Date of Award
1-1-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in History
First Advisor
Mohammed Bashir Kagan Salau
Second Advisor
Mohammed Bashir Kagan Salau
Third Advisor
Zachary Kagan Guthrie
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This dissertation provides an analysis of the development of the coconut sector in Ghana during the colonial era. While previous scholarship on the export crop economy of this African society has grown impressively in recent years, little attention has so far been paid to the coconut sector. To fill this gap, this dissertation draws on previously unused archival material and on other sources dealing with the colonial economy of the Gold Coast, and it engages two of the many models used to evaluate the impact of colonialism in Africa: the vent for surplus and dependency models.
It is shown, on the one hand, that there are instances in which there were significant gaps between the basic predictions of the two models and what happened in colonial Ghana, and that, on the other hand, there are also some cases in which circumstances corresponded to the interpretations of either dependency or vent for surplus. In particular, this dissertation demonstrates that the major predictions of the Myinth model confirmed in the case of the coconut sector in colonial Gold Coast are that: 1) it was European demand for coconuts and copra that encouraged many farmers to switch to coconut cultivation, 2) railway construction made the export of coconut possible, and 3) Farmers and local traders were encouraged to enter the market by the availability of manufactured goods imported from Europe and by other incentives the government and European enterprises offered. In contrast to the vent for surplus model, however, this study stresses that coconut export growth was accompanied by disruptions to the subsistence sector and was slow and largely insignificant because of the inability to adequately employ previously underutilized labor and land resources.
With regards to the dependency theory, it is shown that colonialists used Africans solely to produce cheap raw materials, that laborers were exploited and maltreated by the colonizers, that food shortages and such other significant disruptions accompanied the growth of coconut exports, and the states aim for improving transportation and its tax policies were in line with the claims of the relevant theorists. However, this dissertation also demonstrates that largely because of African agency the state achieved far less than it desired in terms of coconut export, and that the copra industry introduced by the British did not stultify the traditional coconut oil processing industry. Overall, in engaging with the vent for surplus and dependency models, this dissertation confirms the interpretation that colonialism had both positive and negative impacts on Africa, and it contributes to the scholarships on child labor and on state imposed forced labor in the continent.
Recommended Citation
Kuba, Abdul, "Hiding in The Shadows: The Growth of The Coconut Sector in The Gold Coast, Ca.1874-1957" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3314.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/3314