African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 830 - 134: East Africa’s Granary

Keeping the agricultural situation updated annually is an important task for the East African Government. Agriculture is one of the main sources of tax revenue for the East African Government, and since East African agriculture has not yet reached maturity and continues to grow year by year, it is crucial to update the data in a timely manner.

Ernst said, "Now that the war is over, the next focus for East African development must surely return to economic affairs. Agriculture is an essential guarantee for industrial and economic development, so after resolving security crises, maintaining the stable and orderly development of East African agriculture is a crucial task for various agricultural departments."

Without a doubt, agriculture is one of the cornerstones of economic development in East Africa. In order for East Africa to develop its industry further, it must obtain more funds and raw materials from agriculture.

The best way to achieve this is to continuously increase agricultural production and expand agricultural exports. The potential international decline in food and agricultural raw material prices is not a priority concern for East Africa.

Much like the Far East Empire's intensive focus on developing factories using cheap labor from the late 20th to early 21st century, which was actually a forced decision, if even basic labor-intensive industries are neglected, there are plenty of other countries ready to take on those industries at lower labor costs.

Once opportunities are missed, industrial shifts from Europe and America could move towards regions like India and Africa, or as a last resort, the United States might shift industries to South America and the Middle East.

In contrast to the 21st century, in the 19th century, agriculture was still the main source of income for most countries and the only channel for original capital accumulation in non-colonial countries.

Therefore, economic development in East Africa inevitably involves extracting capital from agriculture. The efforts invested in agriculture over the past twenty years have essentially been to nurture the country's internal capital-generating capability.

Of course, East Africa has other sources of income, among which mineral resources are equally important as agriculture, especially East Africa's precious metal resources, i.e., gold mining.

However, this primarily serves as a supplement to the economic development of East Africa, because relying solely on the sale of minerals as the main source of income could lead East Africa to end up like certain resource-dependent countries.

Ernst's primary goal remains to ensure that the East African citizens are "active," maintaining their production efficiency, stripping off the surplus production value to ensure the orderly development of the country's social atmosphere.

Hence, East Africans lack the "wealth myths" in tens of thousands found in the United States but can concentrate national power to lead industrial development. As for the distinction between national prosperity and personal wealth, in Ernst's view, East Africans have no bargaining power on this issue.

As a monarchic nation, East Africa's wealth does not mean Ernst is wealthy, as the money is mainly managed by the East African Government and fully invested back into the national economic operations.

Ernst himself didn't even divert any state funds to the Heixinggen Royal Family, setting the greatest example. Of course, with the support of the Heixinggen Consortium, the Heixinggen Royal Family remains immensely wealthy, although the scale of the Heixinggen Consortium can no longer compare with the conglomerate of state-own enterprises under the East African Government.

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Great Lakes Region.

While Ernst was calculating the financial standing, Constantine visited the Great Lakes Region for the third time. Since relinquishing major responsibilities, Constantine's favorite pastime has been to wander around East Africa, conducting inspections and speeches to the local governments.

"The Great Lake is like our sea on the East African Plateau, and establishing water management infrastructure in the Great Lake Basin is a century-long project for the entire region," Constantine said as he observed a vast expanse of lush farmland.

Windmills turned slowly in the gentle breeze, creaking as they guided the lake water onto the shore, then through iron pipes and water troughs, channeling water into irrigation ditches to nourish the land at the shores.

Currently, all agricultural facilities in the Great Lakes Region are more complete, fields are well-organized, the network of rivers crisscrosses the area, and houses are neatly arranged. Farmers and livestock roam the fields and landscapes, a scenic depiction of a "land of plenty."

Graeme, an official from the West Great Lake Province, assured Constantine, "Water conservancy construction has always been the focus of development in our West Great Lake Province. In the past decade, the province has undergone tremendous changes, largely supported by water conservancy projects."

As an agricultural powerhouse, the West Great Lake Province government can only focus on agriculture, as East Africa's industries are primarily concentrated in coastal and central areas, leaving the deep inland West Great Lake Province with no opportunities.

Of course, the resource endowment in West Great Lake Province is not entirely unfavorable, with some potential for industrial development, but pales in comparison to the central and southern provinces.

However, the gold mining in West Great Lake Province ranks first in East Africa, with the region around the Great Lake being a crucial gold mining hub in East Africa, making the two provinces in the Great Lakes Region the major gold production areas.

But gold production is under the direct vertical management of institutions assigned by the important East African Government, leaving the West Great Lake Province with little benefit.

"Throughout the 1980s, we meticulously managed 170,000 square kilometers of river basins within our province, newly developing over 43.5 million acres of arable land, building 2,923 kilometers of embankments, dredging and improving 3,451 kilometers of waterways, constructing 5,487 water locks, excavating 30,000 kilometers of artificial ditches, and establishing 586 reservoirs of various sizes, with grain production tripling compared to the 1970s," Graeme proudly recounted the achievements in the construction of West Great Lake Province.

Constantine, too, was very interested in these, saying, "Achieving such a construction feat in ten years is rare worldwide. You all have done a good job."

In fact, any famous power in the 19th century developed quite well, but their development paths differed from East Africa, which consistently reflects a large government style, with everything driven and led by the government. A similar example can be found in Germany.

The contrast is the United States, which, although its developments exceeded any other country, showed highly dispersed economic data due to private sector and local powers leading the way.

For instance, in water conservancy construction, East Africa emphasizes comprehensive planning and coordinated regional development, while each U.S. state develops independently, occasionally coordinated by the central government for cross-regional projects, so compiling U.S. data doesn't fall short when compared internationally.

The weaker role of the U.S. Central Government in the national economy also means its economic data is not easily apparent, unlike the East African Government's grasp of nationwide development progress.

Graeme continued, "Now the total arable land in the entire West Great Lake District reaches over 205 million acres, ranking second nationally, only behind the North Lake Province."

By 1890, East Africa had developed over 1.8 billion acres of farmland, with the surrounding provinces of the Great Lakes Region reaching 900 million acres, accounting for half of East Africa's arable land area, with grain crop production exceeding two-thirds on a national scale.

Of course, the surrounding provinces of the Great Lakes Region span a broad area, such as the southern Highland Province, which is virtually the main region of modern-day Tanzania, with quite a large area. The northern North Lake Province, the predecessor of Uganda, also boasts a considerable area of arable land.

Further, the region mainly focuses on grain crops, thus rightly earning the title of "East Africa's Granary," with wheat and rice output topping the nation.

Next is the coastal plain, which, while extensive, has over the years shifted focus towards the cultivation of cash crops, primarily to supply production materials for eastern cities or directly engage in foreign trade.

Other regions such as the central, southern, northwest (Somali), and northern areas all have relatively small-scale farmland, inadequately matching the traditional three major grain-producing bases of East Africa.