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Wartime forest energy policy and practice in British West Africa: social and economic impact on the labouring classes 1939–45

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Reginald A. Cline-Cole
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Résumé

La recente résurgence de l'intérèt porte à l'impact de la deuxième Guerre Mondiale sur les peuples d'Afrique a délaissé à ce jour le sujet de l'énergie de la forêt (le bois à brûler et le charbon de bois) quant à sa production, sa consommation et ses échanges commerciaux. Cela doit être rectifié, pour un certain nombre de raisons: (1) le combustible de bois a représenté la part du lion de la production forestière pendant la guerre, en volume et en valeur, déclenchant (2), à un degré sans précédent, des séries intenses d' interventions d'urgence de l'état dans les marchés du bois à brûler qui ont contenu (3) d'importantes implications de capitaux—ce qui n'a pas ete mentionné en majeure partie—avec le risque que les tentatives actuelles et futures pour diriger les ressources en bois (en cas d'urgence) ne tiennent peut-être pas compte des lessons de cette expérience. Cet article traite ainsi des dynamiques et des conséquences des démarches adoptées face à la crise dans le domaine de la sylviculture coloniale. II tente de cerner les politiques sur l'énergie de la forêt et leurs applications, au temps de la guerre, en Afrique britannique de l'Ouest, en faisant spécialement référence à leurs conséquences sociales ‘inapercues’. Après une présentation, au niveau regional, du contexte politique, économique et surtout militaire de l'activité de l'énergie de la forêt, des études de cas détaillées évaluent l'impact de ce dernier sur les travailleurs dans la péninsule de la colonie Sierra Leone et dans les mines d'étain du Plateau Jos dans le nord du Nigeria. Le but principal de ces études est de montrer comment les demandes pour raison de guerre, en produits de subsistence, tels que le bois à brûler et le charbon de bois ont pesé démesurément sur les pauvres, même ceux qui appartenaient à des secteurs de la société qui bénéficiaient de situations priviligiées quant à la répartition des rares provisions en produits alimentaires. Un intérêt récent pour les implications financiéres des politiques et des pratiques actuelles et proposées (au temps de paix) sur l'énergie intérieure en Afrique, suggère que les questions sur les parts de justice soulevées dans cette étude sont largement plus au fait que le contexte historique spécifique à l'intérieur duquel ils ont été traités.

Type
The consequences of crisis
Information
Africa , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , January 1993 , pp. 56 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1993

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