"Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921

Although Nigeria's Benin region was a major rubber producer in 1960, the industry faltered before 1921. I use labour scarcity and state capacity to explain why rubber did not take hold in this period. The government was unable to protect Benin's rubber forests from over-exploitation. Plant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fenske, J
Format: Working paper
Language:English
Published: University of Oxford 2012
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author Fenske, J
author_facet Fenske, J
author_sort Fenske, J
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description Although Nigeria's Benin region was a major rubber producer in 1960, the industry faltered before 1921. I use labour scarcity and state capacity to explain why rubber did not take hold in this period. The government was unable to protect Benin's rubber forests from over-exploitation. Plantations found it difficult to recruit workers, and the government was unwilling to allow expatriates to acquire land. Colonial officials promoted the development of “communal” plantations, but these suffered due to labour scarcity and a state that was short on staff and equipment, and dependent on local chiefs.
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spelling oxford-uuid:d5184734-62a2-4d03-bdc3-04db23aaab172023-05-26T07:48:39Z"Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921Working paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:d5184734-62a2-4d03-bdc3-04db23aaab17EnglishSymplectic ElementsUniversity of Oxford2012Fenske, JAlthough Nigeria's Benin region was a major rubber producer in 1960, the industry faltered before 1921. I use labour scarcity and state capacity to explain why rubber did not take hold in this period. The government was unable to protect Benin's rubber forests from over-exploitation. Plantations found it difficult to recruit workers, and the government was unwilling to allow expatriates to acquire land. Colonial officials promoted the development of “communal” plantations, but these suffered due to labour scarcity and a state that was short on staff and equipment, and dependent on local chiefs.
spellingShingle Fenske, J
"Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title "Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title_full "Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title_fullStr "Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title_full_unstemmed "Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title_short "Rubber will not keep in this country": failed development in Benin, 1897-1921
title_sort rubber will not keep in this country failed development in benin 1897 1921
work_keys_str_mv AT fenskej rubberwillnotkeepinthiscountryfaileddevelopmentinbenin18971921