1 A.L. Stoler, ‘Making Empire Respectable: The Politics of Race and Sexual Morality in Twentieth-Century Colonial Structures’, in A. McClintock, A. Mufti and E. Shohat (eds), Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation and Postcolonial Perspectives (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1997), p. 367.
2 Ibid., p. 363.
3 Ibid.
4 A. Davin, ‘Imperialism and Motherhood’, History Workshop Journal, 5 (1978), p. 12.
5 The ‘milk problem’ generally referred to the increasing popularity of milk and milk products coming from the countryside in the USA in the early 20th century against fears of the spread of contagious diseases – especially typhoid – on the eve of the First World War, which prompted authorities to devise ways of controlling conditions of production and distribution of milk products. See E. Melanie Dupuis, Nature’s Perfect Food: How Milk Became America’s Drink (New York and London, New York University Press, 2002), pp. 72, 112.
6 In 1908, the British South Africa Company government announced that it would take white capitalist agriculture much more seriously as one of the chief drivers of the colony’s economies. This was after gold mining had failed to yield the desired economic boost.
7 For a more detailed discussion of the nature and character of colonial agricultural policy and its impact on African agriculture in general, see I. Phimister, ‘Peasant Production and Underdevelopment in Southern Rhodesia, 1890–1914’, African Affairs, 73, 291 (1974), pp. 217–28; R. Palmer, Land and Racial Domination in Rhodesia (London, Heinemann, 1977); R. Palmer, ‘The Agricultural History of Rhodesia’, in R. Palmer and N. Parsons (eds), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa (London, Heinemann, 1977), pp. 221–53.
8 The production dynamics and how these shaped maize, beef and tobacco marketing from the 1920s onwards have been explored quite extensively. See, for instance, F. Clements and E. Harben, Leaf of Gold: The Story of Rhodesian Tobacco, (London, Methuen, 1962); I. Phimister, ‘Meat and Monopolies: Beef Cattle in Southern Rhodesia, 1890–1938’, Journal of African History, 19, 3 (1978), p. 391–414; V.E.M. Machingaidze, ‘The Development of Settler Capitalist Agriculture in Southern Rhodesia with particular reference to the Role of the State, 1908–1939’ (PhD thesis, University of London, 1980); R. Hodder-Williams, White Farmers in Rhodesia, 1890–1965: A History of the Marandellas District (Hong Kong, Macmillan Press, 1983).
9 H. Schelhaus, ‘The Dairy Industry in a Changing World’, in L. Falvey and C. Chantalakhana (eds), Smallholder Dairying in the Tropics (Nairobi, International Livestock Research Institute, 1999), pp. 1–2.
10 Ibid., p. 2.
11 J.C. Moore, ‘Hints to Dairy Farmers’, Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, 9 (February 1911), p. 422. Among some of the things Moore mentioned on feeding were the ration of food containing the constituents as well as the heat and energy necessary for the production of milk, of which he said a ‘great farmer’ needed to develop an understanding.
12 The country is divided into five key ecological regions, only two of which are well suited to dairying. Yet these regions were dominated by intensive crop production, while cattle rearing was the domain of the poorer regions. Largely because there were few specialist dairy farmers in the country, much of the milk was produced by ranchers, most of whom were resident in the arid southern parts of the country.
13 N. Samasuwo, ‘“There is something about cattle”: Towards an Economic History of the Beef Industry in Colonial Zimbabwe, with special reference to the Role of the State’ (PhD thesis, University of Cape Town, 2000), p. 20.
14 National Archives of Zimbabwe (hereafter NAZ), S1193/D1/2, letter from T. Hamilton to C.K. Brain, Acting Secretary, Department of Agriculture, 7 February 1930.
15 For a more nuanced discussion of the complex purposes for which Africans kept cattle, and specifically milk in African ‘traditional’ societies, see R.M.G. Mtetwa, ‘Myth or Reality: The Cattle Complex in South East Africa with reference to Rhodesia’, Zambezia, 1 (1978), pp. 23–35; and J. Comaroff and J.L. Comaroff, ‘Goodly Beasts, Beastly Goods: Cattle and Commodities in a South African Context’, American Ethnologist, 17, 2 (1990), pp. 195–216.
16 For a more detailed discussion on the idioms of milk production and consumption among indigenous Africans in Southern Rhodesia and how these interfaced with the advent of commercial commodity production, see G. Hove, ‘The State, Farmers and Dairy Farming in Colonial Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), c.1890–1953’ (PhD thesis, Stellenbosch University, 2015), pp. 40–70.
17 By right of conquest, the British South Africa Company expropriated vast tracts of land from indigenous African societies and redistributed them to settler communities. Also Africans lost large herds of their livestock, especially after the 1893 Anglo-Ndebele war, in which more than 30,000 head of cattle were confiscated by the settler government. For more details, see H. Weinmann, ‘Agricultural Research and Development in Southern Rhodesia under the Rule of the British South Africa Company, 1890–1923’, occasional paper (Salisbury, University of Rhodesia, 1972), p. 104.
18 Unalienated land was land that had not been arrogated to any individuals but remained under the control of the British South Africa Company with a view to future white settlement.
19 J. Rennie, ‘White Farmers, Black Tenants, and Landlord Legislation: Southern Rhodesia, 1890–1930’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 5, 1 (1978), p. 88. For a more detailed discussion of the Private Locations Ordinance, see also C. Youé, ‘Black Squatters on White Farms: Segregation and Agrarian Change in Kenya, South Africa, and Rhodesia, 1902–1963’, International History Review, 24, 3 (2002), pp. 558–602.
20 Palmer, Land and Racial Domination in Rhodesia, p. 96.
21 NAZ, LO 4/1/16, Report of the Chief Native Commissioner, Matabeleland for the year 1914.
22 The first two experimental farms, also referred to as Central Farms, were established at Marandellas and Salisbury Commonage. In 1909, the Salisbury and Gwebi agricultural colleges were established for experimental and demonstration work, while three estates –Rhodes, Inyanga and Matopos – were opened in 1917. Municipal experimental stations at Bulawayo and Gwelo became operational in 1921 and 1923, respectively. Focusing only on settler agriculture, these experimental and demonstration farms became the vehicles through which settler agriculture could be developed.
23 R. Blake, A History of Rhodesia (London, Eyre Methuen, 1977), p. 153.
24 The farm was located between Shagashe and Mutirikwi rivers in the Ndanga district.
25 NAZ, AT1/2/1/10, Land owned by Natives in 1925.
26 J. Mujere, ‘Autochthons, Strangers, Modernising Educationists, and Progressive Farmers: BaSotho Struggles for Belonging in Zimbabwe, 1930s–2008’ (PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2012), p. 51.
27 Ibid.
28 NAZ, N9/1/17, Report of the Native Commissioner, Victoria District, 1924.
29 NAZ, N9/1/17, Report of the Native Commissioner, Victoria District, 1924.
30 NAZ, Annual Report of the Dairy Expert (in Government Publications, University of Zimbabwe library), 1930, p. 4.
31 NAZ, SRG 3/ AGR 5, Report Director of Agriculture, 1921.
32 L. Mafela, ‘Colonial Initiatives and African Response in the Establishment of the Dairy Industry in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1930–1966’, Botswana Journal of African Studies, 13, 1 (1999), p. 78.
33 Ibid., pp. 77–92.
34 J. Ngadze, ‘The Development of Commercial Dairying from an International Perspective: A Case of a Late-comer, 1910–1951’ (BA honours dissertation, University of Zimbabwe, 1985), p. 6.
35 NAZ, Annual Report of the Dairy Expert, 1926.
36 NAZ, Oral/217, Cory John Richmond, p. 4.
37 NAZ, GEN/WEM, ‘The Dairy Industry in Southern Rhodesia’, Wembley British Empire Exhibition, 1924.
38 Ibid.
39 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Dairy Industry Correspondence: Letter from T. Hamilton to the Secretary for Agriculture, 29 December 1924.
40 NAZ, ZAY 2/2/13, Amended Oral and Written Evidence (Dairy Produce) to the Commission of Enquiry into the Economic Position of the Colony.
41 NAZ, Annual Report of the Dairy Expert, 1925. The older colonies he was referring to were probably Australia and New Zealand, and other countries such as Denmark and Netherlands.
42 NAZ, S1193/D1, Dairy Produce Act Correspondence, 1925–1927. Letter from the Dairy Expert, Hamilton, to the Secretary for Agriculture and Lands, 10 January 1925.
43 M.A. Gilmore, ‘Kill, Cure or Strangle: The History of Government Intervention in Three Key Agricultural Industries on the Atherton Tablelands, 1895–2005’ (PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2005), p. 135.
44 Davin, ‘Imperialism and Motherhood’, p. 12.
45 Irish Dairy Produce Act, No. 58 of 1924, as quoted in NAZ, 1193/D1, Letter from H. Mundy, Secretary, Department of Agriculture to T. Hamilton, Dairy Expert, 14 January 1925.
46 Statute Law of Southern Rhodesia, 1925: The Dairy Produce Act, 1925, Proclamation Number 18 of 1925, p. 100.
47 J. Cory, ‘The Dairy Produce Act’, Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, 22 (1925), p. 575.
48 Statute Law of Southern Rhodesia, 1925: The Dairy Produce Act, 1925, p. 99.
49 Cory, ‘The Dairy Produce Act’, p. 575.
50 For more on the Native Purchase Areas, see A. Shutt, ‘Pioneer Farmers and Family Dynasties in the Marirangwe Purchase Area, Colonial Zimbabwe, 1931–1947’, African Studies Review, 43, 3 (2000), pp. 59–80.
51 NAZ, S1193/D1/3, Dairy Produce Act, 1925 Correspondence: 1925–1927, Letter from Cory to Hamilton, 10 February 1925.
52 Wattle-and-daub structures are basic edifices made from mud and tree poles, with a shallow foundation. Without concrete floors or windows, they were criticised for being unhygienic, hence dairy officials often refused to register depots with such structures under the Dairy Produce Act, although farmers were allowed to continue using them.
53 NAZ, S1215/1366/2, Dairy Industry Control Board Minutes, 11 October 1939.
54 Growing maize and other products like beans and legumes is considered helpful for livestock keepers insofar as the crops provide cheap feed for livestock, while livestock also provide cheap manure for crops. The two are symbiotic. See, for instance, J. Cory, ‘The Feeding of Dairy Stock in Southern Rhodesia’, Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, 27 (1930), p. 24–32.
55 NAZ, 1215/1366/2, DCB Minutes, 7 June 1939.
56 Ibid.
57 This point is mentioned many times in correspondence between the Ministry of Agriculture officials and the Dairy Expert. See, for example, NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to the Secretary, Department of Agriculture, 18 February 1929.
58 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to the Secretary, Department of Agriculture, 28 November 1929.
59 For more on the problems afflicting beef production and marketing during this period, see Phimister, ‘Meat and Monopolies’.
60 As outlined later in this section, the Chief Dairy Officer himself, Hamilton, was particularly concerned about the employment of unsupervised Africans on dairy farms, depots and creameries.
61 T. Burke, Lifebuoy Men, Lux Women: Commodification, Consumption and Cleanliness in Modern Zimbabwe (Durham and London, Duke University Press, 1996), p. 19.
62 T.M. Thomas, Eleven Years in Central South Africa (Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia, 1970), p. 171.
63 S.P. Hyatt, The Old Transport Road (London, Andrew Melrose, 1914), p. 91.
64 Although it was disparaged by officials of the Dairy Division and agricultural demonstrators, this is still practiced in some rural areas today. Interview, conducted by Godfrey Hove, with Rhoda Hove, born 1933, Mataruse area of Mberengwa, 16 July 2013.
65 For the origins and application of social Darwinism, see G. Claeys, ‘The “Survival of the Fittest” and the Origins of Social Darwinism’, Journal of History of Ideas, 61, 2 (2000), pp. 223–40.
66 Statement by Dr Sauer, Matabeleland Representative of the Legislative Council, First Session, First Council, 15 May 1899, p. 13.
67 Burke, Lifebuoy Men, Lux Women, p. 20.
68 See J. Comaroff, ‘The Diseased Heart of Africa: Medicine, Colonialism, and the Black Body’, in S. Lindenham and M. Lock (eds), Knowledge, Power and Practice: The Anthropology of Medicine and Everyday Life (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1993), p. 321.
69 For a detailed discussion on the segregation debate of the 1920s, see Palmer, Land and Racial Domination in Rhodesia, p. 280.
70 See V.E.M. Machingaidze, ‘Agrarian Change from Above: The Southern Rhodesian Native Land Husbandry Act and African Response’, International Journal of Historical Studies, 24, 3 (1991), p. 558.
71 NAZ, Annual Report of the Dairy Expert, 1927.
72 Ibid.
73 NAZ, ZAR 2/1/1, F.R. Peach, Written Evidence to the Committee of Enquiry into Certain Aspects of the Dairy and Pig Industries, Bulawayo, 28 August 1935.
74 Rhodesia Herald, Salisbury, 31 January 1936 (emphasis added).
75 Letter to the editor, Rhodesia Herald, 27 January 1936.
76 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to Cory, 12 February 1927.
77 Ibid.
78 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to the Secretary for Agriculture, 11 March 1927.
79 NAZ, F56, ‘Magodi and the Dairy’ (motion pictures), Central African Film Unit (n.d.), describes milk and butter production and marketing by peasant farmers in an African reserve. This is a short film depicting milking and the marketing of milk by African cattle owners. It also depicts the processing of milk into butter at depots before being despatched to dairies.
80 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Cory to Hamilton, 20 May 1927.
81 NAZ, S1216/D1/4, Dairy Industry: Regulations for and Registration of farm dairies: 1930–32. Memorandum by T. Hamilton, Dairy Expert, 15 May 1930.
82 NAZ, ZAR 2/1/1, Written Evidence to the Commission of Enquiry into Certain Aspects of the Dairy and Pig Industries. Colonel Dan Judson, 2 September 1934.
83 See B.N. Floyd, ‘Land Apportionment in Southern Rhodesia’, Geographical Review, 52, 4 (1962), pp. 566–82.
84 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Cory to Hamilton, 20 May 1927.
85 Ibid.
86 Ibid.
87 Ibid.
88 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to the Secretary for Agriculture, 11 March 1927.
89 NAZ, Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Certain Aspects of the Dairy and Pig Industries, 1936, p. 8.
90 Gwebi College was established to give white farmers farming instruction and to conduct experiments on livestock and arable farming.
91 NAZ, 1368/7/48 Monthly Reports, Report of the Bulawayo District Dairy Officer for March 1934.
92 NAZ, S1193/D1/2, Letter from Hamilton to the Secretary for Agriculture, 11 March 1933.
