Imperialism, colonialism and the new science of nutrition: The Tanganyika experience, 1925–1945

Abstract

The League of Nations is generally remembered as the ineffective forerunner of the United Nations. It is seldom acknowledged for the groundbreaking work it sponsored in the 1920s and 30s in the then new science of nutrition. The League's work resulted in the first internationally-recognized table of dietary standards. The information collected through the League's research was applied primarily to improving the health of industrial workers in European nations. However, member nations, such as Great Britain, were required to conduct nutrition surveys in their overseas territories. British administrative policies in Africa were a key factor in precipitating the shortages for at least one ethnic group, the Sukuma of northwest Tanganyika. The Sukuma were unable to maintain their precolonial subsistence system under the pressure of colonial taxation. The gradual degeneration of subsistence production altered the quality of the Sukuma diet. Colonial medical officers assumed that these crisis diets were the “traditional” African diets. This assumption combined with the general racist attitudes of the period precluded the application of the League's research to African populations under British administration.