The Agricultural Economy of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi

Snider W. Skinner

No 316386, Miscellaneous Publications from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: Excerpts from the report: The Belgian Congo, located in central Africa, lies on both sides of the Equator. Its area is roughly equivalent to that part of the United States east of the Mississippi River. All of Ruanda-Urundi is south of the Equator. It is about half the size of Tennessee and is thickly populated. Most of the population depends on agriculture for a living. Agriculture also contributes a large part of total exports, though nonfarm products, particularly minerals, usually bring in more foreign exchange than do farm products. Tree crops for export form a dominant part of the agricultural economy. These include coffee, palm oil and kernels, rubber, cocoa, tea, table bananas, and cinchona. In addition to palm produce, such oil-bearing crops as cottonseed, peanuts, sesame, and soybeans are grown. Other important export crops include lint cotton, cassava flour, urena and punga, pyrethrum, castor oil, sisal, and essential oils. When research for this bulletin was started, independence for the Belgian Congo was a faint dream, possibly attainable in 25 to 50 years. The surge toward independence reached the Belgian Congo in full force in 1959, and independence is now scheduled for June 30, 1960. The political future of Ruanda-Urundi is a different story. Self-rule has been promised, but the exact date has not been set. Meanwhile, here is a study of the agricultural economy of the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi as it appeared in late 1959 and early 1960.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Crop Production/Industries; International Development; International Relations/Trade; Land Economics/Use; Livestock Production/Industries; Marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58
Date: 1962-03
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersmp:316386

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.316386

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