the roads, screened traders,

collected tolls, seized contrabands and apprehended wanted

cri min al^.^^ The Batahene was the official responsible for

the nkwansrafo.

The asokwafo, on the other hand, were responsible for

the "logistics moving commodities kola] bulk

along the great-roads between Kumase and the distant

markets"34 to the north.

31~attray,MS 107:2; Ivor Wilks, Forests of Gold. p. 154; idem, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 268-9; C.C. Reindorf, History of the Gold Coast and Asante. Basel, 1895, p. 138.

32~attray,MS 107:2; Wilks, Forests of Gold p. 155; Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution. pp. 213-5.

33~attray,MS 107 :2; Wilks, Asante. pp.48-49.

34~attrayMS 107:2; Wilks, Asante. p. 36; idem, Forests of Gold. p.155; The asokwafo comprised of the ntaherafo, who served as the horn blowers and drummers; the anatafo, who were specifically concerned with the transportation of ammunition for the Asante army. Dennis M. Warren, sums up Asante control thus:

The Asantehene used to control al1 trade in and out of Ashanti (batadie); traditional trade routes carried Ashanti kola nuts to the north where they were exchanged for slaves, cattle, and shea butter ... The trading was run by a sub-chief, the batahene. An Ashanti man would carry one load of kola nuts (apakan), usually 2,000 to Salaga.35

Organisation of the kola trade

Market patterns in Africa such as periodicity, organisation into rings, circuits, relay and commodity

structure, have been examined by econornic historians. 3 6

Asamoah-Darko analyses market development and inter-market

relationships in Asante, especially the growth, hierarchy, distribution and functional relationships of Asante markets. 3 7 He notes that Asante markets developed, -sui qeneris, in substantial settlements rnainly for exchange purposes. Consequently, a market was built at Asantemanso,

35~ennisM. Warren, The Akan of Ghana. An Overview of Ethnographic Literature (Accra: Pointer Ltd., 1970).

36~.~.Newbury, " Credit in Early 19th Century West African Trade," Journal of African History XII1 1 (1972): pp. 81-95; Meillassoux, Trade and Markets. See also Arhin, "Market Settlements in North Western Ashanti: Kintarnpo," in J. Goody and K. Arhin (eds.), "Ashanti and the ort th- est," Research Review Supplement 1, (1965): 135-155; idem "Transit Markets in the Asante Hinterland in the Late lgth Century," ODU. A Journal of West African Studies 9 (April 1974): 5-22.

37~.Asamoah-Darko, "Market Development and Patterns in Ashanti," Bulletin of the Ghana Geographical Association, 15 (1973): 27-39. the Asante ancestral home near Asumeja; and another at

Adanse-Manso, the capital of Adanse. The latter was moved to Dompoase, the new capital, and later to Fomena. Thus, population dispersion £rom Asantemanso, Adansi and Denkyira culminated in the establishment of several markets and each principal settlement had a market (dwa) for the sale of local commodities, some imported commodities as well as for durbars .3 8 The desire to promote new outlets of trade led to an orientation of traffic towards the north and the north east.

This coincided with, and encouraged the immigration and settlement of Hausa traders in various towns in Gonja,

Dagomba, and elsewhere along the trade routes. This influx of Hausa merchants to Greater Asante increased from the beginning to the middle of the nineteenth century when the exportation of kola nuts to the Sokoto Caliphate continued to grow in volume. From the mid-19th century, , Juaben and Mampong served as the principal collecting centres for kola.39 Asante controlled kola sales through government

39~bid.;see also Edmund Abaka, "Boatloads of Kola: The Hausa Diaspora in Southern Ghana 1865-1920," Paper delivered at the African Forum and the Department of History, Florida International University on March 27, 1998. policies. By keeping the traders (especially Hausa) outside metropolitan Asante, the administration was able to control

kola supply to a considerable extent and thereby influence pri~e.~' State supplies of kola were obtained from kola plantations of state officials (worked by slaves) as well as from purchases by the state. These were despatched to

Salaga through state traders, and brought in substantial revenue to the Asante treasury. Thus, until 1874, Asante- administered northern trade maintained Salaga as an important trade entrepdt. After 1874, new trading centres emerged. Yendi and Kintampo surpassed Salaga when the famous marketing centre fell into r~in.~~In addition,

Krachi also developed into a vibrant commercial centre due largely to the work of Hausa traders, and to a limited extent, the attempt by the German colonial administration to divert the kola trade to German Togoland.

Even though K.Y. Daaku asserts that £rom the end of the

Atlantic slave trade, there was a decline in aggregate trade

- -- - - 40~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/22/1.

4'~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/21/2; SAL/17/9; Gouldsburyrs Report of his Journey into the Interior of the Gold Coast dd. Accra, 27 March 1876; P.R.O., C.O. 96.119 Nos. 5162/5, encl. in despatch, Governor Strahan to Lord Canarvon, dd. 30 April 1876, in SAL/11/1. on the Gold ~oast,~~the demand for kola nuts increased and

they were exchanged in ever-increasing quantities for Hausa

cloth, iron, leather products and other cornmoditie~.~~

Thus, between 1820 and 1874, Asante rulers intervened more

directly in the organisation of production and trade,

apparently as a means of compensating for losses resulting

from the abolition of the slave trade.

Every year when the kola crop was ripe the Asantehene

had the trade roads closed, sometimes up to 20 days, 4 4 until the chieffs carriers had sold their loads and returned to

A~ante.~~State traders were preceded by heralds and stool

carriers who carried afona as a sign that they were messengers of the chief. Participation in state trading brought attendant benefits and traders competed to carry the

chief's kola. This is because state traders had first access to the market. In this way, they received a much greater price for the kola which they carried for

42~aakuf"Aspects of Nineteenth Century Akan Trade,"

43 Daaku, "Aspects of Nineteenth Century Akan Trade," Wilks, "Asante Policy Towards Hausa Trade," in Meillassoux, The Development of lndigenous Trade pp. 124-139; Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 67, 113-125. 44~nformationprovided by K. Sapon who was interviewed by R.S. Rattray. Rattray, Asante Law and Constitution.

"~attra~~sFieldwork Notes, Rattray, MS 107 :2, p. 1774. See also Asante in the Nineteenth Century. p. 268. thern~elves.'~The money accruing from state trading was

paid into the Asante fotuo, treasury, and no chief was

allowed to open a fotuo for hirnself.*'

Al1 the roads to the North were guarded (for example at

Ejura and Atebubu)ss, and traders were detained until

inquiries had been made about them and they had paid money

to the heralds. Once State traders had sold their kola,

they could open the road. However, the road sometimes

remained closed so that the Amanhene of the other amantuo

states such as Juaben, Mampong and , could market

their kola as ~e11.~'This usually occurred when the

representatives of the Arnanhene gave the heralds a dash. The

latter would then let the kola through and keep the roads

closed until the kola was s01d.'~

After the state traders for both the Asantehene and the

Arnanhene had sold their kola, the roads were thrown open and

anyone could trade independently. However, the heralds

remained on duty and collected tolls for the Asantehene.

According to Abena Kete, the Queen mother of Bekwai, the

46~attray,MS 107:3, p. 1777.

47~attray,MS 107:3, p. 1777.

48See ((2-3386) 4466; 1882; XLVI, Lonsdale Report p. 5.

4g~attray,MS 107:2, p. 1774. heralds took a toll of 25 kola nuts out of every 2000, and

out of this, 20 nuts were handed over to the chief. on

the other hand, imports were encouraged into Asante by

waiving al1 duties on imports. No tax was put on imports

from the North."

At the height of Asante hegemony, Asante established

the town of Ahinkru (Kingstown), and stationed officials to

control the passage of arms and ammunition into Asante and prevent re-export North.53 However, the Asante

administration did not post Asante officials as Governors of

the conquered territories. It was attempted and stopped because the governors abused their power. Resentment of

Asante officials had a negative impact on Asante trade to the North and, consequently, a law was enacted barring an

Oheneba £rom visiting sirim (i.e. sarem or Northern

Territories) unless sent by the A~antehene.'~

53(~.--3386) 4466; 1882; XLVI; Lonsdale, Report of His Mission to Coomassie, Salgha, Yendi &c.; October 1881 to February 1882; encl. # 2 in # 42; Samuel Rowe to Earl of Kimberley, 10 May 1882, p. 5.

54 Rattray, MS 107:2, p. 1776 At , in Brong territory, the Asantehene's official was stationed as a road warden to oversee the road and collect ferry tolls of 25 units on every load of 2000 kola nuts sent to the north. Officiais were also stationed at

Ejura, and Donkoro on the Kintampo road to oversee the market. In addition, there were posts at Nyinasie (on the old road to Kintampo) and one at Jema near Kintampo.

These posts also served as frontier p~sts.'~In al1 these instances, the officials were responsible for trade and not political activity.

In the case of Nkoranza, the batafo and asokwafo went to Salaga to exchange tobacco and kola for slaves, fowls, and other cornmodities. These slaves became Gyase, s~bjects.~~Similarly, at Tekyiman, kola from Akumadan and wisa (Guinea grain) were traded for slaves, who were valued at about f 3-6 each at the end of the nineteenth century.

The second level of organisation of the northern trade was at the level of the Arnantuo states, that is, the states of metropolitan Asante. Unlike the other Amantoo states,

Bekwai, one of the largest, did not trade in kola. Rather, the districts of Bekwai participated directly in the trade to the north. The Bekwai asokwafo went to the coast to buy

cloth, beads, and salt, which they sent to Bonduku and

Salaga to sell for sidie (cowries) with which they bought

shea butter, slaves and kyekye (blue cloth), sandals, and

thread, for kente cloth. These articles were retailed in

other parts of the Asante polity, and profits went to the

stool. The asokwafo, as royal traders, received no pay, but

were allowed to trade for themselves, usually by way of a

small bundle of their own asitiri, i.e. something at the end

of a big load. Some made substantial profits and thus

became wealthy and acquired agyapadie."

Al1 trading by the chiefs of metropolitan Asante went

to the stool. The Asante idiom for a man being put on the

stool was ko die adie - literally, you made use of what your

predecessor had accumulated but you must replace that and

add more to it if p~ssible. As a result, al1 the chiefs of metropolitan Asante promoted the accumulation wealth

through the northern trade.

On the other hand, the chiefs had no monopoly over the

kola trade. Any subject could sell his kola at Salaga,

hence the proverb, womrnfa bodwese hunu nnko Salaga (that is,

"~attra~,MS 107:5, p. 174; MS 107:7, pp. 4-5. Agyapadie means property. The slave in this case was a property of the stool. one does not go to Salaga by merely wearing a beard). Some

of the stools acted as middlemen and mediated between the kola producers and buyers at Salaga. They bought from the farmers who wanted to avoid the journey to Salaga.58 When cocoa took precedence over kola the stools continued to trade in cocoa and kola.

In the case of the Kurnawu stool, the Batafohene was one of the asokwa, but each asafohene supplied four men to the batafohene each year to send on kola trading expeditions. An interesting difference between the and other stools was that the chief received a third (1/3) of each farrner's kola crop or a consolidated amount of money in lieu of kola. Thus, in Kumawu, the chief took about 3,000-8000 nuts from each farmer every year. s 9 From the Akwamu Gyaase, the chief took his load of kola, about 30-40 apakan. The chief would in turn dash him a peredwan,so because ~enkurn~',Nifa and ~~idom~~did not have

59~attray,Ashanti Law and Constitution. pp. 228-9. 6oOne peredwan (pereguan) is an Asante gold weight of about 21/4 troy ounces, and conventionally valued at £8 sterling in the nineteenth century. See Wilks, Asante. p. 729. 61Benkum is left, or left hand: the left wing of the Asante army. any kola on their land. As usual, the Asantehene would

close the road to get first market but later open the road

to the Kumawu afenasoafohene. No tax was levied on the kola because the Kumawu chief belonged to the kodia Amoampong

stool - Kumasi, Kumawu and Agona are said to have been

carved out of one blo~k.~~

Kwame Arhin distinguishes between two major classes of

Asante traders - the batafo (sing. batani) who were long- distance traders and dwadifo (sing. dwadini) who were interna1 traders operating within the confines of the Asante ern~ire.~'Arhin identifies three types of batafo or long distance traders. The first group of traders carried their kola to the marketing centres with a view to exchanging kola for specific goods. Arhin was informed in the late 1960s by an elder of Techimentia in Bon0 Ahafo that,

In the olden days the abusua would decide to - ... help themselves by donating [the equivalents of £1 or £21 to one mernber frorn the sale of kola in order to buy 4 to 6 slaves. In the following year they did the same to another member. As a result there are some mmusua (pl. of abusua) who had more than 20 slaves. These slaves had children and

62 rom the word "ekyi" (Twi) or "ekyir" (Fante). Thus, kyidom means rearguard.

"~rhin, "Aspects of Ashanti Northern Trade in the Nineteenth Century, " Af rica, XL, 4 (October 1970) , p. 365. made their master wealthy. 6 s

The informant was referring to the late 1870s and 80s. No mention is made of the specific use or uses to which these slaves were This type of kola trader is, therefore, not the permanent or continuous type of trader. His wowk is episodic and geared towards a specific end - acquisition of slaves to help with agriculture or trade.

The second type of batani was the Oman or state trader.

This type of trader was protected by Asante military and political control over the conquered provinces of Asante, especially in the north. Rattray points out that state trading was conducted by fekuo (bureaus or groups) who were generally subjects of the Gyaase (the Kings household).

These included, the akyeremadefo (drummers), the asokwafo

(hammock-carriers), and the agwarefo (bathroom attendants). Each year, the Asantehene sent out some of his subjects

(those in charge of the ankobea, unit of the Gyaase) in November to buy kola for sale at Salaga. Such official traders were accompanied by heralds with mfona, swords, to

65~rhin,"Aspects of Ashanti Northern Trade," p. 365. 66~videncesuggests that they were used in the production and reproduction of wealth - on kola farms, as carriers etc. show that they were royal traders. 6 7

The last traders (batadifo) were individuals

who traded either from the coast to the northern markets or

from the kola-producing areas to the northern markets.

Prince Owusu Ansah, a relation of Asantehene Kofi Karikari

(1867) who acted as an Asante envoy to the British

administration at the coast, was one such trader who traded

between Cape Coast and Bonduku through agents and hired

carriers.68 Similarly, Opanyin Awudu of Kintampo traded

between Salaga and Kintampo, selling kola for slaves at

Salaga and reselling the slaves at Kintampo. At the close

of the century, he collected rubber from the Nkoranza district and sold it in German Togoland at Lome. From Lome, he proceeded to Cape Coast to buy European goods for sale back at Kintarnp~.~~These two examples illustrate the activities individual professional traders involved

67~attray,MS 102:2; idem, Ashanti Law and Constitution. pp. 109-110; Arhin, "Aspects of Ashanti Northern traderu p. 366; Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 48-49; idem Forest of Gold. p. 155; Reindorf, History of the Gold Coast And Asante (Basel, 2nd ed., n.d. Repr. 1966, Accra: Ghana Universities Press). pp. 138-139.

68~.OWUSU Ansah, Letter to Administrator Moloney, 4.8.81 in PRO CO 879/191, cited in Arhin, "Aspects of Ashanti Northern Trade," p. 366.

690panyin Awudu was an elderly informant for Kwame Arhin at Kintampo. See Arhin, "Aspects of Ashanti Northern Trade," p. 366. continuous trading al1 year long, buying kola and other commodities in the wet season, assembling carriers, paadifo,

raising capital and setting off on trading expedition once the wet season was over. They were not constrained by participation in state rituals - adae," (wukudae, akwasidae and dabone) like their state trading counterparts and used

hired labour (bo paa) rather than the services of state

functionaries or the fekuo, Gyaase." Thus, professional

traders resold goods they obtained from the northern markets

as well as £rom the European trading establishments at the coas t .

Links with the Muslim Diaspora

At the height of the Asante kola trade, the Hausa were a vital link in the trade between the Sokoto Caliphate, Asante and the Volta-Afram basin, and after the defeat of

Asante in 1874, they ventured al1 the way down to the coast.

During the period of the Caliphate, supplies of Hausa slaves not only entered the Atlantic slave trade network, but also, many of them wound up in Asante, the Volta-Afram basin and

7oAdae is a major Asante festival for propitiating the ancestors. It occurs every forty-two days. The Sunday Adae is Akwasidae, and an Adae on a Wednesday is --Awukudae. 71~eeArhin, "Aspects of Ashanti Northern Trade," pp. 366-7. the coastal States where they were utilised for al1 kinds of

work related to the kola trade.'*

Even though Asante did engage in external trade, it was

conducted in towns such as Salaga to the north of Kumasi,

and Hausa traders were effectively kept out of the heart of

the empire. This continued £rom the mid eighteenth century

until the late nineteenth century. The exception to this

rule was the small but powerful and influential Muslim

cornrnunity resident in Kumasi. 73 The kola trade to Asante before 1874, therefore, became known in the Central Sudan as

fataucin Gonja. In this case, "Gonja" referred to the Hausa

trade diaspora of the kola trade - that is, the series of dispersed settlements of Hausa along the trade routes to the middle Volta Ba~in.~~The settlements were inhabited by

7'~ohnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/4/1; SAL/8/5; SAL 17/11; SAL/18/5; SAL 21/2; SAL 39/1; SAL 41/3; J.K. Fynn, Oral Traditions of Fante (Legon, 1974); Edmund Abaka, "Traders, Slaves and Soldiers: The Hausa Diaspora in Ghana, 1865- 1920," in Slavery and Abolition (forthcoming); See also Lovejoy, "Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate," in Lovejoy (ed.), The Ideology of Slavery in Africa (Beverley Hills, 1981a), pp. 200-243.

73~vorWilks, "The Position of Muslims in Metropolitan Ashanti in the Early Nineteenth Century," in 1. M. Lewis (ed.), Islam in Tropical Africa (London: O.U.P., 1966), 318- 341; idem, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 238-9, 256- 7, 259-60.

74~ovejoy, Caravans. p. 2 9; Cohen, "Cultural Strategies," Curtin, "Cross Cultural Trade," p. 40; Abner Cohen," Customs and Politics of Urban Africa: A Study of people from Hausaland and Borno who utilised kin networks

for access to local markets, capital and information about

the kola trade."

With the British invasion of Kumasi in 1874 and the establishment of a French administrative post in Bonduku,

major cracks appeared in the Asante commercial monopoly.

Until that time, Asante had strictly controlled the movement

of 'strangers' within its territory and prevented direct

links between northerners and traders on the coast. The nkwansrafo (road wardens) collected tolls, controlled the

movements of al1 traders and informed the Asantehene of the

movements of 'strangess' in Asante territory. 76 ~ontrol

posts at Ejura, north of Mampong, Ahenkr~,~~near Buem in

Hausa Migrants in Yoruba Towns (Berkeley, 1969); Nehemiah Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa. A Study of Islam in the Middle Volta Basin in the Pre-colonial Period (London, l968), pp. 28-29. 75 Lovejoy, Caravans. p.31; Curtin, "Cross Cultural Trade," p. 40.; See also Wilks, "Asante Policy Towards the Hausa Trade" in Meillassoux (ed.), Trade and Markets. pp. 124-139; Enid Skildkrout, People of the Zonqo: The Transformation of Ethnic Identities in Ghana (Cambridge, 1978); For comparative analyses, see Cohen, Customs and Politics of Urban Africa (Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969), pp.29-50; 98-140 76~ilks,Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 48; Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution. p. 111; Dupuis, Journal. p. cix

77 Lonsdale, Report of His Mission to Coomassie, Salagha, Yendi &c.; October 1881 to February 1882; encl. # 2 in # 42; the east, Nkwanta near Bechem in the west and Odumasi, near

Sunyani in the north-westf7' were used to screen traders.

When Asante control in the hinterland broke down after

1874, the Brong and the Guan formed a defensive

confederation to defend their commercial interest. One major by-product of the breakdown of Asante control was the

Salaga civil war which drove traders out of the city."

There is no gainsaying the fact that other factors, such as the struggle between two \princelyf factions contributed to the Salaga civil war. However, the fact that it occurred not too long after 1874, attests to Asante control as a

"stabilizing factor" in the regi~n.~'Kintampo rose in importance as a result, and Yeji, Atebubu and Krachi began to function as alternative markets where traders could go.

The British also tried to open a direct route between

Samuel Rowe to Earl of Kimberley, 10 May 1882.

78 Davidson-Houston Report in Arhin, The Development of Market Centres.

79 Johnson, Salaga Papers.SAL/2.0/4-SAL/20/5; Mahmud B 'Abdallah (Amir Lanfar), Qissat Salgha Tafrikh Ghunja: Arabic Work From Salaga ( IAS IR 1; 6; 15; 261) . Late lgth Century Account of the Growth of Salagha. Translated from the Arabic by M.W. In Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/23/1- SAL/23/6; See also J.A. Braimah, and J.R. Goody, Salaga: The Struggle for Power (London: Longman, 1967) .

For details see J.A. Brairnah and J.R. Goody, Salaga: The Struqgle for Power (London: Longman, 1967) . Salaga, Atebubu and the coast to circumvent Asante control . Hausa and other Muslim traders moved to Asante in the late 1880s and bought kola from Asante farmers.

Who or what is Hausa?

The term Hausa has multiple meanings. First, it is a linguistic term for the language, Hausa. In this case, al1

Fulani as well as people from Borno and Nupe, who spoke the Hausa language, could be classified as Hausa. Hausa was also a trade language in the Central Sudan and along the routes of the Volta basin down to coastal GhanaI8*and to this day, it continues to provide several advantages to traders who speak Hausa .83 Consequently, Hausa was spoken by

"British Parliamentary Papers. Papers Concerning the Gold Coast and Ashanti Affairs 1890-96. Colonies Africa 62. Further Correspondence Relating to Affairs in Ashanti (in Continuation of [C.5615] Decernber 1888.

'%tephen Baier, "The Trade of the Hausa of Damerghou 1900 -1930," Paper Presented at the 15th. Annual Convention of the African Studies Association, Syracuse, New York, October 31-November 3, 1973, p. 5. The Tuareg, for example, used the Hausa language in their trading activities with the Kanuri-speaking people at Fachi and Bilma. See also See Stephen Baier and Paul E. Lovejoy, "The Tuareg of the Central Sudan: Gradations in Servility at the Desert-Edge," in S. Miers and 1. Kopytoff, (eds.), slavery in Africa:- Historical and Anthropological Perspectives (Madison, 1977), pp. 391-411; Mahdi Adamu, The Hausa Factor in West African History (Zaria and Ibadan: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1978). 83~ieldworkNotes: Interview with Kola nut traders in the people involved in cross-cultural trade and people

could pass off as Hausa if they spoke the language.

Therefore, many slaves, who were sold through the kola trade

were classified as au sa*^ because they had been part of the

trade network. Thus, those who ended up in the New World

became a diaspora within a larger African diaspora-.ss

Secondly, Hausa is a cultural term for Hausa-speaking

Muslim populations in Northern Nigeria and the adjoining

territories. This includes mallams, religious students and

scholars who travelled frorn the Central Sudan to the Volta basin, the Afram Plains and Southern Ghana and the Islamic

World of North Africa (the Maghreb), Southern Europe and

the Tamale Central market £rom October 1-8 1994,; and the Sarkin Zongo of Nkawkaw by Edmund Abaka on February 15, 1995.

84 This includes people from the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, who were known as ndonkofo (sing. odonko) in contradistinction to the free born Akan. For more details see Edmund Abaka, "Traders, Slaves and Soldiers: The Hausa Diaspora in Ghana (Gold Coast and Asante) l965-l9l4, " in Slavery and Abolition, (forthcoming). See also Mahdi Adamu, "The Spread of the Hausa Culture in West Africa 1700-1900," Savanna 5, 1 (June l976), p. 11-12

8sSee Paul E. Lovejoy, "Identifying Enslaved Africans: Methodological and Conceptual Considerations in Studying the African Diaspora," Identifyinq Enslaved Africans: ~h&- 'Nigerian Hinterlandf and the African Diaspora (Proceedings of the UNESCO/SSHRC Sumrner Institute, York University. Unpublished, 1997). C~nstantinople.'~In this context, the non-Muslim Maguzawa

are left out of the categorisation." However, this

position is contrary to that of Banfield who asserts that:

Al1 of the large Hausa cities such as Kano, Katsena, Sokoto and Zaria are Mohammedan, but turning £rom the main roads, one soon cornes in contact with the Hausa heathen. 88

Thirdly, the term Hausa also refers to a geographical

entity, the Hausa States. The seven original Hausa States (Hausa bakwai - Daura, Katsina, Kano, Rano, Zazau) as opposed to the seven "bastard" states (banza bakwai),

legitimated identity and became the organising principle of migration to other parts of the Central and Western Sudan, as well as the Islamic World. This geographical entity also encompasses the large assimilated populations of slave origin in Hausa comrnunities.8 9

86 Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/10/4; Levtzion, Nehemiah. Early Nineteenth Century Arabic manuscripts from Kumasi," Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, VI11 (1965): 99-119; Adamu, "Spread of Hausa Culture, " pp.

87 See Ludger Rueke De Maquzawa in Northern Nigeria (Ph-d. Thesis, University of Munster, 1967), (translated). The relationship of the maguzawa to the Muslim, to the S.I.M. and to the white people, are discussed in detail in chapter three.

"A.w. Banfield, Life Arnong the Nupe Tribe in West Africa (H.S. Hallman, Berlin, Ontario, 1905), p.28.

89~.~.Adeleye, Power and Diplomacy in Northern A diaspora maintains its membership, identity, interna1 divisions and differences in language, religion, and

cultural practices by subordinating al1 these elements to a

comrnon sense of identity. The Hausa diaspora in Southern

Ghana (Gold Coast and Asante) was made up of slaves as well as freeborn, that is, those who left their communities

voluntarily. The cornmunities they created, popularly known

as Zonqofg0became 'Hausa and Muslirn islands," in the "sea of the host communities."

The Hausa and Long-distance Trade (fatauci)

Throughout their history, the Hausa have been known for their trading acumen and have migrated in various ways to

create trade diasporas through long-distance trading (fatauci) .'' Attesting to this trading acurnen, Banf ield

Nigeria 1804-1906 (New York: Humanities Press, 1971); Murray Last, The Sokoto Caliphate (London: Longman's, 1967); C.H. Robinson, Hausaland (London, 1896); Frank Salamone, "Becoming Hausa," Africa, XLV, 4 (1975): 410-425; Adamu, "Spread of Hausa Culture," pp. 3-6. "~heterm Zongo (or Zango) as used in Ghana, refers to the residentially segregated quarters where strangers normally settle. "~ovejoy,Caravans of Kola. p. 29; Cohen, "Cultural Strategies,"; Curtin, Cross-Cultural Trade in World History (London & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984, p. 49; Harold Olofson, "Yawon Dandi: A Hausa Category of Migration," Paper Presented at the Annual meeting of the African Studies Association, November 8-11, Philadelphia, writes:

Arnong the [peoples] of Northern Nigeria, the Hausa ranks foremost. It is not because of his fine appearance ... but because of his intense passion for travelling. The Hausa is a great trader of Nigeria, and can be found in nearly every town and village selling his goods which he has brought from the coast. Coming in contact with so many people as he does in trade, he has naturally become a very shrewd man, and to use a comrnon saying, one has to 'get up early in the morningf to get ahead of our Hausa friend in trade. The Hausa trader has practically no home. He lives like a gypsy, and one often sees a Hausa man with his children and wives, each carrying a load, going from their country down to the coast to buy English goods, which he brings back and sells for a enormous price. 92

Lovejoy has shown how very large and wealthy traders dorninated the trade. Many of these traders lived in Kano and had plantations with hundreds of slaves. Thus, this perceptive observation of the Hausa holds true to a large degree. 93

After the British invasion of Kumasi in 1874, Kintampo

Pa., 1972.

anfi field, Life Among the Nupe Tribe. p. 28.

g3~eealso Binger, Du Niger au Golf de Guinie. Paris, 1892. was established as an alternative trading centre.94 Some

Hausa from Kunso resettled at Kintampo and helped to make it

a vibrant trading centre." The Hausa encouraged trade in Akyem where they had settled. Hausa communities sprang up in Adawso and other places in Akyern.96 Thus, the

establishment of the sea-borne trade to Lagos, coupled with

the activities of the Hausa, pushed the production of kola

to the forefront of Akyem economy.97 Kumasi, Accra, Kete Krachi, Atebubu, Winneba, Saltpond, Apam, Cape Coast, Ajua, Shama and Sekondi became centres where Hausa immigrants

settled and plied their trade.

The accounts of Muslirns in the of Ghana which indicate that they moved to the area from Borno and

Hausaland before the establishment of the state of Gonja, point to an early involvement of Hausaland and Borno in the

94 Lonsdale, Mission; Arhin, West African Traders. pp. 47-48. r rand on Kirby, Report on Mission to Kumasi and the Interior Provinces of the Ashanti Kingdom. Parliamentary Papers C.4477.

96 ~aulJenkins (Comp.) , Ghana-Abstracts From Correspondence in the 1850-1898 Basel, 1970. '' See Crowther, "Notes," pp. 176-177; Danquah, Akim Abuakwa Handbook. That Osiem near Koforidua was named Farin Goro, a Hausa term rneaning white kola, is a testament to the growing importance of kola to Akyem economy in the early twentieth century . kola trade to Asante and the Volta basinmg8 Abu Bakr al

Siddiq, a slave who was born and enslaved in the 1800, states that his father, a trader £rom Timbuctu, lived in

Katsina and moved as a trader to the Volta region." Natron

was one of the basic ingredients for food and medicinal preparations in Hausaland and by the early nineteenth

century, it was one of the most important items of trade to the coast and the Volta basin, where it was mixed with snuff

and used as medicine. 100 Thus, Hausa traders, relied on a culture which transcended political and ethnic lines, and utilised Islam

as a unifying ideology to facilitate business operations and

guarantee warehousing facilities and credit.lo1 More

98 Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 29, 31; M.A. Adamu A Hausa Government in Decline (M.A. Thesis, Ahmadu Bello University, 1968), p. 57.

99 Ivor Wilks, "Abubakar Al-Siddiq of Timbuctoo," in Philip Curtin (ed), Africa Remembered. Narratives by West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1967), p. 159.

'O'E. W. Bovill, Missions to the Niqer. IV, 1966, p. 616; H. Clapperton, Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa from the Biuht of Benin to Soccatoo (London, l829), pp. 59, 68.

'O'~ovejoy,Casavans p. 31; Curtin, Cross-Cultural --Trade. p. 40; Levtzion, Muslims and Chiefs in West Africa. pp. 28-29; Wilks, "Asante Policy Towards Hausaland," pp. 124-139; Cohen, Customs and Politics of Urban Africa. pp. 98-140. importantly, the Hausa trade settlements, united by language

and religion, bridged the cultural and ideological gulf

between the Hausa and the host societies, and provided the

twin props of the trade, brokerage and agency in first

Bonduku, Begho, Kafaba, Umfaha, Yendi, and Salaga when the

Northern trade was in vogue, and later, in Kete Krachi,

Atebubu, Adawso and other coastal ports such as Cape Coast,

Saltpond, and Winneba.

The northern kola trade attracted participants from the whole of the Niger bend and the Volta basin. "...Fulbe from the North, Felatta from Say, Hausa from Kanu, Berber Negroes from east Niger, Joruba, Achanti, Giemen, Kong, Gasari,

Grussi, Massina and people from the whole Guinea coast" took part the trade . 'O2

Heinrich Barth delineates the three main participants in the kola trade thus:

As regards Selga, the district to which the au sa traders go for their supply of this article (kola) three points are considered essential to the business of the kola trade; first that the people of Mosi bring their asses; secondly, that the Tonawa, or natives of Asanti, bring the nut in sufficient quantities; and thirdly, that the state of the road is such as not to prevent the from arriving. If one of these conditions is wanting, the trade is not

lo2~ohnson,Salaga Papers . SAL/18/3. flourishing .'O3

Two categories of Hausa traders were involved. The

first was a class of "professional traders" who traded

between the Sokoto Caliphate and Asante between November and

May and stocked up goods in the rainy season between June

and October. Several Hausa and Mossi caravans made the

arduous (sometimes up to 18 months) journey to Salaga.lo4 The

second category of traders were classified as seasonal

traders. In the dry season, employment in Northern Nigeria

took the form of droving or trading. In the 1900s, migrants

came £rom Hausaland and Borno to Asante and Bono Ahafo to

work on cocoa farms as seasonal labourers and used their

earnings to buy kola, which they resold in Jega or Sokoto.1os

Similarly, in the late 1890s and 1900s, migrant labourers

from Northern Nigeria and northern Ghana worked in the

Travels. vol.

'04~ouldsbury,Report of His Journey into the Interior of the Gold Coast, dd. Accra, 27 March, 1876: PRO., C.O. 96.119 Nos. 162/5, encl. in despatch, Governor Strahan to Lord Carnarvon, dd. 30 Apwil, 1876, Johnson, Salaga Papers, SAL/11/1; L. Wolff, "Dr. Ludwig Wolf's Letzte Reise nach der Landschaft Barbar (Bariba oder Borgu)," Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzeqebieten. Description of Salaga, 1889, Johnson, (trans. ) , SAL/12/1; SAL/14/1.

'05see Lovejoy, Salt of the Desert Sun. A History of Salt Production and trade in the Central Sudan (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986); Kenneth Swindell, "Farmers, Traders, and Labourers: Dry Season Migration Frorn North-West Nigeria, 1900-33," Africa 54, 1 (1984) , p. 7. rnining industry and repatriated their savings back home in

the form of loads of kola.

Trade Items

Even before the rise to ascendancy of Asante, the

forest belt obtained cotton, silk cloths, leather goods,

iron tools, blankets and slaves carried by the Juula, Hausa

and Mossi moving markets from the Middle Niger region.lo6

From the forest belt, gold and later kola moved along a north-south axis to the big markets along the Niger River to

Northern Nigeria. "'O7 The the cargo the Hausa merchants consisted kola nuts which they received exchange for natron, glass beads, and slaves.lo8 Kola was obviously the most important item of trade in the Asante -

Sokoto exchanges. M.J. Bonnat points out that,

The importance of Salaga, or Sarahah, as the natives cal1 it, is attributable to its being the great central mart for the disposa1 of a bitter fruit called kola or goro nut, well known to al1 who have been in any part of Western Africa

lo6~rhinin Schildkrout, Golden Stool. p. 52.

lo7~ense,"The Impact of Asante on the Trade Patterns of Northern Ghana and the Ivory Coast," in Schildkrout, (ed.) Golden Stool. p. 32.

1 O8 Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/8/5; SAL/14/1; K.Y. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja (Legon: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1969), pp. 14, 23. inhabited or frequented by Mahomedans. 109

Caravans came £rom Hausaland on a seven-month journey to buy

the nuts. 110 Caravans from Sansanne Mango brought goods, horses and cattle to exchange for kola. On the other hand,

the Mossi came with asses and sheep to exchange for kola

nuts."' The Gasari supplied slaves and bought guns, gunpowder and the best horses to capture more slaves; while £rom Daboya and the Volta came salt and slaves which were

exchanged for kola nuts at Salaga.'12 Salt was also brought to Salaga from Accra.l13 Cloth of German and English origin and local cloth £rom Salaga, Segu, Bontuku and Timbuctu were

109~ohnson,Salaqa Papers . SAL/1/2; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. pp. 23, 51.

'%r. Gouldsbury's Report of his Journey into the Interior of the Gold Coast dd. Accra, March 1876; P.R.O., C.O. 96.119 Nos. 5162/5 encl. In despatch, Governor Strahan to Lord Carnavon, dd. 30 April, 1876. Account of Salaga in Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/11/1; SAL/8/5; SAL/14/1; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. pp. 23, 51. III Johnson, Salaqa Papers . SAL/18/1; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. pp. 33-34, 51, 66. "*c. Von Francois, "Bericht des Hauptmann von Francois aber seine Reise irn Hinterland des Deutschen Schutzegebiets Togo," Mitteilunqen aus den deutschen Schutzgebieten, 1, (1888): 143-71. Salaga in 1888. Marion Johnson (trans from German) . In Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/18/3; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. p. 116. "'L.G. Binger, From the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea. Paris, 1892. Salaga and its Trade in 1889. Marion Johnson (trans. from French), in Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/19/8 al1 sold at the Salaga market.l14 The Hausa from Kano, Sokoto and Borno brought sandals, pouches - tanned and coloured leather - to the Salaga market. In addition, Hausa merchants supplied iron which the Asante used to make implements (cutlasses and hoes) for cultivating their farms.

Also, Hausa merchants and those £rom Timbuktu, brought shawls, girdles of silk of African manufacture and tobacco both in bal1 and plaited leaf.ll6 Thus, between Decernber and Apxil every year, many Hausa brought cattle, horses, sheep, slaves, ivory, leather goods and mats; and Mossi caravans brought asses cattle, sheep, hens, cloth and mats.'''

Interviews conducted by K.Y. Daaku among the Gonja in 1969/70, also throw more light on the Asante kola trade to

Salaga. Nyaba Abukari, aged 58, a Mossi who had grown up in

Salaga indicated that his family participated in the trade.

1 14E . Kling, "Visit to Salaga, 1892," Mitteilungen aus den deutschen Schutzgebieten, Berlin, 1893; Marion Johnson (trans), In Johnson, -Salaga Papers. SAL/13/1; Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. p. 116. "S~onnat,"Les Achantis, d'apres les relations de M. Bonnat," L'Explorateur (J. Gros ed.) L'explorateur III (1876): 1-3, SAL/34/1.

117~. Wolf, "Description of Salaga, 1889," Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten Berlin 1889; M. Johnson, (trans. from German) In Johnson, Salaaa Pa~ers.SAL/12/1. His father dealt in dried onion leaves - gabo.ll8 He also

stated that the Hausa brought gowns, horses, beads, kanwa;

the Ashanti brought kola and the Zabarma brought slaves,

horses, gowns. The Mossi also brought gabo and donkeys. 119

Malam Baba Dayiduf s father traded to Gonja via Gusau, Jega

and Sokoto. His father took black rigas, black wawa,

albasa, kanwa, and returned with kola. The kola was brought

back in waga, not huhu.120

European commodities such as cloth, yarns, knives,

needles, arms, brass rods, lavender, mirrors, sugar and

scissoss were also exchanged as part of the Northern kola

trade.121 In all, Fulbe from the North, Felatta £rom Say,

Hausa from Kano, Sokoto and Borno; Berbers £rom East Niger;

Yoruba, Asante Gyaman, Kong, Gsushi, Massina, people from the Guinea Coast and even Arabs from as far as Jedda, Saudi

Arabia converged at the Salaga market and goods such as leather work, knives, scissors, pearls or coral, clothing,

'18~.y. Daaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. pp. 116, 192.

ll9~aaku,Oral Traditions. p. 193.

"O~alarn Baba Dayidu, Interviewed 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano, by P.E. Lovejoy & Kabiru Rabi'u.

'"~olf, Mitteilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten Berlin, 1889. M. Johnson (trans. £rom German), in Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/12/1; Daaku, Oral traditions of Gonja. p. 51. cloth, basket-working, needles, thread were displayed in

grass huts -122

Nature of Kola sales

In the early 19th century, trade was organised in three

ways. The first was barter - traders basically exchanged

their goods. The second method was the exchange of kola

nuts for cowries, which were then used to purchase

cornmodities from the north.123 The third, which was mostly

employed in the coastal trade was the 'Ounce Trade.' By this method, a monetary system was introduced by which the prices of African commodities and slaves were computed locally in ounces at about one hundred percent at home.124

One European observer at Salaga described the kola transactions thus:

The way the people carry on their trading business is characteristic. For instance they have sold yarn at 800 cowries the little packet to various people, without receiving the cowries. If they buy a slave or cattle, they

122 Ramseyer, "Eine Reise im Norden von Asante und im Osten von Volta..." Jena 1886 pp. 82-83.

mDaaku, Oral Traditions of Gonja. p.23; Rattray, MS 107:2, p. 1776.

Iz4~wasiBoaten, "Commerce in Northern Asante 17 02- 1945," Bulletin of the Ghana Geoqraphical Association 14 (l969), p.22 instruct the seller as to the man from whom the cowries are to be received.lZ5

Several forma1 interviews and informa1 sessions at

Yendi confirmed this view. However, it differed from place

to place. The interviews revealed the fact that kola

traders brought kola from Kumasi to Yendi and distributed

them to people who took them to the nearby towns and

villages to sell. In the meantirne, the traders who brought

the kola to Yendi waited to get their money back, sometimes

for up to two months and then returned to Asante with the

proceeds from the kola sale.126 Similarly, traders from

Sokoto and other places travelled for months to Salaga and

back and sold their kola either as wholesalers or retailers.

The aim of entrepreneurs is profit and traders,

therefore, aim to sell and buy goods under the best

conditions - that is to seek the most favourable time and place to carry out transactions. Profit-seeking requires an organization, adequate knowledge about pricing at the

1 zsE . Kling, "Bericht des Hauptmann Kling llber seine letzte, von Lome Ober Kpandu, Salaga und Naparri nach Bismarckburg ausgefllhrte Reiserf' Mitteilungen aus den deutschen schutzgebieten. "Visit to Salaga, 1892. " M. Johnson (trans f rom German) , Johnson, Salaga Papers. ri- r I-, LI I"

126~illiamLeben, "Spoken Hausa in Yendi, " Yendi Project, Project #3, for Sumrner 1968, University of Ghana & Northwestern University, p. a. different points on the market, the possibility of the

changing direction of whole caravans, infrastructure for

sorting goods, the availability of credit and other services, hence the creation of new communities within the

Hausa trade diaspora. 12'

One of the most important people in the organisation of

the kola trade was the landlord. The landlord was a "settled stranger who made it his business to accommodate long-distance stranger-traders and to assist them in

selling, and usually in storing their good~."'~~The houses of many landlords resembled small wholesale markets. Landlords assisted buyers in practical ways, for instance by arranging transport on credit or arranging for goods on credit. In performing these services they were "rewarded" by both parties for their services129.

127~eillassoux,Trade and Markets. p. 70; Curtin, Cross- Cultural Trade. p. 40; Lovejoy, Caravans, pp. 29, 31. 128~ollyHill, "Landlords and Brokers. A West African Trading System," Cahiers d'etudes africaines, VI, 23 (1966): 349-366; See also Paul Lovejoy, Caravans. p. 31; Cohen, "Politics," pp. 22-23. In a few areas such as in Hausaland, landlords might have been natives. However landlords outside o au sa land were nearly al1 settled strangers. In other instances, they were "odikro," (Headmen) of the villages the Hausa traders visited.

lZ9~ill,"Landlords and Brokers, " pp. 252-253; See also Cohen, "Politics," pp. 23. Curtin, Cross Cultural Trade. pp. 53-56. Accounts of several kola traders illustrate the role of

landlords in the Asante kola trade. Born in Salaga and

brought to Kano when he was very Young, Alhaji Abdullahi

travelled £rom Kano to Accra via Lagos. Alhaji Abdullahi

gave alheri to his mai gida and sometimes he gave lafada

(money). He indicated that the amount of money he would

give to his mai qida if he bought 10 fakani of kola, for

example, would depend on the price of kola at the time.l3'

Like Alhaji Abdullahi, Mai Unguwan Masakfa Aliyu was born in Kano and started trading in kola at the age of 30 and bought kola in both Accra and Gonja. His father, a weaver of fari, used to provide lodging to kola traders and received commission from the traders after kola sales. The kola traders in return used to buy his father's dyed gowns, turbans, and shuni (indigo) to exchange for kola. The gowns were called lema. Aliyurs mai gida provided lodging and free food, and in turn, the traders paid him in kind. Some of them used to buy Hausa gowns for him. l3'

Apart from dealing with the mai gida in the trading

"O~lhaj i Abdullahi, interviewed 29 August 1969 at the home of Mai Unguwar 'Ko'ki, Malam Sanda, in Kano by Paul E. Lovejoy and M. Kabiru Bab'u.

I3'~aiUnguwan Masakra Aliyu, interviewed at Offishin Wakilin Arewa, Kano, on 6 September 1969, by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabi'u. centres, some of the kola traders also bought kola from the

farmers or from the farming centres especially from the

1880s. They went in groups to the kola producing areas and

stayed with one of the farmers, possibly a Hausa mai gida in the forest, for about four to five days. The Muslim traders

usually carried their own food because of Islamic

prohibitio~sand regulations concerning the slaughter of

animals. The traders paid people about 5/- per fakani to

pack the kola for transportation to the house of the Hausa

mai gida. At the mai gida's, the kola was re-packed into

huhus for transportation.13' These case studies demonstrate

the importance of the landlord in the organisation of the

northern kola trade. A landlord could have inherited his position from his father or he could have been a long-distance trader-turned-

landlord because he became a very successful business person and, therefore, could afford premises large enough to

accommodate ~trangers.'~~Each long distance trader did business with a regular landlord for years and this

133~oliyHill, "Landlords and Brokers, " pp. 34 9-366; Curtin, Cross-Cultural Trade p. 4; Lovejoy, ~aravans.pp. 127-131. stability was a general feature of the landlord system."' The regularity also allowed for the local chief to monitor the movement and activities of foreign traders. In aggregate terms, the landlord-trader relationship represented a highly-developed form of reciprocal regular- customer relationship which enabled long distance traders in

West Africa to obtain credit for trade. The landlord was not specifically paid for services rendered. Instead, he received commission on sales, 11ada.135 The landlord also benefited £rom services to the trader in a number of ways.

The trader (stranger) was bound to spend money on goods. In addition, traders benefited from introductions effected by the landlord, and often gave the latter commission for such services. The landlord also often received direct financial benefit £rom the trader in the form of a hidden commission on purchases. Landlords sometimes paid their guests less than the regular buyersf price. 13 6

In addition, stranger-traders usually received free boarding and lodging as well as free services from the

134~ohen,"Politics," pp. 23-25; Hill, "Landlords and Brokers," p. 352.

135~ill,'Landlords and Brokers," p. 352; See also Daaku, Oral Traditions. p. 51.

136~ill,"Landlords and Brokers," p. 353. servants of the landlords. The traders gave dashes to the

servants in the landlord's house on their departure and

these dashes were in theory, passed on to the master.13'

Another important cog in the trade organisation was the

dilali. If a landlord operated in a market then he was also

a dillali (or broker), a Hausa word of Arabic origin, which

refers to a formally recognised intermediary between buyer

and seller.13'

Exchange

The price of kola nuts in the Northern trade fluctuated

with demand and supply conditions as well as the

availability of donkeys and Hausa buyers. In the late 1890s

and early 1900s, Northern traders exchanged iowls, shea butter, native blankets or other goods for food and kola.

The price of the nuts varied at the time £rom 3d to 6d. per

100 in Kumasi (wholesale) depending upon size and season.

White kola often fetched a much better price than red.13'

137~aakufOral Traditions of Gonja. p. 51; Hill, "Landlords and Brokers," p. 354.

13*~ill,"Landlords and Brokers, " p. 354; Cohen, "Politics," p. 23.

13'~.~.G. (Accra) Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of the Gold Coast 1933-34. Accra: Government Printer. The price of a full load of kola of 2000, called

apakan, varied £rom nsoansafa (5/-) to nsoansa (IO/-) of

gold dust according to current trade price. If a state

trader could not carry apakan nuts, could

carry 1500 nuts.l4'

In Salaga, kola was retailed at a price of £1-E2 for

2000 in the 1890s. According to Rattray, one informant

indicated that 10,000 kola would buy a slave, akoa. On one

occasion, the informant bought a slave called Beniaqya for

10,000 kola nuts, but the latter ran away to Nsuta and left

his children behind. Another informant also bought a fernale

slave, afena, for 7 apakan (14,000 nuts) and married her.141

Kola was also exchanged for cowries (sidie); 2000 kola was exchanged for 12,000 cowries. Rattray notes that in the

every kola mus t sold for cowries first.

Thus, kola was exchanged for cowries, and the latter used to buy slaves,142 or whatever the Asantehene had comrnanded the

state traders to buy £rom the n~rth.'~~According to

Bowdich, 2000 cowries, or 1 basket of boossee (kola) was the

142~attray,R.S. Ashanti Law and Constitution. p. 36. price for a slave in the markets of the interi~r.'~~Daaku

also points out that in most transactions in the Salaga

region cowries were used.14' Lord Lugard reported in 1907

that whereas kola was 4/- per 1000 in Asante, they fetched

4/- per hundred in Jega. 146

Various modes of exchange prevailed in the Asante kola

tsade. The first method of commercial transaction was barter. "If you had a gown and somebody else had kola nuts, he gave you kola up to the price of the gown and then if both of you were satisfied you exchanged."14' Kola was sometimes bartered directly for salt and other comrnodities.

The Hausa conveyed salt to the kola-producing districts and bartered it for kola; 1 lb of salt valued at 6d., was exchanged for 100 kola nuts. "148 Similarly, cattle and kola trading were sometimes closely linked. Thus, Eormerly, the traders who brought cattle from Lagos to Accra (by sea) returned to Nigeria with kola.14'

144~o~di~h,Mission. p. 333.

'"~aaku, Gonj a Traditions. Interview with Kagbanyiche Adzara, at Daboya, aged 64+ p. 100

14%ord Lugard, Annual Report for Northern Nigeria, 1905-6.

Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution.

'"w.H. Johnson, Cocoa and Cola in Ghana p. 7.

"Landlords and Brokers. " Christina Fran ke , The Gold dust was also used as currency. Bowdich States

that "the currency of Ashantee is gold dust, that of Inta

[i.e. Gonja J , Dagwumba, Gaman, and Kong, cowries. . . "150 Asante thus used cowries in the kola trade to the North and

North-east, but gold dust was reserved for the trade to the coast - for guns, gun powder and other European goods. Apart from cowries, beads were also used as currency. Beads were also obtained from Hausaland.'"

In addition to the units of currency described above, silver coins also served as units of currency in the kola

trade, albeit to a lirnited extent. Mossi traders introduced coins - Mogu Daia - into the trade. This occurred just before different European coins were introduced. In 1916,

the British introduced the West African currency note but in

1917, only a few notes appeared to be in use in Asante.l5*

Other silver coins such as "Mexican and U.S. piasters, the

English florin, the shilling, sixpenny and three penny pieces," al1 circulated in Salaga, but were very limited. 153

Kumasi Cattle Trade (Ph.D. Thesis, New York University, June 1982). Mission. Dupuis, Journal. xli. '''~aaku, Oral Traditions, p. 194 15'~.~.G. (Kumasi) D.555.

lS3 Johnson, Salaga Papers. Asante developed as a trading nation because of its

advantageous geographical location. In the 19th. century,

two types of markets developed in Asante, namely, customs

stations and minor entrepdts. Ejura and Effiduasi were

customs stations but they developed into markets. On the

other hand, Ataasi Nkwanta and Akankowasi developed into minor entrepdts in Southern Asante.lS4 Akankowasi was

described by Lonsdale in 1881 as a large market town, and a

lot of goods exchanged hands there.15' The brisk trade at

Akankowasi was also due to the fact that certain goods cost more in Kumasi than they did at Akank0~asi.l~~ On the other hand, most Asante northern markets were periodic ones and served mostly as collecting centres for kola nuts as well as distributing centres for goods £rom the north. Salaga was one of the major nodal centres in the

Gold Coast trade in general and the Asante kola trade in particular. Ivory from the interior, a considerable quantity of European manufactures and other items of

-- - '"~smoah-~arko,"Market Development and Patterns in Ashanti," pp. 27-28. "'~onsdale, Report of Mission to Kumasi, Salgha, Yendi &c. 1881-1882 in C. 3386, Enclosure 2, No. 42 in Rowe to Kimberley, 10 May 1882.

Is61bid . exchange were found at Salaga. Its population was a very amorphous one with a large Muslim component. According to von François, "In my time, there were some 10-15,000 strangers in Salaga, and every day a further one to three caravans of 200 to 400 men arrived from Muschi, Timbuktu, Sokoto, Kano and other lands."'" Before 1874, Asante rigidly controlled al1 access to Salaga and beyond. Al1 other routes were shut to \foreigner~."~~With the defeat of

Asante in 1874, Salaga traders traded al1 the way to in the Volta region. It should be pointed out that the

German colonial administration made strenuous efforts to divert trade in the Salaga-Voltaic axis to German Togoland. Thus, the German colonial administration sent an officer to Salaga after Ekem Ferguson had signed treaties of friendship with the Salaga ruler.lS9

'"~~~/35/3.von François visited Salaga in 1889.

158~.~.96/116; Strahan to Earl of Carnavon, 25 Oct. 1875.

159For details see G. E. Ferguson, Colonial Office African (West) 496. Memosandum of Interview Held at Pembi or Kombi Between Mr. George E. Ferguson and the King, Chiefs and People of Salaga on the 23 May 1895. In Johnson, Salaqa Papers. SAL/51/1. This should be contrasted with Hatzfeldt, German Ernbassy, London. Colonial Office, African (West) 470. German Complaints Over Ferguson. In Johnson, Salaqa Papers, SAL/52/1; A.W.L. Hemrning, Memorandum of Interview with Dr. Krauel on 14 Dec. 1887. Confidential Despatches, Secretary of State to Governos. In Johnson, Salaga Papers. ~~~/75/1; SAL/75/2; Colonial Office African (West) 479. Enclosure 1 in Another important marketing centre was . Located between the forest and savannah zones, Wenchi developed into a large centre for north country txade and many thousand

Hausas, Wangaras, Jiminis, and people £rom other ethnic groups permanently resided there.160 The major exchange at the Wenchi Zongo market was livestock from the north and the purchase of kola from the south. A large and thriving market went on daily at the Zongo. 161

Nehemiah Levtzion points out that the first Hausa to corne to Wenchi was Mu'adh. He came from Sikasso, "where he had rendered service as a Malam to the chief (probably Tieba) . Shortly after, Ibrahim, an Argungu trader also came to Wenchi around 1896 and traded in kola and slaves. He is reported to have been trading in kola and cattle to Mopti. He was the first Sarkin Zongo Wenchi and was

No 42. German Treaties with Salaga. Treaty Between Salaga and Pembi, 1888. In Johnson, salaga papers. SAL/81/1. I6O~.~.~.(Kumasi). D.747. F.C. Fuller, Reporting His Tour of Inspection to the North, Western and Northern Portions of Ashanti on 31st October, 1911. 161N.A.G. (Kumasi). D.747. F.C. Fuller, Reporting His Tour of Inspection to the North, Western and Northern Portions of Ashanti on 3ist October, 1911. 162~ehemiahLevtzion, The Spread and Development of Islam in the Middle Volta Basin in the Pre-Colonial ~eriod (Ph.D. Thesis, University of London, 1965), p. 47. The information was provided by Ahmad, son of Mu'adh, 5/27/64. succeeded by Mur adh. 163

Ejura was another important trading centre. While

Atebubu and Kintampo declined, Ejura continued to grow and

attracted a large number of Hausa traders.''' Ideally

situated between the forest and the Savanna, Ejura dealt in both forest and Savanna products.

Another thriving market centre in the kola trade was the Atebubu zongo. According to Alhaji Sah, the Hausa Imam of Atebubu, the Atebubu Zongo was founded by one Hausa from

Nupe called Ali Megachi Bachie. For a long time, the Zongo cornmunity was exclusively made up of Hausa Immigrants. The

Hausa at Atebubu were reported to have first settled at

Kintampo or Nkoranza before rnoving to Atebubu or elsewhore. IG5 Farming was the main occupation of the early immigrants but the Hausa controlled a greater portion of

163~heinformation was provided by the Sarkin Zongo Wenchi, Safid b. Ibrahim on 5/27/64. Mu'adh was Sarkin Zongo in 1909 (N.A.G. [Kumasi] #592, in Levtzion.

'64~ohnson,Salaga Papeus. SAL/42/1 - SAL/42/4; G.E. Ferguson, Enclosure 3 in No. 21 Colonial Office, African (West) 479; See also Ferguson, Colonial Office African (West) 479, p. 117; SAL/43/1 - SAL/43/4; S. Asamoah-Darko, Changing Settlernent Patterns in Ashanti, 1873-1966. (Unpublished Ph-D. Thesis, 1971), p. 86; idem, Market Development and Patterns in Ashanti, p. 28.

16SK . Ansah-Yamoah, "Atebubu Myths and Tradition," in K. Arhin (ed. ) , Ashanti and the ~ortheastUniversity of-Ghana, 1968 (Unpublished) , pp. 101-103. trading activities. Cattle -trading was a very profitable

enterprise and the dealers were very wealthy. Thus, Atebubu

also attracted traders from many different places. The

Mossi and the Hausa who brought the cattle to Atebubu

returned to their country with kola.lb6 For a long time,

Hausas were the only outsiders in Atebubu. They were

followed by the Dagomba who were mainly concerned with the

cattle trade. They brought cattle to the market and returned home with kola nuts.16'

Caravans

One of the most important coqs in the kola trade was the kola caravan. Large slave caravans consisting of from

500 to 2000 slaves usually arrived in Salaga between the latter part of December and the end of March. The slaves were bartered for cowxies and European goods in exchange for kola nuts first at Salaga and later at Kintampo.16'

The arriva1 of a caravan is peculiar. After the billeting officers have arrived from the last camping place, the caravan arrives at a fixed hour. First come some drummers and pipers, then

166~.Ansah-Yamoah, "Atebubu Myths," p. 103.

167~. Ansah-Yamoah, "Atebubu Myihs,"pp. 104; Lonsdale, 1882.

'"N.A.G. (Accra) ADM 1/88 Encl. to No. 181 28 June 1889. Firminger to S of S., 4 April 1889. follow carriers and soldiers on foot, free-running and fettered slaves with a load on the head, humped cattle, who carry a rider on their hind quarters instead of a load, herds of fine cattle and sheep, riders on finely saddled horses as well as asses who have on their backs an enormous load, and carry the driver on the small of the back. At the end comes another small band of drumrners and pipers who dance before their lord and owner of the caravan who rides behind them, and sing his praise songs. Whether the caravan comes from the Haussa lands, Timbuktu or Moschi [Mossi], almost al1 people Wear the same costume, great straw hats and mouth-cloths, only the Moshis differ from the Mohammedan [peoples], in that they seldom Wear the long Haussa robe, but mainly Wear the sleeveless shirt narrower at the waist, with white trimmings which, with some exceptions is found almost throughout Togo and also in Dahomey. As weapons you see lances, bows and arrows, and broad knives attached to the elbow with rings.16'

Kola was brought from Gonja on donkeys - usually 2-3 persons would be in charge of 10 donkeys. The maduqu always went ahead of the donkey drivers. The madugai did not ride the donkeys; instead, they went ahead and bought food for the people in the ayari.

Lovejoy has provided estimates estimates of the arnount of kola the amount of kola exported through the Northern

Territories by caravan. Even though the bulk of Akyem kola was exported by sea, Customs Report for 1907 shows that tolls were collected on 3,414 loads of kola which crossed

169 Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/15/1-SAL/15/2.

170~ovejoy,Caravans. p. 151-4. the Volta, obviously on its way up North.17' This amount represents the proportion of Akyem kola which was funnelled

into the Northern trade. It also demonstrates the growing

importance of the Volta in the Volta basin trade.17'

This chapter has examined the organisation of the kola

trade in Ghana, and the Asante-Sokoto trade and exchange

between 1865 and 1900. It has demonstrated that the Northern trade was a vibrant enterprise that enjoyed Asante

state support both at the centre (Kumasi), as well as at the

periphery (amantuo level) of the polity. During the period

under consideration, the trade expanded in volume. The

Asante state established law and order to facilitate and promote trade, thus enabling the Asante abatadifo and

adwadifo to exploit the advantages of the excess of dernand

over supply of kola. The expansion of the southern kola trade, therefore, occurred at a time when the northern trade

was still expanding. The Asante defeat of 1874 was to be a

watershed in the sense that it resulted in a re-orientation

of the kola trade, and a penetration of Hausa traders

towards the coast.

l7'~r. Crowther's report of 18/1/06 on Case 1680/05.

'"N.A.G (Kumasi) D. 1301. Minute by W.C.F. Robertson, Secretary for Native Affairs to Colonial Secretary 8 January, 1909. Statistics on the volume of the northern kola trade

Table 3

Overland Kola Exports Fxom Asante via Kete Krachi, 1897-1913

Year Lonq Tons Carrier Loads (60 lbs)

Source: Lovejoy, Caravans. p. 153. Table 4

Kola Exports North from Kintampo 1899-1912

Year Long Tons

Source: Lovejoy, Caravans. p. 154. CHAE'TER THREE

THE DIFFUSION OF KOLA NUT PRODUCTION IN ASmE & THE WLD COAST 1865-1920.

This chapter looks at the diffusion of kola £rom the

"original" producing area/s of Asante to Akyem in the east, Fosu, Asuantsi, Tarkwa, and Wassa regions to the south

south-west of Asante and the Agona, Abodom, Kwanyako region

to the south east. The main argument advanced is that the

diffusion of kola to these places was a "deliberate act" in

contradistinction to the "wild crop" thesis which has been propounded for Asante and Akyem.' This expansion in

production was a response to shifts in export patterns for

kola nuts, including increased demand in the Muslirn areas of Africa, as well as new markets in Brazil, Europe and

America. There was a direct correlation between expansion in production between 1865 and 1920 and the growth of the

export market. The chapter will first examine the wild crop thesis.

Secondly, it will describe the concept of diffusion as it relates to kola in Ghana. Thirdly, it will look at the

l~eeDr. Gruner, District Commissioner, Togoland, Der Tropenflanzer, Aug/Sept/Oct. 1904, abridged by W.H. Johnson, Director of Agriculture, Gold Coast, in Royal Gardens, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 4 (1906), pp. 90-91. reasons for the expansion in kola production in Ghana between 1865 and 1920.

The Wild Tree Theory

The wild tree theory postulates that kola was found in the wild and only needed to be harvested, and no conscious attempt was made at cultivation. Thus, European travellers, missionaries, botanists and most scholars who have mentioned kola in their scholarly works have concluded that kola only needed to be gathered before marketing.* One informant at

Akwansrem, and another at Dwaben, near Kumasi, insisted that kola was dispersed by rats and grew in the wild in Ghana before the 1960~.~According to traditions in several societies farther west of Asante, people believed that those who planted kola would die as soon as the tree flowered. As

- *NAG (Accra) ADM 1/489 No. 309 21 August 1888 Export Prospects for Gold Coast Produce, in H.3. Bevin, Economic ~istor~of the Gold Coast, 1874-1914. Select . Documents (Legon, University College of Ghana, 1960), pp. 23-24; See also Jack Goody, Technoloqy, Tradition and the State in Africa (London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd., 1971), p. 42.

3~.~.Daaku, Oral Traditions of Adanse (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, December 1965), p. 35; Fieldwork Notes: ~nterviewwith Mr. Nketia-Dwomoh at the Akwansrem State Oil Palm Plantation on Jan 20, 1995; Interview with Messrs Dan Foster and Annin-Agyei at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation on 28 January 1995. To the question: could rats have dispersed kola over an area close to half the total surface area of modern Ghana, Mr. Nketia- Dwomoh answered that it was possible. a result, kola was not cultivated; farmers only tended trees that had germinated naturally. Auguste Chevalier and

Ernile Perrot suggested that the Juula spread this story to prevent the diffusion of kola to the areas where they traded

so as to maintain their m~nopoly.~Whether or not this is

the case, no such tradition existed among the Asante. There is no denying, however, that kola was found in the wild state and appropriated by weeding round the trees or

otherwise marking them in some form.

T. E. Bowdich claims that he urged the Asante to

cultivate cotton in 1817, but was told that such labour was not necessary because kola, for example, grew spontaneously in the f~rest.~It is plausible that commercial cultivation at the state level did not interest the Asante court at the time because it was more interested in gold mining and the control of long distance trade.6 In addition, most Asante farmers practised small-scale subsistence Earming and used simple implements which made it difficult to cut gigantic

4~hevalier& Perrot, Les Kolatiers. pp. iv, 289.

5~owdich,Mission. p. 336.

6~anaAbayie Boaten 1, "Asante : The Perception and Utilization of Their Environment Before the Twentieth Century," University of Ghana Research Review, 6, 2 (1990): 19-28; W. Tordoff, "The Brong Ahafo Region," The Economic Bulletin, pp. 26-27. trees and the thick, impenetrable vegetation for large-scale agriculture. Thus, cultivation was more or less limited to food production, and was usually done by wornen.7 However,

there was a conscious attempt to increase kola production in

both those areas where kola grew in natural stands as well as in areas where kola had not originally been plentiful. By the middle of the nineteenth century, increased

population, especially coupled with the incorporation of ~hafo2enabled the expansion in kola cultivation. Whereas

gold and slaves had been the basis of the Asante economy,

kola completed the economlc triad of state ~ealth.~When kola trees were found on communal land, individuals or

appropriated the kola trees, fenced them off or cleared the area around them.1° In addition, people also

7~anaAkwasi Abayie Boaten 1, "Asante: the Perception and Utilization of the Environment," pp.19-28; Wilks, "Land, Labour, Capital and the Forest Kingdom of Asante," in J. Friedman and M.J. Rowlands, volu ut ion of Social Systerns (Pittsburg, l978), pp. 501-508

'~onoAhafo (better known now as Brong Ahafo) was conquered from the Sefwis by the Asante as part of the drive to the North East and the North West in the 1720s. 'F.c. Fuller, Ashanti. A Vanished Dynasty (London, 1921), pp. 26-27. 1°~ohrto Basel, 28 Sept. 1881, Report on Visit to Kumasi by Ramseyer and Mohr, in Peter Jenkins (Comp.), Correspondence of the Base1 Mission. Basel Mission Archives; Charles William Berberich, A Locational Analysis of Trade Routes of the North East Asante Frontier Network in the tried to grow more kola by transplanting seedlings. This resulted in the development of kola groves in Asante. Data collected in the Bechem, Tepa and Sunyani districts in 1966 demonstrate that kola was both indigenous to, but was also cultivated in Asante and Brong Ahafo.ll Thus, meticulous care for existing trees and deliberate expansion to new areas, made Asante the leading producer of kola in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The argument that farmers merely relied on the existing trees found growing in the bush is, therefore, disputed by recent research. The growth in consumption of kola in "Muslim" Africa, the Middle

East, Europe, and the United States necessitated an increase in production.

The growth in kola production occurred in two stages. First, the Asantehene's policies promoted kola cultivation.

The AsanteheneJs court provided rnoney to state officiais to buy kola for export to Salaga, thereby ensuring a ready market for kola farmers. Second, kola cultivation spread in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. This was

Nineteenth Century (Ph.D. Thesis, Northwestern University, 1974), p.142, See also Abayie Boaten 1, "Asante: The Perception and Utilization of their Environment," p. 19.

llsee J.S. Beidu, A Study of Cola production and Sale in the Bechem, Tepa and Sunyani Districts, Bronq Ahafo (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 1966) . primarily the result of private efforts of farmers and traders. In the 1890sr the colonial government promoted schemes for irnprovement in kola production. These included the provision of seedlings and infrastructure like roads,12 rail and sea transport.13 Farmers responded to the new opportunity because the three inexorable laws of innovation were all fulfilled. Kola cultivation (the new practice) was feasible to small farmers. It brought them extra income and kola was in high demand and, therefore, very marketable. The fulfilment of the three related conditions of feasibility, profitability and marketability, coupled with an atrnosphere of peace and stability, explain the rate at which farmers in the kola-producing zone of the Gold Coast expanded kola cultivation.14

l25'ee K.B. Dickson, "The Development of Road Transport in Ghana £rom 1850,11 Transactions of the Historical society of Ghana, 1961, pp. 33-42.

'3~~~ADM. 5/1/95 Departmental Reports 1918. Coastal steamer services facilitated the export of kola from Ghana to Nigeria. 14see Guy Hunter, "Agricultural Administration and Institutions," Food Research Institute Studies, 12 (1973), pp. 233-251 on Agricultural Innovation; also R.M. Kenneth R.M. Anthony, Bruce F. Johnston, William Jones, Victor Uchendu, ricu cultural Change in Tropical ~frica(Ithaca and London, Corne11 University Press, 1979). For the Vent-for- Surplus theory, see R.E. Caves, "Vent for Surplus Models of trade and growth," in R.E. Baldwin et. al (ed.), Trade, Growth and Balance of Payments. Essays in Honour of Gottfried Harbeler (Chicago, 1965). They characterise the Expansion of kola exports in Asante in particular, and

other African states in general, fits into the vent-for-

surplus theory whereby large quantities of labour (kola

farmers), together with large quantities of natural

resources (land) at low opportunity costs (intercropping),

contributed to a rapid increase in output and tapped into a market for kola in Europe (England, France, Germany), the

United States, Brazil, Central and North Africa, and the

Middle East. The population of Asante at the time, as

Winniet, French and Wilks have reported, was small.15 The

incorporation of slaves into the society, coupled with their use to harvest kola, carry the nuts to the marketing centres of the north, and a desire to take advantage of the huge consumer market in Muslirn Africa served as an engine of growth.

experience of African countries as surplus resources rather than unlimited labour. Labour shortage was identified in parts of Africa at the end of the slave trade.

isSee Kwame Arhin, "The Political Economy of a Princely City: The Economy of Kumasi in the Nineteenth Century," Research Review Supplement 5 (April 1993), p. 17; George French, "The Gold Coast, Ashanti and Kumasi," National Geographic Magazine, 8, 1 (1897), p. 13. 1.1 Diffusion Theories.

The theoretical concept of spatial diffusion will be used to explain the spread of kola nut production to new

areas. Diffusion has been used to describe the spread of

food crops like rnaize and cassava within Africa. l6 However,

the diffusion of kola was different in one respect. Unlike maize, cassava, and other agricultural produce, kola was not

usually consumed by the producers;17 the Akan of Ghana

16see Marvin Miracle, Maize in Tropical Africa (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966); idem, "The Introduction and Spread of Maize in Africa," Journal of African History, VI, 1 (1965): 39-55; W.R. Stanton, "The Analysis of the Present Distribution of Varietal Variation in Maize, Sorghum, and Cowpea in Nigeria as an Aid to the Study of Tribal Movement," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962): 251-262. See also Frederick JI Simoons, "Some Questions on the Economic Prehistory of Ethiopia," Journal of African History, VI, 1 (1965): 1-13; H.G. Baker, "Coments on the Thesis That There Was a Major Centre of Plant Domestication Near the Headwaters of the River Niger," Journal of African History, III (1962): 229-33; W.M. Morgan, "The Forest and Agriculture in West Africa," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962): 235-239; P.A. Allison, "Historical Inferences to be Drawn From the Effect of Human Settlement on the Vegetation of Africa," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962): 241-249; J. Desmond Clark, "The Spread of Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962): 211-228; Roland Portères, "Berceaux Agricoles Primaires Sur Le Continent Africain," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962): 195-210. 17~olais used largely by the people of Northern Ghana (Frafra, Dagaaba, Konkomba, Nanumba etc.) , as well as by Hausas and Muslirns. In Asante Praise Poems, Osei Tutu is referred to as the kola nut which falls on the ground and people do not dare to pick up and eat. See Kwarne Arhin, "The Asante Praise Poems. The Ideology of Patrimonialism," Paedeuma, 32 (1986): 164-194. Arhin notes that kola was an never used kola in any significant quantities. The largest

recorded use of kola was by the Asante army in the nineteenth century when they ran short of provisions on the battlefield. 18

Several processes, acting together through time and space, affected the locational patterns of population growth, urban development, agricultural production and other phenornena. One of such processes is spatial diffusion, which is defined by geographers as the spread or dispersion of a phenomenon over a given geographic area through time.lg Diffusion in the geographical sense involves the process by which the material or phenomenon in question not only spreads from one place to another, but is often intensified important item in the Asante soldierfs provisions. This is not surprising since the Asante army took to the field for months at a time, and ran out of provisions £rom time to time.

isArhin, "Asante Praise Poems," pp. 164-94. "A.D. Cliff, P. Hagett, J.K. Ord, G.R. Versey, Spatial Diffusion. An Historical Geography of Epidemics in an Island Community (London: C.U.P., 1981), p. 1.; Lawrence A. Brown, Diffusion Processes and Location. A Conceptual Framework and Bibliography (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Regional Science Research Institute, 1968), p. 2; Everett M. Roqers, Diffusions of-Innovations (~ewYork: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1962), p. 13; Herbert F. Lionberger, "The Diffusion of Farm and Home Information as an Area of Sociological Research, " Rural Socioloqy, 17 (1952): 132-140; Herbert F. Lionberger and Edward Hassinger, "Neighbourhoods as a Factor in the Diffusion of Farm ~nnovationin a North-East Missouri Farming Comrnunity," Rural Sociology, 19 (1954a): 377-384. in the originating region.

Spatial diffusion studies have therefore been concerned with understanding the spread of cultural traits, the diffusion of agricultural innovations and the factors which affect the propensity to adopt the item.'l One vital ingredient in diffusion is the circulation of information.

It is vital to the diffusion of new crops, new technologies, as well as the diffusion of technical and organisational innovations both within and outside the producing sector.**

Two basic types of spatial diffusion affected kola production, namely, relocation and expansion diffusion^.^^

Relocation diffusion occurs when members of a given population change their locations between two specific periods (from time t to time t+l) .'' Here, the item being diffused leaves the original area(s) and moves to a new area or areas. This is usually the case when the cultivation of

20~liffet al. Spatial Diffusion. p. 6

"~lan R. Pred and Gunnar E. Tornquist. "System of Cities and Information Flows," Lund Studies in Geography, # 38. Lund, 1973, p. 10.

"~rown, Op cit. See also Ade Akinbode, Kolanut Production and Trade in Nigeria (Ibadan: The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1982).

2 4 Brown, Op cit pp. 2-3. a particular crop shifts £rom its original location to new

locations between two specific time periods. 2 5

Expansion-type diffusion sesults when new members are

added to an existing population between two consecutive time

periods (time t and time t+l).26 This type of transfer is

termed associative transfer. Thus diffusion processes are

used to account for the dispersal of cultural traits from given regions to other regions as opposed to postulating multiple independent origins." A classic example of diffusion is the Frederick Jackson Turner "frontier hypothesis" which is used to explain the expansion of the population of the United States from the Eastern Seaboard to the Pa~ific;~'or the movernent of African-American people

£rom the Southern United States to the North in the twentieth century. 2 9

*'~eeAkinbode, Op cit.

26~rown,Op cit. p.3; See also C. Abrams, "Residential Propinquity as a Factor in Marriage Selection: Fifty Year Trends in Philadelphia," American Socioloqical Review, 8 (1943) pp. 288-294.

al. Op cit.

2e~eeFrederick Jackson Turner, The Rise of the New West, 1819-1822 (New York & London: Harper Bros., 1906); idem, The Frontier in American Historv New York: H. Holt & Co,, 1920); idem, Frontier and Section: Selected Essavs With an Introduction bv Rav Allen Billington (Englewood Clif f s , N.J. : Prentice Hall, 1961) . 29~i~holasLemann, The Promised Land: The Great Black The major concern in this work is to account for the

location (new) of a phenornenon (in this case kola nut) in

time t + 1, in the context of its location (old) in time t.

Expansion diffusion occurs in two ways; by contagion, which

refers to direct contact £rom person to person and,

therefore, tends to occur in a centrifuga1 manner from the

same region outward; or by hierarchical spread, whereby the

"transmission is through an ordered sequence of classes or

places."30 The process of spread downwards from larger to

smaller centres is in turn called "cascade diffu~ion."~'

Migration and How it Changed Arnerica (New York: A.A. Knopf, 1991). 30~liffet al. Op cit. pp. 7-9.

%liff et al. Op cit. p. 9 Fig. 1. Oynamic Graph Representation of Diffusion Types

TIWE t

b. EXPANSION - rYPE DIFFUSION

- Indicates a potential location of the diffusing phenomenon.

@ Indicates an actual location of the diffusing phe~omenon - during the time indicated.

--+a - Indicates that during the indicatéd time a stimulus passes from the node at the origin end of the arrow to the node at the destination end, and results in location of the diffusing phenomenon at the destination node. - > - Indicates that the stimulus represented in e- passes during a time period previous to the one indicated. Source: Lawrence A. Brown, Diffusion Processes and Location: A Conceptual Framework (Philadelphia, Penn.: Regional Science Research Institute, 1968), p. 12 A spatial diffusion situation consists of six elements - an area or environment, time, item being diffused, places or nodes of origin (t), places or nodes of destination or location for the first time(t+l), and paths of rnovement.32 A linear graph will, therefore, show the elements of spatial diffusion or movement in general, of any item over time.

Fig 1 b, above, shows the spread of an innovation (kola production). The nodes represent the locations of kola farmers, and thus, nodes connected into A, B, Cf represent the farmers who have adopted the innovation. The arrows

(represented by E) show the direction of the information about the innovation, and hence the adoption. D represents potential adopters - they may or rnay not adopt the innovation. The linear A-B-C-D-E representaticn of the adoption of this innovation (kola production) may, therefore, be sumrnarised thus:

A stands for the original producer of the item (kola) prior to time t

B received a stimulus 33 from node A in time t

3zBrown, Diffusion Processes. p. 9. 33The stimulus could have been information about the feasibility, marketability and profitability of kola production. It could also have been incentives offered for kola production such as the State-supported ventures of the ksantehene or the colonial administration. C received a stimulus £rom B and adopted the innovation in time til

D are potential adopters who may adopt the innovation at some future time (t+2; t+3; t+4) etc.

E represents the lines of communication between the different nodes.

The expansion-type diffusion is directly relevant to

the locational pattern of kola nut production in Ghana and

can be used to explain kola nut expansion between 1865 and

1920. It argues that the expansion of production in Ghana

was more like a brush-£ire mode1 of diffusion, whereby

expansion in production was not concentrated in one main area. Instead, there were "a number of a rather haphazard patches of little fires, separated in space from the main

fire and set off by flying ~parks,"~~to - Akyem, Brong Ahafo and parts of Fanteland. In the light of this, the question may be posed: Why did certain farmers begin to experiment with kola? First, the evidence for the introduction of kola is examined step by step for certain parts of Ghana. Secondly, expansion is analysed as it affected the subsistence pattern of agriculture This chapter will, therefore, trace the expansion of the

"kola frontier" £rom the old, "established" areas to new

ones and examine the factors responsible for diffusion.

The Kola-Producing Zone in Ghana.

The original kola zone

The main kola-producing zone in the nineteenth century

followed the contours of the 50-60 inches rainfall belt, in closed forest, and began a few miles north of Techiman to the river Pra which formed the eastern boundary of Asante.

To the west and south of this zone there were, also, isolated areas of intensive prod~ction.~' Thus, the heart of the kola belt lay in North Asante, especially around

Ejura, Nkoranza and Akumadan .36 However, the main kola belt, ...starts in the neighbourhood of Agona in the Eastern province and goes west to Offinsu, it then

35n.a. The Ghana Farmer, 1, 6 (1957), p. 222. The information was originally obtained from a survey conducted in 1950 by Mr. J.T.W. Gray, an agricultural officer. He interviewed chiefs, eldersi farrners and kola traders; See also Charles W. Berberich, A Locational Analysis of Trade Routes of the North-east Asante Frontier Network. pp. 144- 146.

36n.a. The Ghana Farrner, 1, 6, (1957), p. 222. -GOLO -.-.-.q COAST l ? \ ,w 1 turns slightly south. Fufu on the old Sunyani Hamrnock road is well within the southern edge; £rom there it takes a north-westerly direction to Tekimantia [Tekyimentia], where the 'beltf splits up and peters out. There is, however, one well- defined offshoot which goes south through Bechim [Bechem] to Teppa and Fwediem [Hwediem] on the Goaso road and goes west, to lose itself near Ntronsu .37 Individual trees and groves were found throughout Asante and the kola belt frorn Offinso to Fufu and Techimentia was ten to fifteen miles wide in some places.3B Ninety percent of

Asante kola came £rom this area.39

The new zones

Expansion between 1865 and 1920 occurred both in Asante as well as in other parts of the interior. Kola spread to Tarkwa, Wassa, Aburi, Ho, Kpandu, Asuantsi, Foso, and other places. Once the profitability of the kola nut had been demonstrated, farmers in various comrnunities adopted and cultivated it. Since kola has a long gestation period (from planting to harvesting), it had to be

37~.~.~.(Accra) ADM 56/1/238; See also J.C. Muir, "The Cola Industry in the Western Province of Ashanti," Gold Coast Agriculture Department Bulletin, vol. 22, Paper XXVII, 1930, pp.218-223; Ghana Year Book Paper XXVII 1929; J.K. Ossei, "Cola - Some Aspects of its Cultivation and Econornics in Ghana," pp. 96-97 38~bid. 39~.~.~.(Accra) ADM 56/l/238. sufficiently profitable to engage the attention of people or

to induce them to transfer land £rom food crop production to kola production. The Akwapim territory also contributed to the phenomenal diffusion of kola. Base1 Missionary reports note

the existence of Muslims in Kibi in the late nineteenth century." The presence of a large body of Muslims in Kibi

by 1872 points to the existence of a fairly large kola trader large enough to attract a Muslim settlement. There

is evidence to show that from the 1870s kola production increased in the area around Koforidua and throughout Akyem.

Marion Johnson attributes kola cultivation in Akyem to the Dwaben, who had been involved in the production of the crop

prior to their migration to Akyem in 1874.41 It is

reasonable to suppose that they carried on the production of

kola after the final settlement in New Juaben (currently in

the Eastern Region of Ghana) after 1874. By 1885, Akyem

4 O Peter Jenkins, Correspondence of the Base1 Mission.

4 1 Marion Johnson, "Migrant ' s Progress, " Bulletin of the Ghana Geographical Association 9, 2 (July 1964) pp. 26-27; See also Agnes A. Aidoo, "Order and Conflict in the Asante Empire: A Study in Intesest Group Relations," The African Studies Review, 20, 1 (April lgïi'), p. 13; See also D.J.E. Maier, Priests and Power. The Case of the Dente Shrine in Nineteenth Century (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983) - kola went south via Lagos to Hausaland in large

quantitie~.~~Considering the gestation period in which it

takes kola trees to mature, it appears that there was considerable planting of trees in the 1870s if not earlier. The existence of a Hausa colony at Adawso (founded in the

1890s by the Basel Mission Christians) suggests a thriving kola trade,43 probably along the Salaga-Accra trade through the Volta. In addition, records indicate that in 1914, a

kola plot was planted in Kibi and 35 trees produced 153 nuts, of which 69.2% were white.44

In the Central Province of the Gold Coast, kola had been grown in Agona territory, at least since the late

1890s. Agona producers sold kola to Hausa at markets

located at Swedru, Kwanyako, Nsaba, Nyamekrom, Bobikuma, Abodom, Onkoom and Kwamangf4' Asaman and Odomtoo. In the

42~old Coast Blue Books, 1884-1920; Berberich, Locational Analysis pp. 145-6.

4 3Johnson, Op cit. p. 29.

44~.A.G. (Accra) ADM 51/1/94. Departmental Reports 1917.

45~.~.G.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241 Ag. District Commissioner, Winneba to Ag. Commissioner, Central Province, Cape Coast Castle, 17th April 1919, p.1. C.O. 879/19 #24, Report of Assistant Inspector Thompson, Gold Coast Constabulary on his Journey £rom Accra to Prahsue and thence to , by C.W. Thompson, 3 July 1882; encl. in Alfred Moloney to the Earl of Kimberley, 8 August 1882, # 14. eaxly 1900s, kola was also produced in parts of the Cape

Coast District between "the Cape Coast Prahsu Road and the

Cape Coast Imbraim Road, but rnostly in the vicinity of the

However, Hausa merchants did not reach these

markets until after 1874, and probably not until the 1880s.

Considering the gestation period of kola, these kola groves

probably date to the 1880s, perhaps earlier.

Akyem Abuakwa was another major area of increased kola

production. F. Crowther, reported in 1906 that "kola grew

mainly on the western slopes of the Atewa range and in the

valleys to the west; it was also grown in the Kankang and

Osiem areas. "47 In fact, the production of white kola in

Osiem was on so large a scale that the town was widely known

46~.~.G.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. The Ag. District Comrnissioner to The Ag. Coinrnissioner, Central Province 22nd. April, 1919, p.1. The Ag. DC indicates that the information was furnished by local traders. Dunkwa is certainly Abura Dunkwa as opposed to Dunkwa-on-Offin in Denkyira. Kwamin Atta is in Assin Territory. Kola was therefore produced in Abora and Assin territories. N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. H.H. Customs, Cape Coast, to the Provincial Comrnissioner, Cape Coast, 23rd. April, 1919. The bulk of the kola exported from Cape Coast was obtained from Dunkwa (20 miles) and Kwamin Attah (34 miles).

4 7 F. Crowther, "Notes of a District of the Gold Coast," Quarterly Journal, (Liverpool Institute of Commercial Research) (1906): 176-177. Crowther was District Commissioner of and Eastern Akyem in 1906. Marion Johnson, "Migrants Progress," Bulletin of the Ghana Geoqraphical Association, 10, 1 (Jan. 1965): 26-28. as "farin qoro," which means white kola in Ha~sa.~~By 1907, the Juaben had occupied other parts of the empty area north-west of the Birim gap and were growing cocoa and kola. 4 9 In the Brong Ahafo region, kola was cultivated to a certain extent. The Techiman stool histories contain accounts which indicate that kola was cultivated at

Fatere, 'O Nsuta, Srapukrom,52 Adaati, 53 Bonkwai, " Tadieso, 55

481 am grateful to Mr. Forster of the Ghana Cocoa Research Institute, Kade, who also hails from Osiem, for this piece of information.

4 9 Johnson, Op cit. p. 28.

50 D.M. Warren & K.O. Brempong (Coll., trans & comp.), History of Fetewe by Nana Asubonteng, Odekro, collected at Techiman on 25, February, 1971, in Techiman Traditional State Part 1, No.4. Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Techiman, Ghana, 1971, p. 71. (Hereafter cited as Techiman Stool and Town Histories). 51Nsuta History by Nana Kwame Yeboah, Nsuta Odekro, on 20 August, 1970, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt. 1, No.4, p. 89.

5 2 Srapukrom History by Obaa Panyin (Queenmother) Adwoa Fodwo, for Regent of Srapukrorn, Nana Kwadwo Agyei, collected at Srapukrom on 11 October, 1970, in Techiman ~tooland Town Histories, Pt.1, No.4, p. 93. Nana Kwabena Srapu, who founded the village, farmed the land with his family, growing cocoa and kola. 53~istoryof the Adaati Stool, by Nana Kwaku Twi, the Adaatihene of Techiman. Collected at Techiman on February 15, 1970, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt. 1, No.4, pp. 112, 115. The town derived its name £rom the fact that the first chief made his abode at the place where the river Adaa takes its source. His age in 1970 was put at 120, Adie~u,~~and Anitemfe.57 Many of the informants were chiefs (sing. - odekro) and therefore, their accounts of the founding of their villages should be examined critically.

However, certain landmark events such as the "first Techiman-Asante War," the "introduction of cocoa,'' or "after

the introduction of cocoa to Bonoland," that punctuated

responses of the chiefs, help to establish the chronology of

having been born during the first Techiman Asante War during which some of the Techiman people sought refuge in Gyaman. It is possible that this migration could have been the occasion for the diffusion of kola to this section of Techiman. 54 History of Bonkwae by Nana Kwabena Appiah, the Bonkwae Odekro Collected at Bonkwae on May 20, 1970, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt. 1, No.4, p. 119. According to this account, the village was founded by hunters from the Adaati family who used to hunt in the Bonkwae river area. Attracted by the fertility of the land, they made kola farms. Later, when cocoa was introduced into Bonoland, the elders started to cultivate it. 55~adiesoHistory by Nana Kwaku Twi, the Adaatihene of Techiman. Collected at Techiman on September 4, 1970, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt. 1, No.4, p. 126. Tadieso got its name £rom the pool which supplied it with water. The founder, Nana Kwame Fosu, later moved his village to a new site on the Techiman-Kumasi road and again called it Tadieso. The people cultivated many crops including cocoa and kola. 56~istoryof Adiesu by Nana Kwasi Effah. Collected at Adiesu on 20 January, 1971, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt. 1, No.3, pp. 48-49. The men cultivated cocoa, corn, kola, plantain and yam.

57~istoryof Anitemfe by Opanin Jibrael Kese, Collected at Techiman on February 10,-1971, in Techiman Stool Histories. Pt. 1, No.3, W. 79. Rubber ~roductionhad been a state formation and economic change with a fair degree of

accuracy.

Nana Kwaku Antwi, Chief of Anitemfe in the Brong Ahafo region, who became a major kola producer, was initially a long-distance trader. Before his enstoolment as chief, he travelled to parts of Northern Ghana, Cape Coast and

Kwankyeabo, and upon returning home, invested in kola

production. He also planted cocoa. There are also indications that kola nuts grew wild in the Bono Ahafo

region.58 Nana Kwesi Kyeremeh, Odikro of Nsuta-Sreso,sg

indicates that Nana Yeboah Asuama, son of the Omanhene of

Techiman, found kola trees in the forest when he was sent to the ~ifahene~'to collect the Pomanhenefs share (one third)

of rubber pro~eeds-~lNana Kyeremeh adds that, "The kola

trade was very important before cocoa came in the 1890s;

very important gathering activity before cocoa. 5sJ.S. Beidu, A Study of Cola Production and Sale in the Bechem, Tepa and Sunyani Districts, Brong Ahafo (Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, 1966). Interviews were conducted in the four districts in 1966. s9History of Nsuta-Sreso by Nana Kwesi Kyeremeh, Odikro. Collected at Anyinabrem on February 20, 1971, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt.1, No.3, p.79. 60~ifarefers to the right wing.

6 1 History of Nsuta-Sreso by Nana Kwesi Kyeremeh, Odikro. Collected at Anyinabrem on February 20, 1971, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt.1, No.3, p. 79. Mossi people travelled al1 the way from the north to Techiman to trade in kola."62

As has been clearly demonstrated, kola trees were found growing in the forest and were appropriated, tended and harvested. However, if farmers had relied only on trees that germinated naturally, the kola trade could not have become one of the major pillars of the Asante economy during the period under study. Profits from the trade encouraged both the Asante state and individual farmers to cultivate kola on a large scale, hence the expansion in the period before 1874. This expansion spread rapidly through the 1870s and 1880s mostly through indigenous entrepreneurship.

The collapse of the Asante stranglehold over the northern markets and the elimination of trade restrictions after the

Asante defeat in 1874, further fuelled the activities of indigenous entrepreneurs and the kola trade. Hausa traders crossed the "Asante frontier" and started to trade in the Salaga-Voltaic axis. The contested histories of the various peoples of the Salaga-Voltaic axis is not analysed in detail here. It is the focus of another st~dy.~~

"~istor~of Nsuta-Sreso by Nana Kwesi Kyeremeh, Odikro, in Techiman Stool and Town Histories, Pt.1, No.3, p. 79. aFor details of the contested histories of the peoples of the area see for example, J.E.K. Kumah, Kete Krachi Early Colonial policy

By the 1880s, expansion in kola production was well under way. European missions to Asante, and other parts of

the Gold Coast chronicled the importance of trade in

general, and the kola trade in particular to the developrnent of the Gold Coast.64 Consequently, both the British and

German colonial administrations in Ghana and Togo also

promoted the diffusion of kola nuts as a source of revenue

as well as part of the drive to encourage the production of "legitimate products" after the abolition of the slave trade.65 Cognisance is taken, however, of the fact that kola

does not corne under the rubric "legitimate" trade. It had been an article of commerce since the fifteenth century at

least.

Traditions. For the Nchumuru, see David Paul Lumsden, Nchumuru Social Organisation and the Impact of the Volta River Project. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1974.

64 See for example, British Parliamentary Papers. Papers Concerning Gold Coast and Ashanti Affairs 1890-1896; Gold Coast. Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Gold Coast (In Continuation of [C.-44771 July 1885. Vols 1- 3. They clearly delineate the economic reasons that underpin the British decision to subjugate Asante in 1874. 65~ordetails of the general thrust of colonial policy in this regard See Robin Law (ed.) From slaveGy to Legitimate Commerce. The Commercial Transition in Nineteenth Century West Africa. (Cambridge: C.U.P., 1995). In the Volta Region of present-day Ghana, for example,

the Gerrnan colonial administration established kola

plantations at Ho and Kpandu in 1882 and encouraged people to do the same.66 They were familiar with the kola trade and

concluded rightly that it would provide revenue for the

German Colonial administration. The success of theiw

enterprise, however, is difficult to gauge since the kola entered the Togolese market rather than the Salaga-Voltaic

axis of the Asante kola trade.

The British colonial administration was instrumental in the establishment of agricultural and botanical stations at

Aburi, Kumasi, Asuantsi, Tarkwa and other places to encourage the production of export crops such as kola, coffee, rubber, Cotton and other agricultural ex port^.^' In

66 Dickson, Historical Geography. p. 152. See also L.E. Larson, "Some Notes on Kola Nut Production and Trade in German Togo," Paper Presented on 15 March 1977 in Acadernic Block II, Senior Staff Cornmon Room, Bayero University College . "N.A.G. ADM 1/489 No. 309 21 August 1888. Export Prospects for Gold Coast Produce in Bevin, Documents.; N.A.G. ADM 1/491 No. 134 Progress of Aburi Botanical Garden, 6 May 1891; N.A.G ADM 1/490 No. 268 Governor Griffiths to S. Of S. Comments on the Report on Economic Agriculture, 10 November 1890; N.A.G. ADM 1/496 No. 392 30 September 1896. Retrogression at Aburi Gardens, Ravages of Pests and General Neglect: Proposed Measures for Improvement in Bevin, Documents; N.A.G. ADM 1/499 No. 418 6 October 1899 Governor Hodgson to S. Of .S. Future Plans for Aburi Garden. ~ncoura~ernentof Agriculture Among the People; British Parliamentary Papers. Papers Concerning Gold Coast and 1890, Governor Brandford Griffiths inaugurated the Aburi Botanical garden in the Akwapim Hill~.~~Kola plantations were established at Aburi and Tarkwa in 1902 and 1907 respectively .69 In 1916, a plantation of 4,600 trees at Aburi yielded 411,913 nuts, greatly in excess of previous crops." On the other hand, 29 acres of kola planted at

Tarkwa in 1909 yielded 278,605 nuts in 1915 and 148,702 in 1916.'~

In addition to al1 these, Governor Hodgson also encouraged kola cultivation in the Gold Coast in the late

Ashanti Affairs 1890-96, Colonies Africa 62, #110, Gold Coast, pp.7-37. The rationale for establishing the stations was given thus: "No better means can be used than the establishment of expeximental gardens under trained botanists, men capable not only of dealing with known plants, but also of developing such as are indigenous to the country and whose qualities are at present unknown," Bevin Documents; Recommendations in the Select Cornmittee Report of 1842 and 1865 asked for the establishment of a mode1 farrn or botanical garden in the Gold Coast to promote agriculture.

68~.~.~.ADM 1/489 No. 314 Governor Griffiths to S. of S. Scheme for Establishing a Botanical Garden at Aburi 28 August 1888; ADM /1/489 #309 21 August, 1988. Export Prospects for Gold Coast Produce in Bevin, pp.23-24; ADM 1/491 # 134 Governor Griffiths to the S. of S. 6 May 1891. Progress of Aburi Botanical garden; Governor Griffiths to S. Of S. ADM 1/490 #268 Comments on the Report on Economic Agriculture in Bevin, Documents. p.44.

69N.A.G (Kumasi) ADM 5/1/93. Departmental Reports 1916.

'N.A.G. (Kumasi) ADM 5/1/93 Departmental Reports 1916.

7'~.~.G.(Kumasi) Departmental Reports 1917. 1880s. He not only provided seedlings to chiefs and farmers who were interested in kola cultivation, but also expert advice was provided to farmers through the Curator and assistant Curator of the Aburi Botanical Garden. They provided farmers with information on propagation, pest control and land management for better kola ~ield.~~In aggregate terms, the activities of the British and German colonial administrations promoted an expansion which was already under way, and could have contributed to over- production.

Furthermore, the British were interested in taxing the kola nut traders and therefore contributed in no small way in trying to secure accurate data on kola prod~ction.~~

Indeed, the provision of transport facilities - road, rail, mail boats and steamboats (Elder Dempster) between the producing areas and the ports or marketing centres, facilitated the transportation of kola nuts to consumers.74

72~.~.~.(Accra) ADM 1/499 No. 418 Governor Hodgson to S. of S. Future Plans for Aburi Garden: Encouragement of Agriculture Among the People 6 October 1899 in Bevin, Documents. pp. 161-2.

"~heCaravan Tax was designed to tax traders moving kola and other comrnodities from Asante to the North and vice versa.

74 See African Times, Sept. 1, 1890, p. 140; The Gold Coast Nation, November 13, 1913, p. 455; P.N. Davies, "The Impact of the Expatriate Shipping Lines on the Economic For example, it shortened the length of time it took to cart kola from Ghana to Nigeria.

These activities of the colonial governments helped to stabilise the supply side of kola at a time of increased demand on both the international and the continental markets.

In suant si" white kola was planted in 1914 .76 At the Juaso agricultural substation in Ashanti, 503 spaces were pegged out at 25 feet apart with plantain as shade for the young kola trees.77

In addition to the colonial administrations, individual

European entrepreneurs also played some role in the expansion in kola production. A few European farmers set up plantations in the Gold Coast. For example, a European

Company (an Englishman) established kola plantations at

Development of British West Africa," Business History, XIX (1977): 3-17; J.R. Harris (ed.), Liverpool and Merseyside (London, 1969); see also K.B. Dickson, "The Development of Road Transport in Southern Ghana and Ashanti Since about 1850," Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 1961, pp. 33-42. suantsi si is located in the forest belt and is the wettest part of the present . It is about thirty kilometres from Cape Coast, and produces most of the food needs of the Cape Coast region.

7 6N.A.G. ADM 51/1/94. Departmental Report 1917, p. 55.

77~.~.G.ADM 5/1/95 Departmental Reports 1918, p. 63. Bunso and exported some of its products to Kano. 78 in

addition, several European and African merchant houses such

as the African Products Development Company Ltd., the

Société Commerciale de l'Ouest Africain, and several others,

not only owned plantations which produced kola, cocoa, and

rubber, but also exported kola to Kano and Europea7'

Ixnproved Transportation

Improvements in communications throughout the Gold

Coast also facilitated the diffusion of kola production.

Asante kola was conveyed mostly by the headload to marketing centres like Salaga and conveyed by caravan to Hausaland and beyond. Kola is a bulky commodity when packed in baskets or

"bli." Caravans and porters spent weeks and months on the road from the producing to the consuming centres. The use of lorries and later railways cut down on the length of time needed to cart kola both to the north as well as to coastal

78~bid.;The Gold Coast Handbook. p. 125. 79~.~.~.(Kumasi) D 1314 Société Commerciale de L'Ouest Africain, Coomassie, to Chief Commissioner of Ashanti 10 February 1916; N.A.G. (Kumasi) D 1314 Chief Comrnissioner, Ashanti, to the Agent, Messrs. F.A. Swanzy Ltd., Coomassie, 8 February 1916; N.A.G. (Kumasi) D 1414 Ag. Chief Comrnissioner, Northern territories Tamale, to Ag. Chief Commissioner, Ashanti, 4 March 1916; N.A.G. (Kumasi) D 1314 Manager, Pickering & Berthoud, Ltd., Coomassie, to Ag. Chief Commissioner, Ashanti, Coomassie, 9 February 1916; Danquah, Akim Abuakwa Handbook, p. 53. towns like Swedru and Winneba. Kola could also be quickly

sent down to the coast by rail and then by sea to Lagos in

the 1890s and 1900s. This reduced to some extent the amount

of kola that was lost to weevil infestation after harvest.

The construction of roads and railways and the use of water

transpcrt made it easier to market kola.'' In Akyem for

example, two main railway lines tapped the Akim Abuakwa district in two sections and traversed the kola and cocoa- producing areas of the region. The first railway station was opened at in 1917, and at the close of the year, the western line £rom Kade to Sekondi and the Takoradi harbour was also opened." The railways also gave concessions to large scale traders who transported large quantities of goods by rail. Such traders, a sizeable number of whom were kola traders, rode the train free from

Kumasi to Sek~ndi.'~However, interviews at the Ghana

Railway Station headquarters, Sekondi-Takoradi, did not yield data for kola transported by rail to Sekondi in the post 1900 period. This was due to the practice of

'ON. A. G (Accra) ADM; Danquah, Akim-Abua kwa Handbook . p. 9.

'l~an~uah,--AkimAbuakwa Handbook. p. 9.

''~aiun~uwaMasak'a Aliyu, Interviewed at Offishin Wakilin Asewa, Kano, Sept. 1969, by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabi'u. classifying kola and other comrnodities as miscellaneous if there were insufficient quantities to fil1 whole train coaches. 83

At the same tirne, the state of motorable roads increased rapidly throughout the Gold Coast, and facilitated the transportation of kola from the producing area to the marketing centres and the ports. Feeder roads were built to bring traffic to the railways and to link major highways.

Through the enterprise of chiefs and their subjects a great network of motorable roads was built in the Gold C~ast.'~

Thus there was a constant stream of lorries carrying goods

£rom the interior to the coast. This encouraged an increase in production and kola producers accordingly took advantage of it. In addition, ferries at Yeji, Bamboi, and Morna on the Volta River, facilitated kola exports to both the north and the south by providing easy passages across the Volta.85

The point should be made, however, that the improvement in transportation in the Gold Coast should be seen in the

-- 83~nterviewwith Mr. Kobina Grant Biney, Secretary to the General Manager, Ghana Railways, and Mr. Kobina Abakah, Traffic Manager, Ghana Railways, Sekondi, at the Ghana Railway Headquarters, Sekondi, on March 30, 1995.

Akim Abua kwa Handbook,

"N.A.G. (Accra) CS0 Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-31, p. 11. overall context of British colonial policy. The need to send soldiers and administrators to parts of the country, as well as the need for roads to facilitate the exploitation of the resources of the Gold Coast, help explain the expansion in communication facilities at this time.

The introduction of regular stearnship service between

Britain and West Africa from 1852 onwards had a major impact on West African trade in general and the kola trade in

~articular.'~ Steamships were first used in West Africa in

1832. Macgregor Laird had used two paddle steamers, the

Quorra and the Alburkah in ascending the Niger. The high hopes for the introduction of steamships to West Africa died when the Quorra was grounded upriver for several ~eeks.~~

However, the development of the high pressure compound engine by Alfred Holt, and the development of the triple

'%'or comparative purposes see Lynn, "From Sail to Steam," pp.227-245; A. McPhee, The Econornic Revolution in British West Africa (London, 1926), pp.33-34; P.N. Davies, "The Impact of the Expatriate Shipping Lines on the Economic Development of British West Africa," Business History XIX (1977), pp.3-17; idem "The African Steam Ship Co.," in J.R. Harris (ed.) , Liverpool and Merseyside o on don, 1969) , pp.212-238; idem The Trade Makers (London, 1973).

87 Macgregor Laird and R.A.K. Oldfield, Narrative of an Expedition. (London, 1837); C.W. Newbury, British policy Towards West Africa. Select Documents 1786-1874 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1965). Macgregor Laird to Easl Grey: Steam Communication With Africa, 25 March 1851, pp. 114-5 Consul Benjamin D.R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire (Oxford, 1981), pp. 61-62. expansion engine gave the steam engine a huge edge over the sailing ship.

From the 1850~~steamships were utilised regularly for

West African trade. In 1852, Laird's African Steamship

Company started a monthly mail service between London and

West Africa.Og The British and African Steam Navigation Company Navigation joined in the steamship service to West

Africa and in 1891 the Elder Dempster Company took over the two steamship line~.~' The importance of the steamship lay in its speed. Whereas a sailing ship would take 6 to 12 months to make the round trip to West Africa and back to

England (if time for collecting cargo is included), the steamship used less than a m~nth.~' Unlike sailing ships,

"G.s. Graham, "The Ascendancy of the Sailing Ship 1850-85," Economic History Review IX (1956): 74-88; Headrick, Tools of Empire. 89~ritishParliamentary Papers 1852 XLIX (284); Newbury, British Policy Towards West Africa. pp. 114-5; See also K.O. Dike, Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta, 1830- 1885 (Oxford, l956), p. 115. 'O~or details of schedules along the West African coast see African Times, July 1, 1890, p.108; African Times, September 1, 1890, p.140; African Times, July 2, 1894, p. 108; Lynn, "From Sail to Stearn," p. 229. Alfred Lewis Jones had run the Elder Dempster Lines since 1869, i.e. before the take over of the two lines. See also "An additional Fleet of Steamers Wanted. Gold Coast, West Africa." The Gold Coast Nation, November 13, 1913, p. 455.

''~arliarnentar~Papers 1875 LXXV (1132), 238. ; Davies, Trade Makers. pp. 42-44. Davies cites the case of the steamers could also cal1 at several ports along the coast to

collect cargo during a voyage..gz

This was of great help to the Hausa, Yoruba and

~agosiankola traders who sent kola by sea from Sekondi,

Saltpond, Winneba and Accra. 93 It took less time to send

kola by rail or road from Kumasi to Sekondi and by boat to

Lagos. The steamship lines allowed anyone, no matter how small their operation, to charter space. This enabled a large number of small-scale kola traders to dabble in the

Asante kola trade through Lagos and resulted, as Colonel Ord poignantly pointed out, in the creation of a new class of trader who was willing to trade in srnall quantities over long distance^.^' On the Nigerian side, the use of steamships on the Niger, as well as mail boats along the

West African coast, led to the rise to pre-eminence of

steamship Faith of the African Steam Ship Company, which took 28 days to cover the distance between England and Fernando Po, whereas the sailing ship The Boddington took two and a half months to reach Old Calabar in 1835-6; see also Roger Anstey, "British Trade and Policy in West Central Africa between 1816 and the early 1880~~"Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, III (1957): 47-71:

92 See African Times, 1891-1894.

93~eeN.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241.

"~enr~Swanzy, 'A Trading Family in the 19th Century Gold Coast," Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, II (1956) p. 113. Lokoja and Lagos as receiving stations for commerce or

'transit' markets -9s

Conclusion

This chapter has argued that contrary to the widely- held notion that kola grew wild, systematic efforts were made by kola farmers, the Asantehene's court, the colonial administration, and some individual Europeans to expand the area under kola cultivation between 1865 and 1920. Kola farrners sought to take advantage of the increase in market demand, and expanded the areas under cultivation. Other towns, villages and communities also adopted kola production and helped to increase total output. Thus, kola production was systematised and regularised as more and more people began to cultivate kola in earnest, especially in the 1880s and 1890s.

"N.A.G (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241 Letter from kola nut shippers of Cape Coast to the Commissioner of Central Province April 18, 1914. See also Lovejoy, Caravans. p. 116. CHAPTER FOUR

THE SOUTHERN AXIS OF THE KOLA TRADE

The defeat of Asante in 1874 was an event of cataclysmic proportions in the vexy short run. The political as well as the economic consequences of the war following the collapse of Asante authority and the lethargic approach of the British administration towards consolidation of the conquered areas created an atmosphere of "near chaos" in "Greater Asante." Farming and economic activities were initially brought to a standstill. One important by-product of the war was the opening up of Asante and other parts of the Gold Coast to Hausa, Mossi and other traders.

Concomitant with the penetration of traders to Southern

Ghana, was the spread and intensification of kola production in Akyem, Assin, Agona and other Fante areas. Kola £rom these areas were sent by the headload, and later by road and railway to the coastal ports of Accra, Winneba, Saltpond, Apam, Cape Coast and Sekondi.1 In fact, some kola £rom Southern Ghana was also transported to the northern markets of Salaga, Kintampo and Atebubu.' However, the bulk of the

N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. 'sec F. Crowther, "Notes On a District of the Gold Coast," Quarterly Journal (Liverpool University Institute of kola of southern Ghana was transported to Lagos and

Hausaland by sea. A sizeable quantity of the kola of

Southern Ghana was also shipped to Europe, the United

States, and Brazil .3

This chapter addresses the southern kola trade and

argues that apart from Agiri and Lovejoy, not much work has

been done by other scholars on the thriving southern kola

trade between Ghana and Europe and the Americas on the one

hand, and Ghana and Nigeria on the other. The trade was so prominent at one point that it rivalled its illustrious

northern counterpart, especially in the first decade of the

twentieth century. In analysing the organisation and the nature of the southern kola trade, this chapter will also delineate both indigenous and foreign initiatives in the

trade.

The Hausa and the southern kola trade

At the height of the Asante kola trade, the Hausa were a vital link in the trade between the Sokoto Caliphate,

Asante and the Volta-Afram basin, and after the defeat of

-- Commercial Research) 1906, pp. 167-182.

3~oldCoast Blue Books 1884-1920. See also Martin Lynn, "From Sail to Steam: The Impact of the Steamship Services on the British Palm Oil Trade in West Africa 1850-1890," Journal of African History, 30 (1989):227-245. Asante in 1874, they ventured al1 the way down to the Coast.

During the period of the Caliphate, supplies of Hausa slaves not only entered the Atlantic slave trade network, but also, many of them wound up in Asante, the Volta-Afram basin and the coastal states where they were utilised for al1 kinds of work related to the kola trade.4

Expansion in the Southern Axis of the Kola Trade.

The southern axis of the Asante kola trade developed in three phases. The first phase, albeit small, involved an international trade in kola nuts to Europe. Thus, apart from the "continental axis," the kola trade also expanded to Europe - Britain, France, Germany and the United States, £rom the third decade of the nineteenth century as kola became more and more popular in Europe and excited the medical and pharmaceutical communities. The overseas trade had a modest beginning to Jamaica and Brazil in the seventeenth century, but in 1867 the first exports to

4~ohnson,Salaqa Papers. SAL/4/1; SAL/8/5; SAL 17/11; SAL/18/5; SAL 21/2; SAL 39/1; SAL 41/3; J.K. Fynn, Oral Traditions of Fante; Edmund Abaka, "Traders, Slaves and Soldiers: The Hausa Diaspora in Ghana, 1865-1920," in Slavery and Abolition (forthcoming); See also Lovejoy, Transformations; idem, "Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate," in Lovejoy (ed.), The Ideoloqy of Slavery in Africa (Beverley Hills, l98la), pp. 200-243. England consisted of two packages.' This coincided with European interest in kola nuts for use in carbonated beverages and in the pharmaceutical industry. The overseas export of kola continued to grow, but due to the political situation in Asante and the Gold Coast, there were no exports through the early 1870s. In 1884 and 1885, 400 packages worth just over £ 2000 were e~ported.~As shown in

Table 3, 1 ton of kola was exported to England in 1898; 9 tons in 1899; slightly less in 1900, 1901 and 1902; and up to one ton in 1903. This decrease could have been a by- product of the Yaa Asantewaa War of 1901, and the attempt by the British to consolidate their hold over Asante. In 1904,

1 1/2 tons were exported; no figures for kola exports are available for 1905; 1.6 tons in 1906 and almost 2 tons in

1907. In 1908, however, exports dropped to 1 1/2 tons; in

1909, 2 tons and in 1910 just over two tons were exported.

'~ickson, Historical Geoqraphy. pp. 72-73

6 Gold Coast Blue Books, 1884 & 1885; Dickson, Historical Geography. pp. 72-73. According to Austin Freeman, kola nuts fetched 101/2d on the London market in 1889. See Freeman, "A Journey to Bontuku in the Interior of West Africa. Royal Geographical Society Supplementary Papers, 3 (1893), p. 144. During my fieldwork at the University of Science and Technology (now Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) Agricultural Research Station at Dwaben in 1995, 1 was informed that an American woman buys kola £rom the Station and she always instructs that no pesticides should be applied to the kola fruits. From this time on, there was a steady rise each year until

in 1915 3.5 tons of kola were exported. The market

strengthened after 1870s when Lagos became the main market

for kola. 7 Kola was exported to France, Germany, Brazil

etc., through the coastal ports of Saltpond, Cape Coast and

Winneba, as well as through the work of local and European

agents on the GoLd Coast.' This continued up to 1920 before

trade returns fell due to the production of nitida cola in

Nigeria and the rise to prominence of cocoa production in

Ghana to feed the bourgeoning chocolate industry.

The Overseas kola trade to the United Kingdom

Table if

2 pkgs.

- 400 pkgs. - over £ 2,000

400 pkgs. " over £ 2,000

1898 1 ton

1899 9 tons

'~oldCoast Blue Books 1884-1920; See also Dickson, Historical Geography. pp. 151-153.

'N.A.G (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. 1901 < 9 tons

1902 < 9 tons

1903 1 ton

1904 1 b tons

1905 1.6 tons

1906 2 tons

1907 2 tons (almost)

Source : Dickson, Historical Geoqraphy. p. 154

The second and major phase of the Southern kola trade to Lagos took place after 1874. Before 1874, Hausa and

Muslim traders were confined to Salaga, the major entrepk of Asante trade to the north. After the defeat of Asante in

1874, the chaotic political conditions in the north led to the closure of the Salaga route and the emergence of

Kintampo as the main Asante entrepk of the north. In reality, however, alternative routes grew in importance, especially the Volta River route and the land route to Accra emerged as the main outlets of the Salaga-Voltaic trade axis.9 Consequently, Hausa and Muslim merchants pushed

southwards, first to the provinces adjacent to the kola

producing regions and, later, to the producing areas of

Akyem, Asante, and Swedru. A series of commercial centres

sprang up, and concomitant with that, was a significant

growth in the export of kola nuts by sea to Lagos.

Following the lead of Yoruba ex-slaves who had imported a few bundles of kola from Sierra Leone around 1863, Hausa merchants operating from Accra started large-scale export of kola £rom the 1880s.10 The ports of Accra, Winneba,

Saltpond, Cape Coast and Sekondi becarne outlets for the export of kola by sea to Nigeria.

The third phase of the southern kola trade witnessed the export of kola to Brazil £rom the 1890s onwards. This phase also took the form of exports from Ghana and re- exports of Ghana kola from Nigeria to Brazil up to the

9N.A.G. (Accra) ADM 69/1 23 March 1877; J.H. Glover, "Geographical Notes on the Country Traversed Between the River Volta and the Niger," Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 18 (1874): 289-90; Kirby Brandon, "A Journev into the Interior of Ashanti," Journal of the Roval Geographical Society, 6 (1884); Report of Captain La Trobe Lonsdale (1882); W. W. Claridae, Historv of the Gold Coast and ~shanti.vol II, 1915, pp: 200-201; ' 249-251.

1°Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 116-117; Agiri Kola in Western Niqeria. p.64. 1920s. l1

The kola trade to Lagos was assisted by improvements in

communication such as the construction of roads and

railways, the use of sea-borne transport (sea and river

transport between Gold Cost ports and Lagos)i2 and the

purchase of kola by African and European companies operating

along the Coast of Ghana. These provided an impetus for

increase in kola production.13 Consequently, trade grew by

leaps and bounds, especially in the first two decades of the

twentieth century. For example in the decade from 1908 to

1918, the annual export of kola nuts by sea from the Gold

Coast gradually increased from 1,974 tons to 5,917 tons.14

The Gold Coast Nation also reported in 1915 that:

"~oldCoast Blue Books 1884-1920; Geo Alex, Consul of Bahia to the Marquis of Salisbury, K.G. Sept. 6, 1890, in Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 4 (1890): 258-259.

iz"An Additional Fleet of Steamers Wanted. Gold Coast. West Africa." The Gold Coast Nation, Nov. 13, 1913, p.455. "~ickson,'The Development of Roads," Allister Macmillan, The Red Book of West Africa: Historical and Descriptive Commercial and Industrial Facts, Figures and Resources (London: Frank Cass, 1968); See also African Times, 1890-1894.

"N.A.G. (Accra) CS0 8/1/59. Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-31 p.11; Gold Coast Blue Books; See also "Message Addressed by His Excellency the Governor to the legislative Council When presenting the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditures for the year 1914," The Gold Coast Nation, October 30, 1913, p. 445; Gold Coast Nation July 4, 1912, p. 85. Notwithstanding the cocoa season, the cola crop excited some interest in districts where it is grown, on account of the price received for its produce. A few enterprising head chiefs are cultivating this plant either as a separate crop or as a shade for cocoa.15

The Report the Agriculture Department the

December Quarter, 1915, also stated that:

The demand for cola nuts has stimulated an interest in the crop. Even in places where large quantities of cocoa are produced, the ground around cola trees has been cleared and the fruit gathered. In Eastern Krobo, and especially Sekeswa, the use of kola as a shade for cocoa or planted as a separate crop is progressing, a good number of trees are already in bearing and producing remunerative yields.16

The first half of the next decade 1919 -1924 witnessed further growth. In 1919 and 1920, the annual export exceeded 7,000 tons. Over the next three years, this reduced slightly but in 1924 it reached the record figure of

7,773 tons. Thus, between 1874 and 1924, there was expansion in the southern kola trade to Lagos.

i~~~Reportof the Agriculture Department Upon the Travelling and Instructional Work Undertaken by the Staff During December Quarter, 1915," The Gold Coast Nation, May 4 (lgl6), p. 1331. 16Ibi.d. p. 1336. From 1924 onwards, however, the maritime export

declined and, in 1930, only 3,736 tons of kola were shipped

to Lagos.17 Various reasons can be advanced to explain why

the exports by sea from the Gold Coast to Lagos declined in

the second decade of the twentieth century. One major

reason was the improvement in peace, stability and

transportation in the Gold Coast. After the chaotic period of the 1880s and 1890s, a state of relative calm engulfed the Northern Territories. In 1892, 1894 and 1895, George

Ekem Ferguson concluded treaties of "friendship and trade," with Bole, Daboya, Dagomba, and Bimbila .is In 1896, a

British Resident was stationed in Kumasi. Furthermore,

Captain Donald Stewart hoisted the British Flag at on 24th December 1896, and in 1897, the British Agent,

Henderson, drove Samori Tourers warrior bands out of Bona and Wa. He also signed treaties with the Dagaaba as well as

-- - "N.A.G. (Accra) CS0 8/1/59. Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-31, p. 11. From 1917, however, Sierra Leonean kola began to enter the Nigerian market. Starting with 4 tons in 1917, Sierra Leone exported 845 tons to Nigeria in 1924, and 1,651 tons in 1929. Despite an export duty and higher Ereight charges the Sierra Leone trade was apparently able to compete successiully with the Gold Coast trade.

isG. E. Metcalf, Great Britain and Ghana: Documents of Ghana History 1807-1957 (Legon, 1964) p.493; Arhin, The Papers of George Ekem Ferguson. pp. 85-92, the people of Wa, Daboya, Mossi, Borgu and Boussa.19 Thus, as the British established more effective control over the

Northern Territories, more and more Hausa and Muslim traders penetrated to Asante and thence to the coastal areas of

Ghana. More kola was subsequently transported through the overland routes to the coast, to the North as well as to

French territ~ry.~' Even though estirnates are difficult to corne by, it was obvious that the ease in lorry traffic £rom the 1910s made it likely that the overland export to the ports of Ghana would increase each year. The improvement in roads facilitated easy access to Asante, the Northern Territories, Eastern and Southern Ghana. Transport across the River Volta to Yeji was also made possible in the 1910s as the Volta River trade grew in volume. As the Gold Coast

Nation noted Such roads and tracks as already exist are being, and will continue to be improved and maintained. A road across

i9A. K. Mensah, A Descriptive List of the Records of the Chief Commissioner of the Northern territories --in - the Tamale Regional Archives 1897-1969 Diploma in Archives Administration Thesis. n.d. pp. 13-14.

20~orthe political situation see British Parliamentary Reports on the situation in Asante. Kola was cawried by head load as well as by donkeys to French territory. See also "Message Addressed by His Excellency the Governor to the Legislative Council When Presenting the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 1914," Gold Coast Nation, October 30, 1913, p. 445. the difficult swamp between Yeji and Makongo is at present under construction. A canoe service £rom Yeji to Tamale Port (Yapei) has recently been organised by the Transport officer. During next year, the Transport Department will undertake the carriage of goods from Kumasi to Ejura over the newly-constructed highway, by motor- propelled vehicles..F1

Secondly, an increase in dernand for kola in French

Territory, especially Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso),

Germany and Togoland resulted in a huge smuggling trade between Ghana and Upper Volta through the Volta Regi~n.~~ More importantly, production in the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, especially in the Yoruba areas Owo, Awe, Ota areas from the 1920s onwards, meant that less quantities of kola were imported £rom Ghana.23 The onset of cola nitida production in Nigeria is delineated by Babatunde Aremu Agiri. Agiri argues that farmers of the Owo, Awe, and Ota areas, among others, adopted the new innovation - production of nitida cola for export to Northern Nigeria. Thus, due to

ziThe Gold Coast Nation, November 20, 1913, p. 463. **N.A.G. (Accra) CS0 8/1/59 Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-1931, p. 12. '3~abatunde Agiri, "The Introduction of Nitida Kola into Nigerian Agriculture," African Economic History, 8, 3 (Spring 1977): 1-14; idem, Kola Production in Nigeria. pp. 82-92. the increased expansion in kola production in Yorubaland in

the first two decades of the twentieth century, kola imports from the Gold Coast to Lagos declined.24

Fourthly, imports from Sierra Leone competed with Gold

Coast imports which meant that less kola nuts were required

£rom the Gold Coast.25 The cost of marketing kola nuts frorn

Sierra Leone to Nigeria was £7 18s 4d. more than from the

Gold Coast, so that the high cost of marketing cannot be blamed for the diminishing trade.26 Thus, the value of kola

nuts declined and the maritime trade became less attractive both to producers in Ghana and to the Hausas who bought and transported the nuts to Nigeria. One other major reason for the declining maritime exports of Ashanti kola was probably that a better market was found overland to the North - areas which were previously fed from Kano or Sokoto were now supplied from , and areas which previously regarded kola as an expensive luxury were able to obtain them at a lower price and so required largew quantities. These reasons give cause to believe that maritime exports to Lagos

agi ri, Kola Production. pp. 229-230.

25~.A.G. (Accra) CS0 8/1/59 Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-1931.

26~.~.G(Accra) CS0 8/1/59 Gold Coast Colony . Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930-31, p. 2 1. would continue to decline into the 1930s and 1940s.

A 1929 and 1930 survey of the kola areas of the Western and Eastern Provinces of Asante, together with figures for maritime exports, railway traffic figures, and ferry checks at Yeji, Bamboi, and Morna on the Volta on the Volta River, give a fairly good assessrnent of the quantity of kola exported overland as well as by sea. The resultant data, together with figures for previous years supplied by the

Chief Comrnissioner, Northern Territories, give a fairly good idea about the kola industry in Ghana in the 1920s. '' Kola Exports - Maritime and Overland

Source: N.A.G (Accra) CS0 8/1/59 Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture for the Year 1930- 31, p. 21.

The figures in Table 6, representing exports by land and sea, are liable to certain minor corrections, and must be interpxeted with caution in any case, due to seasonal fluctuations, smuggling, and attempts to avoid the ferry checks and the payment of the caravan tax.

The first column of the table shows the decline in maritime exports from 1924 -1930. On the othew hand, overland exports from Asante to the North increased £rom

1865-1930 and, in 1930, reached a record amount of 4,650.

Overall, total exports decreased, but if the abnormal year

of 1924 is omitted the decrease of 700 to 1,000 tons is not

alarming. The amounts carried by rail from Asante and exported by sea also declined considerably, and the total export £rom Asante declined from 1925 to 1928, but made up

for this shortfall during the next two years. Maritime exports from the Colony fluctuated from year to year."

It can be seen £rom the table that, whereas the maritime exports declined by 2,000 to 3,000 tons, overland exports increased by some 1,500 tons. In aggregate terms, total exports decreased by about 700 to 1,000 tons during the same period, but the decline was not nearly as great as the maritime exports indicated. The increase in overland exports and total exports from Asante meant that even in the era of cocoa production, Asante continued to produce a sizeable kola crop every year. This confirms the point which has already been made, and that is, the fa11 in kola export to Nigeria in the 1920s did not mean a total decline of the kola industry of Ghana. Changing patterns and

28~.~.~.(Accra) CS0 8/1/59. Gold Coast Colony. Report on the Department of Agriculture For the Year 1930-31. direction of trade resulted in the re-routing of the kola trade to Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo and other adjoining countries. In addition, Nigeria still relied on supplies from Ghana to augment demand from time to time.

The Hausa diaspora and the kola trade in southern Ghana

The penetration of Hausa into the areas adjacent to

Asante, and later to parts of Asante in the post-1874 period, led the creation "diasporic communities" and facilitated an expansion in the southern kola trade.

The founding of Atebubu Zongo is attributed by Opanyin

Yaw Mensah, an ex-Atebubuhene, to one Ali Megachie, a Hausa trader resident at Kintampo. Yaw Mensah asserts that Ali

Megachie was invited by the Atebubuhene (chie£ of Atebubu),

Kweku Gyan, to establish a Zongo. Similarly, Alhaji Sah (the Hausa Imam) maintains that the Zongo was founded by

Megachie and his Hausa companions who were cultivat~rs."~~

It is plausible from these statements that Ali Megachie was the earliest trader.

In 1882, the Bondoukou Imam finally inzormed the colonial administration at Accra that "Moharnmedans from

29Arhin, The Developrnent of Market Centres. p. 82. Ferguson, who visited the Atebubu Zongo, asserts that the Zongo people were traders, not cultivators. Gaman [sic] and elsewhere would be coming to the coast to

trade as their heathen fellow countrymen had now done for

sometime." In 1890, Ag. Governor Hodgson reported that

"...There is a large Mahornrnedan population in Accra who have

daily connexion with Salagha and the interior ..."30

Therefore, the 1880s can be regarded as the beginning of

large scale Hausa migration to Accra to trade in kola.

Until the 1920s, Accra continued to be a major port in the

export of kola to Northern Nigeria via Lagos, and to other

parts of the Islamic world. This led to the development of

Lagos and Lokoja as important kola termini in Nigeria.

Lokoja also owed its importance to the opening up of the

Niger to steamship services.31 Interviews conducted by

Lovejoy and Rabifu show that in the 1880s and 1890sf Hausa

and Muslim merchants were engaged in a brisk kola trade

between the ports of Ghana and the Nigerian termini of Lagos

and Lokoja.32 In 1897, for example, 130 tons of kola (a

figure which represents only a portion of the trade) was

ferried across the Volta at Krachi, ostensibly on its way to

30~.~.G.(Accra) ADM 1/490 no. 49 17 Feb. 1890. Acting-Governor Hodgson to S of S.

31 Johnson, Salaga Papers . SAL/31/1. See also Love j oy, Caravans. p. 116.

32 al am Baba Dayidu, interviewed on 4th September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by Paul E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabi'u. Lagos. 3 3

Large scale Hausa participation in the kola trade in Kumasi was delayed by the disturbances that

engulfed Asante after its defeat by Britain in 1874.

It was not until about 1896, when a British Resident was sent to Kumasi, that Hausa and other immigrants

began to settle and trade in kola in Kumasi itself in

significantly large numbers. In 1908, Captain Fleury, the Navarro District Cornrnissioner urged the people of

his district to trade to Kumasi. He rnaintained that: The only trade brought into this district is that performed by the Moshis and Hausas who corne from the French country with their cattle and sheep to sel1 in Kumasi and where they purchase trade goods with which to trade on return to their country. 34

Similarly, a lively kola trade was carried out in

Atebubu in the post-1874 period. The Rev. Ramseyer, a Base1 missionary at , southeast of Atebubu who was later captured and held in captivity by the Asante (between 1869-

33 F.R.B. Parmeter, Daily Return of Persons Crossing by the Krachi Ferry and Description of Load Carried, enclosed in Maxwell to Antrobus, 17 July 1897, PRO, C.O. 96/297. 34~.~.~(Accra)ADM 56/1/65. Speech made to the Chiefs, Headman and Natives of the Navarro District on the Subject of Trade by Captain A.M. Fleury, District Cornrnissioner, Navarro, on the 6th July, 1908. 1874), reported that "a 'lotf of kola nuts were going through Atebubu from Asante-Akim, the borderland between

Asante and Kwahu and that, the Atebubuhene was charging 'transit duesf of 100 nuts on a normal adult load of

2,000."~~

The 1891 Gold Coast census gives a fairly good idea of

the extent of Hausa participation in the kola trade in

Ghana. According to the census report, The Mahommedans, who are found mostly along the trade routes and in the trading centres, do very little proselytising among the native populations ...3 6

Thus in the 1890s, the largest concentrations of Ha usa were in Accra, Cape Coast, Elmina, Ajua and Shama. The large

numbers of Hausa (and Yoruba) in Accra and Cape Coast was

attributable to the thriving kola nut trade to Lagos in

these two t~wns.~~Interviews conducted by Lovejoy and Rabifu support this position.38 Several informants

3S~rhin,The Development of market Centres. p. 84.

36~.~.G.(Accra) ADM 5/2/1 Report on the Census of the Gold Coast Colony for the Year 1891, p. 19.

37~.~.~(Accra) ADM 5/2/1 Report on the Census of the Gold Coast Colony for the Year 1891. or example Mallam Baba Dayidu, interviewed on 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by Paul E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabifu. indicated that they went to Accra and elsewhere to buy kola

nuts. Furthermore, Accra was also the Head-Quarters of the

Gold Coast Constabulary, which had a fairly large Hausa

c~mponent.~~Similarly, the concentration of Hausa in

Elmina is also partly attributable to the fact that Elmina

was the former headquarters of the Constabulary.

The Hausa population in Shama, was mostly of the itinerant trading class, like other itinerant Hausa in the

Colony who plied their trade from town to town and £rom

village to village. 4 O

Organisation

The southern axis of the kola trade - overland and maritime - was concentrated in the hands of the "stranyer comrnunity." Buyers came from Nigeria to purchase the nuts

39~.~.G(Accra) ADM 5/2/1 Report on the Census of the Gold Coast Colony for the Year 1891. For more information about the Hausa and the Gold Coast Constabulary, See David Killingray, "Guarding the Extending Frontier, Policing the Gold Coast, 1865-1913," in David M. Anderson and David Killingray, Policing the Empire. Government Authority and Control 1830-1940 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1991); Edmund Abaka, "Traders, Soldiers and Slaves, The Hausa Diaspora in Ghana 1865-1920," in Slavery and Abolition (forthcoming); idem "Boatloads of Kola: The Hausa Diaspora in Southern Ghana 1865-1920," Paper Presented at the UNESCO/SSHRC Sumrner Institute, York University, July 14 - August 1, 1997.

40~.~.~(Accra) ADM 5/2/1 Report on the Census of the Gold Coast Colony for the Year 1891. for shipment to Lagos, and ultimately bound for Zaria and

Kano.41 The commercial organisation that had been responsible for the northern trade was basically responsible, with very little variation, for the Southern trade as well, One group of people involved in the southern kola trade was migrant labourers. Many of the carriers who took head- loads of kola nuts southwards were men returning to their own countries after working as labourers in the cultivation, harvesting and marketing of cocoa in Ghana.42 The nuts were also sometimes bought direct £rom the producers, but more frequently they passed through the hands of middlemen - emigrants or sojourners £rom the Northern Territories or French Haute Volta. The kola middlemen acted like landlords. However, they differed £rom the landlords in one significant respect. They assisted carriers in the packing of head-loads and frequently forwarded kola nuts by lorry on

41~eeFor example Maiunguwan Masak'a Aliyu, interviewed at Offishin Wakilin Arewa, Kano, 6 September 1969 by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabi'u; Malam Awwalu Kataki, intesviewed 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and M. Kabiru Babiru; Malam Baba Dayidu, interviewed 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabiru; Alhaji Bala, interviewed 25 October 1969 at Ujili, Kano, by P.E. Lovejoy and Lawal Abdullahi. 42~ennethSwindell, "Farmers, Traders and Labourers: Dry Season Migration From North-West Nigeria, 1900-1933," Africa, 54, 1 (1984): 3-19. behalf of kola merchants at large distributing centres. In

contrast to the Gold Coast kola trade, the maritime kola

trade frorn Sierra Leone was largely conducted by Syrian~.~~

Who Took Part in the Trade

The names of the traders who petitioned Lord Lugard in

1917 to reconsider the weight restriction imposed on kola

exported to Lagos give some indication of some of the people

who took part in the kola trade to Lagos. The list shows

that a sizeable Lagosian population residing in Cape Coast,

Saltpond, and other port towns actively participated in the

trade.44 An analysis of the names of these Cape Coast kola traders also throws light on their places of origin - most came from Nigeria.

Information provided by Chief Marna Anamaboe indicates

that during the period under study, there were Lagosian and

Hausa traders dealing in kola through Saltpond. In response

to a request by the Ag. Commissioner, Central Region, to

43~.~.~.(Accra); CS0 8/1/59.

44~.~.~.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241 Commissioner Central Province to Mallam Momodu Lateje and Others, Cape Coast, 24 July 1917; See also Lateju & Others to The Ag. Comrnissioner of Central Province, 25 July, 1917; See also A.B. Ellis, Agent, West AErican Lighterage & Transport Co. Ltd. to The Commissioner Central Province, Cape Coast, 25 July, 1917; Public Notice of Commissioner, Central province, dated at Cape Coast Castle on 26 July 1917. submit a report on the condition of the kola trade at Saltpond and Winneba, Chief Marna reported that the kola

exported through Saltpond was purchased £rom the owners of the trees by the Northern Territory women and men (mainly

K~tokoli).~~AS a rule, the owners of the kola picked the fruits. However, they sometimes arsanged with the buyers to gather the nuts themselves. This kind of arrangement

implies that the kola was sold more by private arrangement

than through the auspices of an open market. Another

implication of this was that there did not develop in many

of the coastal areas of Ghana very distinct and large kola markets that could rival their northern counterparts of

Salaga or Kintampo in importance. Al1 the same, there developed "relay markets" where kola could be re-sold.

The kola trade from Winneba relied on the Agona

territory for its supplies of kola - £rom Swedru, Kwanyako, Bobikuma etc. Here too, the trade was mostly in the hands

of Hausa and people from the Northern Territories of

Ghana. 46 In the Cape Coast area, information furnished by local traders indicates that not al1 stages of the trade were in

45~.~.G.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241.

46~.~.G.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. the hands of the local people. The volume of the trade was

not as large as at centres like Kumasi, Winneba and

Saltp~nd.~'Kola was obtained by the traders in the area

between the Cape Coast-Prahsu Road and the Cape Coast

Imbraim Road, but mostly in the vicinity of the former. An

arrangement whereby the buyers gathered the nuts themselves

was not in vogue. But more often than not, farmers sold the

kola to traders they knew and trusted, rather than on the

open market.48 Loads made up of about 2000 nuts were transported by head loads at an average price of 36 per mile to Cape Coast. At Cape Coast the 'Bli' was made up of

15,000 nuts and weighed 5 cwt. These were then shipped to

Lagos, at freight charges of 7/6 per cwt. Before 1914, the duty was 4/6. The transaction resulted eventually in a cost price of about £ 12 for which a selling price of £14.10/- was obtained, leaving the trader with a profit of 50/- a bli. "49

"N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Ag. District Commissioner, Cape Coast, to Ag. Commissioner, Central Province, Cape Coast, 2 Apxil, 1919.

48N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241.

49~.~.G(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Ag. District Comrnissioner, Cape Coast, to Ag. Commissioner, Central Province, Cape Coast, 2 April, 1919. Hausa soldiers

Demobilised as well as other former soldiers of the

Hausa constabulary also participated in the kola trade from Asante to the Sokoto ~aliphate.~' In 1877, Theophilus Opoku met an ex-soldier-turned-trader who was operating along the

Salaga-Volta route. He was widely believed in Nkonya and Krepe to be in the habit of selling his porters as slaves. Probably, he was a veteran of the 1874 Asante campaign.'l

Similarly, Abu Karimu, a former member of the constabulary who had gone on a recruiting expedition to Salaga in 1879 became a big trader. Like other demobilised members of the force, he established his village at Kwamikrom, between Nkonya and Akroso and went into trading on the Accra-Salaga route.'* Firminger believed the Karirnu actively engaged in

SO~onsdale,Report. p. 55; H. Klose, Toqo unter Deutscher Flagqe: Reisebilder und Betrachtungen. Berlin, 1899 (trans. £rom German by I.K. and M. Johnson). In Johnson, Salaqa Papers. ~~~/17/1;Nkonya Traditions, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana.

''~onsdale, Report. p. 55; Klose, Togo unter Deutscher Flaqge: Reisebilder und Betrachtunqen, SAL/17/1. 52~b~Karimu left the force because he was disgruntled at his treatment by the British, and went into the service of the Gerrnans before finally retiring; Firminger 1889 p. 55. slave trading. 53 Like Karimu, other Hausa deserters were believed to

have established themselves along the Volta in the 1870s. Karimu did not find any of them during his trip to Salaga in

1879, but that must have been where he conceived the idea of becoming a kola trader. These former soldiers who had served in the Hausa Constabulary, were familiar with the routes of the kola trade through their work as frontier policemen of the colonial administration.

Landlords and the southern kola trade

Like its northexn counterpart, the southern kola trade relied on the trade networks which had been developed by the

Hausa and other ethnic groups for long distance trade.

Traders from Hausaland relied on landlords in Accra, Kumasi,

Atebubu, Kete Krachi, Kpanto (Kpandu), Saltpond, Winneba and Sekondi for warehousing facilities, credit, information about pricing and othex ancillary services. Malam Awwalu Kataki, for example, started trading at age 28, taking after his father who traded in kola to Gonja.

He travelled to Accra and Kumasi on a cattle lorry. Alhaji

53~onsdale,Report, p. 55; Klose, Togo unter Deutscher Flagge: Reisebilder und Betrachtungen. In Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/17/1. Alin Mazaru, his mai gida in Accra provided yara who took the traders' money and went to the kola farms to buy kola.5 4

Sometimes these yara used the money for their own business hoping to recoup the principal in a few days but sometimes ran into difficulties in doing so. Under such circumstances, however, there was very little the trader could do to recover his money. It was difficult to take any legal action. 55

Markets

With the construction of roads, railways and the intensification of mining in the early 1900s, the locus of

Asante markets gravitated towards Southern Asante. Bekwai, Jacobu, Obuasi, Effiduasi and Agogo assumed greater importance. 56 The role of Kete Krachi in the southern kola trade was also invaluable. According to the Krachi Head Chief Kuji [Kwad~olDente,~~the Hausa settlement at Kete was

a al am Awwalu Kataki, interviewed on 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and M. Kabiru Babi'u.

S5~alamAwwalu Kataki, interviewed on 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and M. Kabiru Babi'u.

"~samoah-~arkoh,"Market Development," pp. 28-28.

"The history of the Kratchis was related by the Head Chief Kuji Dente and recorded in April 1920 by the District founded by Ceidu [Seidu] Aboakse, who settled there during

the reign of Besimuro, the chief who terminated Krachi

allegiance to Asante in 1874." David Asante and M. Buss in

1877 and 1878 respectively, passed by Krachi but noted no

traders1 quarter. But in 1882, Lonsdale rnentioned Kete and

indicated that it was as big as Salaga. Kete Krachi was by

that time a major nodal centre for the kola nut trade. With its circular or 'Mohomedan' hut, the Asante-type building and several nodescript houses with windows, Kete stood on high ground half an hour north-by-east of Krachi, and was the commercial section of the twin city of Kete Krachi.

People from al1 the surrounding region and refugees from

Nsuta could be found in the ~ity.~'The principal portion

Officer at Kete-Krachi.

"J. E. K. Kumah (recorder), Kete-Krachi Traditions (JEK/8) Institute of African Studies, Legon, 1966. History of the Kratchis as related by the head chief Kuji Dente, 1920, see also Levtzion Spread and Development of Islam in Middle Volta. pp. 14, 37. Krachis and Nchumuru disagree on the history of the area. See C.C. Reindorf, A History of the---- Gold- Coast and Asante (Accra: Ghana Univ. Press, 1966). (repr.). Reindorf records that the "Ntshummuru" were at Krakye before the Krachi people (Dente) came.

59CC--3386; 4466; 1882; XLV1;Lonsdale Report. p.3; Donna Maier, Priests and Power: The Case of the Dente Shrine in Nineteenth Century Ghana. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983); idem, "Cornpetition for Power and Profits in Kete Krachi, West Africa, 1875-1900," The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 13, 1 (1980): 33-50. of the population was Muslim, and of this, the larger proportion was Hausa. The population of this thriving market town was about 7,000 and 8,000. Ambassadors from many of the neighbouring countries resided permanently in

Krachi, and were responsible for the transactions with thelr respective countries. There were also a number of traders from Bonduku and G~arnan.~'Bonnat indicated in 1876 that the people of Kete Krachi were determined, above everything to retain control over the transit trade to Salaga because it was highly profitable.

Ramseyer, on the other hand, (1884) states that Krachi had a population of about 5000-6000 people, many of whom were Muslims £rom Salaga, as well as Hausa and others from

Kwahu, Akyem, Akwapim, Ada, Akra and Fanti. Most were there because of trade; many also went to Salaga or to Kpando and the ~oast.~*

Panto (Kpando) similarly had a considerable number of strangers who came £rom far and near to trade. The larger

60~~--3386;4466; 1882; XLVI; Lonsdale, Report of His Mission, p. 3

61~.~.Bonnat, "Journey With Robert Bannerman of Accra and Ada, " Lr Explorateur, 1876; See also Johnson, Ashanti East of the Volta, p. 42.

62~aier,Priests and Power. idem, "Cornpetition for

Power and Profits in Kete Krachi," pp.- - 33-50. See also Braimah and Goody, Salaga: The Struggle £or Power. 1967 percentage (about seven-eights) were Muslims and three

quarters of them were Hausas. On some occasions as many as

12,000 strangers congregated at Kpando, but only for a short time, and the presence of such a large number was a purely

casual occurrence. However, the fact that three men were at one time appointed heads of the stranger comrnunity gives the

impression that it was a very large comrnunity. Due to

Kpandots ideal location, traders from the coast (east and

west of the Volta), Salaga, Hausaland and other places

congregated there.6 3

Marion Johnson identified four major kola markets in

Akyem territory, besides other smaller towns which did not serve as marketing centres. There was a market at

~samankese~~from which kola was carted to Accra by the

Asamankese-Adawso () road. From the market,

Kola went northwards to Juaben Asamang in the Birim gap and

through Asiakwa and Kibi to Accra. (This route avoided the hills). The third market in the Kankang area exported the nuts direct to the north through Kwahu. From the fourth market at Osiem, Kola went to Akuse or Accra through

63 (c.--3386) 4466; 1882; XLVI; Lonsdale, Report, p. 6. 92~samankesehad a large Hausa settlement at this time See Johnson, "Migrants Progress," p. 27 of ~ridua~~. On the other hand, W.H. Johnson maintains that the principal Akyem kola markets wewe located at Insuaim,

Essamang, Kwaben, Tumfa and Kankan. In Kwaben or Tumfa, it was possible to purchase from a single person 10 loads containing 2,000 nuts ea~h."~~

The main markets for Agona kola were Swedru, Kwanyako, Nsaba, Nyaakrom, Bobikuma, Abodorn, Onkoom and Kwamang. Kola was transported from Swedru at a cost of 12/- basket of 5 cwt containing roughly fifteen thousand nuts which average

Say 27 or 28 to the pound. From the port of Winneba, freight per hundredweight to Lagos was 4/- and Lighterage

1/3. If harbour dues of fourpence was factored into it, a total of 5/7d was paid by the trader. Thus, the total cost to the trader including freight to Lagos per basket of 15 cwt was roughly £ 11.7.6 or forty five pounds ten shillings per ton £rom Swedru in the early 1900s.67

Transportation cost from the more distant Agona towns was higher, although the price of kola nuts appeared to have been the same. An extra £ 1 13/- per ton for transport was

93~ohnson,"Migrants Progress, " p. 27

66~.~.Johnson, Cocoa and Cola in the Gold Coast. p. 7.

"N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. incurred to bring kola about ten or miles away to Swedru.68

On the other hand, most of the kola exported from Cape

Coast was obtained at Dunkwa (20 miles away) and Kwamin

Attah (34 miles away) and were sold at £ 1 per 2000 small; and £1. IO/- Od. per 2000 medium to large. They were transported to the beach at a cost of 4/- per 2000. Freight charges to Lagos were 4/- per cwt plus lighterage at 1/3.

At the Lagos port, harbour dues of 6/- per ton was also paid. In addition to the cost outlined above, incidental expenses were also incurred in connection with re-packing and handling. There were no major kola markets between

Kwamin Atta and Dunkwa.

6e~.~.G.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Table 6 b

Kola Exports from the Gold Coast to Lagos and Adjacent Areas 1872-1921

Year Amount Price (1)

504 lbs.

141 pkg.

110 pkg. - 56 pkg. 31,792 lbs.

158 pkg. 100 pkg. 113 pkg. 117 pkg. 180 pkg. 5 pkg* 5 pkg- 6 pkg 86 pkg. 978 pkg. 1,079 pkg. 1,197 pkg. 1,217 pkg. 1,513 pkg. 1,601 pkg. 2,220 pkg. 1,837 pkg. 1,820 pkg. 1,906 pkg. 2,573 pkg. 2,753 pkg. 2,677 pkg.

4,041 pkg. 1, 960. 410ng tons 2, 178. 710ng tons 2,283. 610ng tons 2, 566. 81ong tons 3,154. 4ions tons 3, 107.710ng tons 3, 434. 510ng tons 3, 551.5 long tons 2, 954. 3 long tons 5,283.5 long tons 5,755 long tons 7,2 65 .5 long tons 7 , 151 long tons 6 ,096 long tons

Source: Gold Coast Blue Books, 1872-1912; Gold Coast Handbook 1922; Lovejoy, Caravans. p.152.

Table 5 shows that aggregate kola exports from the Gold

Coast to Lagos and the adjacent areas. Between 1873 and

1876, the kola trade was disrupted by the Anglo-Asante war

(1874) and the attendant insecurity that engulfed the region after the Asante defeat. From the early 1880s, the trade revived until 1888. Between 1889 and 1892, exports declined, ostensibly due to disturbances in Asante and the surrounding territories. Erom 1894 onwards, kola exports increased steadily into the 1920s.

The Kola Wars.

From 1917 onwards, Nigeria embarked on protective measures to control kola exports to the country. By that time, the Nigerian kola industry had corne of age and Nigeria was producing large quantities of kolas6' Consequently, there were "tarif£ wars" between Nigeria and Ghana with a view to protecting the nascent kola industry in Nigeria through protective tariffs. In April 1917, Lord Lugard, then Governor General of Nigeria, approved a regulation by which from the first of July 1917, packages of kola exported to Nigeria would not exceed 200 lbs gross weight each. 7O Lugard issued this instruction at the recommendation of the comptroller of customs. The latter reported that it took a very long time to off-load kola baskets £rom Ghana because some weighed as much as a ton.

A second reason adduced for this protective measure was that kola in packages over 200 pounds took up too rnuch space in the wareh~use.~~Since kola had been shipped to Nigeria

69 Babatunde Agiri, Kola Production in Western Nigeria.; idem "The Introduction of Nitida Kola into Nigerian Agriculture," pp. 1-14. 82N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. "Public Notice," signed by R. Beaver, Ag. Commissioner Central Province; also Ag. Commissioner Central Province to Chief Kofi Sackey & Malam Musah, Cape Coast, 12 April 1917; F. D. Lugard, Governor-General, Nigeria, to His Excellency The Governor, Gold Coast Colony, Accra, 23 March 1917; Ag. Colonial Secretary, Victoriaborg, Accra, to The Ag. Commissioner of the Central province, Cape Coast, 23 April 1917. "N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. "Public Notice, " signed by R. Beaver, Ag. Commissioner Central Province; Ag. Commissioner Central Province to Chie£ Kofi Sackey & Malam in al1 kinds of quantities and al1 sizes before this time,

it cannot be argued that the size of the packages were too big for people to handle. The Cape Coast kola nut shippers

requested audience with the Comrnissioner of Central

Province, Col. Harding, to ask for his intercession with the

Nigerian government to allow them to ship "our kola nuts in small baskets of 5 cwts; for formerly kolanuts were being shipped in baskets up to 15 cwts and not in sacks of 2 cwts as directed."n This request was made because "kola nuts shipped in sacks always get greatly damaged, which are only losses to the shippers or owners there~f."'~The same concerns were also brought to the attention of the District

Comrnissioner, Saltpond, to petition the Nigerian government

Musah, Cape Coast, 12 April 1917; also F.D. Lugard, Governor-General, Nigeria, to His Excellency The Governor, Gold Coast Colony, Accra, 23 March 1917; Ag. Colonial Secretary, Victoriaborg, Accra, to The Ag. Commissioner of the Central province, Cape Coast, 23 April 1917.

72~.~.~.(Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. "Public Notice," signed by R. Beaver, Ag. Comrnissioner Central Province; Ag. Comrnissioner Central Province to Chief Kofi Sackey & Malam Musah, Cape Coast, 12 April 1917; also F.D. Lugard, Governor-General, Nigeria, to His Excellency The Governor, Gold Coast Colony, Accra, 23 March 1917; Ag. Colonial Secretary, Victoriaborg, Accra, to The Ag. Comrnissioner of the Central Province, Cape Coast, 23 April 1917.

73N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Letter from Kola nut Shippers, Kotokuraba Rd, Cape Coast, to The Hon. Col. Harding, Commissioner of Central Province, Cape Coast, 11 July, 1917; The shippers had already requested a meeting in to permit the shipment of kola in weights up to 5 or 6 cwts

in small baskets rather than bags.74 Colonel Harding

subsequently informed Lord Lugard about the concerns of the

Ghana kola traders.7~Due to this intercession with the

Nigerian governrnent, the regulation was amended so that kola

could be shipped up to 5 cwt in weight.76

Price

Between 1910 and 1920, the basic unit of purchase was

100 nuts. Generally, the price of kola ranged from 6d to

1/- per 100 according to the period of the season. On the whole, the price was relatively stable throughout the Cape

Coast district and did not Vary very much on account of di~tance.'~On the other hand, the price on board the

a letter dated 7 July 1917, and had been assured of an audience on 11 July 1917.

75N.A.G (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Commissioner, Central Province to Malam Momodu Lateju & Others, Kotokuraba, Cape Coast, 12 July, 1917.

76 N.A.G. (Cape Coast) Commissioner Central Province to Malam Momodu Lateje and Others, Cape Coast, 24 July 1917; See also Lateju & Others to The Ag. Commissioner of Central Province, 25 July, 1917; See also A.B. Ellis, Agent, West African Lighterage & Transport Co. Ltd. to The Commissioner Central Province, Cape Coast, 25 July, 1917; Public Notice of Cornmissioner, Central province, dated at Cape Coast Castle on 26 July, 1917.

77N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. George A. Freeman, District Commissioner, to The Ag. Commissioner, Central steamer at Cape Coast was about 1/9 and varied in Lagos £rom

3/6 to 5/- or 6/- per hundred."

The Agona sold their kola to the Hausa, Yoruba and

other traders, at rates varying £rom 2000 nuts for IO/- when

kola was plentiful, and 2000 for 15/- when it was scarce.

The size of the nuts was also a factor in the pricing - the

bigger the nuts the more expensive they were. At Winneba,

the price was about 5/- per 2000 over the price paid at

Swedru. In other villages further inland, kola was sold at

15/- to El per 2000 nuts.

Buyers sometimes head-loaded kola to Essikuma where

they resold the kola to buyers from Saltpond. From

Saltpond, the kola was transported by motor lorry in the

1910s and sometimes by the headload if the buyer thought

that he could get a better profit by so doing."

Transport

Kola was mainly carried by head load £rom the producing

Province, Cape Coast Castle, 8 April, 1919.

78N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. George A. Freeman, District Comrnissioner, to The Ag. Comrnissioner, Central Province, Cape Coast Castle, 8 April, 1919.

79N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. George A. Freeman, District Comrnissioner, to The Ag. Cornmissioner, Central Province, Cape Coast Castle, 8 April, 1919. to the marketing centres and consuming areas. An ordinary

head load consisted of about 2000 to 2500 nuts. Strong men

could, however, carry about 4000 to 5000 nuts.

The carriers were paid as fo1lows:-

From Swedru to Winneba 2/- per 2000 nuts

Frorn Abodorn ff 4 /- 1f

From Kwanyako Ir 4 /- II

From Nsaba 11 4 /- II

From Bobikuma II 4/- II 80

Source: N.A.G (Cape Coast) ADM/23/1/241 (1919).

A sizeable portion of the kola crop was also

transported by motor lorry between 1910 and 1920 down to the

ports. It cost 8/- per cocoa bag (i.e. about 8000 nuts) to

transport kola by motor transport from Swedru to Winneba.'l

From the port of Cape Coast, Kola was transported to

Lokoja in mail boats. Since this was the major means of

transportation to Lagos, members of the kola nuts shippers

"N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/l/S4l.

81 N.A.G. (Cape Coast), Ag. District Commissioner, Winneba, to The Ag. Commissioner, Central province, Cape Coast Castle, 17 April, 1919. of Cape Coast protested in 1914 to the Comrnissioner of the

Central Province, Gold Coast, when they learnt that mail

boats would no longer cal1 at Cape Coast. In a petition to

the Commissioner of the Central Province, Cape Coast, they

wrote : ... without mailboats it will be very hard for us to ship Our kola to Lokoja, and if we do accept shipments per cargo- boats, it will be a great loss to us, for cargo boats usually stay very long by the way before arriving at Burutu, causing thereby much damages to the kola through excessive heat.82

This demonstrates the principal role Lokoja came to play in

the trade. The petitioners told the Acting Commissioner

that they exported substantial amounts of kola to Lagos and

the new measure would ruin their trade. The stated that

they exported about 100 baskets of kola a week to Lagos, 83

and from January 1914 to March 1914, 1956 cwts of kola were

exported to Lagos.84 A breakdown of costs of handling at Lagos is given below :

82N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Letter from kola nut shippers of Cape Coast to the Commissioner of Central province, April 18, 1914.

83N.A.G. (Cape Coast) 23/1/241. Ag. Commissioner of Central Province's letter dated 6.5.14.

84N.A.G (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. The cost to Lagos at the present time was 5/11 1/2 per cwt made up as fo1lows:-

Lighterage dues here 1/3 per cwt.

Freight 4/6 pex cwt.

Lagos harbour dues 2 1/2d

A Deck Passage costs #2.19.0

Source: N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241. Ag. District Comrnissioner, Winnebah, to The Ag. Commissioner, Central province, Cape Coast Castle, 17 April, 1919.

From the coastal ports, kola was transported by boat to

Lagos. Sometimes as many as 90 people or more proceeded by branch boat to Lagos carrying kola nuts for sale. On its last passage the boat Sir George, carried 686 bundles of kola nuts (roughly 150 tons) and 83 deck passengers accompanying thern.85 Shortly before this, two boats within a few days of each other, transported substantial quantities of kola £rom Winneba to Lagos. The boats were seported to have carried £rom Winneba such a quantity of kola nuts that the Total Lighterage Company receipts including dues,

-- 8sN.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/l/24l. freight and passages totalled up to just under f 2000. One of the boats in question had on board 95 passengers taking kola nuts to Lagos. Some of them sold their kola at Lagos while others proceeded up country to Kano, Zaria, Sokoto and other cities in Northern Nigeria.06

The Role of the Sarkin Zongo

Though not much has been written about the xole of the

Sarkin Zongo in the trade diaspora and the political matrix of the diasporic communities, it can be argued that they did

important mediating role both arbiters and

"custodians of the peace" so that trade could flourish.

Bukari Danboronu, Head Chief, Hausa Zongo, Cape Coast, requested permission from the Provincial Comrnissioner to be allowed to collect a toll of 5/- on each basket of kola shipped by the traders to Lagos and other places.

His request was predicated on the fact that,

as Head in that community they have always brought cornplaints to me and resort to my assistance when any accident occurs in that function and this may be considered as Bonuses to me so that I might be in the same footing as Chief Marna Anamaboe of Anamaboe.''

86~g.District Cornrnissioner, Winneba, to The Ag. Commissioner, Central province, Cape Coast Castle, 17 April, 1919.

"N.A.G. (Cape Coast) ADM 23/1/241, Bukari Danboronu, He further drew the Provincial Cornmissionerrs attention to

the fact that the District Cornmissioner, Elliot, was

considering the request but had to go on leave and

therefore, the request was s~spended."~~Further research

needs to be done on the role of the heads of the Hausa

diasporic communities in the overall context of the trading

activities of the rnembers.

Conclusion

Before the Anglo-Asante war of 1874, the subjects of provincial Asante states wewe not allowed to corne to the coast except with special permission, and when permission was given, it was demanded that the journey should be made through Kumasi. However, al1 this changed after 1874. The

British government tried to encourage trade with al1 the districts lying inland of the seaboard of the colony.

Head Chief Hausa Zongo, Cape Coast, to The Provincial Commissioner, Central province, Cape Coast, 10 July, 1920. For work on the Zongo, see Enid Schildkrout, People of the Zongo: The Transformation of Ethnic identities in Ghana. London: Cambridge University Press, 1978.

"1bid. ADM 23/1/241.

''c.0. 879/20 #268; Samuel Rowe to Captain Barrow, encl # 2 in Rowe to Earl of Derby, 2, 8 April, 1883--Rowe to Barrow letter dated 29 March, 1883. Samuel Rowe suggested to the Colonial Office that trade

should be encouraged from Salaga, Yendi, Kintampo through

Kwahu country, to the east of Ashanti. He urged the

Colonial Office to visit the eastern and western routes from

the seaboard to the north, viz., £rom Cape Coast to Bonduku,

and from Accra to Salagha with a view to fostering peace and

security. Rowe maintained that, in addition to promoting trade, such visits would be invaluable in procuring recruits

for the Hausa force to help maintain the peace in the co10ny.~~Rowe was also interested in using such visits to explore the possibility routing trade Yendi and

Salaga down through the Shai plantations and over the

Akropong hills to Accra to trade.

Like the northern trade, the southern trade was given a boost by Hausa participation. The Hausa penetrated the kola-producing areas outside Asante in the post-1874 period and established commercial centres which became the focal points of the kola trade to Lagos and Lokoja. They were joined by other traders (both Hausa and Yoruba) who came by boat to the coastal ports of Ghana. Thus, kola produced not only in Asante and Akyem but also in the Fante, Agona and

Assin areas, were fed into a very vibrant southern trade to

90~.~.879/21; #227; Samuel Rowe to C.O., 61, 16 Aug. 1884. Lagos and Lokoja. The trade utilised human porterage, and later roads, railways and the coastal ports of Accra,

Winneba, Saltpond, Apam, Cape Coast and Sekondi to transport kola to Lagos and Hausaland. In addition, exports to

Europe, the United States, and Brazil in the 1880s and 1890s also contributed to the expansion in the southexn kola t rade. CHAPTER FIVE

LABOUR, KOLA PRODUCTION AND TRADE IN GHANA

This chapter seeks to show that the phenomenal expansion in the kola trade between 1865 and 1920, and the attendant increase in production, could not have taken place without a substantial increase in the supply of labour. The need for labour was acute in three main areas - clearing the land to make new farms, harvesting and processing the nuts for the market, and finally, transporting the nuts £rom the producing areas to the marketing centres. This increased demand for labour was fulfilled in a number of ways. First, family labour was the fulcrum around which the kola industry revolved. When this proved inadequate, slave labour was used to supplement it, especially between 1865 and 1874, and even after the collapse of Asante in 1874. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the labour of pawns became increasingly important as a pool of labour for kola farmers and traders as the supply of slave labour dried up. Finally, when these sources of labour did not suffice, migrant labour, wage labour and share-cropping became more and more important. However, the emergent cocoa industry competed with kola for labour and succeeded in siphoning off migrant labour in particular. As cocoa production expanded to meet the overseas market, it

inherited the acute labour problem which kola had struggled

to deal with.

The labour needs of kola farmers and traders were

evident in three main areas. As kola production expanded

£rom the northern part of Asante (especially around Ejura,

Nkoranza, Akumadan, Offinsu), and Brong Ahafo (Fufu to

Tekyimentia), and parts of Akyem, to Akwapim, Tarkwa, Wassa,

Aburi, Ho, Kpandu, Asuantsi, Agona, Foso, and other places,

there was a demand for labour to make new farms and to

plant kola seedlings. Periodically, labour was needed to

weed round the young kola trees so that they would not be

choked by weeds. As a seasonal crop, labour needs became

acute during the harvesting season. First, the areas under

the kola trees were cleared at the start of the harvesting

season. During the harvesting season itself, pickers, gatherers and carriers were needed to harvest and collect

the pods together. This was to be followed by cracking the pods and 'skinning' the nuts. Since kola is a seasonal crop, the labour needs were more intense at that time, especially between October and January. Finally, after harvest and fermentation, labour was needed to carry the baskets of kola from the farm to designated depots for storage, and marketing centres for sale. These centres as well as the caravans also needed provisions to function

effectively.

These distinct activities demanded a huge outlay of

labour, especially during the period of expansion (1865-

1920), and in cornpetition with other economic activities. However, this labour need was seasonal - to clear around trees, harvest and prepare the nuts for the market.

Family labour

Family labour was the main source of labour for kola farmers and traders. In the period under consideration, whether it was the necessity of making new farms or harvesting kola, the first pool of labour supply was the family. According to Kwame Arhin, farmers utilised the labour of family rnembers in kola production.' He offers an interesting explanation for the use of the immediate family (wife and children) in kola production and trade. He maintains that this might be one of the ways by which the

Asante bo dwetire, that is, pass on acquired property to a wife and son or sons in his lifetime, a practice which the

'~rhin, Development of Marketing Centres. p. 113. Asante considered as a moral duty since children could not inherit fathers in matrilineal s~cieties.~

Similarly, Beidu found out that Teppa and Tanoso kola farmers depended mostly on their families, especially in periods of large harvests.) Several kola farmers in the

Assin Fosu area also claimed they used family labour in kola production in the early twentieth ~entury.~

Making new farms and harvesting crops generally fell into distinct time slots, following the rainy and dry seasons. Family labour was used, but when it was heavily over-taxed during these two periods, extra labour was solicited £rom other adult relatives of the extended fa mil^.^ Women and children played a very prominent role in the kola industry. They went out at dawn or very early in the morning to collect the kola fruits which had fallen from the tree~.~In addition, they cracked open the kola pods and

3~eidu,Kola Production. pp. 25, 32.

'~ieldwork Notes: Interviews conducted by Muhamrned Nkrumah in the neighbouring towns and villages surrounding Fosu, by Muharnrned Nkrumah in April/May 1995.

'~ra~,Cocoa Development in Ahafo, West Ashanti. p. 38

%eidu, Kola Production. p. 5. separated the nut from the tough white pulpy coating.' Whereas the practice of collecting other people's kola was pewmitted by Asante custom (due to the belief that kola was the gift of God), it was illegal to pluck someone's kola from the tree. Such an action in most cases ended up in the chief ' s court. Family labour was also very important in transporting kola to the marketing centres. Arhin notes that, "The people of Ahafo taking kola nuts to Kintampo ... travelled in groups consisting of a ... man, his wife or wives and grown-up sons and da~ghters."~K.Y. Daaku also points out that,

"trading was basically a family affair, pursued mainly by small groups of people assisted by their kin and persona1 slaves. "'O To Beidu, Kola was often carried by a £armer and his family for shorter distances to the market. However, they relied on slaves or pawns for porterage over long distances. l1 Thus, the work of women and children proved

7 Heckel & Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," p. 585. '~eidu, Kola Production p. 5. '~rhin, Development of Marketinq Centres. p. 113.

'O~aaku, Akan Trade 19 69.

"~eidu, Kola Production. pp. 25, 32. invaluable as they head-loaded kola, foodstuffs and other materials from place to place. 12

Some large-scale farmers could own more than one kola farm. Since family labour was insufficient, they had care- takers who took care of some the farms . State of ficials also utilised the services of their subjects. The Omanhene of Techimentia, for example had six kola farms.l3 Most of the work on the farms was done by his subjects. Not surprisingly, state officiais in Asante, Bono Ahafo and parts of Akyem and Kwahu had the largest farms in several villages.

Co-operative Labour or Nnoboa

Again, when family labour proved insufficient, labour shortage was also resolved through the nnoboa system by which farmers provided a number of hours of work on each otherts farms.14 Beidu was informed at Teppa, Techimentia, and Maabang that in times of large harvests, kola farmers resorted to nnoboa system to ensure the completion of the harvest. Friends and relatives, and even sons-in law and

12~ray,Cocoa Development in Ahafo, West Ashanti. p. 38.

13~eidu,Kola Production p. 3. 14T'his system was a form of village CO-operative help. It was practised in several parts of Ghana. daughters-in-law were al1 invited to help during the harvesting season.15 In cases where caretakers were used in

harvesting kola, the latter were helped by their families. 16 According to Opanyin Kwame Dapaah, those who were begged to

help were often put to work carrying and cracking kola, or

removing the tough coating around the nuts and were

often given some of the kola (usually those infested with nkontia - nea nkontia wo mu or those that had cracked on falling down (nea apaepae) or salt for their services. 17

Kola and slavery

Family labour was supplemented with slave labour during

the period of expansion in kola production and trade between

1865 and 1874, and even after the collapse of the Asante

empire in 1874. The use of slave labour and the attendant increased output cushioned the impact of the abolition of

the slave trade on Asante and laid the foundation for the

15~eidu,Interviews at Teppa on 2sth July 1966, Tanoso 8-loth August 1966, Techimentia on 21St July, 1966, and Maabang with Opanyin Kwame Dapaa 13-18~"July 1966, in Beidu, Kola Production. pp. 25, 27, 36, 47.

16~eidu,Interviews at Tanoso 8-10 August, 1966, p. 31.

170panyin Kwame Dapaah, interviewed by Beidu at Maabang, 13-18'" July 1966, in Beidu, Kola Production. pp. 4-5. cocoa industwy which, from the 1920s, became the mainstay of

Ghanaf s economy.

Before 1865, slave labour was used in many economic activities, including kola production and trade. Slave labour became very important as African states struggled to adjust to the changes which occurred with the introduction of 'legitimater trade. According to Love joy, the "decreased demand for slaves at the coast freed slaves for use in local

~tates."'~On the Gold Coast, Edward Reynolds argues that the quest for substitutes for the slave trade created conditions necessary for the success of the later cocoa economy. He argues that the Akuapem of Ghana utilised slaves, especially Ewe and northerners, in the transition to a modern cash economy.lg Indeed, in the early nineteenth century, plantations worked by slaves were widespread among

Danish traders on the Coast.*'

Both Bowdich and Dupuis, British Consuls to Asante in the early lgth century, encountered an Asantehene who was

Transformations.

lgEdward Reynolds, Trade and Economic Change on the Gold Coast (London: 1974), pp. 18-19.

''Edward Reynolds, "The Slave Trade, Slavery and Economic Transformation of the Gold Coast in the Nineteenth Century," De La Traite a L'esclavage, Colloque Internationale sur la traite des Noirs (Nantes: Centre de Recherche sur 1' Histoire df Outre Mer, 1985) . very anxious to re-establish the slave trade because he had

a large nurnber of slaves at the time of the abolition of the

trade.

The Asantehene solved the problem of glut in the post-

abolition period by making slaves available to Asante

lineages that needed them. Informants and European

travellers in the early nineteenth century attest to the

tact that slaves were settled outside Kumasi from the middle

of the eighteenth century onwards, in slave villages away

£rom the capital and produced food to feed the Asante arrny,

the Asantehene's court, the Arnanhene, as well as the

arist~cracy.'~Many were also used in kola production. In

addition, Asante reorganised the slave-based agriculture of

some of the commercial towns in Greater Asante in order to provide provisions for the caravan trade.

21~.Norman Klein, "West African Unfree Labour before and After the Rise of the Atlantic Slave Trade," in Laura Foner and Eugene D. Genovese (eds.), Slavery in the New World. A Reader in Comparative History (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1969): 87-95; K. Poku, "People of Slave origin in Ashanti," Ghana Journal of Sociology 5, 1 (Feb. 1969), p. 35; Claude Meillassoux, (ed.), The Development of Indigenous Markets. pp. 168-181; K.Y. Daaku, "Trading and Trade Patterns of the Akan in the 17th and 18th,"; idem, Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast 1600-1720. A Study of African Reaction to European Trade ( Oxford, 1970), pp. 120-122. The great caboceers or abiremponq of Akwamu used slaves to work on the plantations which surrounded their capital Nyanoase. Asante acquired servile labour in a number of ways.

According to Bowdich:

Most of the slaves in Coomassie, were sent as part of the annual tribute of Inta [Inta is Gonja], Dagwumba [Dagomba] and their neighbours to Ashantee; many were kidnapped, and for the few who were bought, 1 was assured by several respectable Ashantees, 2000 cowries, or one basket of bossee (kola) was the greatest price given; so full were the markets of the interi~r.~*

The provincial states to the north sent annual tribute - Dagomba 500; Gonja 500, Takyiman, Wankyi, Atebubu, Abease, Kwawu, Akwamu, Fanti, Ewe contributed 700 in al1 - to A~ante.~~Substantial numbers of slaves from the Sokoto

Caliphate region were also sold to Asante in the northern markets, especially Salaga for work on kola farms, to harvest and carry kola to the marketing centres as well as for trade caxavans.24 Thus, as Claude Meillassoux has

22~ohnson,Salaga Paperç. SAL/62/1; SAL/70/1.

23~ohnson,Salaqa Papers. SAL/70/1; Love joy, Transformations. p. 155. Lonsdale gives different figures, Dagomba - 1500, Gwandjiowa - 1000. He adds that al1 the countries beyond Abruno were required too pay tribute. See Johnson, Salaga Papers. SAL/41/3; J.H. Glover, Proceedings of the Royal Geoqraphical Society 1874, SAL/62/1. According to Glover, before 1874, Salaga paid a tribute of about 600 slaves as well as money to Asante. Reindorf indicates in -A History of Gold Coast and Asante that the Dwaben and Nchumuru had to supply their quota of slaves at one point. 24~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/8/5; SAL/8/6; SAL/17/11; SAL/17/12; SAL/19/17; SAL/39/2; SAL/57/1. See also M. argued for the interior of West Africa, slaves were diverted

into kola production and rnining in Asante and other mining

towns.2 5

Slaves often lived in their own villages, on both small

holdings and large concentrations, and were involved in the production of kola, palm oil, palm kernels, rice, and yam.

In 1817, Bowdich reported that,

The highex class do not support their numerous followers, or the lower their large families, in the city and therefore employ them in plantations ...where their labours not only feed themselves but supply the wants of the chief, his family and the immediate suite. The middling orders station their slaves for the same purpose ...2 6

After the redeployment slaves into agricultural ventures sustained the Asante economy. John Beecham reiterated this use of slaves in plantation work in Asante at the close of the 1830s. He noted that the large towns of

Asante "are surrounded by a number of plantations belonging to the inhabitants; and the natives always include their

Johnson, "Slaves of Salaga," Journal of African History, 27 (1986): 341-362. 2S~ordetails of Claude Meillassouxrs argument see The Anthropology of Slavery (Chicago, 1991), pp. 62-63; Terray, "Long Distance Exchange and the Formation of the State: The Case of the Abron of Gyaman," pp. 327-329. 26~o~di~h,Mission pp.323-4; Wilks, Asante in the Nineteenth Century. pp. 52, 70, 84. slaves on those plantations in the estimates of population of the towns to which they are atta~hed."~'

In 1877, when the Basel missionary, Theophilus Opoku visited Salaga, he noted that slavery continued - about 800 slaves were brought by the Mossi and Hausa traders while he was there. According to him, they readily found purchasers. 2 8

In the 1880s, Captain La Trobe Lonsdale, a British Intelligence Officer who went on a recruiting expedition to

Salaga, and travelled extensively in the former provinces of

Asante, attested to the use of slaves in harvesting kola.*'

Similarly, in 1888, long after the 1874 War had loosened Asante grip over the Gonja, Binger saw a plantation north of Salaga, at Dokonkade. He asserted that:

Many people are settled there with their captives during the winter months ...Going from Masaka to Salaga, one does not go through any villages but past Gourounsi-iri and other small farrning villages near Belimpe or Bourompe, Abd-er-Rahman- iri - comrnunities dependent on Salaga - villages of captives engaged in farming under the surveillance of a rnember of the masterfs family.

- 27~ohnBeecham, Ashantee and the Gold Coast (London, 1968) 2nd ed., pp. 130-131. *'~avid Asante and Theophil Opoku, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society (London, June 1884), SAL/4/1.

29~onsdale,Mission to Asante and Jaman, April 14, 1883. These assume the name of their owner, adding sri, sou, pe or kade, depending on whether they speak Dagomba, Mande or Gon J a. . .30

Kola could be picked by any mernber of the lineage and al1 that was most needed was labour to pick the kola, crack open, ferment, sort and package it for sale. With the exception of the major harvest, the bulk of the work was done by women and slaves - both male and female.31 The role of slaves in kola production is captured vividly by Richard Austin Freeman who writes that:

On the abolition of domestic slavery the kola industry in Ashanti will tend to die out, just as the rubber trade in Akyem languished as soon as the abolition of slavery was proclaimed there. Thus in one way, the British annexation of Ashanti (with its accompanying abolition of slave-holding rights) will tend to destroy the caravan traffic b crippling the industry that created it. 72

Freeman's fears were, however, not realised because pawns were used to augment labour supply in the post-abolition

30 Binger, 1892, vol. II, p. 85, cited in Lovejoy, Transformations. pp. 164-5. 31~kosuaAdoma Perbi, A History of Indigenous Slavery in Ghana From the 15~~to the lgtn Centuries (P.hD. Thesis, University of Ghana, Legon, 1997), p. 124; Lovejoy, Transformations. p. 166. 32~reeman,Travels and Life in Ashanti and Jaman. p. 489. period. The abolitionists had hoped that the abolition of

slavery would sound the death knell of the servile

institution. However, this did not happen because there was

a demand for labour for "legitimate" goods. Cognisance is

taken of the fact that kola and gold were international

comrnodities and ante-dated the slave trade. Demand for

labour for kola production, and for that matter, for agriculture in general, had always been a problem in

A~ante.~~Gareth Austin asserts that Asante was faced with a four-fold "adaptive challenge" after the abolition of the slave trade. These included the need to eliminate surplus slaves (captives and tribute), a loss of revenue accruing

£rom trade with slave ships, the fact that wars became less remunerative since slaves could not be marketed and thus, reducing income for the ari~tocracy.~~To resolve these problems, slaves were put to use internally to produce commodities both for home consumption and for export.

Ivor Wilks has argued that the central administration successfully engineered the transition from the slave trade

33~eeWilks, "Land, Labour, Gold and the Forest Kingdom of Asante: A Mode1 of Early Change," in Forests of Gold. pp. 41-78.

34~arethAustin, "Between Abolition and Jihad: The Asante Response and Ending of the Atlantic Slave trade 1807- 1896," in Law (ed) From Slavery to Legitimate Commerce. p. 96. to legitimate trade through the monopoly position granted to

traders.35 State trading, according to Wilks, was part of

the bureaucratization which was started by Osei Kwadwo (1750-64) and gathered momentum during the reign of Osei

Kwame (~1801-1824).~~Wilks further posits that reduction in profitability encouraged the state to withdraw from

slavery and look for alternative sources of income. In

Asante, the major source of income was, and continued to be

kola nuts. Thus, servile labour was diverted into kola production as an alternative to sale at the coast.

Slaves played several roles in the kola trade up to, and even after 1874 - harvesting and collecting kola nuts

35~ilks,"Asante Policy Towards Hausa Trade," in Meiliassoux, Indigenous Trade and Markets. 36~owever,Wilksf position has been disputed on several fronts. Hagan takes issue with the periodization of "bureaucratization." He posits that it is more accurate to speak of an Owarean Revolution (reforms in adminstration by Opoku Ware) rather than a Kwadwoan Revolution (Osei Kwadwo). Thus, the central administration initiated changes and promoted state trading and kola production long before the end of the slave trade. Similarly, K. Arhin asserts that state trading antedated the reign of Osei Kwadwo. Furthermore, L. Yarak and Arhin insist that patrimonialism rather than bureaucratization best describes the changes that took place in Asante administration at this point in time.36 Therefore Wilkrs periodization of the Statefs attempt to resolve the problems arising from the abolition of the slave trade is called into question by some scholars. They insist that the policy and administrative changes which underlie Wilksf argument occurred earlier. See K. Arhin, "Asante Praise Poems. The Ideology of Patrimonialism," Paideuma, 32 (1986): 164-194. and on farms .37 Opanyin Nimo, who travelled to Bawku, Wa, Wenchi, and other places to sel1 kola, asserted that at

Bonduku and Manye, kola was often exchanged for slaves, who were in turn put to work on kola plantation^.^^ Similarly, Opanyin Badu maintained that slaves were acquired in the market towns, brought back home and put to work on plantations or at home. He and other inforrnants agreed on one fact - slaves played a very important role in the production and marketing of kola. At Techimentia, Beidu was shown several houses which belonged to the descendants of slaves.39 The inhabitants of Salaga bought slaves to resell, keep as house slaves or use as labourers on plantations. 40 Slaves were also an important source of labour in transporting kola to the marketing centres. The Hausa used

37~rhin,"Aspects of the Ashanti Northern Trade," p. 368; Rattray, ~shantiLaw and Constitution; Rayrnond.~u&ett, "Traditional Slavery in the Akan Region in the Nineteenth Century," in David Henige and T.C. ~c~askie(eds.), West African Economic and Social History. Studies in Memory of Marion Johnson (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1990), pp. 7-22. 38~nterviewwith Opanyin Nimo at Teppa, 20-25 July, 1966, in Beidu, Kola Production. p. 27.

39~eidu,interviews at Techimentia on 21 July, 1966, pp. 38-40. 'O~ohnson, Salaqa Papers SAL/8/5. slaves as carriers on their return trips home £rom Salaga.41

In 1884, Kirby Brandon saw slaves in the compounds and yards

of some of the principal chiefs of Kintampo. He noted that

they came from the east of Kintampo, and were principally

purchased by the caravans going north. 42 Arhin asserts that, "the trusted slave took charge of other slaves in

trading between Ashanti, the north and the Coast. Or a relative was put in charge of the slaves for the purposes of long distance trading."43 He adds that slaves were used for porterage by al1 groups of traders in the Volta basin; by the forest people for farming, for kola nut p~oduction.~~

Beidurs informants at Tanoso, attest to the use of slaves

for porterage on long distance kola trading expeditions to market towns, and noted that large-scale kola farmers and traders needed to have large number of slaves so that they

could convey more kola to the markets.45 In addition,

41~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/8/5. '2~eeKirby Brandon, "A Journey Into the Interior of Ashanti," Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, VI, (1884): 447-152. 43~rhin,"Aspects of the Ashanti Northern Traderftp. 368; See also Lovejoy, Transformations, p. 160. 44~rhin,Development of Market Centres. p. 105.

45~nter~ie~~at Tanoso 8 August to 10 August, 1966, in Beidu, Kola Production. p. 32. slaves were also hired out by slave owners to kola traders

to carry their kola to market t~wns.'~For their part, the

Mossi brought their goods - woollen material and ivory -

down to the market on the heads of slaves.47 Lonsdale

reported that "the traders in al1 the regions of the

interior mostly use slaves as porters."48

For Arhin, the importance of slaves to the Asante kola

industry lay in the fact that, "they were the most valued equivalent for their kola nuts since cowries lost their monetary value when brought down to Kumasi and the Gold

Coast sea-board."" Seidu Kotia Gonja, an Ngbanye of Mande origin, also testified to this. He maintained that, the

Hausa brought Muslim gowns, horses, beads, and other commodities to Salaga and "if you had cowry shells you could get kola nuts, or you could get kola if you had slaves."50

The father of Opanyin Awudu, a hamock bearer in WWI, traded

"opanyin Yaw Badu (83 years old), Interview at Techimentia by Beidu on 21 July, 1966. In Beidu, Kola Production. p. 38. Opanyin Yaw Badu claimed that he actively participated in the kola trade.

47~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/17/11.

48~onsdale,Mission to Asante and Jaman, April 14, 1883.

50~aaku,Gonj a Traditions. in slaves and kola nuts between Salaga and Kintampo. He

took kola to Salaga and brought slaves to Kintampo where they were in demand by the Asante."

Slavery also facilitated exchanges in the kola trade.

Expressing concern about the incidence of domestic slavery in Asante, the Governor of the Gold Coast told the Nsutahene in 1896 that,

1 have come here myself and I have not made a slave of anybody. The people of the country carry on trade with the Coast in rubber and in many other things and they do that business without slaves. 52

The Nsutahene replied that,

In this country we do most of Our trade with the caravans which come here for kola nuts. We take kola nuts to the interior and there as the caravans have no money they give us slaves or cowries in exchange for kola nuts and we are bound to take slaves because they have no silver or gold to pay us with. If we are not perrnitted to take Our slaves we do not know what to do then without trade in the interiormS3

"~rhin, Development of Market Centres.

52~.~.96/277. See also Arhin, Development of Marketing Centres. p.106. Provisioning caravans

Slaves were important in al1 aspects of the kola trade,

especially in providing the necessary provisions that enabled caravans to undertake the long journey to the north.

In the trading centres, slaves carried firewood and fetched water for domestic use, especially in places like Salaga where water was very scarce during the dry season.54

Visiting merchants who put up with landlords and other merchants needed fodder for their sheep, goats and other livestock. This was done by slaves. They also ran errands for itinerant traders. As landlords, slave masters fed and housed visiting traders free of charge. The bulk of the household provisions came from slave plantations which were owned by the land lord^.^^ Referring to the professional traders of Asante, K. Arhin asserts that,

Gold hoardings and slaves, which they said at Bechem and Takyimantia, were the main objects pursued by kola nut traders, were substances of capital accumulation in every sense of the word. Both were means of further investment in the kola nut trade. Pawns were obtained with gold and employed (in producing and carrying) in kola trading and slaves acquired in war and by tama purchase (permanent alienation) but also

54~ohnson,Salaga Papers. SAL/19/7.

55~ovejoy,Transformations. p. 164. through trade were both a means to an end of the kola nut trade. 56

Pawnship

After the ernancipation ordinance was passed in 1874,

the use of pawn labour as an alternative to slave labour,

likely helped to ease the labour problem in the Asante kola

industry.

The Akan word for pawn, awowa (plural nwowa), or ahoba -ni refers to a security paid or given to a creditor in lieu of a loan or debt. The awowa is to be returned upon

repayment of the loan." Thus, a pawn could be a person, a

set of rights in a person or property such as land or gold.

Pawning was usually a deal between matrilineal families, whereby the head of the abusua pawned one of its members, usually due to ins~lvency.~'The historiography on pawning

-56~rhin, - Development of Market Centres. pp. 115-6 "R. S. Rattray, Ashanti Law and Constitution (Oxford at the Clarendon Press [1929] 1969), ch. 3, pp.19-20; 48-55; Bowdich, Mission 3rd. edn., p. 260; A.B. ~llz,- Speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa (London, 1887), pp. 29, 95; Gareth Austin, "Human Pawning in Asante, 1800-1950: Markets and Coercion, Gender and Cocoa," in Toyin Falola and Paul E. Lovejoy (eds.) Pawnship in Africa. Debt Bondage in Historical Perspective (Boulder and Oxford: Westview Press, 1977), p. 122. Most of the early accounts deal with pawnship among the Fante.

58~.~.~.(Accra) ADM II/975. J-C de Graft Johnson, Assistant Secretary of native Affairs, "Mernorandum on the Vestiges of Slavery in the Gold Coast," 1927; Rattray, indicates that it was an established institution with

economic underpinningsfS9and was amenable to changing

~ituations.~~Studying the matrilineal Asante, Rattray

noted that pawnship arose out of control over people. He

also stressed that the poor security in the subsistence Asante economy while it was undergoing increasing

rnarketization contributed to the resurgence of pa~ning.~~

Cruickshank observed that pawning was vital to nineteenth century Gold Coast because the pawn was a "staple currency

of the country, and wealth is slaves and pawns," and with

interest rates on loans fluctuating between 50 and 100 per cent, pawns were reduced to a state of 'incurable

bondage. 62

Ashanti Law and Constitution. pp. 19-20; Austin, "Human Pawning in Asante," pp. 122-123. 59~attray,Ashanti Law and Constitution. p. 19-20; 48- 55; See also Gerald McSheffrey, "Slavery, Indentured Servitude, Legitimate Trade and the impact of the Abolition in the Gold ~oast,1784-1901: A ~ea~~raisal,"Journal of African Historv, 24 (1983): 348-368.

60~bid.;See also Perbi, A History of Indigenous Slavery in Ghana. pp. 85-86; Ado Fenin, Akyem Abuakwa c. 1874-1943: A Study of the Impact of Missionary Activities and Colonial Rule on a Traditional State (Ph.D Thesis. University of Ghana, Legon, 1980, p. 76; M. Klein and Richard Roberts, "The Resurgence of Pawning in French West Africa During the Depression of the 1930s," African Economic History, 16 (l987), pp. 24, 33. 61~attray,Ashanti Law and Constitution. ch. 3.

62~rodieCruickshank, Eighteen Years on the Gold In kola production and trade, pawns were also used to augment the labour force. Unlike other food crops, the farmer did not pay much attention to kola throughout the year. However, the contention that the farmer "does Little towards the cultivation of his kola, as al1 he is called upon to do is to gather the nuts off the tree,f'63 is not entirely correct. Kola farming was not an all-year-round labour-intensive enterprise. The labour needs were more intense during the harvesting season, more especially between October and February, and during the trek to the marketing centres. In the aftermath of the emancipation ordinance, more pawns were comrnitted to kola production.

According to Opanyin Nimo, itinerant traders brought people whom they gave to them (farmers) to stay with and demanded cola in their stead. They promised to pay for the cola on their next visit, but they never returned and these people were held in pawn and became slaves eventually. Wives could be found for them and the children belonged to the family of the woman they rnarried.64

The people Opanyin Nimo describes above were al1 held as pawn and used in kola production. Thus, a system of credit

Coast. (2 vols. London, 1853) 1, p. 336; II, 233.

63~.~.~.(Accra) Commissioner, Western Province, to Chief Comrnissioner, Kumasi, 22 October 1931.

64~nterviewwith Opanyin Nimo at Teppa, 20-25th July which was rooted in the pledging of pawns was important for

the kola trade after 1874. The increase in kola nut exports from the middle of the

lgth century to the latter part of the same century, and the growth of the rubber trade by the end of that century implied that new opportunities for economic advancement were open to individuals. Whereas the state had been the regulator of the slave trade, pawning was more the activity of individuals and srnall groups. Individuals therefore took advantage of the new opportunity to sel1 kola, rubber and later cocoa, and utilised the service of pawns. Axhin notes that "the use of pawns in the kola trade was the quickest way" for upwardly mobile men to obtain more wealth from further investment in slaves.65 The final proscription of slavery in 1896 meant that the sources of labour supply for the kola and rubber trades were limited and therefore pawns were used on an increasing scale to gather rubber, kola and make cocoa farms. The importance of pawns in the kola trade was also borne out by the fact that Hausa traders in Atebubu retired from the kola trade after the prohibition of slavery. Arhin quotes Craven that the Hausa traders in

Atebubu announced their retirement from the trade in 1904

1966, 26-27. 'PAPrhin, "Market Settlements at Kintampo," pp. 144-145. mainly because the prohibition of slavery starved them of labour for porterage. 66 Given the time frame, the Hausa traders could have been referring to pawnship.

Thus, both slaves and pawns were a means to an end. Their acquisition enabled the owners to make more money, sika, through agricultural activities - kola production, farming and trading, and further enhance their status in society .67

Wage labour, Migrant labour and Share-Cropping

At the turn of the century these became important supplements to the labour supply for kola production and trade. The abolition of the slave trade and the beginning of colonial administration in Ghana accelexated the development of a wage labour force in Ghana. Apart £rom connivance in the use of slaves as labour, and the use of forced labour in some areas, the British facilitated the development of a wage labour force. In an attempt to boost food production as well as production of commodities for export, the Colonial administration promoted the cultivation of export crops, introduced new systems of taxation and currencies, reoriented trading networks, and introduced

66~rhin,Developing of Marketing Centres. p. 111. policies aimed at ending domestic slavery. This had the

impact of increasing the levels of population mobility

especially in the agricultural sector, as the seasonal

redistribution of labour became an integral part of the production of export crops.

People from Northern Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and

Nigeria migrated to work in the kola, cocoa and mining sectors of the Gold Coast, collecting kola, bagging and carrying kola to depots etc- Kola is a labour-intensive crop, especially, harvesting, sorting out and carrying fermented and bagged kola to depots or collecting centres.

Thus, large nurnbers of carriers were needed in the marketing seasons. In the early twentieth century, dry season employment in Northern Nigeria took the form of droving or trading. Migrants from Kano went to the cocoa-producing and mining areas of Ghana to work, and used their savings to buy kola, which they resold in Jega or Sokoto.68 In Jega, Burdon reported the presence of Accra and Yoruba traders. 69

67~bid.,Austin, "Human Pawning in Asante, " p. 133. 68Lugard, Annual Report for Northern Nigeria, 1904; Kenneth Swindell, "Farmers, Traders and Labourers: Dry Season Migration from North Western Nigeria, 1900-1933, Africa, 54, 1 (1984), p.7.

69~egawas a very important market and entrepot for cattle, kola and cloth. Abusa and abunu

Share cropping also became more and more important as

the emergent cocoa industry competed with kola for labour.

The Twi abusa means a tripartite division, and abunu, a

division into two. An abusa labourer is, therefore, one who

is paid a third share. On the other hand, an abunu labourer

is paid one half of the produce - cocoa, kola etc.7 O

Beidu's informants at Teppa told him that the kola

harvesting, especially plucking the pods from the tree, was

a risky business. People could die if they fell down from

the kola tree. Consequently, the plucking of kola became a

specialised business (beseteni or besetefo) . The besetefo

hired themselves out to anyone who could not climb kola

trees to pluck the kola pods. The kola plucked in this way

was divided on abunu or abusa basis.'l The abusa labourer

was often assisted by family members who lived with him.

'O~he term bursar or generally abusa cornes from the Twi phrase bu miensa (literally divide into three) and abunu from bumu mmienu (divide into 2). For details about the abusa system see M. Fiel Akim-Kotoku. An Oman of the Gold Coast (W'estpor Conn ticut: Negro Universities Pres l948), pp.74- 76; Po Hi1 The Gold Coast Farmer (London

O.U.P., 1956) 1 p. 8

71~eid~,Interviews at Teppa 20-2sth July 1966, p. 27. His work, almost always involved plucking and splitting open kola pods or plucking fermenting and drying cocoa.7 2 The abunu system was also practised in cases where the kola was given to a caretaker. By the care-taker system, the kola farm was given to a care-taker who weeded around the kola trees and harvested the nuts. After the harvest the kola was divided between the worker and the owner on abunu basis. 73

In addition, some farmers resorted to the abunu and the abusa system to make up for the shortfall in labour - brushing, harvesting, fermenting, "bagging," and head- loading kola nuts. In this case, the abusa labourer was entrusted with these tasks while the farmer continued with his crop farming.74 The abusa system, therefore, provided the extra labour needed during the seasonal peak in labour requirements. Similarly, those with very large farms could hire people to work on those farms or harvest the crop. The

72~ill,Gold Coast Cocoa Farmer. p. 8.

73~eidu,interviews at Tanoso 8-10 August, 1966, p. 31; and at Techimentia 21St July 1966, p. 36. 74~eeF. R. Bray, (including notes by B. M. Agyare) , Cocoa Development in Ahafo, West Ashanti (Achimota, February 1959). kola harvested in any of these processes, was shared on an abunu or abusa ba~is.'~

Conclusion

This chapter has argued that between 1865 and 1920, there was an increase in demand for labour to meet the increase in kola production and trade. This was men in four main ways. Family labour was the basic unit of production. This was supplemented with slave labour until its abolition. Asante, like other African economies, diverted under-utilised slave labour in kola production and trade. Slaves were used by families, the Asante aristocracy, large-scale farmers and traders to produce food crops and kola nuts for export. They also served as carriers of kola for individual farmers and for the State. The Nsutahene's observation in 1896 that the caravans of the interior "have no silver or gold to pay us" so we are bound to take slaves, vividly highlights the role of slaves in the "kola economy." In the post-abolition period, some slave labour, and mare important, pawnship, became one of the main sources of labour. Finally, wage and migrant labour, as well as share-cropping played significant roles in kola production and trade in the colonial period as

75~eidu,interview at Maabang 13-18~~July, 1966, p. 47. the cocoa production put additional pressure on the labour suppl y for kola. CONCLUSION

CONSUMERISM AND INCREASE IN KOLA PRODUCTION IN GHANA

The preceding chapters have shown the expansion of the kola trade between 1865 and 1920, as well as a shift in the centres of production and the opening of the southern route to Lagos. This chapter explores consumerism, showing that

Muslim demand, that is, Muslim consumer preferences, resulted in a great expansion in demand, which was met by increased production. It will also show that European interest in kola as a medicinal agent, and to some extent, its potential for the cola drinks, and later, chocolate industries, also raised hopes of a boom in overseas export. However, the European demand fell off, and the expected "revolution" in overseas export did not take place. Al1 the same, consumerism in the Islamic area of Hausaland and other areas in the Savanna to the north continued to absorb the increased production in Ghana.

As a masticatory and a stimulant, kola use by Muslims shows the connection between the history of food and the history of \drugs."Unlike other plant products which have

'J. Sholto Douglas, "Masticatories: Their Origin, Purpose and Derivation," Flavour Industry, 2, 3 (1971): 152- become the subject of legal prohibitions over time, kola was, and has continued to be, a permissible psychoactive substance. Like sugar which began originally as a medicinal preparation reserved for kings and aristocratsr2 kola was initially a commodity for the elite but gradually became a cornmodity of mass appeal among Muslims. As J. Goodman, P.E. Lovejoy and A. Sherratt have pointed out, the social and experiential aspects of psychoactive substances should not obscure the economic dimension of these substances. 3

Similarly, J. Sholto Douglas has argued that the cultivation of plants for the production of rnasticatories has become a very important occupation in agrarian economies due to increases in population and standards of living.¶

The intertwining of both social and economic dimensions of "peculiar substances," which are highlighted in the discussion of alcohol, tobacco, coca, , yagç, kola, the betel nut and other psychoactive substances in Consuming Habits, help to explain the increase in consumerism in the

Sokoto Caliphate and Borno in the period under study. The

154. orda dan Goodman, Paul E. Lovejoy and Andrew Sheratt, Consuminq Habits. Drugs in History and Anthropolgy (London and New York: Routledge, 1995), p. 7. Qur'an permitted the use of kola as a stimulant. In

addition, it was an important item in Islamic popular culture. Finally, trade in kola was a lucrative business. Al1 these, help explain the increase in demand in Hausaland.

Islamic Interest in Kola

The importance of kola as a drug was first recognised in the first half of the twelfth century by an Arabian

doctor El Ghafeky. According to Gafeky, kola was used in

the form of a powder for colic and stomach ache, and it

possessed warming properties.' When Leo Africanus came into contact with kola in 1556, he aroused a curiosity to locate

the source of the nut.

The medicinal properties of kola, which excited the

Islamic world of the medieval times, made kola a very important cornmodity during the 19th century Islarnic revolutions in the Western and Central Sudan. These revolutions - Sokoto, Masina, and the Samorian jihad had important ramifications for the Asante kola industry. The connection between Islam and kola expansion lay in increased

'~eeIbn Bailar of Malaga, Djami el Mufridat, cited in F. Fluckiger, "A Contribution to the History of Kola," The New Idea, (Detroit), (September 1894), p. 524. El-Gafeki menflioned the "drug properties" of kola in the Liber Mendicamentorum Simplicium. Gafeky died in Spain in 1164. consumption of kola due to its use by Muslims as a major stimulant. Due to Islam, the fame and efficacy of kola nuts not only spread to many nations, but also Muslim demand for kola led to the exchange of several commodities. This in turn, further contributed towards an increase in production. Another by-product of the Islamic revolutions which significantly impacted on the kola trade was the expansion of the slaving frontier and the supply of slaves who were used in tasks that were directly related to production and trade and kola prod~ction.~ The onset of the Islamic revolutions and the creation of the jihadist states of Futa Jalon, Futa Toro, the Sokoto

Caliphate, the Masina, Tukulor and Samorian states expanded

6~ovejoy,Transformations In Slavery. pp. 23-40, 184- 218; idem, "Plantations in the Economy of the Sokoto Caliphate," Journal of African History, 19, 3 (1978~)~pp. 341-368; idem, "Slavery in the Sokoto Caliphate," in Lovejoy, The Ideology of Slavery. pp. 200-243; Nehemiah Levtzion, "Slavery and Islamization in Africa," in J.R. Willis (ed.), ~slamand the Ideoloqy of Enslavement (London, 1973); J.O. Hunwick, "Black Africans in the Islamic World: an understudied dimension of the Black Diaspora," Tarikh, 5 (1978); ; Jan Hogendorn, "The Economics of Slave Use on Two "Plantations" in the Zaria Emirate of the Sokoto Caliphate," International Journal of African Historical Studies, 10, 3 (1977): 369-383; David Car1 Tambo, "The Sokoto Caliphate Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century," International Journal of African Historical Studies 9, 2 (1976): 187-217; Alan Meyers, Slavery in the Hausa Fulani Emixates. In Daniel F. ~c~alland orm man R. Bennett (eds.), Aspects of West African Islam (Boston, 1971); David Eltis and James Walvin (eds.), The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade (Madison, 1981). the frontier of Islam and expanded the market for kola nuts.' Although Islamic prohibitions limited the use of alcohol, kola was an acceptable commodity for consumption.

Kola was a very important commodity to Muslims. A Sokoto tradition maintains that the pxophet gave out kola to his closest companions and they, in turn, gave out kola as alms during the Muslim festivals.8 Thus, it is plausible that this popular conception of kola use by the prophet also endeared the nut to Muslims. In addition, the widespread use of kola in the Caliphate can also be attributed to its place Sokoto popular culture at the numbex of miraculous events associated with Usman dan Fodio are connected with kola. The Raud al-Jinan of Gidado dan Lima, written in about 1830 delineate Usrnan dan Fodio's imaginary journey to Gonja frorn where he brought back kola nutsSg

Similarly, Tremearne reports that Usman supposedly stepped out of a council meeting in Sokoto only to appear at the

River Niger to right a canoe which was fully loaded with kola. The owner of the canoe had called to the Shehu in

7 Lovejoy, Caravans. pp. 62-69; idem, Transformations. pp. 184-219. 'phyllis Ferguson, Islamization in Dagbon: A Study of the Alfanema of Yendi (Ph-D. Dissertation, University of Cambridge, 1972); Lovejoy "Coffee of the Sudan," p. 112. '~ee Murray Last, The Sokoto Caliphate. p. 210. tirne of distress .'O Similarly, Lovejoy records the Kambari

tradition which postulates that there was no kola trade

before Usman's time but the Kambarin Berirberi started to

trade in kola when Usrnan appeared with the nut and showed

them where they could be obtained.ll In the nineteenth

century, kola was consumed in the Sokoto Caliphate and Bornu

by the elite, this changed at the turn of the centuwy.

In some African societles, kola was of such a high

value that it was considered an honour to be given kola. In

addition, in social settings, kola was offered to friends

and guests in the same way tobacco products, coffee or soda

''~ajor A. J.N. Tremearne, Hausa Superstitions and Customs. An Introduction to the Folk-Lore and the Folk (London: John Bale, Sons & Danielsson Ltd., 1913), p. 160. According to the details of the story " ... it is said that a man named Dodo, coming from Gwanja, &as crossing the Niger when he was nearly upset, and he called out 'O Shehu, son of Fodio, help us.' Immediately, a man appeared, and righted the canoe, and then disappeared again, and when Dodo reached the other bank he vowed a gift of five calabashes of kola nuts. On his arriva1 in Sokoto twenty days afterwards, Dodo took three calabashes, but the Shehu said that five was the number vowed, and the man admitted it. But there was stronger proof than that, for at the very hour when Dodo called, Shehu was in the council chamber, and he left it for a moment, and on his return, the councillors saw that his clothes were wet through. When they asked the reason he said that they would know it in twenty days' time."

ll~ovejoy, "The Karnbarin Beriberi: The Formation of a Specialised Group of Hausa Kola Traders in the Nineteenth Century, " Journal of African History, XIV, 2 (1973) : 633- 651. See also Lovejoy, "Long-Distance Trade and Islam: The Case of the Nineteenth Century Hausa Kola Trade," Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, V, 4 (1971) : 537-47. is offered in western societies. Many European travellers

and explorers to the Sokoto Caliphate - Paul Staudinger,

Gustav Nachtigal, W.3. Baikie - attest to the offer of kola

as a sign of friendship, favour and welcome.12 Kola was

also sometimes offered as a form of official greeting which

involved reciprocity and mutual gift-giving. Thus, al1

visitors, whether African or European were given the

customary kola. 13

Subordinate officials in many African countries sent

annual tributes of allegiance to their political heads. In

the case of the Sokoto Caliphate, lesser officials and

merchants often sent kola as tribute to emirate officials.

These officials then sent kola to Sokoto officials as

tribute. At the installation of the subordinate ernirs, the

Caliphs of the Sokoto Caliphate in turn sent kola to the

emirs.14

Kola was also consumed at al1 the major occasions and ceremonies (rites of passage) in Muslims societies. During

courtship, kola was often given as gifts to relatives,

l2~enharn,Clapperton, and Oudney, Narrative of Travels. p. 56, Lovejoy, "Coffee of the Sudan," pp. 111-2.

l3 Lovejoy, "Coffee of the Sudan," p. 112. guests and Muslim clerics. When the woman accepted the

proposa1 of marriage, the groom's parents presented a

calabash of kola nuts and ten thousand cowries (the equivalent of about ten shillings in the northern districts

and two shillings and sixpence in Illorin in the 1910s).is

Kola also constituted one of the most important items

included in a dowry, in addition to cloth.16 Wedding

presents to the bride were also accompanied with gifts of kola. The return of white kola meant acceptance of the

proposal, whereas the return of red kola was indicative of

re j ection .l7 Thus, suitors were expected to give presents of kola to the family of the bride throughout the period of

courtship. The size of the 'gifts' depended on the wealth and social status of the groom. In addition, a gift of kola nuts to Hausa women on the bisth of a child was considered a mark of high esteern or honour.ls After the wedding, the best man and the groom visited the bride late at night, but the bride would not speak with the best man until he gave her kola nuts to "buy

15~remearne,Hausa Customs. p. 77; Lovejoy, "Coffee of the Sudan," p. 112.

16~rernearne,Hausa Customs. p. 77.

la~kinbode,Kola Production. p. 52. her mo~th."'~This syrnbolically signified the submission of the bride, for the couple usually had intercourse after the best man left. At the end of the first week after birth, a public celebration was held to name the baby. Neighbours, relatives and iriends were al1 invited through the distribution of kola.20 Kola use in social ceremonies was thus very widespread in Northern Nigeria and other African societies.

Kola is generally believed to possess physiological properties which enable those who use it to undergo prolonged exertion without fatigue or thirst. Testifying to the use of kola nuts, Philip Coelho wrote thus: "The Black population would scarcely undertake any enterprise without the aid of kola, and it was supposed to protect from the pangs of thirst [and h~nger].~' In Hausaland, kola was similarly distributed among young men during communal work. Such work parties were comrnon in farming activities - clearing forests, clearing weeds from under plants

Ig~rernearne,Hausa Customs. pp. 82-83. Tremearne compares this to the English [European] practice of kissing the bride.

20~ovejoy,"Coffee of the Sudan," p. 112-3. "philip Coelho, in F. Fluckiger, "A Contribution to the History of Kola," The New Idea (Detroit), September 1884, p. 524. (brushing), and picking or harvesting crops. The kola was a way of cornbating fatigue, and at the sarne time a forrn of compensation for the work d~ne.~~ Kola was also believed to make people brave - even eager for - battle. For this reason, kola nuts have been historically dispensed to some troops on African battlefields. In 1852, the German explorer Heinrich Barth, thought that soldiers of the Sokoto army were addicted to kola because it was usually distributed to them in the evenings before ~ampaigns.~~Similarly, James Richardson observed that the Emir of Zinder used kola to incite his soldiers before slave raids.24 soldiers of the West African

Frontier Force stationed in East Africa during WW 1 were also given kola rations by the BritisheZ5

Two short treatises, the Kitab Mas-alatul Tantabul and Kitab fawa-idul Jaur, demonstrated that the scientific basis of kola was well known in the Central S~dan.*~~his

22~ovejoy,Coffee of the Sudan," p. 115.

"S. La Anyane, Ghana Agriculture. Its Economic Development From Early Times to the Middle of the Twentieth Century (Accra: Oxford Universities Press, 1963), p- 138. 26~ovejoy,Caravans . p. 5. scientific knowledge and interest was the harbinger of

European interest in kola.

European Interest in Kola

The first definitive mention of kola as a drug was in

the work of Odoard Lopez in 1591.27 At the end of the

sixteenth century, (about 1591) James Garet, an apothecary

and amateur collecter of foreign curios brought the nuts to

the attention of the celebrated botanist Clusius.*' In

1594, Andre Alvarez of Almada, (who had visited Guinea in

1566), wrote his Trotada breve dos rios de Guine which put

the uses of kola and the betel nut in more or less the same

category. 2 9

As early as 1630-40, an agent of large sugar estates in

Jamaica sent an urgent request through a Guinean trader for

27~doardLopez, Relatione del Reame di Congo. Filippo Pigafetta (ed.), Rome, 1591.

"~luckiger, "Contribution to the History of Kola, ", p. 524.

29~ndreAlvarez, Trotada Breve dos Rios de Guine. 1594; See also the uses of matté in Fritz Jaeger, Matte Brasiliens Grones Gold Oberreicht von den matte-Instituten der Staaten parani und St. Catharina (Brasilien), Reprkentanz for Mitteleuropa und Balkan, Vizekousul Franz MeBner, Wien 1, kola seedlings. The request was made because of kola's

property as "a medicinal prophylactic agent or as an

ordinary article of food, to avert, as far as practicable,

those attacks of constitutional despondency to which this

class of Negroes were peculiarly liable.1'30 By allowing the use of kola on the sugar estates, "that predisposition to

epidemic outbreaks of suicida1 mania (an inevitable propensity which ran like an infection through several contiguous estates) became gradually diminished, ultimately

checked, after narrowly entailing an almost total depopulation in not a few of them.~~~Thus, in the

seventeenth century certain Europeans reaching the West

Indies, found the kola tree growing there.32 In fact, young kola plants were sent to Jamaica from the Gold Coast between

1630 and 1640 by a Guinean trader. The importation of kola has been ascribed to the urgent request of an agent of large sugar estates exclusively worked by Coromantyn Negr~es.~~

"~hePharmaceutical Journal, (January 1'365), p. 456.

"~harrnaceutical Journal, (January 1865), pp. 456-457.

32~rvine,'Indigenous Food Plants1', p. 22 9.

33~hename Coromantvn Nesroes was given to slaves £rom the Gold Coast, who were identif ied as hard workers as well as leaders of rebellion against slave masters. They are reported to have constituted the core of the maroon communities in Jamaica. There has been a proliferation of literature on marronase in general. Fox a very recent work on the Jamaican maroons, see Carey Robinson, The Iron Thorn. The consumption of kola in Jamaica grew from this early period to a considerable extent over the next two centuries before production fell off.34 Thus, the kola nut has accompanied the West African on his travels to various parts of the world. A.M.F.J. Palisot-Beauvois' work in 1805, further provided more information about the kola n~t.~~In 1882,

Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, after an exhaustive study of kola confirmed John Attfield's finding that kola contained caffeine (2.35% as opposed to Attfield's 2.13%) and (0.2%) theobromine.36 Many of the accounts of the early writers were borrowed from travellers and, therefore, were possibly exaggerated to some degree. However, from the 1850s to date, research has

The Defeat of the British bv the Jamaican Maroons (Kingston: Kingston Publishers Limited, 1993) . 3 4 See James Neish, "On a New Beverage Substance, The Kola Nut, A Product of Jamaica, Institute of Jamaica Po~ularLectures 4th. Series, (6 September 1887) , pp. 3-22. In Jamaica, kola was grown at Half-Way Tree, Kingston, Bath, Wag-Water Valley, Portland, and the Botanical Garden at Castleton in the lgth century.

35~.M. F. J. Palisot-Beauvais, Flore drOware et de Benin en A£ rique 4 ibme Livr., (Paris, 1805) . 36~eeE. Heckel and F. Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas, In Their Botanical, Chemical and Therapeutical Aspects," The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, (January 26, 1884), pp. 584; Attfield, "On the Food Value of the Kola Nut," p. 457. been carried out by botanists, chemists, physicists, pharmacists and other specialists to ascertain more precisely, some of the properties ascribed to the kola nut. The result of this was increased interest in kola.

E. Heckel and F. Schlagdenhauffen examined the botanical, chemical and therapeutic aspects of kola in 1884 and carefully delineated the chemical composition of the kola nut .37 In 1885, N. Hudson (MD), a Medical Inspector in the

U.S. Navy (1885) administered kola-paste to a patient suffering from rheumatism, dyspnoea, and headache. This was part of the ongoing research as well as the conviction that kola was a medicinal agent par excellence. Hudson sumrned up his results thus:

The patient, a lady of 36, had suffered during childhood from rheumatism. Up to a recent period, however, she had been in good health and able to lead a busy, active life. Eighteen months since, she was attacked with severe endocarditis, from which she recovered slowly, and with a damage to the mitral valves (insufficiency). The action of the heart was feeble and irregular, and there was a good deal of dyspnoea, faintness, and fatigue upon even slight exertion. She had always been subject to occasional headaches, and these now became periodic and severe, occurring at first at intervals of four or five weeks, and lasting two days. Latterly they had increased in

"Heckel and Schlagdenhauffen, "Some African Kolas," pp. 584-586. frequency and intensity, coming on about twice a month, each attack causing- three days of suffering so severe as to fil1 the

-patient's mind with constant dread of a recurrence. The discovery of a ratio of urea much below that of normal urine, with the existence of an occasional granular cast, established the conviction that the headaches were uraemic in chara~ter.~~

After about three months of administering kola paste in hot milk at a dosage of about 10 grammes once or twice daily, Hudson reported the results thus:

During the first nine weeks of its use there was no recurrence of headache. Then there was a comparatively mild attack, which may fairly be attributable to a suspension of the use of the kola in consequence of the marked improvement. The general condition has materially improved, the heart's action is more regular, and the attacks of dyspnoea and faintness have nearly disappeared. The most characteristic effect seems to have been an immediate relief of a sense of fatigue, a sense of bien-kre and cheerfulness to which the patient had been long a stranger. The employment of the kola seemed to be satisfying the appetite, for whenever taken, it appeared to serve as a substitute for the following meal. But the nutritive processes were not impaired: on the contrary, the bodily weight increased £rom ninety- eight to one hundred and five pounds. No marked change in the character of the urea has been observed. The quantity voided has somewhat increased, but the total urea excreted remains at about ten or twelve grammes da il^.^'

38~.Hudson, "Kola, " Medical Times and Register, 16 (1885-1886)), p. 711; See also Simmonds, "Kola Nut of Africa," p. 10. 39~udson,"Kola, " p. 711. Hudson notes that the results of administering kola paste

were marked and immediate. There was a definite change in

the well-being and comfort of the patient." When mixed

with cocoa, kola was believed to be a "sustaining and

stimulating adjunct in exhaustive and wasting disea~es."~~ Kola thus excited the interest of physicians, pharmacists

and botanists in Europe and America due to its potential for use in the rnedical and pharmaceutical industry.

In 1888-9, several scientific tests were conducted to find out the usefulness of kola for soldiers on the

battlefield. R. H. Firth conducted experiments on British and Scottish soldiers in India to test the dietetic and

therapeutic value of the kola nut at Umballa in January

1888, and at the Mian Mir Camp of Exercise in January 1889,

on the instructions of the Surgeon-General of Her Majesty's

Forces. 42 The purpose of the tests was to ascertain the practical value to soldiers in the field - dietic and pharmac~logical.~~Ten pounds of kola varying £rom one-

4'~immonds,"Kola Nut of Africa," p. 10.

42~heseries of experiments at Umballa proved inconclusive because of the paucity of the supply of kola powder which did not make it possible for any extended observations.

43~.~.Firth, "The Dietetic and Therapeutic Value of the sixth of an ounce to one ounce, and reddish brown in colour were supplied to Firth by the Deputy-Surgeon-General of the

Lahore District in India. Firth wanted to test four main attributes of kola, namely, the ability of users to undergo long periods of fasting and fatigue without exhaustion, as an adjuvant to sustain the body during exertion without food; ability tu restore a drunken person to practical sobriety; and as a remedial agent in stimulating those recovering from lengthened si~kness.~~

To determine the influence of kola use on the body and thereby to ascertain its practical use to soldiers, two patients in hospital for venereal disease were placed under observation for seven days. Their mean physiological state after seven days was calculated. After observing the equilibrium in their excretion and general condition, the two men were given four daily doses of twenty (20) grammes each of a hot infusion of powdered kola and boiling water at four-hour intervals. Their diet remained unchanged and their urine was examined twice daily.

Kola Nut," The Practitionex, (Supplement) 43 (March 1890), p. 27. Information about the practical value of kola had been conveyed to the Indian Government by Captain F.N. Maude in August 1887.

"~irth, "The Dietetic and therapeutic Value," p. 27. The observations indicated that while the weight, pulse

and respiratory capacities of the two men remained

unchanged, the mean daily total excretion of urine increased

in their watery elements. On the other hand, the total

unitary solids de~reased.~~Both men did not think that

they had better appetites or received a burst of energy when

taking kola. The experiment was repeated, but this tirne,

the two men were given one hundred (100) grammes of kola nut

in dry form and their urine analysed as before. The results

were basically the same. However both men pointed out that

they had "less appetite and felt less want of food.1146

Firth asserts that this may be attributable to the fact that

the stomach may have been occupied by a certain amount of

bulk matter. It is however worthy of note that Hausa kola

users can masticate half a nut al1 day long. Kola is

certainly not eaten in large quantities to fil1 the stomach.

At least, that is not the rationale behind eating the nut.

As the subjects of Firth's experiment pointed out, and

several users attest to, kola has the capacity to suppress

hunger .

Secondly, Firth tested kola as an adjuvant to sustain the body without food during exertion. Major Bailey, Gunner

Kirby and Firth himself went without food for sixty (60) hours, sustaining themselves on an infusion of (two hundred)

200 grammes of kola powder, milk and sugar. The three soldiers performed their daily duties which included

parades, and Firth went on his daily ten (10) mile walk. At

the end of the experiment, Bailey and Kirby admitted a marked abatement of food. However, neither would venture to

state that they could have worked harder on it. Firth

himself points out that he underwent another experiment of a similar nature without food and concludes that "the sense of hunger and exhaustion were much less prominent" in the former than in the latter.47 Based on the observations of these men, it can be concluded with a fairly reaso~able degree of accuracy that the infusion of kola abated hunger and exhaustion to some degree. Thirdly, Firth decided to test the assertion made by

Africans who chew kola, to the effect that mastication of kola sustains the body against fatigue and hunger. Twenty

£ive (25) men of the West Yorkshire Regiment and twenty five

(25) men of the Devonshire Regiment, al1 of whom were taking part in Brigade or Divisional manoeuvres(activities which certainly entai1 more than average exertion) in India, were given kola nuts to chew constantly for three days while

abstaining from food. According to Firth, at least eleven of the men did not stick to the instructions and thirteen could not give very satisfactory explanations of their

experiences. However, twenty men spoke distinctly in favour

of the nut. According to twenty six men, they felt tired

and hungry during the first 16 hours but thereafter, they did not feel specially tired or thixsty despite a very long day in the field.¶' They chewed the nuts bit by bit during the next two days and despite brigade exercises on those days they were neither hungry nor tired. When pressed for their candid opinion on the practical uses of kola during forced marches and physical exertion, the men stated that chewing kola would be a fairly good substitute for food.¶'

Firth asserted frorn persona1 experiences in chewing the nut that 'lit does have some effect, or rather it keeps in abeyance the sense of both mental and physical depression peculiar to such circum~tances."~~He stated that at the end of the experiment, the men had a great desire for fat and

48~bid.,pp. 31-32.

49~bid., p. 32.

'O~bid.,p. 32. butter, and therefore concluded that the body utilised reserves of fat fox recuperation- Consequently, he maintained that the physiological action of kola chewed in the absence of food is purely that of an artificial stimulant to the nervous sy~tern.~' Furthermore, eight (8) observations were made to test the effect of kola ingestion on a drunken person. Firth concluded that as a hot infusion, kola, taken as a coffee, partially relieved the head of "the sense of heaviness peculiar to alcoholic excess of the previous night."52 Therefore, he maintained that whether administered as an infusion or in powdery form, kola was not superior to coffee or tea in the performance of this particular function. In several cases of diarrhoea due to catarrh, Firth concluded that kola was definitely a marked astringent. He argues that kola acts to remove the "sense of heaviness due to hepatic engorgement and torpidity, probably acting in such cases as a nervine stimulant and as an oxidiser of digestive by-products" .53 Apart from "scientific" interest, kola also provided flavouring for beverages in several European and North

Arnerican countries and still serves as a stimulant in

Africa and other places.'' Together with sugar and vanilla, kola was used in the manufacture of 'kola chocolate,' and

mixed with cocoa and chocolate to improve the quality of

inferior cocoa-55 Furthermore, it was administered to

invalids and convalescents, and used in the manufacture of

neo kolas6 and the celebrated coca cola.57 Coca-cola is one

of the most universally recognised drinks in the world. It

is available in over one hundred and eighty £ive countries.

It made a breakthrough in European consumerism as a "stomachic" to relieve indigestion, a cure for headache and

541r~ine, "Indigenous Food Plants" p. 22 9; Love j oy, Caravans p.2; Agiri, Kola Production in Western Nigeria. Dickson, Historical Geoqraphy. p. 73.

S 5 Freeman, "Journey to Bontuku," p. 144. 56~.~.G.(Kumasi) D 1313. According to Rev. H.K. Smith, Neo Kola was a "nutrimental agent... With a slice or two of bread and butter and a big cup of Kola (Neo), 1 can go from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and do much hard walking, preaching, reading and organising ." "coca cola was invented by an Atlanta druggist, John S. Pemberton as a 'brain tonic.' In that initial phase, Pemberton combined extracts from coca and kola. For details see John Prendergrast, For God, Country and Coca Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great Arnerican Soit Drink and The Company That Makes It. Canada: Maxwell Macmillan, 1993; Jaspar Guy Woodroof and G. Frank Phillips, Beverages: Carbonated and Noncarbonated (Wesport, Conn . : AV I Publishing, rev. edn., 1981), p. 18. a relief for tiredness. Kola, on the other hand, was

perceived as an important 'drugf and food. Given what we

know now about caffeine-related disorders, a through study

of the effect of kola on the metabolism ("kola withdrawal"

and excessive use) would have made an excellent contribution

to the field of psychiatry in general and medicine in

particular, due to the fairly high caffeine content of kola

nuts .ss In the 1880s and 1890s, several articles in drug and medical journals in Europe and North America chronicled the efficacy of kola nuts - as a stimulant, a cure for hang over, an 'invigorantrr an aphrodisiac, and an aid to indigestion. Thus, in aggregate terms, the knowledge and interest in kola was widely evident in the whole of the

Atlantic Basin (Africa and the Caribbean) as well as in

Europe (Britain, France, Germany) and the United States - as food (hunger suppressant), and a drug (fatigue, sleepiness, and for stomach ailment). Therefore, kola, a classic indigenous African economic crop par excellence, stood the chance of making a breakthrough on the international scene and creating a 'revolutionr in the history of food, drugs,

For details of caffeine-related disorders, see Arnerican Psychiatric Association, Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edn.,. (DSM-IV) . Washinaton. D .C., 1994, Substance Abuse Section 175-272, Ca£feine >lîL215. ' and indigenous initiatives. Unfortunately, the history of kola is that of "an 'overseas export revolutionf that failed." The failure in kola production and use in Latin America and the Caribbean has hardly been studied. In the Gold Coast, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the Kola revolution was supplanted by the use of artificial preservatives, in the manufacture of Coca-cola on the one hand, and the success of cocoa production on the other.

Even though Pemberton noted before the Georgia

Pharmaceutical society in 1886 that "caffeine, as obtained from tea and coffee in this country, is inferior to that manufactured from kola nuts," it was which made a breakthrough in the medicinal world. It was the coca leaf which rose £rom comparative obscurity to practical importance. The "export revolution" failed to ignite in a big way even though it came very close. Kola was, therefore, the unsung hero of Coca-cola and an African initiative which failed. Instead, it was supplanted by cocoa and chocolate. Cocoa remains one of the most researched agricultural industries in Africa. In Ghana, cocoa became the mainstay of the economy and a major indigenous industry. Yet, it was the capitalistic outlook of kola nut farmers and traders that made the success of cocoa production and marketing a reality. More importantly, the capital which had been accumulated through the kola trade with the Sokoto Caliphate and Borno was transferred to cocoa production, together with al1 the implements used in kola production. Unfortunately, only Kwame Arhin recognises this connection between the decline of kola and the rise of cocoa. Al1 the scholars who deal with cocoa neglect this connection. 1s it because the history of kola is that of a failure to make a breakthrough on the world market? Does that make it so unimportant that the connection is missed? By missing that connection and not acknowledging, even perfunctorily, the role of the

Sokoto Caliphate in Asante historiography, we are left with a truncated history of Asante in particular and Ghana in general . This study has established a bridge between the history of food and 'drugs' in both 'traditional' and 'modernr societies. It has demonstrated that changing Muslim consumer preferences during the period under study, resulted in an expansion in demand. This increased demand in turn fuelled an expansion in kola production. The widespread presentation of kola to officials, friends, and its usage on social occasions such as naming ceremonies, marriages and funerals created a huge market for kola. Islamic popular culture also enhanced the attributes of the nuts to Muslims, associating the prophet Muharnmed with kola in a number of

traditions. Since kola was one of the few stimulants

Muslims were allowed to use, any increase in Muslim populations implied increase in demand for kola.

Furthermore, kola's widespread adoption in Europe and

America for medicinal purposes, as an ingredient in the

chocolate industry, and as a tonic, also resulted in the export of substantial quantities to Europe and North Arnerica

between 1880 and 1920. Unfortunately, after 1920, a fa11

off in overseas kola imports resulted in a decline in the overseas kola trade. Cocoa became the international crop

for the international drink, chocolate, and thus supplanted

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Ghana

Salifu Dokurugu, interviewed at the Tamale Central Market on October 1, 1994 by Edmund Abaka and Martin Ahmadu.

Emmanuel Ennin, interviewed at his house in Jacobu, near Bekwai, Ashanti on November 20, 1994, by Edmund Abaka.

Nketia-Dwomoh, interviewed at the Akwansrem State Oil Palm Plantation, Akwansrem, Obuasi, Ghana, on January 20, 1995 by Edmund Aba ka.

Dan Forster, interviewed at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation on ~8~"January 1995 by Edmund Abaka

Anin Agyei, interviewed at the Dwaben State Oil Palm Plantation on 28th January 1995 by Edmund Abaka. ------Sarkin Zongo, Nkawkaw, interviewed at Nkawkaw on March 12, 1995 by Edmund Abaka and George Abakah.

Mariama, interviewed at Nkawkaw on March 12, 1995 by Edmund Abaka and George Abakah.

Rakyia, interviewed at Obuasi on March 6 1995 by Edmund Abaka and Peter Arthur. Zaratu, interviewed at Obuasi on March 16, 1995 by Edmund Abaka and Peter Arthur.

Kotumi, interviewed at Obuasi on March 16, 1995, by Edmund Abaka and Peter Arthur. Amina (also called Baby) interviewed at Obuasi on March 16, 1995, by Edmund Abaka and Peter Arthur. Dan Forster and Anin-Agyei, interviewed at the Cocoa Research Inbstitute of Ghana, Kade, on March 25, 1995, by Edmund Aba ka.

Nigexia

Maiunguwan Masakra Aliyu, interviwed at Offishin Wakilin Arewa, Kano, 6 September 1969 by Paul E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabiru. Malam Awwalu Kataki, interviwed 4 September 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabiru Alhaji Bala, interviwed 25 October 1969 at Ujili in Kano by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabiru.

Malam Baba Dayidu, interviewd 4 September 1969 at Ujili, kano, by P.E. Lovejoy and Kabiru Rabiru Malam Ginsau, interviewed at his home near Offishin Wakilin Hudu, Kano, 19 September 1969, by P.E. Lovejoy and Abubakar Nuhu.

Alhaji Abdullahi, interviewed 29 August 1969 at the home of Mai Unguwan 'Korkirr Malam Sanda, in Kano by Paul E. Lovejoy and M. Kabiru Babru. Canada

Dr. Daniel Bagah, interviewed on July 10, 1995, at 6 Assiniboine Road, North York, on July 20, 1995 by Edmund Aba ka Emmanuel Yiridoe, Interviewed at Guelph on August 21, 1995, by Edmund Abaka.

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Stanton, W.R. "The Analysis of the Present Distribution of Varietal Variation in maize, Sorghum, and Cowpea in Nigeria as an Aid to the Study of Tribal Movement," Journal of African History, III (1962): 251-262.

Staudinger, Paul. In the Heart of the Hausa States. Athens: Ohio University press, 1990. Swanzy, Henry. "A Trading Family in the Nineteenth Century Gold Coast," Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, II (1956).

Swindell, Kenneth. "Farmers, Traders and Labourers: Dry Season Migration From North-West Nigeria, 1900-1933," Africa, 54, 1 (1984): 3-19.

Szolnoki, T.W. Fruit and Fruit Trees of the Gambia. ed. Stiftung Walderhaltung in Afrika and Bundesforschungsanstalt fur Forst-und Holzwirtschaft, Hamburg, 1985. Tambo, David Carl. "The Sokoto Caliphate Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century," ~nternationalJournal of African Historical Studies, 9, 2 (1976): 187-217. Terray, Emmanuel. "Long Distance Exchange and the Formation of the State: The Case of the Abron Kingdom of Gyaman," Economy and Society 3, 3. Tordoff, William. "The Brong Ahafo," The Economic Bulletin, pp. 26-27. The Ghana Farmer 1, 5 (1957). The Pharmaceutical Journal January

Tordoff, William. Ashanti Under the Prempehs, 1888-1935. London, 19 65.

Toxopeus, H., and G.E. Okololo. "Cacao Marcotting in Nigeria. 1: Use, Technique and Monthly Rooting Success, " Nigerian Agricultural Journal, 4, 2 (1967): 45-48.

Tremearne, J.N. Hausa Superstitions and Custorns. London: Frank Cass, 1970. Turner, Frederick Jackson. The Frontier in American History. New York: H. Holt & Co., 1920

Turner, Frederick Jackson. Frontier and Section: Selected Essays With an introduction by Ray Allen Billington. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1961.

Turner, Frederick Jackson. Rise of the New West, 1819-1822. New York & London: Harper Bros., 1906.

Udo, R.K. "The Migrant Tenant farmer of Eastern Nigeria" Africa, XXXIV, 4 (1964).

Wallerstein, Immanuel. The Modern World System. New York: Academic Press, 1974.

Walvin, James., and David Eltis (eds.), The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Madison, 1981.

Walz, Terence. Trade Between Egypt and Bilas As-Sudan 1700- 1820. Cairo. 1978.

Warburg, Gabriel. "Slavery and Labour in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan," Asian and African Studies, 12 (1978): 221-245. Warren, Dennis M. The Akan of Ghana. An Overview of Ethnoqraphic Literature. Accra: Pointer Ltd., 1970.

Watherston, A.E.G. "The Northern Territories of the Gold Coast," J. Afr Soc, VII, 1908, 344-373

Wilks, Ivor. "A Medieval Trade Route From the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea," Journal of African History, 2 (1969): 337-341.

Wilks, Ivor. The Northern Factor in Ashanti History. Legon, 1961. ------. "The Northern Factor in Ashanti History: Begho and the Mandeft Journal of African History, II:I, 1961, 25-34

------. "A Note on the Chronology, and Origins of the Gonja Kings," Ghana Notes and Queries, VIII, 1966, 26- 28. ------. "A Medieval Trade Route From the Niger to the Gulf of Guinea," Journal of African History, III, 2 (1962) : 337-341. ------. "On Mentally Mapping Greater Asante: A Study in Time and Motion," Journal of African History, 33 (1992) : 175-190.

Wills, J.B. (ed.), Aqriculture and Land Use in Ghana. 1961.

Willis, J.R. (ed.), Islam and the Ideology of Enslavement. London, 1973.

Withers GilL, J. (trans) A Short History of the Dagomba Tribe. Accra n.d. Written by Malam al-Hasan of Gobir .

Wilks, Ivor. "The Position of Muslims in Metropolitan Ashanti in the Early Nineteenth Century," in 1. M. Lewis (ed.) , Islam in Tropical Africa. London: O.U. P., 1966, 318-341. ------. Asante in the Nineteenth Century. The Structure and Evolution of a Political Order. Cambridae. 1975. ------. "What Manner of Persons Were These? Some Reflections of Asante officialdom," In Enid Schildkrout (ed.) , The Golden Stool: Studies of the Asante Center and Periphewy. Anthropological Papers of the Arnerican Museum of Natural History 65, No. 1, New York, 1987. ------. "Land, Labour, Capital and the Forest Kingdom of Asante," In Friedman, J and M.J. Rowlands, Evolution of Social Systems. Pittsburg, 1978.

------y--- . "Abi Bakr al-Siddlq of Timbuctoo," in Curtin, Philip (ed.) , Africa Remernbered. Narratives by West Africans From the Era of the Slave Trade. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. ------. Forests of Gold. Essays on the Akan and the Kingdom of Asante. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1993. ------, Nehemiah Levtzion and Bruce Haight. Chronicles From Gonja: A Tradition of West African Muslim Historiography. Cambridge, 1986.

Woodroof, Jaspar Guy and Phillips, G. Frank. Bevewges: Carbonated and Noncarbonated. Westport, Conn., AVI Publishing, rev. edn., 1981.

Yarak, Larry. Asante and the Dutch 1744-1873. Oxford, 1990.

Zahan, Dominique. "The Mossi Kingdom," in Daryll Forde and Kaber (eds.), West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Centuxy. O.U.P., London, 1967.

Zeleza, Paul Tiyambe. A Modern Economic History of Africa. Vol. 1: The Nineteenth Century. Dakar, Senegal: CODESRIA, 1993.

Dissertations

Addo-Fening, Robert. Akyem Abuakwa C.1874-1943: A Study of the Impact of Missionary Activities and Colonial Rule on a Traditional State. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ghana, 1980. Agiri, Babatunde. Kola in Western Nigeria 1850 - 1950. A History of the Cultivation of Kola Nitida in ~gba-- Owode, 1 jebu - Remo, Iwo and Ota Areas. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, 1972. Arhin, Kwame. The Development of Market Centres at Atebubu and Kintampo since 1874. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London, 1969.

Asamoah-Darko, S. Chanqing Settlement Patterns in Ashanti, 1873-1966. Ph. D. Thesis, 1971.

Bagah, Daniel Anleu-Mwine. Funeral Rites Participation and Health Services Utilization in Rural Ghana. Ph.D. Thesis, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. 1995.

Berberich, Charles William. A Locational Analysis of Trade Routes of the North East Asante Frontier Network in the Nineteenth Century. Ph.D. Thesis, Northwestern University, Evanston, 1974.

Berry, S.S. Cocoa in Western Niqeria, 1890-1940. Ph.D. Thesis University of Michigan, 1967.

Ferguson, Douglas Ewin. Nineteenth Century Hausaland Being a Description by Imam Irnoru of the Land, Economy, and Society of His People. Ph. D. Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1973.

Ferguson, Phyllis. Islamization in Dagbon: A Study of the Alfanema of Yendi. Ph.D. Thesis, Cambridge, 1972.

Franke, Christiana. The Kumasi Cattle Trade. Ph.D. Thesis, New York University, June 1982. Ibikunle, B.A.O. 1972. The propagation and growth of nursery

stock of cola nitida (Vent.), (Schott. & Endlicherl. PhD Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

LaTorre, Joseph Raymond. Wealth Surpasses Everything: an Economic History of Asante, 1750-1874. Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 1978. Levtzion, N. The Spread and Development of Islam in the Middle Volta Basin in the Pre-Colonial Period. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London, 1965. Lumsden, David Paul. Nchumuru Social Organisation and The Impact of the Volta River Project. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1974. Mensah, A.K. A Descriptive List of the Records of the Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories in the Tamale Regional Archives 1907-1929. Diplorna in Archives Administration, n.d. Perbi, Akosua Adoma. A History of indigenous Slavery in Ghana Frorn the 15~~to the lgtn Centuries. Ph.D. Thesis, University of ghana, Legon, 1997. Rueke, Ludger. De Maguzawa in Northern Nigeria.. (trans) Ph. D. Thesis, University of Munster, 1967.

Unpublished and Papers.

Abaka, Edmund. "Labour and Kola Production in Ghana, 1865- 1920." Paper presei:ted at che Canadian Association of African Studies Annual General Meeting, University of Ottawa, June 2, 1998. ------. "Boatloads of Kola: The Hausa Diaspora in Southern Ghana 1865-1920." Paper Presented at the UNESCO/SSHRC Sumrner Institute, York University, July 14-August 1, 1997. ------. "Kola Production in Ghana 1865-1920," Harriett Tubman Lecture Series, York University, February 1997

Adebayo, A.G. "The Kola Nut Trade in West Africa: A Note on the Nigerian End of the Trade Under British Rule, 1900-45." (Unpublished) Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Anjorin, A.O. "The Oganisation of the Kolanut Trade in Yorubaland." Paper presented to the University of Ife Institute of African Studies Seminar, 2 Nov. 1967 (unpublished) Baier, Stephen. "The Trade of the Hausa of Damerghou 1900- 1930," Paper Presented at the 15th Annual Convention of the African Studies Association, Syracuse, New York, October 31-November 3, 1973.

Berry, Sara. "Migrant Farmers and land Tenure in the Nigerian Cocoa Belt" Innovation in African Economic History, University of Ghana, Legon, December 14-20, 1971, (unpublished) .

Brooks, George. "Kola Trade and State Building: Upper Guinea Coast and Senegambia 15th to 17th Centuries," Working Paper No. 38, African Studies Center, Boston University, 1980.

Boulton, Laurence L., Hunt, Robert James, "Kola Nut Processing and Marketing in Nigeria" Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Unpublished paper, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, 1968.

Daaku, K.Y. "Gold, guns and the Gold Coast: a study of the organisation of trade among the Akan in the pre- colonial period." Unpublished paper presented at the international African Institute Seminar on the Development of trade and Markets in West Africa, Freetown, 1969.

Miracle, Marvin. "Market Structure and Conduct in Tropical Africa," Unpublished paper, University of Wisconsin, 1968.

Larson, L.E. "Some Notes on Kola Nut production and Trade in German Togo." Paper Presented on 15 March 1977, at the Senior Staff Common Room, Bayero University College.

Ofori, I.M. Factors for Agricultural Growth in West Africa. Proceedings of an International Conference Held at Legon April 1971. Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, 1973.

Olofson, Harold. "Yawon Dandi: A Hausa Category of Migration," Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the African Studies Association, November 8-11, Philadelphia, Pa., 1972.

Olukoya, Johnson Ibukun. Cola Economy in Remo Division B.A. Paper for Geography Examination, University of Ibadan, June 1964. Olusanya, D.S. "The role of the Hausas in the development of kolanut industry in Ijebu-Remo Division with emphasis on Shagamu" Dept. of Geography, University of Lagos. Robertson, Claire. "Post Proclamation Slavery in Accra: A Fernale Affair." African Studies Association, Baltimore, 1978.

Sheriff, A.M.H. The Slave Mode of Production along the East African Coast, 1810-1873" Conference on Islamic Africa: Slavery and Related Institutions, Princeton University, 1977.

White, Frances. "Sierra Leonean Women and Nitida Cola: The Organisation of a Nineteenth Century Trading Diaspora." Paper Presented at the ~3'~Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Pennsylvania, October 15- 18, 1980.

Reports.

Bray, F.R. Cocoa Development in Ahafo, West Ashanti. Achimota, February 1959.

Brew Ato. H. "Natural Pollination in Kola," Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana. Annual Report. 1985. Eijn atten, C.M.L. van. Report on the Study of Kolanuts in Zaire (7 to 17 February, 1977) . Dept. Of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nairobi, 1977. Famuyiwa, E.A. Insects Pests of Kola. 1972 (Unpublished).

Mallison, G.N. Agricultural Notebook for Bunu-Ijamu-Kabba Native Authority. Ministry of Agriculture, , Nigeria. 1959. Pospisil, F. "Cola Propagation," 1967/68 Annual Report of the University of Ghana Agricultural Research Station, Kade, Ghana, 1969.