Zambia Philately: 1964 Independence First Definitive Issue – 3d Cotton

Cotton began to be grown on a commercial scale in Zambia as early as 1911. In the years between the World Wars good harvests were obtain but the yields were disappointing due to insects and pests that could not be controlled. By the end of World War 2, cotton production had almost vanished.

With insecticides introduced in the post-war period, the opportunity was reborn. Investigations into the use of insecticides was carried in 1956 across Northern and Southern Rhodesia and shortly afterwards cotton was successfully grown at experimental stations.

By the 1960s both African small-holders and European large-scale farmers became increasingly interested and there was suddenly a revival of the cotton industry. Half a million kilos of seed cotton was produced by 1963 and by 1966, this had grown to 2.6 million.

However, within several years of independence over 50% of the European farmers had abandoned their farms. There was also a shortage on local labour to pick the cotton and the prices of labour had dramatically increased. Many of the remaining farmers turned to maize which was far cheaper to produce.