A Dura Revolution and Frontier Agriculture in Northwest Ethiopia, 1898–1920
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8976148 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James C Mccann (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 121-134 |
| Publication date | 1990-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853700024816 |
| OpenAlex | W2152681722 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article describes the rapid growth and decline of the production of dura ( Sorghum vulgare ) in the frontier region adjoining the border of northwest Ethiopia, Sudan's Kassala Province, and the southwest frontier of Italian Eritrea between c. 1900 and the 1920s. This short-lived agricultural revolution resulted less from the slow, incremental adaptation of local agriculture than from a conjuncture of events, including the presence of a fertile but depopulated vertisol plain (the Mazega), the rise of a major food market in Eritrea, the availability of archaic forms of labour, the presence of entrepreneurial managers, and the immature state of colonial/imperial interests in the region. The precipitous decline of food production in the region in the early 1920s resulted from the dissolution of this historical conjuncture. The article concludes by suggesting that African history in general and agricultural history in particular has tended to be ‘Whiggish’, emphasizing progressive change at the expense of conjunctural and often short-lived episodes
Agricultural revolution · Agriculture · Ancient history · Archaeology · Colonialism · Development economics · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Frontier · Geography · Green Revolution · Sorghum · State (computer science · African history and culture analysis · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Forestry · History · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
Border diplomacy and state-building in north-western Ethiopia, c . 1965–1977
In Sudan’s Eastern Borderland
Trajectories of border dispute between Ethiopia and the Sudan over the Humera-Metema (Al-Fashaga) region
Ancient and Backward or Long-Lived and Sustainable?” The Role of the Past in Debates Concerning Rural Livelihoods and Resource Conservation in Eastern Africa
State Building, Rural Development, and the Making of a Frontier Regime in Northeastern Ethiopia, C. 1944–75
Agriculture and African History
Contesting issues between Ethiopia and Sudan over the Gwynn Line
The Dynamics of African Agricultural History
The End of slavery in Africa
Economic History of Ethiopia, 1800-1935
Ethiopia
From Poverty to Famine in Northeast Ethiopia
Slavery, the Slave Trade and the Economic Reorganization of Ethiopia 1916-1935
Gezira. A Story of Development in the Sudan
The Cash-Crop Revolution in Tropical Africa
Ethiopia, Britain, and Negotiations for the Lake Tana Dam, 1922-1935
Italian Colonialism in Eritrea, 1882-1941
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 1991 - 2025 (35) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |