Page 168 - Afrika Must Unite

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INTEGRATION I53
mines, the harbours and towns connected with their economic
engagements. They wanted quick and easy returns, and would
not occupy themselves with what appeared to be less promising
areas of exploitation.
O ur African view is different. There is no single part of the
African continent which is not precious to us and our develop­
ment. And with the technological resources available today,
what would formerly have been regarded as miraculous can now
be done with the help of scientific aids, provided the means are
there. Nowadays even climate is not regarded as an impossible
impediment to economic progress, and certainly not drought.
About two-fifths of tropical Africa is steppe or desert; at least
one-third is savannah country with a seasonal rainfall. At first
sight, this may seem unpromising, but the problems presented
can be overcome to some extent by large-scale irrigation and
suitable afforestation.
Soil, of course, presents special problems. M uch of the soil in
rain forest and savannah areas is poor. But a lot can be done to
improve it. Artificial manures, composting, litter-farming, green
m anuring, can be employed. The growth of mixed farming has
been held up by the tsetse fly. Full control of the tsetse can only
be achieved, like that of the anopholes mosquito (the bearer of
m alaria), on a continental scale, since insect pests are no
respecters of territorial boundaries. W ith the elimination of the
tsetse, mixed farming could go ahead, and animals could then
supply the restorative manures to our soil.
There is indeed a vast horizon of improvement waiting upon
development in Africa. The Niger river inland delta scheme and
the Gezira scheme in the Sudan, for example, might be greatly
extended. Irrigation work could be carried out along the
Gambia, Senegal, Rufiji, Tana, and Zambesi rivers, and in the
Lake Chad basin. Immense advances could be made in the way
of controlling the flow of smaller streams, the digging of shallow
surface reservoirs, and the bunding of flat areas to reduce run­
off and increase soak-in during the rainy seasons. Swamp areas
such as the Bahr el Ghazal region in the U pper Nile, the Bang-
weulu swamp in N orthern Rhodesia and the Okovanggo swamp
in Bechuanaland, could be thoroughly explored to see if, with
suitable treatm ent, they cannot be turned into useful agricultural