Chapter 171: 1868 Developments
December 28, 1868.
This year's statistics for East Africa have slowly emerged. Due to growth in all areas—expansion of territory, population increase, additional industries—the process was slower than in previous years.
For immigrant population, a simple count from records at the seaports used to suffice, as every new immigrant was registered upon landing. But now, this approach doesn't work. The explosion of births requires every locality to report data, checked by relevant personnel. As of the end of November 1868, the colony's population stands at more than 1.75 million, nearly two million.
Reaching that figure in under three years is indeed astonishing, but East Africa truly managed it. No one else in this era invests so much time, effort, and money in actively recruiting immigrants. The journey from their homelands to East Africa is almost entirely sponsored by the Hechingen consortium—covering travel costs and food.
So, 1.75 million is the total for immigrants and newborns, excluding natives, who likely number between 1.3 and 1.5 million. Whenever East Africa needs more laborers, it captures some in the west; when there's less need, the colony keeps "exporting" them. Every day, a batch of slaves is dispatched from Dar es Salaam harbor.
The quantity of slaves is so high—almost a 1:1 ratio with the colony's population, far exceeding even the American South—that any talk of an East African labor shortage is laughable. And even so, Ernst remains somewhat restrained, given that East Africa is bringing in global immigrants to strengthen itself, not to coddle them. The colony continues making use of settlers' labor value, not allowing African slaves to do everything.
In 1868, colonial expansion was not spectacular, because opponents were too weak and the northwest region was small compared to the entire colony. As for northern Kenya, also developed this year, it was even simpler, because that area had nominally been under the Zanzibar Sultanate's influence—though it never held real control. The local tribes and northern powers had long been beaten by Zanzibar. Likewise, the Somali region's Geledi Sultanate had once been subservient to the Omani Empire, only breaking free a decade or so ago.
According to normal history, within a few years, the Zanzibar Sultanate (originally the Omani Empire, split between Muscat and Zanzibar, later becoming independent) would have turned the Geledi Sultanate into its vassal again. East Africa's appearance has incidentally saved Geledi from that fate—at least temporarily.
Elsewhere, the longtime local hegemon, Ethiopia, was battered by the British this year, the emperor dying by his own hand, so it no longer stands out. Hence, developing northern Kenya went smoothly, with even sparser human settlement, so colonial efforts came more easily. Combining the northwest region and northern Kenya, the colony's domain now surpasses two million square kilometers (not counting Lake Victoria and other bodies of water).
Industrially, East Africa remains negligible. Its dozens of factories or workshops are trifling, not on par with a feudal-era level, let alone Europe's. Twenty years earlier, Prussia already had 78,000-plus factories or workshops, employing over 550,000 workers. Now that Prussia has unified northern Germany, the scale is even more formidable. Thus, agriculture still dominates the colony's industry.
By November 26, 1868, farmland in the colony spanned about 20.4 million mu, averaging 12.75 mu per person (not including slaves or the most recent immigrants). Among these:
Rice acreage grew slightly, totaling 1.1 million mu, mostly in eastern Kenya and around Lake Victoria. Expected output is about 220 million jin.Wheat acreage reached about 6.6 million mu (440,000 hectares), more than quadruple, with an estimated yield of over 1 billion jin (approx. 100,000 tons).Corn, used mainly for livestock and slaves, had a breakthrough, covering 5 million mu (300,000+ hectares).Sorghum and millet together covered over 2 million mu. Sorghum is indigenous to Africa and well-suited to broad, minimal-tillage sowing.
Those are the primary staple crops. Rice, wheat, and millet feed the settlers; corn and sorghum go mostly to slaves and livestock. As for other farmland, it's planted with cash crops.
Sisal remains East Africa's top economic crop, followed by soybeans, then coffee. There's also peanuts, sesame, rubber, cloves, cotton, tea, etc. Soybeans are catching up quickly thanks to rotation with wheat, serving a nitrogen-fixing function. Coffee covers sizable acreage but won't yield for quite some time.
Of interest is that many economic crops lie in the Lake region—e.g. rubber around Lake Victoria and nearby rivers. Tanzania's climate suits rubber if the water supply is secured. Historically, Africa ranked only behind Southeast Asia in rubber production. Tanzania itself made the top ten in African rubber acreage, but because Tanzanian authorities neglected rubber, with outdated methods and local apathy, its costs stayed higher than Southeast Asia's. Even though Tanzania could be self-sufficient in rubber, it ended up importing. (Source: 1978–1991 East Africa General Tire corporate data. That company had its own affiliated rubber plantation in Tanzania.)
So East Africa's main agricultural constraint is uneven rainfall. Wheat-growing areas get priority for water, while the drier north mainly grows millet and sorghum. Many cash crops require large amounts of water, hence the best land is near big lakes or the coastal plains. Especially the newly seized territory in the Mitumba Mountains westward toward the Congo Basin, where rainfall is more abundant. Of course, some cash crops like cotton and sesame don't need as much water, suiting dry fields.
All this cultivated land depends on massive slave labor and widespread use of advanced iron implements. Although East Africa can't achieve full European-style mechanization, it's better than most developing regions. Iron farm tools, mostly imported from Europe, remain a huge expense, tying up almost all the colony's available funds. That in turn leaves most households lacking enough iron for everyday use—some don't even have iron cooking pots, forced to rely on pottery or simple kilns, with wooden utensils dominating.
Moreover, East Africa mines very little iron, just enough to supply bits of coal mining byproducts. The colony has no modern steel mill, only leftover lime kilns from Zanzibar's era and a few small forging workshops. Of course, they'd love a steel mill, but how to ship in the machinery? In this day, steel mills are "heavyweight" industries, critical to a nation's development. Building one would be prohibitively expensive, plus the colony's transport capacity is still just people, horses, and wagons. Coal and iron deposits lie inland, and the technology of this age dictates that real steel mills be located near the resource site.
Unlike the 21st century, where shipping is driven by market demand—some country might build giant coastal steel mills, importing raw materials by sea—1868 East Africa can't do that. So Ernst still hasn't built a single steel plant here. The colony's leftover coal from "slave-mined" seams is just used by a few steam-powered factories, plus some surplus. Those factories' limited needs could be handled by cart transport alone.
In short, East Africa's "industrial" stage is hardly better than a handful of early, labor-intensive workshops and a minimal arms factory that repairs broken guns and makes rudimentary explosives and ammo. In contrast, agriculture flourishes, sustaining domestic needs and still allowing exports. But that rests on East Africa's vast land-to-population ratio and a slave-based economy, not on advanced productivity. Agricultural techniques here are moderate at best. The use of windmills, modern tools, fertilizers, and scientific approaches places East Africa ahead of many underdeveloped regions—but ironically, the colony's greatest advantage is simply its abundant land, sparse population, and heavy use of slaves.
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