Mapping Agricultural Change in Eastern Africa: A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Approach to Early Imperial Sources, 1857–76
Abstract
Abstract This article uses digital Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize changing crop choice over time in nineteenth-century equatorial eastern Africa. It maps the locations of crops mentioned in early imperial sources, using contemporary cartographic representations of the region as a base. This enables a novel visualization of changing agricultural potential and vulnerability to climate variability over time. The maps contextualize the growth of commercial and political centers, a series of famines during years and seasons of below average rainfall, and the well-known environmental challenges of the early colonial period.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Colonialism
slavery
and trade
Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
Historical Studies in Central America
Publication details
- Journal / source
- History in Africa
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Pages
- 1–28
- Publication date
- 31 March 2026
- Language
- EN