Annual report on Northern Rhodesia / Colonial Office.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
[1959]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Northern Rhodesia / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    26/150 (page 24)
    Chapter 5: Commerce Commerce and trade became the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry on the 1st July, 1954, although certain aspects of commerce remain a territorial responsibility. CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES The 1959 harvest was a good one, although not of bumper proportions, and offered agricultural co-operatives a welcome opportunity of recovering the ground lost during the very poor preceding year. Agricultural marketing co-operatives have had a successful trading year, in spite of some disappointing areas, especially in the Eastern Province where disease adversely affected the groundnut crop. Vegetable marketing co-operatives have not shared in the general improvement and one such European society has failed. An African fish marketing society has also had to be closed down due to opposition from other established African trading interests. Dairy products, all produced by Europeans, are marketed co-operatively, although this activity may be taken over by the Federal Dairy Marketing Board in 1960; the increase in milk production continued during the year, resulting in a large quantity of milk surplus to the requirements of the whole milk trade, with consequent price maintenance problems. The co-operative thrift movement, exclusively African, continued to make steady progress. The consumer movement, in spite of the formation of three new societies, is making little progress in the urban areas of the Territory; in rural areas agricultural marketing co-operatives provide the essential consumer services that members require and reach a considerable volume of business in this field. Twenty new societies were registered in 1959, and two dissolved, to give a total of 245 registered societies at the end of the year. Turnover is expected to exceed £6 million for the year and share capital was over £i million; membership of all races exceeds 30,000. The direct marketing activities of the department increased considerably during the year, especially in Barotseland and the Northern Province; further expansion is anticipated in the Southern Province in 1960. These activities are invariably closely connected with agricultural marketing co-operatives. BUILDING SOCIETIES The number of societies operating in the Territory remains at six. Ten years ago the assets and reserves of the first building society were £163,658 and £315 respectively; at the end of 1959 all societies totalled £24,816,453 in assets and £303,495 in reserves. New mortgage business