Polly Hill on "one of the great events in Sub-Saharan Africa"

Excerpt from interview with economic anthropologist Polly Hill, with discussion of migrant cocoa farmers in Ghana and their rapid entrepreneurial development (1890s to 1920).

Full interview, here is a 500 meg Quicktime download (it doesn't stream so you have to wait for it to download).

Captivating and critical of the development economics establishment.

http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/DO/film...

0:04:23 Sent to the Gold Coast in 1952 which was a very positive experience; 1953 married; did research in Ghana until 1965 at University of the Gold Coast; 1956 daughter born which enormously improved intellectual work on cocoa farmers; research on cocoa farmers; Meyer Fortes; 1956 published 'The Gold Coast Cocoa Farmer' with OUP; Smuts visiting fellow at Cambridge 1960-61

0:11:12 On principle, never asked permission from higher authorities to do work as it was almost always refused; later mapped Hausaland using official aerial photos but never challenged; very bad at languages, used interpreters, but don't see it as a weakness as one has time to take notes

0:15:42 Description of work on migrant cocoa farmers; published 'Migrant Cocoa Farmers' 1963, to be republished in paperback

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Ghana
• cocoa farming
• economic development
• Polly Hill
• migration