Skip to item: of 323
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 54/1A(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎144r] (288/323)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 file (161 folios). It was created in 2 Dec 1949-12 May 1950. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

Transcription

This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.

Apply page layout

Progress made ia agriculture?
The ocanomic plight of the Sudan in the days before the
establishment of the present Government was desperate. The
agricultural and pastoral population, which had been decimated
by long years of famine, disease and armed conflict, was
engaged in an unequal struggle against the natural poverty of
the country. Living a primitive and precarious life in remote
districts .and hampered by the absence of any modern means of
communication, the people were often out of reach of help
from their own country-men and always from the outside world*
The failure of crops in one season brought hunger and
two consecutive failures caused famine#
The paramount need was for the country and its
inhabitants to bo equipped with the means to prevent or
minimise natural disasters and for the foundations to be laid
on which the best use could be made of all its natural
resources. The economic history of the Sudan for the first
quarter of the 20th Century was, therefore, one of progressively
increased acreage being put under cultivation, of efforts to
improve agricultural methods and of the rapid growth of
communicati ons.
The material improvements enjoyed by the people as a
result could not then and cannot now be statistically measurad
on the basis of consumption per head of the population.
Nevertheless a fair impression of tho steady raising of the
standards of living is given by trade figures. The improvaiaont
received a marked‘impetus; after 1925 p when the results of tho
Gezira scheme (described in annex A) began to be felt.
The war years have been followed by a period of
unprecedented economic prosperity due to the steady rise in
world prices of the Sudan’s agricultural products .and the
shift of the terms of trade in her favour.
Agricultural schemes
(i) Tho Gezira scheme is more fully described in annex
A, This scheme now covers an area of 900,000 acres, and a
further extension is planned. The basis of the scheme is
tho production of a cash crop - cotton - with the aid of a
specialised management supplied by two Companies. In addition
to cotton food and fodder crops are grown, so that a
stabilized centre of food production has been established
in the Sudan: when the rains fail, irrigated crops are '
available to prevent famine.
Alternative Livelihood Schemes. These were
some 70,000 semi-nomad families
designed to provide
land was inundated by the construction of the Jebel
with a settled way of life. By 1944, 45,000 acres
settled, and 35,000 more acres have been planned.
Gezira, the cash crop is cotton and other crops and
livestock are included. The main difference between these
schemes .and the Gezira scheme is that the Government itself
has undertaken the administrative work from the start; and
that no large-scale cultivation machinery is used, but tenants
are encour,aged to form ploughing cooperatives.
whose
Aulia dam
had been
As in tho
also

About this item

Content

The file contains papers received or created by the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO) relating to the Middle East (Official) Committee. It mostly consists of papers circulated to members of the Committee, received by the CRO. The file also includes: a few items of CRO correspondence with the Cabinet Office and the Offices of the United Kingdom High Commissioners in Karachi and Pretoria; and a register of papers relating to the Committee received or sent by the CRO, with internal CRO correspondence relating to the file, at the back of the file.

The circulated Committee papers consist of:

  • The agendas for, and minutes of, the Committee meetings of 3 and 17 January 1950, at which was discussed Washington discussions on economic and social development in the Middle East, the utilisation of surplus oil revenues in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , technical assistance to the Middle East, and possible requirements of Middle East governments for sterling assistance for economic development.
  • Papers prepared by the Working Party of the Committee on economic and social development in Sudan, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. States, and technical assistance to the Middle East.
  • A paper stating the Committee’s general policy regarding the promotion of social progress in the Middle East, entitled ‘The Social and Internal Political Implications of Economic Development in the Middle East’, prepared as a brief for the discussions of the Committee Chairman, Michael Wright, with the United States State Department.
  • A record of discussions between Wright and the State Department, on long-range development in the Middle East, held on 14 and 17 November 1949.
  • Minutes of meetings between Wright, and other Foreign Office and British Embassy representatives, and the International Bank, held on 21, 22 and 23 November 1949, and a joint memorandum summarising the result of the discussions.
  • The final report of the United Nations Economic Survey Mission for the Middle East, entitled ‘An Approach to Economic Development in the Middle East’.
  • The United Nations Resolution of 8 December 1949 to set up a Relief and Works Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East.
  • Other papers relating to technical assistance to the Middle East, and possible requests by Middle East Governments for sterling assistance in connection with their development projects in 1950 and 1951.
Extent and format
1 file (161 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in reverse chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Numbers in red pen on the top right hand corner of each item in the file (apart from one item which does not have a number in red pen) refer to entries in the register of papers received and sent by the Commonwealth Relations Office at the back of the file. The copies of papers listed on the register as being sent to the Economic Registry or Mr Thomson (Economic) are not included in the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 161; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 54/1A(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎144r] (288/323), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4757, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100042384859.0x000059> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100042384859.0x000059">Coll 54/1A(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [&lrm;144r] (288/323)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100042384859.0x000059">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000691.0x0001dc/IOR_L_PS_12_4757_0288.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000691.0x0001dc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image