African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 396: Chapter 73 Introduction

While Ernst commanded the front lines, Constantine took on the role of a strategic tool at the rear. Enriching the East African industry has always been a pursuit of Ernst’s, and agriculture, as East Africa’s dominant industry, is of utmost importance. Currently, East Africa’s agricultural products that have achieved large-scale cultivation and massive exports are few, including sisal, cloves, and pyrethrum, with sisal consistently topping the export list of tropical economic crops in East Africa.

However, these few economic crops are still considered niche or uncommon. The promotion of pyrethrum, in particular, is closely linked to the insect-repellent products launched by the Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company. Local East African efforts to cultivate pyrethrum significantly contribute to preventing disease transmission by mosquitoes in East Africa.

As for those well-known economic crops with broad market potential, most have yet to enter the market. For example, the first batch of coffee planting in East Africa was in 1867 and is only now ready for limited harvest, hence not yet a profitable venture. Rubber was introduced in 1868, and other non-native economic crops only after 1865.

These introduced economic crops, due to their longer growth cycles, are currently in a purely investment phase without any profitable value.

Tea, on the other hand, is an economic crop that has entered the production phase. East Africa attempted to introduce its native black tea products to the Central and Eastern European regions but faced serious challenges.

”Your Majesty, King, here is the tea we brought from the East. This time we selected a total of 23 excellent varieties, mainly green tea, with some black tea, and we also introduced a batch of ’professional’ tea makers to better contribute to the development of East African tea,” the Minister of Agriculture, Vigins, introduced this achievement of the Ministry to Constantine.

The East African Ministry of Agriculture is in an awkward position. Vigins, a native Austrian fallen aristocrat, found it extremely challenging to promote agricultural development in tropical Africa. East Africa, being a major rice-producing country, was unlike anything Vigins had seen before coming to East Africa. Fortunately, the ”wise and mighty” Ernst pointed the way, advising him to go to the East for knowledge. East Asian rice varieties were introduced under Vigins’ direction.

Vigins once consulted Ernst on why they didn’t learn from India, given India’s ample agricultural conditions and long-standing history, positioning it as a leader in crop cultivation, especially tropical crops.

Ernst’s response was that for this very reason, they must not follow India’s lead. Although India, as a British colony, became the world’s highest rice-yielding region, its technologies came from Europe. The British built many new waterworks in India and applied numerous new technologies, all of which were already available to East Africa. Modern agricultural technology could be directly introduced from Europe.

The remaining economic crops had minimal technical value, much like Britain’s extensive cotton plantations, poppy cultivation, and tea planting in India, which were also Britain’s largest investments in Indian economic crops.

Cotton cultivation needed no elaboration, being entirely driven by the needs of British industry. However, in terms of cultivation technology, the Southern United States’ plantation owners were the foremost experts. East Africa prohibited opium, this esoteric item, and tea was stolen by India from the Far East.

Besides, the lower-class, Hindu-following Indians were incredibly laid-back and careless in their work, a trait exaggerated under British rule, akin to East African laborers lazing under supervision—they reluctantly completed tasks when driven. One could hardly learn anything productive from such individuals.

Of course, Ernst wasn’t disparaging India and African natives, but it was true across the entire tropical region. Especially in sweltering environments, even eating meals sometimes felt burdensome.

East Africa’s climatic advantages were notable. Although the East African natives weren’t exceptionally diligent, Ernst found them to be the most profound and industrious of all the black people he’d encountered, contrary to perceptions. Specifically, Ethiopia, which Ernst had entirely transformed, left a positive impression. Ernst primarily drew his conclusions by comparing it with Nigeria in West Africa, as he hadn’t visited many West African countries.

The issues also tied to economic and educational factors. Despite South Africa starting well, it had been declining, and under black leadership, seemed intent on aligning with the United States, adopting practices like the ”Loophole Purchase.” Ernst found this unearned societal trend appalling. It wasn’t about colonial exploitation; Tanzania, despite poorer economic conditions, didn’t rank highly either, but Ernst met Tanzanian farmers often struggling to eat, unlike the South Africans. It should be known that South Africa was an agricultural powerhouse, with higher levels of mechanization than China.

As for what could be learned from the Far East, naturally, it was the traditional planting experience and agricultural product processing techniques because, in this area, Far Eastern farmers were truly the best.

It wasn’t mere flattery from Ernst. Speaking objectively, disregarding his Far Eastern identity from a previous life, he genuinely believed that Far Eastern agriculture was characterized by meticulous farming that maximized soil fertility and productivity, employing various methods to maintain and restore soil fertility.

This was already evident in East African agricultural production. While fallowing was prevalent in Europe and America, it was rare in East Africa, as the East African farmers, whose roots were from the Far East, mostly followed familiar farming methods.

The difference was that the land developed in East Africa was inherently fertile with favorable conditions like climate, hydrology, and soil. Many areas suitable for farming haven’t seen extensive development. Ernst doesn’t plan to expand cultivated lands in areas such as Tanzania further but instead shifts focus to exploring new lands within the interior region.

Moreover, Far Eastern farmers were adept at accumulating agricultural experience. Although the landlord class largely avoided producing, their summaries of Far Eastern agricultural experience were comprehensive, and the Far Eastern government was a typical agrarian one. Encouraging and supporting agriculture had been a tradition for millennia, contributing to the development of Far Eastern traditional agriculture.

Ernst used the word developed to describe it, focusing on the ”traditional” aspect rather than having Vigins replicate the Far Eastern model. The primary goal was to allow him to draw lessons, for even integrating just a tenth of these excellent practices in East Africa would be immensely beneficial.

This introduction of Far Eastern tea varieties was handpicked by Vigins, who led a team through several major tea-producing areas in the Far East.

Vigins explained to Constantine: ”Far Eastern tea varieties were abundant, with hundreds of them just in Anhui Province. However, due to limited time, I could only visit a few significant tea-producing provinces, including Anhui and Jiangsu, which, near our ’Huaihai Economic Zone,’ were key areas for my survey. I later heard that the black tea from Wuyi Mountain in Fujian was quite good, so I made a detour to Fujian on my return trip. The tea varieties this time are primarily sourced from these three provinces.”

Vigins was originally very interested in Zhejiang tea, especially the West Lake Longjing. However, upon hearing that the genuine West Lake Longjing consisted of just a dozen or so tea trees reserved for the royal family, and closely watched by Far Eastern officials, he decided against it. Those surrounding tea trees were too prized, and looking beyond quality and production, he truly lacked the time. Otherwise, he would’ve wanted to explore the inland regions of the Two Lakes.

The predicament faced by East African tea exports lay in the Indian-derived variety, making competition with British tea merchants difficult due to similar or inferior taste. Additionally, India had a larger scale of production, higher yields, and lower labor costs, monopolizing the market unless East Africa engaged in loss-making ventures.

And indeed, that’s how East Africa proceeded, exporting tea to the Germans at nearly a loss, with East African labor costs being practically nil, barely earning some German Marks, Taylor, and Austrian Rhine Shields.

That’s why Vigins selected Far Eastern tea varieties to break into the European market, primarily introducing green tea to diverge from the European fad for black tea. The European preference for black tea partly stemmed from earlier importations of green tea from the Far East, which lost flavor over time due to the long distance. Black tea faced no such issue. East Africa, closer to Europe with steamship technology, no longer suffered these disadvantages inherent to the aging Portuguese tea vessels of a century ago.

Moreover, the Heixinggen consortium specialized in discrediting rivals. A campaign in Europe promoting the authenticity of tea could establish green tea’s reputation. Green tea’s aesthetic appeal outshines that of black tea, and with a few Eastern anecdotes, it could enhance its prestige sufficiently for royal supply, opening the door to high-end markets—a field in which the Heixinggen consortium was seasoned.

Naturally, East Africa wouldn’t forsake the black tea market either. This time, Vigins brought back several Far Eastern black tea varieties for African cultivation to diversify European black tea flavors. With diverse tastes, there’d always be consumers who preferred East Africa’s flavors over India’s.

Although drinking tea becomes a habit,