Tracing the imperial roots of cassava in Mozambique: production, trade and consumption of a food commodity

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Drawing upon qualitative analyses of Portuguese sources, this article explores the cassava trajectory in modern-day Mozambique between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries within the framework of the trans-imperial networks in the Indian Ocean World. It begins by addressing the possible routes of introducing the plant across Mozambique’s territory and the colonial policies aimed at making its cultivation mandatory. It demonstrates how this process unfolded amidst intense conflicts between the Portuguese colonial administration and the landholders, while the Africans resisted consuming cassava. Then, it analyzes the systems for growing cassava in plantations and processing the root for consumption, from flour mills to sun-drying techniques, using slave labour. Finally, it argues that cassava production was initially based on supplying the army and only later was driven by the slave trade, thus demonstrating the role this food commodity played in building the Portuguese empire in the Indian Ocean.