Dualism and the Development of Coffee in Meru, Kenya, in 1930s

Theoretically, the ‘dual-policy’ of the 1920s as envisaged by the colonial government aimed at egual but separate political, social and economic developments of indigenous and alien communities in Kenya. In economic context, the policy meant that the government would assist ‘the commercialisation and the transformation of part or parts of traditional economy so that the peasant agricultural producer of crops’ enjoyed the full profits from the export-import trade. However, during the period 1895-1945 no such policy was clearly adopted. Taking Meru coffee growing as an example, the present article argues that any agricultural innovation in African areas of Kenya in the 1930s was in response to the slumps of the 1920s and 1930s which made it necessary that greater emphasis be placed on more food production in the African areas, and that the production of certain cash crops was increased to meet the needs of the mother country whose economy had also suffered from the same depression. Notes.