African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 637 - 315: Important Person

The population in the Somali region is not small in East Africa. At least compared to the southwestern region, with over 800,000 square kilometers of land, nearly 700,000 people live there, all of whom are immigrants. Due to its geographical location, the indigenous population in Somalia was cleared out early on.

Of course, the desert area in Somalia is not small, but it is not the entirety of the Somali region. The east is primarily desert, but the west mostly has a savannah climate. The area of the Somali region controlled by East Africa is considerably larger than that of Somalia in previous generations.

Although the northern coastal areas have not been occupied by East Africa, the western territories, which originally belonged to Ethiopia, have been divided among the Northern Province, Juba Province, and Turkana Province. Additionally, parts of the original Kenya region have also been incorporated into Juba Province, which is an important reason why the area of the Somali region in East Africa is even larger than in previous generations.

Although the tropical savanna climate in the west is somewhat better than the tropical desert climate, the population in the Somali region is still mainly distributed in the eastern oases and along riverbanks.

"By 1880, the Northern Province had developed over 600,000 hectares of arable land, more than seventy percent of which had been turned into tropical plantations in recent years. There was a small amount of grain production, but it was not to meet intraprovincial grain self-sufficiency. It was mainly to ensure a food supply to the northern frontier garrison at any time. The majority of the grain shortfall was transported by sea from the south, but the province still achieved about sixty percent grain self-sufficiency," introduced Roman Karin to the commissioners sent by the central government.

The Northern Province was able to maintain a relatively high grain self-sufficiency rate while vigorously promoting the tropical plantation economy, thanks to its vast land area and extremely sparse population.

Of course, the sparse population here is mainly compared with other countries. After all, the Somali region is larger than Germany, but the population is less than 700,000. In this situation, there is basically no population-land pressure.

In the traditional sense, the arable land area in the Somali region is about 8 million hectares. The Somali region of East Africa, which includes parts of Ethiopia and Kenya, has over 10 million hectares of arable land and has a large amount of agricultural land suitable for pastures and woodlands.

What does that mean? The Western Regions Province of the Far East Empire from previous generations is twice the area of the two provinces in East African Somalia, about 1.6 million square kilometers, but its arable land area is only 7 million hectares.

Of course, the conditions in Somalia in previous generations were not much worse than those in East African Somalia, with over 8 million hectares of arable land, still more than the Western Regions Province.

Of course, arable land does not equate to cultivated land, and in previous generations, the developed cultivated land area of the Somali Federal Republic was only about 1 million square hectares, whereas the developed cultivated area in the Western Regions Province reached about 4 million hectares.

Not to mention that the yield per unit of acreage in the Western Regions Province far exceeded that of the Somali Federal Republic, and the mechanization level reached more than eighty percent.

So it's understandable why the Somali Federal Republic faced famine year after year in previous generations. Even with political stability, it would be difficult to solve this problem unless a capable centralized government emerged to carry out a comprehensive transformation of Somalia, at least by developing water management, so that the cultivated area in Somalia could at least several times.

The situation in the Somali region of East Africa is different. The western highlands can reach more than 500 millimeters, and the mountains can reach over 1,000 millimeters, much stronger conditions than in the Western Regions Province.

Therefore, the water scarcity issue in the Somali region of East Africa is not significant, especially with a small population. The Shabelle and Juba Rivers have seasonal conditions but only face a risk of drying up for one or two months each year, generally around February or March. By avoiding this period, agricultural production can be comfortably arranged in the Somali region.

So the conditions in the Somali region are not as harsh as imagined, and it can even be said that it is one of the more developed agricultural economic areas in East Africa, bringing significant revenue to the East African government each year. While East Africa is still investing in inland areas, Somalia has already started making money, which is the main reason the East African central government agrees to the "Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan," and it is also the basis for the Northern Province and Juba Province to promote this plan.

"Therefore, in this situation, I believe that the government's immigration quota this year should be increased for our Northern Province. You have to know that even some provinces in the southwest, which were established much later than us, now have surpassed our population. Moreover, the implementation of the 'Europe-Asia Fruit Basket Plan' requires more workers and farmers," Roman Karin stated to the commissioner.

Commissioner Modred did not easily relent but instead retorted, "There should be quite a few workers conducting development work in the Shabelle River basin in the Northern Province this year. Could you possibly use them as a temporary substitute?"

East Africa's water management construction is a national project, and naturally, the Northern Province is part of it. Therefore, Modred asked from this perspective.

"Commissioner Modred, you may not be aware. Although the national water management construction mentioned our Northern Province, it was only in passing. This project, as you should know more clearly than I do, should have shared contributions, yet it is actually biased toward the inland provinces and regions, especially regions primarily focused on food production. Do you know how many government-mobilized personnel participated in water management construction in Somalia last year?"

"How many?"

"A total of more than 3,400 people!" Roman Karin replied regretfully.

"So few?" Modred was somewhat surprised.

"That's all. The national water management construction project is said to employ millions of laborers, plus other mobilized personnel; most places nationwide have to participate directly or indirectly. Yet, we in the Northern Province only received more than 3,000. Does this make sense?" Roman Karin complained.

"And that's not the most important issue. Our province is quite different from the west and south, having achieved a province-wide population clearance of 'blacks,' thus losing a lot of labor force. The fact that the Northern Province has accomplished what it has today can be completely attributed to the united efforts of the entire province in struggling diligently."

Of course, the problem is not as exaggerated as Roman Karin depicted, because East Africa inherited the legacy of the Gledi Sultanate, which included farmlands, water facilities, roads, and even buildings left behind by the local indigenous population.

Therefore, Somalia, taken over by East Africa, was not a place starting from scratch. It had some economic foundation, and the Northern Province was merely optimizing this foundation.

This point is far superior to many regions in East Africa. For example, First Town, as the capital of East Africa, was established on barren land, while most places in East Africa were undeveloped.

However, the Northern Province government and immigrants have indeed made considerable efforts. After all, much farmland in Somalia has been redeveloped into plantations, with river dredging, channel excavations, and road expansions all requiring significant work. Particularly with the Northern Province population having only over 300,000 people, even less than the population of Dar es Salaam, Roman Karin's staff is notably short on personnel, with the need to use one person as two, hence the complaints to Modred.

"Hmm, it does seem to be the case, but this matter can only be addressed through immigration. Not only is it a lack of people in the Northern Province, but it is a nationwide issue. The immigration market is not as hot as a few years ago. But don't worry, I will report your problems to the central government. Mogadishu is the largest port in East Africa closest to the Eurasian continent. I believe the central government will consider it importantly," Modred assured.