BOOKS
| Published date | 01 April 1954 |
| Date | 01 April 1954 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1954.tb00053.x |
BOOKS
95
The
report recognises the strong feelings
that
exist in many native authorities
against separatism and predicts
that
even the transition from stage (a) to stage (b)
may provide opposition, however illogical.
It
also recognises
that
it will be necessary in the long run to empower town
councils to impose local rates, since they wiIl never go far if they depend whoIly
on subsidies or grants. A smaIl amount of subsidy from the surrounding rural
area might be admissible, since the rural population derive considerable benefits
from
the
town.
BOOKS
D. W.
MALCOLM.
Suhumaland, An African Peopleand their Country. Oxford
University Press, 1953; 30s.; pp. 224.
Sukumaland has an area of some 20,000 square miles at an average altitude of
4,000 feet and is situated south of Lake Victoria in Tanganyika.
It
has a popu-
lation of about 1,000,000 people and 1,900,000 stock units.
The
Wasukuma are
Bantu agriculturists and are said to be
"happy,
phlegmatic, industrious and law-
abiding".
They
keep livestock, which are treated as " an investment at a very
high rate of interest".
The
essential problem of the area is one commonly met
with in other parts of Africa, in which the old system of shifting cultivation,
which was in balance with the environment under a reasonably sparse population,
is breaking down due to the maldistribution and rapid increase of human and
stock populations.
This
is resulting in the destruction of the natural resources.
At the same time it is necessary to raise the standard of living of the inhabitants
and to fit them to take a more active and productive
part
in local government
under the changed modern conditions.
This
authoritative study of land use and rural problems of the region by Mr.
D. W. Malcolm, who spent twelve years in Sukumaland and who was largely
responsible for the present plan for the rehabilitation of the area, merits careful
study by all those who are interested in the present and future development of
Africa. He is to be congratulated on producing this weIl written and very
readable account.
As stated by the publishers->" while devoted mainly to a description of the
land-its
resources, use, problems and systems of
tenure-the
book contains also
an account of the social structure of the people, of the organization and functions
of hereditary and elected authorities, and of the religious aspects of landholding
and cattle ownership". As the provision of additional water supplies is an
essential feature of local development, there is a useful appendix on " Sukumaland
Surface-Water Catchment
Works",
which includes plans of dam construction;
While
there is a further appendix on
"Sukumaland
Soils and Vegetation" in
which the suitability of the various soil and ecological zones for the different
crops is also noted. A series of exceIlent maps and numerous photographs
enhance the value of the book.
In reading this book one soon realises the need for careful preliminary
~urveys
of indigenous systems of tenure and land use and of social and political
Institutions before embarking on schemes for rehabilitation.
It
is shown how
such schemes are more likely to be successful when improved husbandry and
l~nd
use can be grafted on to the indigenous methods rather than the introduc-
tion of those which are completely novel. In Sukumaland, Mr. Malcolm shows
that the existing political organisation, social structure and land tenure afford a
SOund
foundation on which to build, and
that
economic, social and political
progress are all bound up with the soil, which is the principal asset of any
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