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129-570: The British Central Africa Company Ltd was one of the four largest European-owned companies that operated in colonial Nyasaland , now Malawi . The company was incorporated in 1902 to acquire the business interests that Eugene Sharrer , an early settler and entrepreneur , had developed in the British Central Africa Protectorate . Sharrer became the majority shareholder of the company on its foundation. The company initially had trading and transport interests, but these were sold by

258-675: A Native Tobacco Board in 1926 stimulated the production of fire-cured tobacco. By 1935, 70% of the national tobacco crop was grown in the Central Province where the Board had around 30,000 registered growers. At first, these farmed Crown land, but later estates contracted sharecropping "Visiting Tenants". The number of growers fluctuated until the Second World War then expanded, so by 1950 there were over 104,500 growers planting 132,000 acres and growing 10,000 tons of tobacco. 15,000 were growers in

387-501: A 3,500 acre tea plantation, two tea factories and some other small estates. The British Central Africa Company Ltd was the second-largest of four estate-owning companies in colonial Nyasaland which together owned over 3.4 million acres of land, including the majority of the fertile land in the Shire Highlands . Eugene Sharrer had been the owner of three large and two smaller estates, all largely undeveloped when he transferred them to

516-416: A certain landowner might have been said to own 32,000 acres of land, not 50 square miles of land. The acre is related to the square mile, with 640 acres making up one square mile. One mile is 5280 feet (1760 yards). In western Canada and the western United States, divisions of land area were typically based on the square mile, and fractions thereof. If the square mile is divided into quarters, each quarter has

645-566: A debate developed about the respective needs of European and African communities for land. The protectorate administration suggested that, although the African population might double in 30 years, it would still be possible to form new estates outside the Shire Highlands. Throughout the whole protectorate, the vast majority of its people were rural rather than urban dwellers and over 90% of the rural African population lived on Crown Lands (including

774-480: A drastic fall in prices for flue-cured tobacco after 1927, but then took up whatever employment they could find. After 1927, the production of dark-fired tobacco by African farmers, either estate tenants or on Crown lands , overtook that of flue-cured tobacco, and the British Central Africa Company, which already had a scheme for its tenants to grow tobacco under supervision, became mostly a broker for

903-445: A federation with Southern and Northern Rhodesia in 1953, there was a rise in civic unrest, as this was deeply unpopular among the people of the territory. The failure of the NAC to prevent this caused its collapse. Soon, a younger and more militant generation revived the NAC. They invited Hastings Banda to return to the country and lead it to independence as Malawi in 1964. The 1911 census

1032-733: A few it continues as a statute measure . These include Antigua and Barbuda, American Samoa , The Bahamas , Belize, the British Virgin Islands , Canada , the Cayman Islands , Dominica , the Falkland Islands , Grenada , Ghana , Guam , the Northern Mariana Islands , Jamaica , Montserrat , Samoa , Saint Lucia , St. Helena , St. Kitts and Nevis , St. Vincent and the Grenadines , Turks and Caicos ,

1161-455: A financial deficit. Its local General Manager tried to make good the loss of income by increasing tenants’ rents. Until 1952, the maximum rent permitted by the 1928 Natives on Private Estates Ordinance was 20 shillings or £1 but in that year the 1952 Africans on Private Estates Ordinance proposed an increase in the maximum to 52 shillings and sixpence (£2.625) from July 1953. Although most other estate companies agreed not to charge this maximum,

1290-401: A longer period of labour to pay the "rent." In 1911 it was estimated that about 9% of the protectorate's Africans lived on estates: in 1945, it was about 10%. These estates comprised 5% of the country by area, but about 15% of the total cultivable land. Estates appeared to have rather low populations relative to the quality of their land. Three major estate companies retained landholdings in

1419-602: A minority of nominated "non-official" members was added. Until 1961, the Governor had power to veto any ordinance passed by the Legislative Council. The Executive Council was a smaller body advising on policy. It was formed solely of officials until 1949, when two nominated white "non-official" members were added to eight officials. The composition of the Legislative Council gradually became more representative. In 1930, its six "non-official" members were no longer nominated by

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1548-415: A native of Africa who is not of European or Asiatic race or origin; all others are non-natives. A person's race or origin does not depend on where he or she is born. Race depends on the blood in one's veins ...". Unlike Europeans of British origin, Nyasaland natives did not hold British citizenship under British nationality law , but had the lesser status of British protected person . The term 'native'

1677-557: A primary unit for trade in the United Kingdom ceased to be permitted from 1 October 1995, due to the 1994 amendment of the Weights and Measures Act , where it was replaced by the hectare  – though its use as a supplementary unit continues to be permitted indefinitely. This was with the exemption of Land registration , which records the sale and possession of land, in 2010 HM Land Registry ended its exemption. The measure

1806-484: A rapid rate is contradicted by recent research. This showed that the majority of soils in Malawi were adequate for smallholders to produce maize. Most have sufficient (if barely so) organic material and nutrients, although their low nitrogen and phosphorus favours the use of chemical fertilisers and manure. Although in the early years of the 20th century European estates produced the bulk of exportable cash crops directly, by

1935-467: A side length of 1 ⁄ 2 mile (880 yards) and is 1 ⁄ 4 square mile in area, or 160 acres. These subunits are typically then again divided into quarters, with each side being 1 ⁄ 4 mile long, and being 1 ⁄ 16 of a square mile in area, or 40 acres. In the United States, farmland was typically divided as such, and the phrase "the back 40" refers to the 40-acre parcel to

2064-456: A side. As a unit of measure, an acre has no prescribed shape; any area of 43,560 square feet is an acre. In the international yard and pound agreement of 1959, the United States and five countries of the Commonwealth of Nations defined the international yard to be exactly 0.9144 metre. The US authorities decided that, while the refined definition would apply nationally in all other respects,

2193-541: A state of emergency, and military forces were brought in from the Rhodesias and Tanganyika . Police manpower was rapidly expanded to about 3,000 through recruiting and training. After the Malawi Congress Party took power in 1962, it inherited a colonial police force of 3,000, including British senior officers. European acquisition and ownership of large areas of land presented a major social and political problem for

2322-446: A total area of some 1.3 million acres in the Shire Highlands. But two large belts, one from Zomba town to Blantyre-Limbe the second from Limbe to Thyolo town, were almost entirely estates. In these two significant areas, Trust land for Africans was rare and consequently overcrowded. In the early years of the protectorate, little of the land on estates was planted. Settlers wanted labour and encouraged existing African residents to stay on

2451-565: A yard are used (see survey foot and survey yard ), so the exact size of an acre depends upon the yard upon which it is based. The US survey acre is about 4,046.872 square metres; its exact value ( ⁠4046 + 13,525,426 / 15,499,969 ⁠  m ) is based on an inch defined by 1 metre = 39.37 inches exactly, as established by the Mendenhall Order of 1893. Surveyors in the United States use both international and survey feet, and consequently, both varieties of acre. Since

2580-620: Is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet ), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1 ⁄ 640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m , or about 40% of a hectare . Based upon the international yard and pound agreement of 1959 , an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres . The acre

2709-670: Is derived from the Norman , attested for the first time in a text of Fécamp in 1006 to the meaning of «agrarian measure». Acre dates back to the old Scandinavian akr “cultivated field, ploughed land” which is perpetuated in Icelandic and the Faroese akur “field (wheat)”, Norwegian and Swedish åker , Danish ager “field”, cognate with German Acker , Dutch akker , Latin ager , Sanskrit ajr , and Greek αγρός ( agros ). In English, an obsolete variant spelling

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2838-415: Is measured in acres. In Sri Lanka , the division of an acre into 160  perches or 4  roods is common. In Pakistan, residential plots are measured in kanal (20 marla = 1  kanal = 605 sq yards) and open/agriculture land measurement is in acres (8 kanal = 1 acre) and muraba (25 acres = 1 muraba = 200 kanal ), jerib , wiswa and gunta . Its use as

2967-418: Is not used for land registration . One acre equals 1 ⁄ 640 (0.0015625) square mile, 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet, or about 4,047 square metres (0.4047 hectares ) (see below). While all modern variants of the acre contain 4,840 square yards, there are alternative definitions of a yard, so the exact size of an acre depends upon the particular yard on which it is based. Originally, an acre

3096-546: Is sometimes abbreviated ac but is usually spelled out as the word "acre". Traditionally, in the Middle Ages , an acre was conceived of as the area of land that could be ploughed by one man using a team of eight oxen in one day. The acre is still a statutory measure in the United States. Both the international acre and the US survey acre are in use, but they differ by only four parts per million (see below). The most common use of

3225-494: Is still used to communicate with the public and informally (non-contract) by the farming and property industries. 1 international acre is equal to the following metric units: 1 United States survey acre is equal to: 1 acre (both variants) is equal to the following customary units: Perhaps the easiest way for US residents to envision an acre is as a rectangle measuring 88 yards by 55 yards ( 1 ⁄ 10 of 880 yards by 1 ⁄ 16 of 880 yards), about 9 ⁄ 10

3354-479: The British South Africa Company for its mineral potential; it was never turned into plantations . But much of the remaining land, some 867,000 acres, or over 350,000 hectares of estates, included a large proportion of the best arable lands in the Shire Highlands , which was the most densely populated part of the country and where Africans had relied on subsistence farming. The first Commissioner of

3483-648: The Malawi Congress Party won 22 of 28 seats. The party was also nominated to seven of the 10 Executive Council seats. The protectorate was divided into districts from 1892, with a Collector of Revenue (later called District Commissioner in charge of each. There were originally around a dozen districts, but the number had increased to some two dozen at independence. The 12 Collectors and 26 assistants in 1907 were responsible for collecting Hut tax and customs duties; they also had judicial responsibilities as magistrates , although few had any legal training. From 1920

3612-531: The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced their joint intent to end the "temporary" continuance of the US survey foot, mile, and acre units (as permitted by their 1959 decision, above), with effect from the end of 2022. The Puerto Rican cuerda (0.39 ha; 0.97 acres) is sometimes called the "Spanish acre" in the continental United States. The acre is commonly used in many current and former Commonwealth countries by custom, and in

3741-496: The US survey foot (and thus the survey acre) would continue 'until such a time as it becomes desirable and expedient to readjust [it]'. By inference, an "international acre" may be calculated as exactly 4,046.856 422 4 square metres but it does not have a basis in any international agreement. Both the international acre and the US survey acre contain 1 ⁄ 640 of a square mile or 4,840 square yards, but alternative definitions of

3870-452: The 1930s, a large proportion of many of these crops (particularly tobacco) was produced by Africans, either as smallholders on Crown land or as tenants on the estates. The first estate crop was coffee, grown commercially in quantity from around 1895, but competition from Brazil which flooded the world markets by 1905 and droughts led to its decline in favour of tobacco and cotton. Both these crops had previously been grown in small quantities, but

3999-614: The 1930s. For most of the colonial period, its extensive estates produced cotton , tobacco or tea but the British Central Africa Company Ltd developed the reputation of being a harsh and exploitative landlord whose relations with its tenants were poor. In 1962, shortly before independence, the company sold most of its undeveloped land to the Nyasaland government, but it retained some plantations and two tea factories. It changed its name to The Central Africa Company Ltd and

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4128-514: The Abrahams Commission divided opinion. Africans were generally in favour of its proposals, as was the governor from 1942 to 1947, Edmund Richards (who had proposed the establishment of a Land Commission) and the incoming governor, Geoffrey Colby . Estate owners and managers were strongly against it, and many European settlers bitterly attacked it. As a result of the Abrahams report, in 1947

4257-564: The Balkans, Norway , and Denmark , where it was equal to about two-thirds acre (2,700 m ). Statutory values for the acre were enacted in England, and subsequently the United Kingdom, by acts of: Historically, the size of farms and landed estates in the United Kingdom was usually expressed in acres (or acres, roods , and perches ), even if the number of acres was so large that it might conveniently have been expressed in square miles. For example,

4386-592: The Blantyre District who had been served with notices to quit refused to leave since there was no other land for them. Two years later the same difficulty arose in the densely populated Cholo District, two-thirds of whose land constituted private estates. In 1946 the Nyasaland government appointed a commission, the Abrahams Commission (also known the Land Commission) to inquire into land issues following

4515-423: The British Central Africa Company demanded the 52 shillings and sixpence maximum from December 1952. A number of tenants resisted the increase, and the company issued eviction notices, which the government was legally obliged to enforce, but was reluctant to do. In June 1953, the company agreed not to enforce either the evictions or the rent increase. However, its tenants had begun to clear land on undeveloped parts of

4644-494: The British Central Africa Company had 14 barns for flue-curing tobacco, out of a total of 119 such barns in the protectorate. At the end of the First World War, the company started a scheme for settling ex-servicemen on its undeveloped land as tobacco growers. About 50 men took up farms, usually of 1,000 acres. Many failed in the period from 1920 to 1924, as none had a farming background or any farming training. Some survived until

4773-492: The Collectors. From 1912, Collectors were able to nominate principal headmen and village headmen as local intermediaries between the protectorate administration and local people, in an early form of Indirect rule . Each Collector could determine what powers to delegate to headmen in his district. Some appointed existing traditional chiefs as Principal headmen, who had significant authority locally. Another version of indirect rule

4902-754: The District Commissioners reported to three Provincial Commissioners for the Northern, Central and Southern provinces. They, in turn, reported to the Chief Secretary in Zomba. The numbers of District Commissioners and their assistants rose slowly to 51 in 1937 and about 120 in 1961. In many parts of the protectorate, there were few strong chiefs. At first the British tried to evade the powers of existing chiefs who were powerful, minimising them in favour of direct rule by

5031-531: The Federation was dissolved, Nyasaland became independent from Britain on 6 July 1964 and was renamed Malawi . Nyasaland's history was marked by the massive loss of African communal lands in the early colonial period. In January 1915, the Reverend John Chilembwe staged an attempted rebellion to protest against colonial forced labour and discrimination against Africans, among other grievances. Although

5160-434: The Governor of Nyasaland from 1948 to 1956, attempted to get the major estate companies to sell the under-used parts of their land to the government for resettlement. However, Colby made it clear he would not use the compulsory purchase powers he had been granted, preferring voluntary agreement. By ruling compulsion out, he gave unintended encouragement to the British Central Africa Company's plans to retain its estates. In 1955,

5289-511: The Governors' former powers was transferred to the Federal government. This had sole responsibility for external affairs, defence, immigration, higher education, transport, posts and major aspects of economic policy, and the predominant role in health, industrial development and electricity. The Colonial Office retained ultimate power over African affairs and the African ownership of land. The Federation

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5418-594: The Land Commission did not consider that the country was inherently overcrowded, it noted that, in congested districts where a large proportion of the working population was employed, particularly on tea estates or near towns, families had only 1 to 2 acres to farm. By 1946, the congested districts were even more crowded. From 1938, the protectorate administration began to purchase small amounts of under-used estate land for resettlement of those evicted. These purchases were insufficient and, in 1942, hundreds of Africans in

5547-468: The Nyasaland government agreed to purchase almost 36,470 acres in Cholo District with 24,600 residents from the British Central Africa Company for resettlement. Before this, the company had owned 74,262 acres with 36,400 residents. The company retained 38,143 acres, but of the 11,800 residents, 3,240 were moved onto Crown lands . However, it was only in 1962, when independence was clearly in prospect, that

5676-420: The Nyasaland government set up a Land Planning Committee of civil servants to advise on implementing its proposals and deal with the acquisition of land for resettlement. It recommended the re-acquisition only of land which was either undeveloped or occupied by large numbers of African residents or tenants. Land capable of future development as estates was to be protected against unorganised cultivation. From 1948,

5805-725: The Paris arpent used in Quebec before the metric system was adopted is sometimes called "French acre" in English, even though the Paris arpent and the Normandy acre were two very different units of area in ancient France (the Paris arpent became the unit of area of French Canada, whereas the Normandy acre was never used in French Canada). In Germany, the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe

5934-682: The Protectorate, Sir Harry Johnston, had hoped that the Shire Highlands would become an area for large-scale European settlement. He later considered it was too unhealthy. He acknowledged that it had a large African population who required sufficient land for their own use, although his successors did not share this view. Additional land alienations were much smaller. Around 250,000 acres of former Crown Lands were sold as freehold land or leased, and almost 400,000 acres more, originally in Certificates of Claim, were sold or leased in holdings whose average size

6063-560: The Second World War, the government increased expenditures on the police and expanded its forces into rural areas. A Police Training School was opened in 1952, police man-power increased to 750 by 1959, and new units were set up (the Special Branch and the Police Mobile Force for riot control). These changes proved insufficient when major disturbances took place in 1959, as support began to grow for independence. The government declared

6192-496: The Sharrer's Zambezi Traffic Company Ltd. These rivers formed the main route into British Central Africa, and to improve transport links, he promoted the development of the first railway in the country, whose construction was agreed in 1902. Shortly after this, he left Africa permanently for London, although he retained his financial interests there. The British Central Africa Company Ltd took over Sharrer's Kubula Stores Ltd in 1902. This

6321-435: The Shire Highlands rose from 4,500 acres in 1911 to 14,200 acres in 1920, yielding 2,500 ton of tobacco. Before 1920, about 5% of the crop sold was dark-fired tobacco produced by African farmers, and this rose to 14% by 1924. The First World War boosted the production of tobacco, but post-war competition from United States Virginia required a rebate of import duty under Imperial Preference to assist Nyasaland growers. Much of

6450-404: The Shire Highlands. Its estate at Cholo was originally its largest one, of over 150,000 acres, but by 1920 around 20,000 acres had been sold or leased. Around 6,000 acres of the 28,000 acre Kubula estate, northwest of the centre of Blantyre had also been sold or leased, but it was overpopulated, with 5,713 registered tenants on 1929 and 4,500 in 1939, most of whom were heads of families. By 1924,

6579-493: The Shire Highlands. The British Central Africa Company once owned 350,000 acres, but before 1928 it had sold or leased 50,000 acres. It retained two large blocks of land, each around 100,000 acres, in the Shire Highlands. The rest of its properties were in or near to the Shire valley. From the late 1920s, it obtained cash rents from African tenants on crowded and unsupervised estates. A L Bruce Estates Ltd owned 160,000 acres, mostly in

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6708-487: The Southern Province. About three-quarters were smallholders on Native Trust Land, the rest estate tenants. Numbers declined later, but there were still 70,000 in 1965, producing 12,000 tons. Although the value of tobacco exports continued to rise, they decreased as a proportion of the total after 1935 because of the increased importance of tea. Egyptian cotton was first grown commercially by African smallholders in

6837-675: The Trans-Zambezia Railway Ltd completed its line from the south bank of the Zambezi to Beira in 1922, that company took over the British Central Africa Company's remaining river fleet for use as cross-river ferries. The British Central Africa Company Ltd was a major shareholder in the Shire Highlands Railway Company and the Central Africa Railway Ltd. In 1930, Nyasaland Railways Ltd was formed to acquire

6966-605: The United Kingdom, the United States and the US Virgin Islands . In the Republic of Ireland , the hectare is legally used under European units of measurement directives ; however, the acre (the same standard statute as used in the UK, not the old Irish acre , which was of a different size) is still widely used, especially in agriculture. In India, residential plots are measured in square feet or square metre, while agricultural land

7095-651: The Upper Shire District, by distributing cheap Egyptian cotton seed. The company gave instruction on the method of cultivation and agreed to buy the future crop at a guaranteed (but low) price. There was no significant shortage of land for peasant farming in the Upper Shire Valley, as the British Central Africa Company only exploited a small proportion of its land and, until the 1930s, the company tolerated squatters who did not pay rent on its land. Its tenants had to perform labour thangata or grow cotton for sale to

7224-469: The acre is to measure tracts of land. The acre is used in many established and former Commonwealth of Nations countries by custom. In a few, it continues as a statute measure , although not since 2010 in the UK, and not for decades in Australia , New Zealand , and South Africa . In many places where it is not a statute measure, it is still lawful to "use for trade" if given as supplementary information and

7353-418: The benefit of African communities, and it was not until 1936 that all conversion of Native Trust Land to freehold was prohibited by the 1936 Native Trust Lands Order. The aims of this legislation were to reassure the African people of their rights in land and to relieve them of fears of its alienation without their consent. Reassurance was needed, because in 1920 when Native Trust Land covered 6.6 million acres,

7482-552: The business of the Shire Highlands Railway Ltd and the share capital of the Central Africa Railway Ltd. This left the British Central Africa Company as a significant shareholder in Nyasaland Railways Ltd. The company, whose name was now The Central Africa Company, became a subsidiary of Lonrho (Malawi) Ltd in 1964 Lonrho bought The Central Africa Company Ltd mainly because of its railway shares, but also acquired

7611-531: The colonial period was the system of thangata which, in the early colonial period, meant that African on estates had to perform agricultural labour in lieu of the rent for a plot of land on which they could grow food. At first, estates usually required two months’ labour a year from adult men, one month for their rent, the second in reimbursement of the Hut tax paid by the landowner on behalf of tenants. Widows and other single women who were tenants were usually exempted from

7740-447: The colonial period, although with less millet and more maize. Tobacco and a local variety of cotton were grown widely. Throughout the protectorate, the colonial Department of Agriculture favoured European planter interests. Its negative opinion of African agriculture, which it failed to promote, helped to prevent the creation of a properly functioning peasant economy. It criticised the practice of shifting cultivation in which trees on

7869-809: The colonial period, it was a less significant factor. The 1921 census listed 108,204 "Anguru" ( Lomwe -speaking immigrants from Mozambique). It is likely that a large number of those listed under other tribal names had crossed the border from Mozambique as well. It is also likely that the numbers of immigrants from tribal groups believed to belong to surrounding territories, mainly Mozambique and Northern Rhodesia , had doubled between 1921 and 1931. Most of this large migratory movement took place after 1926. The Anguru population further increased by more than 60 percent between 1931 and 1945. The 1966 census recorded 283,854 foreign-born Africans, of whom about 70 percent were born in Mozambique. This inward immigration of families

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7998-483: The community members, but limit its allocation to outsiders. Customary law had little legal status in the early colonial period and little recognition or protection was given to customary land or the communities that used it then. It has been claimed that throughout the colonial period and up to 1982 Malawi had sufficient arable land to meet the basic food needs of its population, if the arable land were distributed equally and used to produce food. As early as 1920, while

8127-537: The company accepted the need to sell its surplus land, retaining only its most profitable assets. At the time of its takeover by Lonrho (Malawi) Ltd in 1964, the Central Africa Company Ltd owned a 3,500 acre tea plantation, two tea factories and some other small estates. The Central Africa Company Ltd, with its remaining agricultural assets, was sold by Lonrho to African Plantations Corporation June 1997. The basis of estate agriculture in Nyasaland for much of

8256-701: The company had sold or leased almost 77,000 acres of its original 372,500 acres. Of the 295,500 acres the British Central Africa Company Ltd held directly in that year, it actively farmed only 6,000 acres itself, the remainder was cultivated by tenants or fallow . Until the mid-1930s, the British Central Africa Company Ltd was relatively relaxed about collecting rents from its tenants, but as the Natives on Private Estates Ordinance 1928 allowed estate owners to evict 10% of their tenants without cause in 1933 and every five years thereafter, it began to evict significant numbers its of tenants. The company Ltd exercised its right to expel

8385-519: The company still retained a 3,500 acre tea plantation and two tea factories. Nyasaland Nyasaland ( / n ɪ ˈ æ s ə l æ n d , n aɪ ˈ æ s ə -/ ) was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . After

8514-645: The company were at the Kabula Stores Ltd offices and warehouses on Kabula Hill, part of one of Eugene Sharrer's estates. The company moved from Kabula to Limbe around the time of the opening of the Shire Highlands Railway to Limbe. The company's base is still in Limbe and the company is still in existence. Lonrho sold the Central Africa Company Ltd to African Plantations Corporation in June 1997. Eugene Sharrer, who

8643-595: The company's estates and start cultivation. Many local people refused to pay taxes or attend courts, and riots broke out in Cholo in August 1953, leading to eleven dead and seventy-two injured. Following these riots, Governor Colby urged that another 300,000 acres, including much British Central Africa Company land, should be acquired through voluntary purchase, but the Colonial Office did not support this, so little happened. In 1963,

8772-420: The company, but in general there was plenty of land available for food production. The efforts of the colonial administration to introduce cotton as a peasant cash-crop were largely unsuccessful, as the prices paid to the peasants were low, so they concentrated on growing food. The British Central Africa Company Ltd also had a cotton ginnery for processing its own and smallholder cotton until at least 1961. In 1971,

8901-606: The company. These included land in the Shire Highlands, but also in the Shire valley. The British Central Africa Company Ltd acquired 372,500 acres from Sharrer in 1902. Its two most productive estates were in the Shire valley: Kupimbi of around 68,000 acres in the Middle Shire, which grew tobacco, and Chelumbo of about 132,000 acres in the Upper Shire, which grew cotton. A third Shire valley estate of about 17,000 acres near Chikwawa also grew cotton. The company also owned two estates in

9030-513: The de facto population by addition of those known to be abroad. Source: Final Report of the 1966 Census of Malawi, Zomba, 1968. The colonial censuses were imprecise: those of 1901 and 1911 estimated the African population based on hut tax records, and adult male tax defaulters (up to 10% of the total) went unrecorded. The censuses of 1921, 1926 and 1931 did not make individual counts of the African population, probably under-estimated absentees, and under-counted in remote areas. The census of 1945

9159-481: The decline of coffee prompted planters to turn to tobacco in the Shire Highlands and cotton in the Shire Valley. Tea was also first planted commercially in 1905 in the Shire Highlands, with significant development of tobacco and tea growing taking place after the opening of the Shire Highlands Railway in 1908. During the 56 years that the protectorate existed, tobacco, tea and cotton were the main export crops, and tea

9288-486: The difference between the US survey acre and international acre (0.016 square metres, 160 square centimetres or 24.8 square inches), is only about a quarter of the size of an A4 sheet or US letter , it is usually not important which one is being discussed. Areas are seldom measured with sufficient accuracy for the different definitions to be detectable. In October 2019, the US National Geodetic Survey and

9417-436: The end of 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which was not a fully independent state as it was constitutionally subordinate to the British government. Nyasaland remained a protectorate and its Governors retained responsibilities for local administration, labour and trade unions, African primary and secondary education, African agriculture and forestry, and internal policing. The greater part of

9546-438: The estates. Earlier African residents who had fled to more defensible areas usually avoided returning to settle on estates. New workers (often the so-called "Anguru" migrants from Mozambique) were encouraged to move onto estates and grow their own crops but were required to pay rent. In the early years, this was usually satisfied by two months' labour annually, under the system known as thangata . Later, many owners required

9675-479: The farmers (still in the 20th century) made the difference between the grande acre (68 ares, 66 centiares) and the petite acre (56 to 65 ca). The Normandy acre was usually divided in 4 vergées ( roods ) and 160 square perches , like the English acre. The Normandy acre was equal to 1.6 arpents , the unit of area more commonly used in Northern France outside of Normandy. In Canada,

9804-472: The former estimate was probably undercounting the total number of workers in other countries. In 1937, it was estimated that over 90,000 adult males were migrant workers: of these a quarter was thought not to have been in touch with their families for more than five years. By 1945 almost 124,000 adult males and almost 9,500 adult females were known to be absent, excluding those who were not in touch with their families. The great bulk of migrant workers came from

9933-440: The full 10% from its Cholo estates in 1933, the only estate owner in the protectorate to do so. By 1947, some of the earlier leases had ended, and the company directly held 329,000 acres and it actively farmed 29,000 of them. In 1948 the government set up a Land Planning Committee, whose first report recommended that government should re-acquire land which was either undeveloped or occupied by large numbers of Africans. This included

10062-462: The governor but were selected by as association representing white planters and businessmen. Until 1949, African interests were represented by one white missionary. That year the governor appointed three Africans and an Asian to join six white "non-official" and 10 official members. From 1955, its six white "non-official" members were elected; five Africans (but no Asians) were nominated. Only in 1961 were all Legislative Council seats filled by election:

10191-499: The highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the population increased quite rapidly, doubling between 1901 and 1931, high infant mortality and deaths from tropical diseases restricted the natural increase to no more than 1 to 2 percent a year. The rest of the increase seems to have resulted from immigration from Mozambique . From 1931 to 1945, natural increase doubled, probably through improved medical services, and infant mortality gradually decreased. Although immigration continued throughout

10320-483: The land to be cultivated were cut down and burnt and their ashes dug into the soil to fertilise it. The land was used for a few years after another section of land was cleared. Compared with European, North American and Asian soils many sub-Saharan African soils are low in natural fertility, being poor in nutrients, low in organic matter and liable to erosion. The best cultivation technique for such soils involves 10 to 15 years of fallow between 2 or 3 years of cultivation,

10449-426: The opening of the Shire Highlands Railway to Port Herald downriver of Chiromo in 1908. Port Herald then became the new terminus for river services. The Central Africa Railway Ltd was opened from Port Herald to Chindio on the north bank of the Zambezi in 1914, after which the British Central Africa Company ran its service from Chinde to Port Herald in the wet season, but only to Chindio when water levels were low. When

10578-574: The oversight of District Commissioners, and they were generally used by the colonial administration to enforce unpopular agricultural rules. They dealt with the vast bulk of civil disputes in the protectorate. From 1902, the British established English law as the official legal code, and set up a High Court on the English model, with a Chief Justice and other judges. Appeals were heard by the East African Appeals Court in Zanzibar . Customary law

10707-524: The period 1907 to 1953, Nyasaland was subject to direct superintendence and control by the Colonial Office and the United Kingdom parliament. Its administration was headed by a Governor, appointed by the British Government and responsible to the Colonial Office. As Nyasaland needed financial support through grants and loans, Governors also reported to HM Treasury on financial matters. From 1953 to

10836-410: The present and future needs of the African people were met. This plan was rejected by the Colonial Office. Much of the best land in the Shire Highlands was alienated to Europeans at the end of the 19th century. Of more than 860,000 acres, over (350,000 hectares) of estates in the Shire Highlands, only a quarter was poor-quality land. The other 660,000 acres were in areas of more fertile soils, which had

10965-526: The prevailing annual rent was 6 shillings (30 pence). After 1928, maximum cash rents were fixed at £1 for a plot of 8 acres, although some estates charged less. The "equivalent" rents in kind required delivering crops worth between 30 and 50 shillings instead of £1 cash, to discourage this option. Estate owners could expel up to 10% of their tenants every five years without showing any cause, and could expel male children of residents at age 16, and refuse to allow settlement to husbands of residents' daughters. The aim

11094-644: The programme of land acquisition intensified, assisted by an increased willingness of estate owners who saw no future in merely leasing land and marketing their tenants' crops. In 1948, it was estimated that 1.2 million acres (or 487,000 hectares) of freehold estates remained, with an African population of 200,000. At independence in 1964, only some 422,000 acres (171,000 hectares) of European-owned estates remained, mainly as tea estates or small estates farmed directly by their owners. Although Nyasaland has some mineral resources, particularly coal, these were not exploited in colonial times. Without economic mineral resources,

11223-418: The projected re-purchase of about two-thirds of the British Central Africa Company's freehold land. The company had long fought to retain its landholdings, much of which was undeveloped, claiming that soil exhaustion and erosion, deforestation and poor husbandry would result if the land were resettled by smallholders . In 1948, the company was still unwilling to sell its better land to the government. However, it

11352-424: The protectorate's economy had to be based on agriculture, but in 1907 most of its people were subsistence farmers. In the mid-to-late 19th century, cassava , rice, beans and millet were grown in the Shire Valley, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and sorghum in the Shire Highlands, and cassava, millet and groundnuts along the shores of Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi). These crops continued to be staple foods throughout

11481-409: The protectorate, as Africans increasingly challenged this takeover of their land. Between 1892 and 1894, 3,705,255 acres, almost 1.5 million hectares or 15% of the total land area of the Protectorate, was alienated as European-owned estates through the colonial grant of Certificates of Claim . Of this, 2,702,379 million acres, over 1 million hectares, in the north of the protectorate had been acquired by

11610-413: The purchase and processing of smallholder cotton was taken over by a parastatal body. In 1902, Sharrer's landholdings in Cholo district were sold to the British Central Africa Company Ltd. For the first two decades of the 20th century, the area remained undeveloped and relatively under-populated. Small amounts of cotton, sisal and tobacco were grown but the tobacco was hit by disease, the value of sisal

11739-526: The rebellion was unsuccessful, colonial authorities responded by reassessing some of their policies. Throughout the 1930s, a growing class of educated African elite, many educated in the United Kingdom , became increasingly politically active and vocal about gaining independence. They established associations and, after 1944, the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC). When Nyasaland became part of

11868-437: The rental obligation and did not pay hut tax. However, on some estates the obligations of labour tenants were extended, and abuses such as requiring 30 days work (five weeks of six days), rather than allowing Sundays as rest days, for each month of thangata or requiring that women heading households should work to satisfy rent due were introduced. The demand for estate labour declined in the 1920s, and British Central Africa Company

11997-426: The reserves). Their access to land for farming was governed by customary law. This varied, but generally entitled a person granted or inheriting the use of land (not its ownership) the exclusive right to farm it for an indefinite period, with the right to pass it to their successors, unless it was forfeited for a crime, neglect or abandonment. There was an expectation that community leaders would allocate communal land to

12126-520: The riots and disturbances by tenants on European-owned estates in 1943 and 1945. It had only one member, Sir Sidney Abrahams, who proposed that the Nyasaland government should purchase all unused or under-used freehold land on European-owned estates which would become Crown land , available to African farmers. The Africans on estates were to be offered the choice of remaining on the estate as workers or tenants or of moving to Crown land. These proposals were not implemented in full until 1952. The report of

12255-574: The rural Northern and Central regions: in 1937, out of 91,000 Africans recorded as absent, fewer than 11,000 were from districts in the south, where there were more jobs available. Labour migration continued up to and after independence. It was estimated that in 1963, some 170,000 men were absent and working abroad: 120,000 in Southern Rhodesia, 30,000 in South Africa, and 20,000 in Zambia . Throughout

12384-564: The single Magomero estate in Zomba, and Chiradzulu districts. Before the 1940s, it had sold little of its land and preferred to farm it directly; by 1948 the estate was largely let to tenants, who produced all its crops. Blantyre and East Africa Ltd had once owned 157,000 acres in Blantyre and Zomba districts, but sales to small planters reduced this to 91,500 acres by 1925. Until around 1930, it marketed its tenants' crops, but after this sought cash rents. The 1920 Land Commission also considered

12513-412: The situation of Africans living on private estates and proposed to give all tenants some security of tenure. Apart from the elderly or widows, all tenants would pay rents in cash by labour or by selling crops to the owner, but rent levels would be regulated. These proposals were enacted in 1928 after a 1926 census had shown that over 115,000 Africans (10% of the population) lived on estates. Before 1928,

12642-406: The size of a standard American football field . To be more exact, one acre is 90.75% of a 100-yd-long by 53.33-yd-wide American football field (without the end zone ). The full field, including the end zones, covers about 1.32 acres (0.53 ha). For residents of other countries, the acre might be envisioned as rather more than half of a 1.76 acres (0.71 ha) football pitch . The word acre

12771-433: The size of the gardens that tenants could plant for their own use on company land in 1945, many of them refused to pay any rent. Some 1,250 tenants were threatened with eviction and, although the government limited the actual evictions to 120, those spared eviction still felt resentment towards the company. There was a further crisis in 1952 and 1953 when a collapse in world tea prices put the British Central Africa Company into

12900-418: The system of shifting cultivation and fallowing that was common in Nyasaland as long as there was sufficient land to practice it. As more intensive agricultural use began in the 1930s, the amounts and duration of fallow were progressively reduced in more populous areas, which placed soil fertility under gradually increasing pressure. The Department of Agriculture's prediction that soil fertility would decline at

13029-443: The term thangata applied both to rent in kind, common on tobacco and cotton estates, and to the older form of labour thangata, which persisted on the tea estates that required direct labour. Cotton was first planted in the Shire valley by Eugene Sharrer, and the British Central Africa Company continued to grow cotton on its Chelumbo and Chikwawa estates. From 1903 the company also encouraged cotton cultivation by African smallholders in

13158-540: The tobacco produced by the European estates was of low-grade. In 1921, 1,500 tons of a 3,500-ton crop was saleable and many smaller European growers went out of business. Between 1919 and 1935 their numbers fell from 229 to 82. The decline in flue-cured tobacco intensified throughout the 1920s. Europeans produced 86% of Malawi's tobacco in 1924, 57% in 1927, 28% in 1933, and 16% in 1936. Despite this decline, tobacco accounted for 65–80% of exports from 1921 to 1932. Formation of

13287-480: The tobacco those tenants produced. It took many years for tea to become a major crop in Nyasaland, and in the colonial period it was almost exclusively grown on estates. From 1922 to 1932, each year saw a small but significant increase in the acreage of tea, most of which was in Mlanje District. After 1931, tea growing expanded into Cholo District, where the British Central Africa Company had large estates, and for

13416-460: The traditional unit of area was Morgen . Like the acre, the morgen was a unit of ploughland, representing a strip that could be ploughed by one man and an ox or horse in a morning. There were many variants of the morgen , differing between the different German territories, ranging from 1 ⁄ 2 to 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 acres (2,000 to 10,100 m ). It was also used in Old Prussia , in

13545-531: The traditional unit of area was the arpent carré , a measure based on the Roman system of land measurement. The acre was used only in Normandy (and neighbouring places outside its traditional borders), but its value varied greatly across Normandy, ranging from 3,632 to 9,725 square metres, with 8,172 square metres being the most frequent value. But inside the same pays of Normandy, for instance in pays de Caux ,

13674-543: The two following decades the amount of tea grown increased steadily. The expansion of tea-planting in Cholo led to a shortage of African labour by 1938. During the Second World War, this labour shortage was contained, but after 1945 it became acute. In 1945, the British Central Africa Company planted 1,147 of the 12,321 acres of tea in Cholo District, making it the second largest producer in that district. The company had formerly relied on labour tenants for much of its workforce, but in 1946, its local Manager complained that thangata

13803-411: The undeveloped land. According to L. White, by the 1880s, large areas of the Shire Highlands may have become underpopulated through fighting or slave raiding. It was these almost empty and indefensible areas that Europeans claimed in the 1880s and 1890s. Few Africans were resident on estate lands at that time. After Europeans introduced the requirement for rent payments by tenant farmers, many Africans left

13932-515: The upper Shire valley in 1903 and spread to the lower Shire valley and the shores of Lake Nyasa. By 1905 American Upland cotton was grown on estates in the Shire Highlands. African-grown cotton was bought by British Central Africa Company and the African Lakes Corporation until 1912 when government cotton markets were established where a fairer price for cotton was given. Acre The acre ( / ˈ eɪ k ər / AY -kər )

14061-572: Was aker . According to the Act on the Composition of Yards and Perches , dating from around 1300, an acre is "40 perches [ rods ] in length and four in breadth", meaning 220 yards by 22 yards. As detailed in the diagram, an acre was roughly the amount of land tillable by a yoke of oxen in one day. Before the enactment of the metric system , many countries in Europe used their own official acres. In France,

14190-505: Was acquired by the Lonrho group, both in 1964. The British Central Africa Company Ltd was said to be "of London", implying that it was once registered in England, but no current English registration can now be traced, although the company had a London office based at Thames House London EC2. The company's name was changed to The Central Africa Company Ltd and it became a subsidiary of Lonrho (Malawi) Ltd in 1964. The original Malawi headquarters of

14319-511: Was allowed (but not mandatory) in cases involving Africans, if native law or custom was not repugnant to English legal principles. Order was at first maintained by soldiers of the King's African Rifles , some of whom were seconded to assist the District Commissioners, or by poorly trained police recruited by the District Commissioners. A better-trained central colonial police force was set up in 1922, but in 1945 it still had only 500 constables . After

14448-409: Was always small (only 1,948 in 1945). By 1960 their numbers rose to about 9,500, but they declined afterward following the struggle for independence. The number of ethnic Asian residents, many of whom were traders and merchants , was also small. The category of 'native' was large, but there was no general definition of the term. In a Nyasaland court case in 1929, the judge opined that, "A native means

14577-399: Was around 1,000 acres. Many of these were smaller farms operated by Europeans who came to Nyasaland after the First World War to grow tobacco . As late as 1920, a Land Commission set up by the Nyasaland authorities proposed further land alienation, to promote the development of small to medium-size European plantations, from the 700,000 acres of Crown Land which it said were available after

14706-429: Was better, but still not a true record of the African population. The censuses of 1921, 1931 and 1945 all recorded the numbers of Mozambique immigrants. Those conducted before 1945 may have substantially under-recorded the number of Africans and also the full extent of labour emigration out of Nyasaland. Throughout the colonial period and up to the present, the rural population density of Nyasaland/Malawi has been among

14835-532: Was described as an archetypal colonial outsider, arrived in Central Africa in 1888 and soon began working in the ivory trade. His trading venture developed into the wholesale and retail business of Kubula Stores Ltd, and he diversified by acquiring large landholdings and building up a successful farming business. Sharrer also built up and operated one of the fleets of steamers on the Zambezi and Shire rivers through

14964-462: Was formally dissolved on 31 December 1963; at the same time Nyasaland's independence was fixed for 6 July 1964. Most governors spent the bulk of their career in other territories but were assisted by heads of departments who spent their working life in Nyasaland. Some of these senior officials also sat on the two councils that advised governors. The Legislative Council was formed solely of officials in 1907 to advise governors on legislation; from 1909

15093-489: Was instituted in 1933. The government authorized the chiefs and their councils as Native Authorities, but they had few real powers and little money to enforce them. The Native Authorities could set up Native Courts to decide cases under local customary law. But Sir Charles Golding , governor from 1924 to 1929, believed that the system of traditional chiefs was in decay and could not be relied on. Native Courts had no jurisdiction over European-owned estates. They were subject to

15222-561: Was low and the cool weather was unsuitable for cotton. With the construction of the Shire Highlands Railway from Port Herald to Blantyre, which opened in 1908, the estates began to grow Flue-cured tobacco , and The British Central Africa Company Ltd was able to interest the Imperial Tobacco Company in Nyasaland tobacco. The company imported good quality seed and brought in experts, at first aiming to produce cigar leaf, but later concentrating on flue-cured leaf for cigarettes. By 1907,

15351-479: Was one of several European-owned firms engaged in general wholesale and retail trading. The largest of these was Mandala, owned by the African Lakes Corporation which, in addition to its main urban stores, had opened a chain of around 50 rural retail stores. After the First World War, Kubula Stores was the main rival to Mandala but it largely failed to penetrate the rural areas. The Kubula Stores business

15480-489: Was prepared to sell inferior land, and in 1948 the government bought freehold land from the British Central Africa Company in the Chingale area in the western part of Zomba District to convert it to land held by customary tenure and resettle Africans evacuated from other estates in the Shire valley and highlands on it. The Chingale resettlement scheme took place from 1948 to 1954. Following a serious famine in 1949, Geoffrey Colby,

15609-570: Was sold to the African Lakes Corporation in the 1920s and the Kubula Stores Ltd company was struck-off the Register of Companies in 1943. The business of Sharrer's Zambezi Traffic Company Ltd was transferred to the British Central Africa Company Ltd in 1902. The company ran riverboat services from the British concession of Chinde at the mouth of the Zambezi to Chiromo on the Shire River until

15738-405: Was somewhat balanced by outward labour emigration, mainly by men, to Southern Rhodesia and South Africa . The development of Nyasaland was likely adversely affected by the drain of workers to other countries. The Nyasaland government estimated that 58,000 adult males were working outside Nyasaland in 1935. The Southern Rhodesian census of 1931 alone recorded 54,000 male Nyasaland Africans there, so

15867-437: Was the first after the protectorate was renamed as Nyasaland. The population according to this census was: Africans, classed as "natives": 969,183, Europeans 766, Asians 481. In March 1920, Europeans numbered 1,015 and Asians 515. In 1919, the number of Africans was estimated at 561,600 males and 664,400 females, a total of 1,226,000. Blantyre , the chief town, had some 300 European residents. The number of resident Europeans

15996-511: Was the first estate owner to modify thangata. The company issued seed to African tenants so that they could grow cotton or tobacco under supervision, and then sell their crops to the company at low prices. The Natives on Private Estates Ordinance 1928 formalised this arrangement by allowing landlords to receive rents in cash, in a fixed quantity of acceptable crops or by direct labour. The types of permissible crops and their quantities were fixed for each district by government officials. At this time,

16125-409: Was the only one that remained an estate crop throughout. The main barriers to increasing exports were the high costs of transport from Nyasaland to the coast, the poor quality of much of the produce and, for African farmers, the planters' opposition to them growing cotton or tobacco in competition with the estates. The areas of flue-cured brightleaf or Virginia tobacco farmed by European planters in

16254-411: Was to prevent overcrowding, but there was little land available to resettle those expelled. From 1943, evictions were resisted. British legislation of 1902 treated all the land in Nyasaland not already granted as freehold as Crown Land, which could be alienated regardless of its residents' wishes. Only in 1904 did the Governor receive powers to reserve areas of Crown Land (called Native Trust Land ) for

16383-401: Was understood as a strip of land sized at forty perches (660 ft, or 1  furlong ) long and four perches (66 ft) wide; this may have also been understood as an approximation of the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plough in one day (a furlong being "a furrow long"). A square enclosing one acre is approximately 69.57 yards, or 208 feet 9 inches (63.61 metres), on

16512-473: Was used in all colonial censuses up to and including 1945. Census data from colonial censuses and the first census after independence in the table below show a population that increased quite rapidly. The de facto populations count those who are resident; the de jure populations include absent migrant workers who gave addresses in Malawi as their permanent home. @derived from the de jure population by subtraction of those known to be abroad. +derived from

16641-429: Was virtually unenforceable, as the workers ignored their contracts with impunity. The company had a very poor relationship with the tenants on its two estates of in northern Cholo and was unable to enforce unpopular thangata agreements or Sunday working. The bulk of the 103,957 acres the company owned in the district were undeveloped, and local people wanted access to this land. After the company introduced restrictions on

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