William O. Jones

Food-Crop Marketing Boards in Tropical Africa

Agricultural marketing boards in tropical Africa are heirlooms of the Great Depression and World War II, when colonial governments found their principal sources of revenue severely reduced and both European and African populations financially distressed. Marketing boards are of British origin, but similar efforts were made in French and Belgian Africa. The rationale for intervention is clouded; some of the principal reasons have faded into the past or were never openly expressed. 1

Consumption of Exotic Consumer Goods as an Indicator of Economic Achievement in Ten Countries of Tropical Africa.

Persons acquainted with the course of events in tropical Africa during the past fifty years cannot but be impressed by the great changes that occurred during the period of European rule now ending. Societies that the new African states seized or inherited from their European masters are changed almost beyond recognition from what they were when the European take-over occurred. The once barren and sparsely populated shores of Stanley Pool are occupied by two modern cities with elaborate port facilities, railroad stations, airports, splendid buildings and boulevards, and most appurtenances of the capitals of Western states. City states of the Y oruba, fiercely independent villages of the lbo, and proud emirates of the Hausa are linked together by road and rail, by trade, and now by nationality. The aggressive Fang have become cocoa farmers, and even the once-feared Masai are beginning to experiment with the sale of cattle and the growing of food crops. Economic change in Africa appears to have been as great or greater than changes in other human activities. Production of crops and minerals for sale abroad, availability of a wide range of exotic articles, greatly increased mobility of men and goods, work for wages, private ownership of land, and widespread familiarity with money and its use have profoundly altered the traditional economic order. They have undoubtedly also increased the economic product and the economic well-being of the people of tropical Africa, especially since the end of World War I. So much is clear, but the amount of the increases in wellbeing and productivity, and the relative effectiveness of varying policies, investments, and innovations in promoting economic growth are largely unknown. National accounts for the industrial countries have shown their worth in formulating national policies and in understanding the economic processes