British Food (In) Security Policies in Colonial Nigeria and Popular Reactions in the South-western and South-eastern Provinces, 1939-1945
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Date
2023
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Indiana University Press
Abstract
The effects of the Second World War on food insecurity in
Africa have gained scholarly attention over the past few
years; however, there have been no comprehensive attempts
to provide historical evidence and analyze the experience
of food insecurity in the colonial territories that later trans-
formed into Southern Nigeria. This article fills this gap in
research and argues that the demands of the British colonial
government for food supplies, along with other policies geared
toward agricultural regulation such as the Pullen Scheme, led
to such inflation of food prices in urban centers that rural pro-
ducers could not meet the demand for foodstuffs. The result-
ing food shortage triggered reactions from indigenous peoples,
particularly market women in the southern and eastern prov-
inces of colonial Nigeria. The article supports its arguments
using a combination of sources from the Nigerian National
Archives, newspaper reports, and peer-reviewed journals
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Citation
19. Afolabi, A.S. (2023) British Food (In) Security Policies in Colonial Nigeria and Popular Reactions in the South-western and South-eastern Provinces, 1939-1945, Africa Today, Published by Indiana University Press, 70 (3): Pp. 91-111