British Cotton Growing Association

In the last quarter of the 19th century, the Lancashire cotton industry obtained around three-quarters of its supplies of raw cotton from the United States, one sixth from India and the rest mainly from Egypt and Brazil. This was because Lancashire spinning machinery was generally adapted for medium-staple cotton such as American Upland cotton, rather than Indian short-staple cotton, used mainly for cheaper fabrics, or high-grade but expensive Egyptian long-staple types. By the end of that century, Lancashire was facing increasing competition from manufacturers in the US and India, both using their home-grown cotton, and from the emerging cotton industries of France, Germany and Japan. Despite increasing worldwide demand for cotton, production in the United States was increasing only slowly, as almost all the land suitable for cotton was already in use for its cultivation and, in years when the domestic crop was low, it was largely used at home, with little being exported. World demand for raw cotton exceeded supply and Lancashire mills, which were highly dependent on United States raw cotton, were concerned about their future as their continued supply was dependent on market conditions and open to speculative manipulation. In 1901, a committee was appointed to investigate the establishment new cotton growing areas in British colonies, dependencies and protectorates.

Formation

Following the committee's recommendation, the British Cotton Growing Association (BCGA), aiming to promote growing suitable grades of cotton within the British Empire, was founded in February 1902. The association was composed of manufacturers, merchants, shippers and representatives of the various industries and trades unions connected with the cotton industry in Lancashire. It was organised as a semi-philanthropic body, using subscriptions from those involved in the cotton industry to distribute seed and provide technical expertise at no cost to the beneficiaries in order to develop cotton-growing, without any direct or immediate benefit to the subscribers. The association was at first given financial support by the British government, but in 1915 subsidy was withdrawn and, in 1917, the Empire Cotton Growing Committee was established to take over some of its responsibilities. This led to the association restricting its activities in several countries. However, the Cotton Industry Act 1923 empowered the Empire Cotton Growing Committee to collect a levy of sixpence for every 500 pounds on all raw cotton purchased by British spinners to support its own activities and, at its discretion, those of the British Cotton Growing Association.

The association was inaugurated with a guarantee fund of £50,000, and this was used to send consignments of seed and growing instructions to countries with potential to grow cotton and to dispatch cotton experts to undertake pioneering work and conduct experiments there. In 1904 the association was applied for, and was granted, a Royal Charter and its capital was increases to £500,000 to ensure adequate funding for the extension of its expanding operations.

Expansion

In its early days, the BCGA generally worked through the Colonial Office or officials in the colonies, but it soon realised that, to meet its objectives, it needed to do more than provide seed and expertise, so from 1920 it began to supply machinery and buildings, to finance cotton ginneries and to act as selling agent for the cotton crops at guaranteed prices. It worked principally in Africa, including the Sudan, Nigeria, the Gold Coast and other colonies in West Africa, Uganda and Kenya in East Africa, Nyasaland and the Rhodesias in Central Africa and Union of South Africa. It also operated in India, Iraq, Australia and the West Indies. The Association also encouraged British Government investment in infrastructure projects likely to benefit cotton production, such as roads, railways and irrigation works, including the Sennar Dam in the Sudan and the expansion of Nigerian Railways.

Although India was already established as a supplier of raw cotton, much of this was of the short-staple variety generally used for the coarse types of cotton cloth produced for the Indian domestic market and, while much existing African cotton production was also short-staple, the Association thought that the higher prices which high-quality long-staple cotton would command, and the absence of significant local cotton manufacturing, would convince African farmers to produce the long-staple variety that Lancashire required: this underestimated the demand of local manufacturers in some colonies. It also wished to have a wide range of sources of supply, rather than replacing dependence on the United States with over-reliance on India.

Operations

The Association initially planned to operate through plantations owned either by itself or by European planters and companies. It was advised against this policy by many colonial officials, particularly in areas where cotton was already grown. However, at least ten private cotton plantation companies were floated, mainly in West Africa, between 1902 and 1914: all failed through poor planning, insufficient capital or lack of agricultural experience. The cost of supporting private firms that failed to create viable plantations also convinced the Association to rely on African producers. The Association paid African farmers at least market rates, and sometimes above-market rates, particularly after the First World War, when worldwide cotton prices slumped, to ensure growers did not change to growing crops other than cotton. It also offered significant cash incentives for high-quality cotton and, as a result of these two policies, the Association frequently lost money on its cotton dealing.

In West Africa, the BCGA also faced the problem that growing cocoa, peanuts or tobacco could be more lucrative than cotton, in East Africa and Northern Nigeria that local cotton industries with limited transport costs offered comparable or better prices than Lancashire and that in much of Nyasaland and Uganda poor transport links increased costs to uneconomic levels. It was also prevented from operating in Egypt, which produced excellent long-staple cotton. In order to meet these challenges, the Association sought legislation by the colonial authorities to regulate the production and sale of cotton, aiming to promote exports at the expense of local sales.

Later history and legacy

In 1927 the Empire Cotton Growing Committee was replaced by the Empire Cotton Growing Corporation (later renamed the Cotton Research Corporation) as the main governmental agency supporting cotton production. This body took over most of the research work previously carried out the BCGA to improve the quality and yield of cotton grown. By this time, the Association had generally given up its role as buyer, because many colonies had established their own marketing boards. However, the Association continued as a consulting organisation and as a trade representational body.

Sudan

Initially, the BCGA was not interested in the Sudan, largely because an agreement with Egypt limited the amount of water the Sudan could abstract from the River Nile for irrigation. An agreement of 1912 between the Egyptian and Sudanese governments allowed the latter greater freedom to use the waters of the Blue Nile for irrigation and, from 1915, the Association began to import Sudanese cotton and sell it to Lancashire mills. However, it was only after the British Government advanced funds for large-scale irrigation in the Gezira region that substantial cotton production was possible. As most of the land in Gezira belonged to its indigenous population, the colonial Sudanese Government devised a scheme under which owners whose land was to be irrigated were required to lease it to the government for 40 years at a fixed rent, receiving also the right to cultivate that land in an approved manner, namely to grow cotton. From 1921, this became the basis of land tenure in the Gezira Scheme, the area of which was greatly increased when the Sennar Dam was completed in 1925. A smaller irrigation scheme also operated in Kassala province.

Unlike the rest of Africa where plantations had either not been or abandoned, in the Sudan, the “Syndicate” system operated: a type of plantation where native producers entered into a form of partnership with the Sudan Plantations Syndicate Limited, which had received a concession from the Sudan government. Under this, the Sudanese farmer received 40% of the sales price of his crop, the government that granted the concession and provided irrigation water received 35% and the company, responsible for general management and supervision, ploughing the land and ginning the cotton had the balance of 25%. Once the Gezira Scheme became fully operational in 1925, cotton became the principal export of the Sudan, reaching a high point in 1929 before the Great Depression

West Africa

The BCGA saw West Africa as a suitable area for commercial cotton growing, particularly in Nigeria. The Gambia and Sierra Leone, although having suitable climate and soils, were heavily involved in growing peanuts and, in parts of the Gold Coast, the mining industry was the main employers. In general, the Association favoured production by African farmers, but in Sierra Leone and Ibadan it experimented with plantations. Although cotton production prospered in some areas, the Sierra Leone plantations failed and the lack of rail connections in other areas and high cost of sea transport from West Africa depressed producer prices. From 1902, some attempts were made to encourage cotton growing in the River Volta region of the Gold Coast, but efforts to grow Egyptian cotton failed and American Upland Cotton was only moderately successful. The Association's efforts in the Gold Coast ceased by 1912.

Nigeria

Cotton, particularly in Northern Nigeria, was either rain-grown or an irrigated crop long before the colonial period. The BCGA made an agreement with the Nigerian Government in 1904 to establish model farms and a research station, build ginneries and provide suitable seeds and experts to improve the quality and quantity of the crop. Initially, yields were small and transport, except were farms were near major rivers or railways, was difficult. Cotton growing was not popular in areas where cocoa, oil palms or peanuts were grown and, in 1910 the Association's research station was closed, so by 1914 the future for cotton looked uncertain. In the Kano region, the Association's was disappointed because the local cotton industry paid as much or more to local farmers as it did, until the railway arrived there in 1912 and cut transport costs.