Full text: Proceedings of the South & East African combined agricultural, cotton, entomological and mycological conference held at Nairobi, August, 1926

PART II. El 
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CHAPTER VIII—-MISCELLANEOUS. J; spk @ 
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ADULTERATION OF FARM PRODUCTS AND Shih Hike a 
PREVENTION OTHER THAN COMPULSORY INSP » Ns 
AND GRADING. Kiel x 
Mr. KIRBY said that in a country with many inland centres o1 
production and many ports, a system of inspection and grading was 
foo costly, and, if the cost was to be borne by the industries 
concerned, it would prove too great a burden wherever the local 
production was not large. . In Tanganyika there were five important 
ports, including two on Lake Victoria (which, however, might be 
faken ‘as one for purposes of port inspection, since the port of 
consignment from the coast was at present Mombasa, and later, for 
Mwanza, would be either Mombasa or Dar-es-Salaam). Some other 
means of preventing the consignment of adulterated produce was 
necessary. The most important crop in this connection in Tanganyika 
was ground-nuts. Machine cleaning and re-bagging at the ports 
would mot, it is thought, be expensive and, if made compulsory 
and operated as a (self-paying) Government service, would be effective. 
This method was in use in the Gambia, which was a large exporter of 
ground-nuts, with, however, a single port. Enquiries were in progress 
to ascertain its suitability for shelled ground-nuts (which was the form 
m_ which this product was exported from the= Territory) and its 
suitability also in respect of cost. The problein of cost with any crop, 
or by any method, had less importance for other East African 
Dependencies, since in those the points of egress were confined to one 
(except, possibly, in Northern Rhodesia). The methods to be evolved. 
however, would have interest for them. 
(The above was circulated in the form of a note under T.C.(C)Ag.9.) 
Mr. KIRKHAM stated that the Agricultural Produce Adulteration 
Decree came into operation in Zanzibar on the 1st of January, 1926, 
and was directed particularly to avoid export of adulterated cloves, or 
cloves containing more than a certain percentage of moisture. It 
was hoped to inspect all shipments, but the machinery necessary to 
perform this would have increased the staff greatly and would have 
interfered’ unduly with exporters who attempted to catch a fluctuating 
market. . , The compulsory inspection was abandoned, and it was 
simply lpid down that it was an offence to sell, export or deal in cloves 
below the standard. Check inspections resulting in prosecution were 
made. An improvement in the quality of the produce had resulted. 
It was a choice between that method and full inspection and grading, 
In the case of Tangnayika, possibly a similar result would be obtained. 
Mr. SIMPSON knew of no methods except legislation, education, 
or commercial methods. Legislation was rather cumbersome and 
expensive to run but was more efficacious. In Uganda the power of 
prosecution in cotton markets was acting as a deterrent to adultera- 
tion, but was not entirely satisfactory. It was intended that all 
local sales should Be registered so that, the original seller, the ginner, 
could be reached'in the case of wrong grading and made to pay the 
difference in the value. 
THE CHAIRMAN (Mr. Holm) said ‘the grading of Agricultural 
products was practicable in the case of some, but in others the onus 
of grading was placed upon the owner or shipper, and inspections were
	        
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