Window of Opportunities: The Great Depression, Protectionism and the Rise of Profitable Settler Agriculture in Africa

The establishment of profitable European settler agriculture overseas has received considerable scholarly attention. Much of this literature focus on the ‘New World’ and the European off-shoots. It is generally argued that the golden age of these settler societies were 1870 to 1913. A globalization wave gave the settler farmers access to migrant labour and global markets. By contrast, European
settler agriculture in British Africa became profitable during the inter-war period, characterized by falling terms of trade, volatile global markets and eventually a global depression and increased protectionism. This chapter compare three such cases – tea production in Nyasaland, coffee in Kenya and tobacco in Southern Rhodesia. The chapter shows that increased protectionism facilitated the growth of profitable settler agriculture. It enabled the settlers to enter highly competitive markets.