Settler farming, agricultural colonisation and development in Katanga (Belgian Congo), 1910-1920

Charlotte Vekemans and Yves Segers
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Charlotte Vekemans: Ghent University (Belgium)
Yves Segers: Interfaculty Centre for Agrarian History (Belgium)

Historia Agraria. Revista de Agricultura e Historia Rural, 2020, issue 81, 195-226

Abstract: From 1908 to 1920, the Belgian Ministry of Colonies organised the first state-led agricultural colonization efforts in Katanga, Belgian Congo. This article examines the complex interactions between public and private actors and how they shaped a colonial agricultural policy. Mission Leplae had a very difficult start and was terminated after ardent discussions in the Belgian Parliament, despite the support of the Agricultural Service. This migration initiative exposed the different views and even tensions between the opinions of technical experts such as agronomists and the ideas of the colonial hommes politiques and private actors, both in Belgium and in the Congo. In this article, the image of a homogeneous colonial state acquires nuance as we unravel and analyse the daily realities and initiatives of these first Belgian agricultural settlers in the broader framework of Belgian colonial politics. When the alliance between the State, the mining sector and agricultural settlers ceased to exist, because European agriculture was not developing fast enough and geopolitical interests had changed, the government stopped supporting the colonization project. After the First World War, the number of Belgian farmers in Katanga began to increase again, mainly thanks to support from the private sector. This article shows how state support was an important but not decisive factor in the survival strategies of a settler community.

Keywords: settler farming; colonial policy; Katanga; Belgian Congo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 N5 N97 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:seh:journl:y:2020:i:81:m:august:p:195-226

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