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Difficulty: Very hardAgricultural Systems and Practices in Africa

Match each African agricultural system or development scheme listed on the left with its defining environmental adaptation, operational feature, or policy mechanism on the right.

  • Office du Niger (Mali)Sahelian river-diversion scheme behind Markala Dam supplying gravity-fed canal networks for rice and sugar cultivation
  • Swynnerton Plan (Kenya)Colonial land-tenure consolidation allowing indigenous African smallholders to cultivate export tea and coffee
  • Kofyar Agricultural System (Jos Plateau borderlands, Nigeria)Intensive indigenous hill terracing, organic manuring, and continuous cropping on steep rocky escarpments
  • Richard-Toll Scheme (Senegal)Large-scale estate irrigation utilizing water control from the lower Senegal River basin primarily for sugarcane

Answer

Office du Niger matches the Sahelian river-diversion scheme behind Markala Dam for rice and sugar; Swynnerton Plan matches colonial land-tenure consolidation allowing smallholder cash-cropping of tea and coffee; Kofyar Agricultural System matches intensive indigenous hill terracing and organic manuring on steep escarpments; Richard-Toll Scheme matches large-scale estate irrigation from the lower Senegal River basin for sugarcane.
Office du Niger relies on the Markala Dam on the Niger River for Sahelian rice and sugar irrigation. The Swynnerton Plan was a land reform policy in Kenya expanding African smallholder coffee/tea production. The Kofyar system represents indigenous intensive hillside bench terracing in Nigeria. The Richard-Toll scheme utilizes the Senegal River for commercial sugarcane irrigation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the location and infrastructure of the Office du Niger.
It is an inland delta irrigation scheme in Mali fed by the Markala Dam on the Niger River, supplying water to cultivate rice and sugar in Sahelian conditions.
Connect the named scheme with its specific river basin and primary crop focus.
2
Examine the policy framework of the Swynnerton Plan in East Africa.
Introduced in colonial Kenya (1954), this reform consolidated land titles to allow indigenous African farmers to participate in high-value export agriculture (coffee and tea).
Identify the historical land-tenure policy that altered agricultural land use patterns.
3
Evaluate the farming techniques of the Kofyar ethnic group in Nigeria.
Faced with dense population and steep topography on the Jos Plateau borderlands, the Kofyar practiced intensive terrace farming with heavy organic manuring without fallowing.
Recognize indigenous intensive farming practices adapted to hilly terrain.
4
Determine the focus of the Richard-Toll agricultural project in West Africa.
Located in northern Senegal along the Senegal River, Richard-Toll is dedicated to large-scale irrigated agro-industrial production of sugarcane.
Differentiate between distinct West African river-valley commercial irrigation schemes.

Key Concept

African Agricultural Systems and Regional Irrigation/Land Schemes
Estimated Time:2m 30s
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Topics

Agricultural Systems and Practices in Africa

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