Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Chapter 14 Kenya's Cattle Trade and the Economics of Empire, 1918-48

Chapter 14 Kenya’s Cattle Trade and the Economics of Empire, 1918–48 David฀Anderson THE฀STUDY฀of฀the฀history฀of฀livestock฀production฀in฀Africa฀has฀been฀dominated ฀in฀recent฀years฀by฀two฀closely฀linked฀themes.฀The฀first฀is฀the฀control฀ of฀disease,฀especially฀the฀impact฀of฀major฀epizootic฀outbreaks฀upon฀African฀ domestic฀livestock฀production;1 ฀the฀second฀is฀the฀development,฀or฀to฀be฀ more฀precise,฀the฀lack฀of฀development฀of฀commercial฀livestock฀production .2 ฀The฀connection฀between฀these฀two฀themes฀was฀the฀principal฀concern฀ in฀the฀development฀of฀Western฀veterinary฀medicine฀in฀Africa฀throughout฀ the฀twentieth฀century฀and฀especially฀during฀the฀colonial฀period฀up฀until฀ the฀early฀1960s.฀The฀veterinary฀departments฀established฀throughout฀colonial ฀Africa฀sought฀to฀contain฀disease฀in฀order฀to฀bring฀development.฀This฀ “biological฀warfare”฀was฀championed,฀as฀Shaun฀Milton฀has฀reminded฀us,฀ “as฀part฀of฀the฀wider฀struggle฀of฀the฀forces฀of฀the฀human฀enlightenment฀ over฀those฀of฀darkness฀and฀ignorance฀in฀the฀face฀of฀a฀merciless฀nature.”3 ฀ Milton’s฀imagery฀reflects฀the฀“colonial฀mission”฀of฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century ฀but฀also฀echoes฀the฀beliefs฀and฀attitudes฀that฀were฀most฀evident฀in฀the฀ colonies฀of฀white฀settlement,฀where฀European฀immigrants฀struggled฀to฀es- Kenya’s Cattle Trade and the Economics of Empire, 1918–48฀฀฀|฀251 tablish฀themselves฀as฀dairy฀and฀beef฀producers฀alongside฀indigenous฀African ฀herders.฀It฀was฀in฀the฀settler฀states฀of฀Kenya,฀Rhodesia,฀and฀South฀Africa฀ that฀veterinary฀authorities฀were฀most฀aggressive฀in฀promoting฀a฀Western฀ model฀of฀commercial฀development฀for฀the฀livestock฀sector.฀In฀that฀struggle,฀ the฀connection฀between฀disease฀control฀and฀commercial฀development฀was฀ absolutely฀crucial,฀as฀the฀advocates฀of฀settler฀production฀stigmatized฀and฀ denigrated฀indigenous฀African฀producers฀in฀their฀efforts฀to฀promote฀their฀ own฀interests.฀This฀was,฀indeed,฀commonly฀presented฀as฀a฀battle฀between฀ the฀progressive,฀economic,฀and฀sustainable฀methods฀of฀production฀advocated฀ by฀European฀settlers฀and฀the฀backward,฀uneconomic,฀and฀environmentally฀ damaging฀practices฀of฀African฀herders.4 ฀ This฀ chapter฀ examines฀ the฀ history฀ of฀ the฀ development฀ of฀ Kenya’s฀ livestock฀industry฀over฀the฀period฀from฀the฀end฀of฀World฀War฀I฀to฀1948,฀ precisely฀focusing฀on฀the฀tensions฀that฀emerged฀around฀the฀development฀ of฀a฀settler฀beef฀industry.฀Taking฀up฀themes฀first฀considered฀for฀Southern฀ Rhodesia฀(by฀Phimister5 )฀and฀for฀South฀Africa฀(by฀Milton6 ),฀both฀examples฀ in฀which฀state฀subsidy฀and฀direct฀regulation฀allowed฀the฀development฀of฀a฀ settler-led฀export฀markets,฀the฀Kenyan฀story฀had฀a฀less฀happy฀outcome฀for฀ the฀advocates฀of฀settler฀production.฀Lacking฀the฀political฀authority฀of฀their฀ counterparts฀in฀Southern฀Rhodesia,฀or฀even฀in฀South฀Africa,฀Kenya’s฀settlers฀ struggled฀to฀win฀support฀for฀their฀plans.7 ฀It฀was฀only฀after฀several฀years฀ of฀negotiation฀in฀the฀mid-1930s฀that฀an฀agreement฀was฀brokered฀with฀the฀ Liebig฀company฀linking฀the฀development฀of฀meat฀processing฀in฀Kenya฀with฀ a฀campaign฀to฀cull฀African-owned฀“scrub฀stock,”฀thus฀neatly฀coupling฀the฀ advance฀of฀settler฀production฀with฀the฀solving฀of฀the฀supposed฀“problem”฀ of฀African฀livestock฀production.฀The฀“solution”฀turned฀into฀a฀comical฀farce,฀ as฀market฀forces฀exposed฀the฀frailty฀of฀the฀European฀scheme.฀Kenya’s฀settlers฀ did฀not฀get฀their฀export฀market,฀nor฀did฀they฀succeed฀in฀bringing฀the฀African ฀domestic฀livestock฀sector฀under฀their฀control. ฀ The฀chapter฀begins฀by฀reviewing฀the฀European฀view฀of฀African฀herding ฀in฀the฀interwar฀years,฀explaining฀views฀about฀African฀overstocking฀and฀ its฀consequences฀and฀cures.฀The฀next฀section฀moves฀on฀to฀consider฀the฀ promotion฀of฀the฀European฀export฀market฀and฀the฀involvement฀of฀Liebig฀ in฀Kenya,฀cataloging฀the฀abysmal฀and฀embarrassing฀failure฀of฀the฀culling฀ scheme฀put฀in฀place฀to฀feed฀the฀Liebig฀meat-processing฀plant.฀The฀chapter฀ concludes฀with฀a฀brief฀discussion฀of฀the฀character฀of฀the฀African฀livestock฀ market฀and฀its฀response฀to฀price฀incentives.฀The฀argument฀challenges฀notions ฀of฀uneconomic฀indigenous฀African฀production,฀suggesting฀that฀the฀ state’s฀unwillingness฀to฀give฀Africans฀a฀fair฀price฀for฀their฀stock฀was฀the฀ problem,฀not฀the฀reluctance฀of฀Africans฀to฀bring฀stock฀to฀the฀market. 252฀฀|฀฀฀David฀Anderson The Overstocking Debate In฀all฀the฀many฀debates฀about฀the฀development฀of฀Kenya’s฀livestock฀industry ฀in฀the฀interwar฀years,฀the฀question฀of฀overstocking฀emerges฀as฀a฀ dominating฀theme.฀European฀opinion฀in฀the฀colony,฀both฀settler฀and฀official ,฀advocated฀the฀destocking฀of฀the฀African฀areas,฀some฀favoring฀the฀ provision฀ of฀ market฀ incentives,฀ others฀ promoting฀ outright฀ compulsion.฀ Debates฀on฀destocking฀in฀Kenya฀frequently฀drew฀upon฀South฀African฀examples ,฀citing฀at฀length฀the฀Drought฀Commission฀of฀1921฀and฀the฀reports฀ on฀the฀Native...