Abstract
AbstractGlobal coffee markets entered into a deep cyclical downturn from the mid 1950s. As producers, notably Brazil and Colombia, continued to increase their output, intense struggles arose among global competitors for larger slices of a contracting market. The prospect of an economic catastrophe, following the release of Brazil's surplus stocks, preoccupied Kenya's colonial government, which was dependent on tax revenues derived from coffee sales, and was less able to support the settler-dominated industry in the face of the increased costs incurred by the Mau Mau Emergency after 1952. This left European settlers exposed, with many barely able to recover their costs of production. What began as a counter-insurgency strategy, by allowing an elite of African farmers to grow Arabica coffee (a privilege formerly reserved to settlers) was enlarged and accelerated in response to unrelenting global market pressures. These compelled the colonial government to beckon low-cost African farmers into coffee production, in a bid to save its tax base and ensure the survival of the coffee sector. Even though the Coffee Marketing Board confiscated much of their income, African farmers proved well able to rally family labour and achieve surpluses. Rationalization of production and the re-organization of the commodity chain to maintain high quality at lower cost were decisive in both reconfiguring the economic and social relationships that underpinned Kenya's independence in 1963 and securing the country's place on the world market. The aim here is to explain the crisis, and its grip on Kenya's economy during the transition to independence and beyond.
Highlights
What began as a counter-insurgency strategy, by allowing an elite of African farmers to grow Arabica coffee, a privilege formerly reserved to settlers, was enlarged and accelerated in response to unrelenting global market pressures
The post-1945 boom brought a period of lusty growth for Kenya’s economy, with an overall growth rate of 13% a year between 1947 and 1954.2 The colony’s agricultural exports, the great bulk of which came from European estates and plantations, were crucial to this process, and Kenya’s plantation economy, founded upon coffee, tea, sisal and pyrethrum, aided the British economy in its post-war recovery phase
The colonial government’s commitment to European agriculture as the basis of Kenya’s economy was tested, but this orientation had already been tempered from the 1930s by misgivings about undercapitalized and skill-deficient settlers taking up coffee planting.[7]
Summary
During 1961, Kenya’s premium grade coffees rose by £28 to an average price of £348 a ton, but it British market contracted and recently gained markets in Holland and Sweden were lost.[82]. In November 1962, Schweggmann and Co., agents for East African coffees in Bremen, confirmed that ‘most’ German coffee roasters were ‘not using’ Kenya coffee in their blends anymore, because of the drop in quality. They complained that ‘the well known attributes of fine liquoring Kenya coffees - flavour and acidity - are rarely seen today.’. At this point Kenya was exporting half its crop to Germany, though ‘only a few. Buyers are involved and should they change their mind the export situation could change in a few days.’[84]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
