Fruits of discord: Aid, Somali bananas and Italy’s imperial trade (1920-70)

Abstract

Banana production constituted one of the largest colonial and postcolonial investments in Somalia. Cultivation expanded throughout the twentieth century, affecting Somalia’s economy whose special trade relations with Italy lasted until the 1990s. This expansion was notoriously marred by controversies: embezzlement scandals in Italy; contested practices of labour recruitment and regimes; and conflict over the control of resources. This article looks at how the banana industry was made into a form of aid for both Italy and Somalia. After 1945, Italy held a dual position as a country both in need of assistance and as a donor country. Colonial farmers and officials, some Italian and Somali politicians used this position to lobby for increasing investment in banana production. On the one hand, the industry was seen as a fundamental resource for Somalia and Italy’s financial support a matter of ‘humanitarian aid’ towards the former colony. On the other, this support was seen as an act of ‘solidarity’ towards Italian farmers and a way to improve nutritional standards in the metropole. This duality enhances our understanding of the interplay between empire, development and aid, as well as of notions of donors and recipient countries in the late colonial and early postcolonial era.