Chapter 279 Somali Bananas
The Western Route Army's occupation of the right bank of the Kuango River also means the end of the third war of conquest in East Africa. The current state of East Africa is considered to be full of food and drink.
Military goals have been achieved, and the affairs of East Africa have shifted from war to national development. Now East Africa must digest the results of this war, and at the same time prepare to deal with the future world situation.
At present, the Franco-Prussian war is still going on in Europe, and Italy and Austria are still at war. During the Franco-Prussian war, Ernst, who has read the script, already knows the ending. The main reason is that the Italian side does not know how it will change.
October 3, 1870.
Hohenzollern Castle.
Ernst was looking at the geographical data of Somalia collected in his hand under the electric light. He used a pencil to tinker with the map of East Africa next to him. The main areas of East Africa in Somalia are Northern Province and Juba Province.
Northern Province and Juba Province are planned development areas. Ernst positioned the two provinces to vigorously develop cash crop planting and animal husbandry.
Actually, Somalia is not a pure desert country. It also has 15% of forests and a similar area of grassland, especially the two provinces in East Africa, which cover not only Somalia but also Including most of the southeastern part of Ethiopia in its former life.
As for the cultivation of food crops, it is better to leave it to other regions. Somalia's arable land resources are relatively scarce in East Africa, as are water resources, so it is still cost-effective to grow cash crops.
The first is to increase the cultivation of frankincense and myrrh. These two things are easy to sell. The Somali region has been rich in spices in history. It is now also the main producing area of frankincense and myrrh in the world, so it is also known as the "Spice Country" , frankincense and myrrh are local flagship products, with production accounting for more than half of the world's production.
Then there is animal husbandry. The most important product of Somalia’s animal husbandry is mainly camels. In the previous life, Somalia had the largest number of camels in the world, followed by cattle and sheep. There is not much demand for camels in East Africa, but they can be sold to North Africa and Go to the Middle East.
Frankincense, myrrh cultivation and camel breeding are Somalia’s dominant traditional industries. On this basis, Ernst plans to build Somalia into a cotton and banana planting base in East Africa.
Speaking of banana planting, this is definitely a new field. There are many banana trees in East Africa, but large-scale planting has never taken shape, and there is no commercialization. It is a fruit for ordinary East African residents. .
In the previous life, the bananas produced in Somalia had an excellent taste and tasted like vanilla cream. They were known as the "sweetest bananas in the world", and Somalia also won the reputation of the "Banana Kingdom".
Currently, the banana planting industry in Somalia is basically blank. In the past, banana planting in Somalia began during the Italian colonial period in the 1920s. On the fertile land in southern Somalia, the Italians built more than 200 banana plantations.
The banana planting industry in Italy has been very successful, and bananas have quickly become one of the staple foods of the Somalis. They can be eaten mixed with rice or pasta, or as a pre-dinner fruit. From the Somali diet The profound influence of Italy in Somalia’s banana growing industry can be seen from the habits.
Later, when the warlords from various parts of Somalia got crazy, they would also give priority to snatching banana plantations, so the banana industry is very important to Somalia. Of course, those Somali warlords had no chance to snatch banana plantations. Now in East Africa Not a single native was seen in Northern and Juba provinces. Thinking of this, Ernst said: "Tom, please contact European agricultural experts, preferably those who are good at banana planting technology, and ask if anyone is willing to develop in East Africa, and also look for more expertise in banana planting." We need data to support the economic development of Somalia."
"Yes, Your Highness! But I have a question, isn't Somalia a desert?" Tom asked curiously.
"It has a desert climate, but it is not entirely a desert. There are oases in the Egyptian desert! And I don't need to say how fertile the Nile River is. Although the Shabelle River and Juba River in Somalia are not as good as the Nile River, they are not much worse. It can provide irrigation water for both sides of the river. As long as there is a water source, it is a trivial matter. "
"That's true, but, Your Highness, why do you have to grow bananas in Somalia? This is not the case in other parts of East Africa." Tom. Somewhat strangely.
Banana is very common in Africa, especially the Great Lakes region, which is very suitable for banana cultivation. In the documentary of the previous life, Africans used bicycles to transport bananas, which is the country of the Great Lakes region. For example, the "national rice" of Uganda is banana rice." The national drink "Varaji" is also made from bananas. The famous Oudebia is a banana transporter in Burundi. Bananas are the staple food of many Africans, so the bicycles of Oudebia are not about fruits, but about life.
“It’s good to have bananas in those places, but the distance cannot be compared with Somalia. We have to target the European market. The transportation of products is a big problem, especially for bananas and other melon and fruit agricultural products, and the location of Somalia That’s good, because with the opening of the Suez Canal, it’s close to Europe and there are ports that can be used directly,” Ernst explained.
Afgooye, the main banana producing area in Somalia, is only more than 30 kilometers away from Mogadishu, and the port of Mogadishu is very convenient to the Middle East and Europe, especially in terms of distance compared to the production of similar products. Southeast Asia and the Americas have many advantages. With this location advantage, as long as bananas are grown, it will be difficult not to make a fortune.
Africa has a long history of cultivating bananas, and it is the only region that can compete with Southeast Asia and the Americas in banana cultivation.
“Now, I heard that Americans also want to engage in banana planting in Latin America, so we will focus on business in Europe and the Middle East.” Ernst said.
The U.S. banana planting industry just started during this time period. However, Americans planted it on islands in Latin America and the Caribbean, not in the United States. In East Africa, they planted it on their own soil. If slaves were not used, Under such circumstances, we certainly cannot cause anger and resentment like the Americans.
“In terms of cost, our banana production in East Africa may be slightly higher than that of the United States. However, if bananas, a tropical crop, are generally exported, preservation and transportation are the biggest problems. Compared with Americans, our production in the entire Middle East The European and European markets are open to us."
At this time, Tom asked: "Your Highness, let me tell you, growing bananas in Somalia does have its advantages, but bananas from Europe can also be imported. Introduce it from West Africa! Spain, Britain and France are like this.”
"Hahaha, of course I know this, but that's the Atlantic coast, but Europe is big, especially Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Tsarist Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These are our markets." Ernst said.
Especially Tsarist Russia, a cold zone country, lacks most tropical products. In fact, India is quite close to Tsarist Russia, but the problem is that the heart of Tsarist Russia is in Eastern Europe. East Africa uses the Suez Canal and finally passes through the Black Sea to reach the Tsarist Russian port. It has more transportation advantages.
(End of this chapter)