History Form One Notes:-Development Of Agriculture In Pre-Colonial African Societies

 

IRON AGE

Iron Age was the period where human beings started to use iron to make tools and weapons. In Africa, south of Sahara, iron technology developed between 500 BCE to 600CE.

IRON TECHNOLOGY

Iron technology is the set of techniques used to extract iron from iron ore and shae it into useful tool. It involeves mining, smelting, refining and shaping.

Iron production in Africa, particularly southern Sahara, started in the basins of river Niger and Congo from the first millennium BCE. From there, the technology spread to other parts in Africa. The centers of ironworks were Nsukka and Taruga in Nigeria, Meroe in Sudan, Aksum (Auxum) in Ethiopia, Tunis in Tunisia and Cairo in Egypt.

In Tanganyika, iron technology was discovered earlier in Engaruka, Uvinza, Karagwe, Ugweno, Olduvai Gorge, Limbo, Ntuha, Dakawa, Ufipa and Usambara mountains

THE DISCOVERY OF IRON

It is believed that, iron was discovered when human beings were using fire to burn bushes. The fire melted iron ore that was on the earth surface and the iron ore could be melted when heated and could be hard again when cooled. Later on, human being started to forge the melted iron ore to make tools. Iron forging on the other hand meant processing and shaping smelted iron into usable objects such as hoes, axes, knives and machetes.

IRON FORGING AND SMELTING

Smelting of iron began with the collection of iron ore and charcoal then involved the construction of furnaces and blowpipe (tuyere) as well as bellows. Iron ore and charcoal were put into it through blowpipe (tuyere) that was connected to the bellows. Then the furnace was lit while air into it through tuyere that were connected to bellows. Iron smelting furnaces in African societies were of two basic types.

    i.The first type was a bowl-like which was dug below the ground.

   ii.The second type was a construction of circular clay on the ground that was approximately a meter or two meters high.

 

ADVANTAGES OF IRON TECHNOLOGY

1.     Expansion of agriculture. Because people started to use better iron tools for production that enabled them to cultivate large area than before example of tools are machetes, axes and hoes

2.     Consolidation of settled life. Production of sufficient and surplus food encouraged the formation of large communities which produced food.

3.     Population increase. Surplus food production and immigration of people from different regions to iron producing areas increased population.

4.     Emergence of chiefdom and kingdoms. The use of iron weapons increased wars among different groups. These situations needed permanent and centralized political organization in the form of state to resolve problems and conflicts. This led to the rise of chiefdoms and kingdoms.

5.     Improvement of self-defense. The use of weapons such as arrows and spears helped people better to defend themselves against wild animals than the time they were using stone tools.

6.     Emergence of specialization. Iron tools increased food production that made other people to specialize in other activities such as basketry, pottery, pastoralism and fishing.

7.     Growth of trade. Iron-producing communities exchanged iron tools with other items produced by non-iron producers. In this way, the exchange of commodities increased between communities

 

DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICAN SOCIETIES

Agriculture is an economic activity involving crop cultivation and keeping livestock.

Agriculture started at the end of the Late Stone Age after human beings had improved their tools for production. The kind of crops cultivated or animals kept in an area depended on the environment and the efficiency of the tools used.

Examples of crops cultivated in pre-colonial Africa were maize, sorghum, millet, yams and wheat. Domesticated animals included cattle, goats and sheep.

 

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

1.     Environmental factors, such as weather conditions, diseases and vegetation cover.. For example, crops like banana and wheat were cultivated in areas that received relative high amount of rainfall.

2.     Advancement of technology. For example, the discovery of ironworking enabled human beings to develop tools for agricultural production.

3.     Increased of population. As the human population increased, the natural environment could not provide adequate and regular food. People had to look for and alternative means of getting reliable food supplies.

4.     Climatic changes, such as increased drought and resultant aridity threatened plants and animal’s life. This meant that, man could not rely on the nature alone for survival.

5.     Availability of plants and domesticated animals. There were availability of plants and animals in the environment that could be domesticated easily

TYPES OF AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

There were three types of agricultural practices in pre-colonial Africa. These were

1.     crop cultivation

2.     pastoralism

3.     mixed farming.

1.     CROP CULTIVATION is a type of agriculture involving the use of land to grow different types of crops. There were two types of crop cultivation during the pre-colonial period namely, shifting cultivation and permanent crop cultivation.

a)     SHIFTING CULTIVATION is the type of crop cultivation which involves the movement of farmers from one place to another.

This type of crop cultivation was common in grassland areas with long dry seasons and scattered trees. An area with such natural vegetation is known as savannah In savannah areas, soils were light and fertile. Ethnic groups that practiced shifting cultivation in Tanzania included Yao, Makonde, Mwera, Sukuma and Nyamwezi.

b)    PERMANENT CROP CULTIVATION is the type of crop cultivation which involved farming of permanent crops.

This was practiced in fertile areas with heavy rainfall and thick vegetation. In this type of agricultural practices, permanent crops such as yams, kola nuts, palm oil, pumpkins and bananas were grown.

In Tanzania, some of those crops were grown in Kagera, on the slop of the Kilimanjaro and Meru mountains, Uluguru highlands, Usambara mountains and the southern highland of Tanzania (Mbeya and Iringa). Such crops were also grown in the central highlands of Kenya and the Buganda region in Uganda

ADVANTAGES OF PERMANENT CROP CULTIVATION

                          i.         It led to the increase of agricultural production in the communities

                        ii.          It stimulated population growth since there was adequate food.

                      iii.          It stimulated the exchange of goods or trade activities among the people

                       iv.         It led to development of permanent settlements

                        v.         It led to the emergence and growth of centralized political systems like chiefdoms and kingdoms.

                       vi.         It encouraged the improvement of farming technology that increased production.

TECHNIQUES INVENTED IN SHIFTING AND PERMANENT CULTIVATION FOR IMPROVING CROP YIELD

                      i.         Terracing. Terracing are flats step-like areas that are cut into the side of a hill or slop to manage loose of soils in slop regions. This technique was used by Nyakyusa, Shambaa, Sukuma and Nyamwezi. This technique conserved water and prevented soil erosion

                    ii.          Digging water channel. Also water channels were dug in the gardens to keep rainwater that prevented soil erosion

                  iii.          They made mounds. Also people made mounds on which they planted crops such as yams and potatoes. Such mounds kept rainwater and prevent soil erosion

                   iv.         The use of crops rotation. This involved the seasonal rotation of crops on the same pieces of land in order to increase soil fertility. When various crops used different nutrient from the soil, crops rotation ensured that soil fertility was protected

                    v.         The use of fertilizers. People also made and used composite manure as well as manure produced by cattle and goat

                   vi.         The use of irrigation. Irrigation is the use of channels or pipes to supply water to a piece of land. Some people who lived in the highlands such as Chagga, Pare and Shambaa dug irrigation furrows into their farms

 

2.     PASTORALISM refers to keeping and grazing livestock.

People who practiced pastoralism were called pastoralists. Ancient pastoral communities kept animals such as cattle, sheep, camel, donkeys and goats. Livestock served several purposes. For example, they provided meat, milk, blood, manure and hides or animal skins.

In some societies, animals like camels and donkeys were used for transportation (to carry people and goods). In many societies, livestock was a source of wealth. Pastoralism is common in arid, semi-arid and savannah or tropical grassland areas in pre-colonial Africa.

There were two types of pastoral societies, namely nomadic and sedentary (settled pastoralists).

                        i.         Nomadic pastoralists

These pastoralists often moved from one place to another in searching of water and pastures for their livestock. They lived on milk, meat and blood. They also ate vegetables and food grains such as maize and sorghum that obtained through exchange with neighbouring agricultural communities which needed livestock products.

Nomadic pastoralists were war-like people; they were always ready to fight in defence of their wealth. They raided their neighbours for livestock from time to time. Examples of nomadic pastoralists were Tuaregs of North Africa, the Fulani of northern Nigeria, the Somali of Somalia and Kenya, the Karamajong of northern Uganda and the Maasai of Tanzania and Kenya b.

                      ii.         Sedentary pastoralists

Sedentary pastoralists did not move from one place to another. Instead, they settled in one place and grazed their animals. They kept fewer animals than nomadic pastoralists who owned big herds. Members of the same family shared meat, milk and animal’s skins obtained from their herds. An example of such societies is the Sukuma of Tanzania.

3.     MIXED FARMING

Mixed farming was the type of agriculture which combined both animal keeping and crop cultivation.

It was practiced in areas with heavy rainfall as well as in grasslands with seasonal rainfall and woodland savannah. These people grew both permanent and seasonal crops such as bananas, yams, beans and cereals. They also kept livestock such as cattle, donkeys, sheep and goats.

It was practiced by people such as Gogo, Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Hutu, Ankole, Pare and Kimbu.

 

WAYS IN WHICH PRE-COLONIAL AGRICULTURE CHANGED LIVES OF HUMAN BEINGS

    i.         Increased food production. Agricultural activities in pre-colonial Africa led to the increase of food production. People produced more food than before they needed for their immediate use. ii.

   ii.         Increased of population. The increase of food production made food more available and people were not engaged in collecting food throughout. As a result, they had more time. This led to reproduction of more children and increased ability of feed them iii.

 iii.         Rise of social conflicts. Agriculture led to the rise of social conflicts. Due to the population growth, social conflicts emerged. iv.

 iv.         The rise of political institution like leadership (government) and armed force. Social conflicts gave to the rise to the need for leadership to solve conflicts. Leadership also became increasingly responsible for protecting important sources of wealth.

   v.         The rise of specialization. Agricultural activities contributed to the rise of specializations. For examples, while some of the community members engaged in agriculture, others made iron tools or engaged in fishing, basketry and pottery vi.

 vi.         It led to permanent settlements. Agriculture led to permanent settlement because farmers had to prepare the land, take care of their farms to prevent them from being destroyed by wild animals and harvest the crops.