Soil Erosion, Conservationism and Ideas about Development: A Southern African Exploration, 1900-1960
Author(s)
Beinart, William
Abstract
In both the settler states of South Africa and Rhodesia, as well as the British colonies, the most acute phase of rural anti-colonial struggle in the 1940s and 1950s coincided with heightened government commitments, ideological and financial, to “development”. These two phenomena are not unconnected. Throughout this period, officials imposed multifaceted agricultural development schemes based on a variety of factors. This paper explores one aspect of officials’ thinking: their concern about soil conservation.
