Guide - Farming
Farming
LAND SETTLEMENT
CROWN LAND is becoming scarcer and freehold values are rising steadily. Of Northern Rhodesia's 14,900 square miles available for European settlement, 8,060 square miles have already been occupied, and a further 6,840 square miles of un-alienated Crown Land remains. This can conveniently be divided into the following districts :
Railway Belt (Livingstone to the Copperbelt)—The earlier settlers naturally chose the more fertile and better watered holdings, but much of the land that remains is eminently suitable for tobacco and, under intensive farming methods, could readily produce food for dairy stock.
Good agricultural soils are scarce on the Copperbelt, and much of it is reserved for timber plantations, but markets are so concentrated that there would appear to be good prospects for intensive farming. Rainfall is higher and more reliable than elsewhere in the Territory. The demand for fresh milk is extremely high and apart from disease there are no insuperable difficulties to keeping small herds of dairy cattle. There is great scope for citrus and other fruits and the production of vegetables on well-manured soils is possible. Extensive maize production is out of the question but kaffir-corn, rotated with other crops, is profitable. Rice has been grown successfully on a small scale and has a ready market. The rainfall is too high for tobacco cultivation. Poultry and pig farming present few difficulties and the demand for these products is extensive.
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Mwinilunga (Western Province) 1,184,900 acres have been proposed for alienation in this district. Due to lack of knowledge of the possibilities of this land and its distance from the railway line, the Land Board is unwilling at the moment to consider applications for land in this region except for projects of a ranching or plantation type, Average rainfall exceeds fifty inches.
Abercorn. There are 394,000 acres available for settlement in this district which enjoys a delightful climate and is exceptionally well watered. The average rainfall is between forty and fifty inches. Soils are not rich except in patches and the nearest railway line is 450 miles away. The local market is growing rapidly, however, and there are favourable openings for the stock farmer or market gardener. Generally speaking, Abercorn has most attraction for those who can afford to regard farming as a hobby or a remunerative sideline.
Fort Jameson. Only 23,900 acres remain for alienation in the Fort Jameson District, cradle of the tobacco industry and producer of four million pounds of flue-cured leaf annually. It has a good climate and lies between 3,000 and 3,800 feet. These are areas of extremely fertile soil as well as good light soils suitable for flue-cured tobacco. Rainfall averages forty inches annually.
Mkushi. Approximately 326,400 acres of Crown land are available in the Mkushi District to the north-east of Broken Hill. This area is suitable for cattle ranching and tobacco growing. The land is adjacent to the Great North Road and lies between fifty and one hundred miles from the railway line.
TYPES OF FARMING
Various control measures ensure an equitable distribution of produce and guard against surpluses which might depress prices below an economic level of production. There are three branches of farming, however, which have never been developed sufficiently to meet the demand, even when the market is most restricted. These are ranching, dairying (with bacon-pig production as a sideline) and wheat growing.
The need for greater production of agricultural and pastoral produce is shown below :
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Maize. Current sales of maize by the Maize Control Board are in the neighbourhood of 850,000 bags per annum and increasing rapidly. The local maize crop from both European and African sources has for many years, with the exception of 1950, proved to be inadequate to meet local requirements and the consumption is increasing rapidly. The minimum price guaranteed by the Maize Control Board for 1952-53 is £2 per bag exclusive of the cost of the bag for maize delivered to depots on the line of rail.
Wheat. Current consumption is about 50,000 bags and is increasing at the rate of 20,000 bags a year. The production in 1951 was less than 1,000 bags. Although the importation of hard wheat is necessary for blending, wheat production affords great scope for development. Where suitable irrigable land is available, wheat-growing is a profitable crop. Wheat fetches £3 10s. per bag.
Vegetables and Fruit. Where suitable conditions exist these products are useful sidelines for new settlers.
Ground-nuts, Beans and Kaffir-corn. The Territory is not self-supporting in ground-nuts and beans, and periodic shortages of kaffir-corn occur. The soils and climatic conditions are well suited for ground-nuts, which at present market prices should be a profitable crop; the price was fixed at £50 per short ton for the 1952 crop.
Tobacco. Flue-cured Virginia tobacco has been grown in the Western Area, i.e., railway belt (as well as in the Eastern Province) at considerable profit in recent years, and there is still some un-alienated tobacco land available close to the railway line south of Broken Hill. Virginia tobacco growing is an attractive prospect at present, although the level of future prices depends on factors beyond local control.
Turkish tobacco growing can also be recommended on a small scale when there is a surplus of labour. Farmers are advised to combine some other type of farming (say dairying) with tobacco, and then expand one or more aspects of a mixed farming programme later in accordance with prevailing conditions.
Slaughter Cattle and Beef. Pre-war consumption of beef equalled 26,000 head of cattle. To-day it has risen to almost 63,000 head, of which 32,500 head are produced locally. With
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consumption in South Africa and Southern Rhodesia increasing, supplies from these sources will decrease, and with the expansion of industry in Northern Rhodesia, local demands will increase. For these reasons cattle breeding offers as sound a branch of farming to the intending settler as any. Only pure-bred stock can be imported into Northern Rhodesia with any ease, but native breeding animals which are a useful foundation stock when crossed with pure-bred bulls, are available. To stimulate the production of good cattle, the Government offers a bounty of £2 per head to breeders of approved grade yearlings. Based on average prices for the year, prime grade cattle for slaughter fetch 45s. 6d. per 100 lbs. live weight.
Slaughter Sheep and Mutton. Approximately 7,000 sheep for slaughter are imported annually. Small well-cared flocks are remunerative. The breed recommended is the Persian, which can be imported from neighbouring territories. Sheep for slaughter fetch 1s. per lb.
Dairy Produce. Even when consumption in the Territory was at its very lowest, the shortfall in dairy produce was 650,000 gallons. Today the requirements in cheese, butter and milk are equivalent to 4,000,000 gallons and production is less than 1,000,000. It is considered that production could be increased by 2,500,000 gallons with safety. Owing to limited imports of grade dairy stock, the present problem facing dairy farmers is that true dairy type herds have to be maintained and increased by locally reared herds.
An intending dairy farmer, keeping a herd of up to thirty-five cows, would require a capital of about £4,000. A start on a smaller scale might be made if the settler combined tobacco with dairying. Butterfat nets 2s. 6d. to 3s. per lb. and fresh milk 2s. 9d. per gallon on an average.
Slaughter Pigs. The Territory is self-supporting in porkers, but imports considerable quantities of bacon and hams. Bacon-pig production would be a useful sideline for a dairy farmer. Porkers (under 120 lbs.) and baconers (120-180 lbs.) fetch 1s. 1 d. per lb. live weight.
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Poultry. Except for seasonal shortages, Northern Rhodesia is self-supporting in eggs. New :omers would be in competition with well-established producers. Eggs average 3s. 6d. per dozen; dressed chickens fetch 2s. 6d. per lb. and day-old chicks 1s. 6d. each.
Mixed Farming. New settlers should aim at becoming mixed farmers with a pronounced bias in favour of dairying. Tobacco farming should certainly be tried as well, while present conditions last.
CONDITIONS OF ALIENATING
Crown Land is alienated on leasehold tenure, the leases being of four kinds :
Farms (long term) ... ... 999 years
Farms (short term) ... ... up to 30 years
Smallholdings ... ... 99 years
Township Plots... ... ... 99 years
The price of Crown Land varies according to locality, the cheapest being 6s. 8d. per acre and the dearest 30s. per acre.
When alienated, the purchaser pays one-third down and an annual rental of 4 per cent. on the balance. The minimum capital required by a settler on Crown Land is £4,000 for a mixed farm on the line of rail. For a tobacco farm the minimum capital required is £3,500.
If further information is required, enquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, Land Board, P.O. Box 143, Lusaka.
