An Experiment with Coffee Production by Kenyans, 1933-48

Abstract

The economic impact of Britain's colonial policy in Kenya has received considerable attention in recent years especially within the framework of underdevelopment. European settlement in Kenya was accompanied by government support which evolved to provide monopolies such as those for production, purchase, and export of profitable primary products; control of high-potential land; and access to labor and government services. In particular, the work of Colin Leys discusses the monopolistic character of colonialism in Kenya. Ley maintains that since the operation of capitalism at the periphery is monopolistic in character, it was the attempt to create an enclave of the metropolitan society within Kenya which distinguishes it from other colonial economies. In creating this enclave an extensive set of institutions were established, most notably in the agricultural sector. However, during the peak period of settler dominance of politics, the mid-1920s to later 1940s, settler control of policy through committees of the legislative council and government bodies was so commonplace that 2 these other institutions were only part of a larger system of monopoly management. European dominance meant that Africans could act only within those options permitted by the colonialists, since the indigenous people did not have the power to decide the direction in which they wanted to move.3 An important settler monopoly was over the production of profitable crops. One of the main settler enterprises in Kenya, coffee growing, was reserved exclusively for Europeans until 1933 when an experiment was undertaken with coffee cultivation in Gusii, Embu, and Meru areas. This article analyses why the experiment was launched and provides a case study of one of the trial areas to assess the extent to which African response was directed by the colonialists.4 It seeks to further an understanding of the degree of control exercised by the settler enclave over economic activities by Africans.