Tanganyika groundnut scheme

The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme or East Africa Groundnut Scheme was a project of the colonial British government to cultivate tracts of Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) with peanuts. Launched in the aftermath of World War II by the administration of British prime minister Clement Attlee, the project was finally abandoned as unworkable in 1951 at considerable cost. The fact that the region was totally inappropriate for growing groundnuts (in terms of both terrain and rainfall), as well as the project's ultimate cost and failure, led to the scheme being popularly seen as a symbol of government failure in late colonial Africa.

Tanganyika groundnut scheme

The Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme or East Africa Groundnut Scheme was a project of the colonial British government to cultivate tracts of Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) with peanuts. Launched in the aftermath of World War II by the administration of British prime minister Clement Attlee, the project was finally abandoned as unworkable in 1951 at considerable cost. The fact that the region was totally inappropriate for growing groundnuts (in terms of both terrain and rainfall), as well as the project's ultimate cost and failure, led to the scheme being popularly seen as a symbol of government failure in late colonial Africa.