ABSTRACT
The agricultural income of peasant cultivators is mainly derived from two sources, from the land and from cattle. Other agricultural income, such as is raised by the sale of fruit, vegetables, eggs and milk, is very low. During the mid-1960s several drought years followed each other and Rhodesian agriculture suffered great losses. Cattle are the only draught power available to most cultivators; they provide manure for the fields and meat for the people. When cash is urgently required, especially when the crops fail, cattle can be sold to raise the necessary money to meet family needs. In 1970 the Secretary for Internal Affairs stated that Africans owned a record number of two million head of cattle, worth between £50 million and £60 million, and expressed the hope that this 'fantastic but latent potential of wealth' be exploited for the national economy.
