(a) Describe any four factors which have favoured the development of plantation agriculture in East Africa (b) State any four ways in which plantation agric...

(a) Four factors that have favoured plantation agriculture in East Africa

1. Favourable climate: the highlands and coast provide the warm to cool temperatures and reliable rainfall suited to crops such as tea, coffee, sisal and sugar cane.
2. Fertile soils: the deep volcanic soils of the East African highlands are rich and suitable for tree and cash crops.
3. Availability of land and cheap labour: large areas of suitable land and a supply of cheap local labour make large-scale estate farming possible.
4. Capital, transport and market: foreign (colonial) capital and management, railways and roads to the ports (e.g. Mombasa), and a ready overseas market for the produce encouraged the establishment of plantations.

(b) Four ways plantation agriculture is important to the economy

1. Foreign exchange: export crops such as tea, coffee and sisal earn foreign currency.
2. Employment: plantations and processing factories provide jobs for many workers.
3. Raw materials and processing industries: they supply raw materials that support agro-based industries (tea factories, sugar mills).
4. Infrastructure and revenue: they generate government revenue and attract roads, railways, health and social services to rural areas.

(c) Four problems facing plantation agriculture in the region

1. Fluctuation of world prices of the export crops, which makes income unstable.
2. Pests and diseases that attack the crops and reduce yields.
3. Over-dependence on one or few crops (monoculture), which exhausts the soil and exposes the economy to risk.
4. Shortage of labour and capital, and competition from other producing regions; unreliable rainfall/drought and land-tenure disputes may be added.