Commercial cotton growing in the Sudan between 1860 and 1925: a study in historical geography

Abstract

Commercial cotton production was introduced into the Sudan on two distinct and separate occasions, by the Turks in the 1860's and by the British in the 1900's. The earlier venture, however, was a total failure while the second was a success. This thesis examines the factors underlying failure and success using the records left by travellers, administrators and agriculturalists to discuss and evaluate man's changing attitude to the agricultural resources of the Sudan between the years 1860 and 1925. The thesis, a contribution to the historical geography of an African underdeveloped country in the colonial period, stresses the importance in development schemes of two factors, first, the need for careful, soundly conceived and sympathetic pilot studies prior to the main scheme, drawing as much as possible on indigenous farming practice, and second, the need for a clear view of the ultimate aims of large scale developments as an essential preliminary to the isolation of salient issues and the implementation of a consistent policy. In retrospect it can be seen that the Gezira Scheme proper has been a. great success and this study focuses upon the vital antecedents that made it a success.