African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 829 - 133: 1890 Agricultural Development Report

This possibility was only feasible a few years ago. Now, the Japanese Navy has developed, and as for the Far East Empire Navy, it's practically impossible for them to 'manipulate' as they did before.

Throughout the 1980s, the navies of the United States, Japan, and the Far East Empire expanded. In contrast, the East African Navy lagged in this area. However, with the end of the South African war, Ernst does not intend to focus on military expansion anymore.

Moreover, the high costs of a year-long intense war, coupled with the impact of the war on East Africa's foreign trade, resulted in significant economic losses for East Africa.

After the war with the United Kingdom ended, the surrounding environment of East Africa remained safe for the next twenty years. Thus, in the next decade, East Africa should wholeheartedly focus on economic development, particularly promoting industrial upgrading.

...

First Town.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported to Ernst on the current state of East African agriculture's development.

Minister of Agriculture Augustine stated: "In the past twenty years, our country's agriculture has achieved remarkable accomplishments. In the 1980s alone, we opened up a total of sixty million hectares of arable land, which is more than two to three times the total arable land area of Germany (at this time, Germany was larger than in later generations). The total cultivated area in the country has reached 120 million hectares."

Officials in East Africa have always liked to use Germany as a reference for data. Apart from East Africa's national characteristics, the most important reason is that East Africa knows Germany the best.

140 million hectares is about 1.8 billion mu of land. However, compared to the United States, East Africa's land scale is insignificant. The United States has about 4 billion or even more than 5 billion mu.

Because the United States hadn't yet suffered the damages of the "Dust Bowl" in this era and didn't pay much attention to environmental issues, along with the western development movement, the arable land area of the United States had expanded to twice the size compared to the sixties when the U.S. cultivated land already exceeded 2 billion mu.

In contrast to the rapid development of land, East Africa maintains restraint. Although the pace of expansion isn't slow, a lot of "unsuitable" areas were also retired from agriculture in the 1980s. These areas generally had water source issues as the main reason.

And while East Africa's arable land area is only half of the United States's, its population may not be much less. In 1890, the U.S. population was more than 60 million, while East Africa's was at least not less than 50 million. After all, ten years ago, East Africa's population already surpassed 30 million, combined with Black people, the number jumped past 50 million, and now with the inclusion of Mozambique and Angola, the total population in East Africa (including Black people) is likely approaching or surpassing 60 million or even 70 million.

In other words, East Africa is feeding a similar number of people with only half the arable land area of the United States.

Of course, you can't account for it like this. The U.S. has over a hundred years of history in North America, and the colonial history of Spain, France, and the United Kingdom before that exceeds several centuries (Spain had established a colonial outpost in Florida as early as 1565).

Furthermore, American agriculture leans more towards commercialization rather than the so-called "survival" issues. For example, a vast amount of American agricultural products are actually used as livestock feed and industrial production raw materials. In this regard, East Africa cannot currently meet the standards of the United States.

Of course, the development of East African agriculture isn't to solve the "survival" issue but begins with Ernst prioritizing food security based on East African national security, then influences the economic crop agriculture development.

A large portion of East Africa's arable land is dedicated to producing tropical economic crops, differentiating itself from the United States, the world's number one agricultural power.

If relying solely on grain cultivation, East Africa could hardly benefit from the international agriculture market—not to mention the agricultural powerhouses of the UK, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia; even if East Africa produces more grain, it can hardly enter that segment of the market.

The most critical issue is still the channels. East Africa, with its short history, lacks channels in traditional agriculture fields. Thus, concentrating its efforts on developing tropical economic crop cultivation is East Africa's only way to play a role in the international agriculture market. As for the grain market, it can only open up gradually.

"However, our country's overall agricultural development level remains relatively low, particularly in terms of mechanization and fertilizer, trailing far behind strong nations in Europe and America."

"By the end of 1889, our total number of agricultural harvesters was over 7,300, and more than 5,000 were imported from Austria and Germany, with only about two thousand domestically produced, mostly completed in the 1980s. In the early 1980s, Germany had over 20,000 agricultural harvesters, and now it may number between 70,000 and 80,000, while in the United States and the United Kingdom, that number is surely even higher."

Germany had already reached an excess of 20,000 agricultural harvesters in the early 1980s, and now, nearing the 1890s, the number in Germany had likely increased several times over.

By contrast, up to now, the total number of agricultural harvesters in East Africa is just over 7,000, representing a highly significant gap—an understanding that while Germany has far less arable land than East Africa (only one-sixth of East Africa's), it has ten times the number of agricultural harvesters.

Thus, in terms of unit area, the rate of agricultural harvester use in East Africa is less than one-seventieth of Germany's.

"Nowadays, our country is actively advancing the development of internal combustion engine tractors and has already produced a total of fifty-three internal combustion engine powered tractors in several cities, marking a significant direction for breaking through to enhance agricultural productivity in our country."

Tractors have always been a key development project for East Africa. Previously, they primarily used steam power, and in the field of internal combustion engines, East Africa ranks among the strongest nations.

"Of course, distant water won't quench present thirst; the current government is primarily promoting the use of large livestock draught animals in rural areas. Over the past decade, our animal husbandry has doubled in scale, providing conditions for rural development and economic construction. During the gap before widespread internal combustion engine tractors and other farming tools gain popularity, animal power will likely remain the main source of agricultural development for the next twenty to thirty years."

Of course, Black people should also be considered; East Africa's doubling of arable land scale in the 1980s can't be done without the efforts of the Black population.

Especially in water conservancy project construction, as it provided necessary conditions for East Africa to open up a large amount of quality arable land. Water conservancy projects in the developed agricultural areas of central, eastern East Africa, and Somali have all reached completion.

However, attempting to complete such large-scale projects within a mere decade, in an era where manpower was the only resource, the cost was unimaginable—as water conservancy project construction even resulted in the highest death rates among Black people in East Africa, far surpassing railroad construction.

Though railroad construction in East Africa isn't slow, the volume of railroad projects is bound to not compare to the proliferation of water conservancy projects, as many places in East Africa are starting from scratch. Numerous rivers and swamps need to be managed, while even more irrigation canals, reservoirs, and other structures require excavation and construction.

The hardships faced by Black people in East Africa are far from over. For example, vast amounts of land suitable for agricultural development in Mozambique await substantial manpower, resources, and financial investment from East Africa for development and construction.

Concerning the Ministry of Agriculture's report, Ernst is very satisfied. Agriculture is the cornerstone of a nation, and the development of East African agriculture has already reached Ernst's expectations, although this is merely the first step in East African agricultural development, with the first step not yet fully completed.

East Africa still has a significant amount of arable land yet to be effectively utilized, and Ernst believes that East Africa's national resources should at least add ten billion mu of land. If not equal to the United States, the difference shouldn't be large to guarantee the third-largest position in the world.

Currently, the world's largest is the United Kingdom, followed by the United States. However, a significant portion of the United Kingdom's lands are colonies; if only comparing the mainland, the United States far surpasses other countries.

Unlike East Africa, Tsarist Russia cannot quickly expand its arable land area. As a cold country, it has fewer crop options, unlike East Africa, which can dedicate itself entirely to tropical economic crop cultivation. And traditional grain cultivation has been less profitable in recent years due to persistently low international grain prices.