African Nationhood

Chapter 280 Strategy for Developing East Africa

“I think the first issue in developing the East Africa Agency is to solve the tsetse fly problem.

I have been paying attention to the company's documents during this period, and I found that the company was very weak in dealing with tsetse flies.

The habits of this kind of flies are closely related to water. They live in pursuit of water and grass, or in other words, they like to follow the movement of wild animals. "

These words of Zhou Chuanjian were on point. In order to maintain the Buganda colony in East Africa (today's Uganda and Kenya), the British later set up a tropical disease research and development center.

Deploy specialized medical personnel to study and control tsetse flies, because tsetse flies have caused too much damage to the East African colonies. Every year, a large number of people and livestock suffer from narcolepsy and die silently.

Their research found that when the tsetse fly sucks blood, it infects the host with the trypanosomes it carries, so that the host will suffer from narcolepsy.

Not only Buganda Colony, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (now Malawi), these places In the original time and space, large-scale tsetse fly damage occurred in the late 19th century.

Therefore, Shi Jintang has not relaxed the immigration access restrictions of the two kingdoms for fear of large-scale tsetse fly harm.

Now that the East African coast has been taken over, the harm of tsetse flies must be taken seriously.

Shi Jintang smiled and nodded, "You are very careful in your observations. I can see that you have put a lot of effort into this matter. Do you have any specific ideas or measures?"

Zhou Chuanjian saw Boss Shi's approving eyes, and a flash of excitement flashed in his eyes. He took a deep breath and continued: "I thought about it and there are three strategies to prevent and control tsetse flies.

1. According to this habit of tsetse flies, I suggest that before large-scale immigration is allowed, the wild animals in the company's territory should be cleared on a large scale first.

After all, there are too many wild animals, which not only crowd out the living space of immigrants, but also waste resources.

2. Minimize the establishment of settlements in waterfront areas and dig water wells yourself.

These tsetse flies are so terrifying. Once bitten by them, there is no way to save them, and you will have to wait for death. It is too scary.

3. Develop fly repellent drugs. The company’s cooling oil is a very good mosquito repellent and fly repellent drug.

Most of the soldiers in the garrison are accustomed to keeping a few boxes with them, and it is said that the effect is quite good. "

Zhou Chuanjian's three countermeasures were feasible. Shi Jintang didn't expect that this silent junior fellow student could be so clever.

Shi Jintang thought for a while, "I'll add a few more things to you. One is to clean up low grass, bushes and garbage dumps. Tsetse flies like to survive in warm and humid environments.

The second is to increase publicity efforts to make immigrants aware of the dangers of tsetse flies.

We must pay special attention to this matter and must not take it lightly. After all, our immigrants are precious.

The third is to develop corresponding insecticides and fly repellents. Our cooling oil is not enough. We also need to develop new drugs that can kill flies and drugs for narcolepsy.

I will arrange for people from the medical department to do this, but it will take time.

Therefore, before this happens, we have to do what we can, and it is definitely "prevention is better than cure" for tsetse flies.

After all, this kind of fly is particularly dangerous. Once infected with narcolepsy, there is basically no chance of survival. "

Zhou Chuanjian nodded immediately, "Yes, I have remembered it all. I will compile it into a document later and send it to the immigration department and the education department."

Shi Jintang's impression of this young junior brother has been improved to another level due to his quick thinking and careful actions.

"Besides the tsetse fly problem, what else is there? You just said there are three for now."

Zhou Chuanjian licked his lips and continued: "The second item is to continue to develop large-scale farm cultivation in the East African Administration. The company previously took over a large number of 'Prazo' plantations during the process of liquidation and pacification.

I have made statistics on these plantations and found that there are about 10 hectares of land. These lands must continue to be planted. "

Shi Jintang continued to nod, "Well, that's for sure. I will ask the Transportation Department to allocate a few ships for you to carry guano. There is a small island in our East African Strait that is covered with guano. You can bring it back to farm. "

Zhou Chuanjian immediately nodded excitedly, "Okay, Mr. Shi, we will arrange this."

The island Shi Jintang mentioned is called "Xinhuan Island". It is an island reef, only 4 or 5 square kilometers in size.

Two million seabirds come to inhabit this island and reef every year, so the guano accumulated on this island and reef is very thick.

It currently belongs to Portuguese East Africa. When Shi Jintang signed a contract with the Portuguese, he specifically stated in the treaty that he wanted to come over. It was only because the Portuguese were too lazy to look down on the island that the French took advantage of it in 1897.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the French made a fortune mining guano on this island for decades.

Later, after the fertilizer industry developed greatly, it was no longer cost-effective to collect guano on this small island, so it was stopped.

Because this island is very close to Madagascar, and Madagascar was once a French colony, the Malaysian government and France have a sovereignty dispute over this island.

……

“What crops do you want to grow in the plantation?”

Zhou Chuanjian thought for a while, "Cotton, grain and sisal?"

Shi Jintang shook his head and nodded, "East Africa still grows cash crops. Cotton and sisal are both very good. After all, these two raw materials are in short supply."

In the original time and space, the Portuguese government owed a large amount of foreign capital and had no money to import cotton. Therefore, it forced the East African colonies to plant a large amount of cotton, resulting in the cotton production of the East African colonies being among the best in the world.

Nowadays, the military industry and immigrants are in urgent need of cotton, so it is very necessary to cultivate cotton in East Africa.

Sisal fiber is tough and corrosion-resistant. It is an important strategic material and is mainly used in shipping, metallurgy, petroleum and other fields.

Sisal was a signature cash crop in German-controlled Tanganyika. Before and after World War II, Tanzania became the world's main sisal producer and top exporter.

Nanhua Company is also in great need of such cash crops that can be exported to earn foreign exchange, and the output of food crops grown in the Orange Grove area and Matabeleland Administration is enough to supply the needs of immigrants.

After Zhou Chuanjian straightened out what Boss Shi had said before, he continued to talk about the third strategy.

“I think the third strategy of the East Africa Administration is to develop inland shipping.

There are many inland rivers in our East Africa Administration, including the Zambezi River. The indigenous people are stupid and do not know how to use it. We can actively use the navigation capabilities of these rivers. "

Hearing this suggestion, Shi Jintang couldn't help but laugh.

"I advise you to be cautious. The navigation capacity of the rivers in the East African Administration, especially the Zambezi River, is very low and cannot be used at all."

This is not true at all. The navigation conditions of the Zambezi River are among the worst among the world's major rivers.

Although the runoff of the Zambezi River is large and long, the problem with the Zambezi River is that most of the places the river passes through have rugged terrain, large river heights, and fast currents, making it impossible to use it.

In addition, the climate in southern Africa is divided into dry and rainy seasons, with seasonal changes in precipitation and flow;

During the rainy season, the lower reaches of the Zambezi River often surge and flood the land along the way, causing great inconvenience to people's lives.

The lower reaches of the Zambezi River have flat terrain and shallow water with many sandbars, which is not conducive to navigation at all.

In order to utilize the inland shipping of the Zambezi River, it is necessary to vigorously dredge the river sand downstream. This project cannot be carried out at all by Nanhua Company with its current capabilities, so it will have to find a way in the future.

However, the water energy resources of the Zambezi River can be used for hydropower generation. Many large hydropower stations were built on this river in later generations, and the power generation capacity has remained high.

……

It is because Zambezi has so many disadvantages that the Dutch took the initiative to find Nanhua Company to invest in the railway together, otherwise they would have no way out.

Zhou Chuanjian looked slightly embarrassed after listening to Boss Shi's words.

"I know too little about the Zambezi River, which makes you laugh, Mr. Shi."

Shi Jintang shook his head, "I also heard it from others. Your first two are already very good. I'll leave the East African Administration to you."

Zhou Chuanjian was excited when he heard this, but he still tried to stabilize his body and said loudly: "Thank you, Mr. Shi, for your trust!"

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  (End of this chapter)