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The influenza pandemic of 1918–19 and the spread of cassava cultivation on the lower Niger: a study in historical linkages*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

D. C. Ohadike
D. C. Ohadike
Affiliation:
University of Jos
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Extract

A. G. Hopkins has observed that where new plants and seeds were adopted it was because they were seen as useful additions to the existing range of foods, or because they were regarded as good substitutes to the crops they displaced. This view is confirmed by a close study of the changing food patterns on the Lower Niger since 1520. Prior to 1919, cassava was hardly cultivated on the Lower Niger even though it was widely grown in the neighbouring Niger Delta. This was essentially because the people of the Lower Niger did not consider cassava as a good substitute for yams. However, after 1900 the Lower Niger became the scene of wars of resistance against the imposition of British rule. These wars not only resulted in a constant disruption of the agricultural activities of the local people, they also caused food shortages. The situation was worsened by the First World War and by the pandemic of influenza of 1918–19 which drained the nation's productive capacity and caused an unprecedented food scarcity. Under the circumstances, the people of the Lower Niger were constrained to accept cassava, at least as a supplement to the dwindling stocks of food. And as soon as it was realized that the new crop enjoyed a number of advantages over yams, its cultivation rapidly spread to all parts of the Lower Niger where it began to threaten the older staples. The speed with which this innovation was adapted clearly points to the degree of the food crisis that accompanied the pandemic influenza of 1918–19.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , July 1981 , pp. 379 - 391
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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References

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14 CO 520/24: W. Fosbery, Acting High Commissioner of Southern Nigeria to the Divisional Commissioner, Central Division, on the Ekumeku Uprising. Received 12 March 1904.

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16 Ibid.

17 CO 583/30/02635: Confidential ReportbyF. S. James, Acting Lieutenant-Governor, Southern Provinces, to Governor-General, Lagos, 30 November 1914.

18 CO 583/21/02579: 18 November 1914, Lugard to Harcourt.

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26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

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29 J. Beringer, ‘The Influenza Epidemic”.

30 Ibid.

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32 Dr Hungerford, Senior Medical Officer, Onitsha, in Ibid.

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44 Nri traditions claim that the first famine occurred when Chukwu (God) created Heaven and Earth and gave Eze Nri yams to feed the Igbo people who were starving because all the land was covered with water.

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