Sisacconomic base of Tanga’s ‘past glory’ Tanga’s wealth was for decades founded on Sisal (Agave sisalana), the “white gold of Africa”. Sisal, a hard natural fibre is indigenous to South and Central America, weighs about 150 kilograms when fully grown and much resembles a giant pineapple. Sisal plants were introduced from Florida to East Africa in 1893 by a German, Dr. Hindorf.
One thousand plants were sent but only 62 survived the journey (reportedly smuggled in the folds of a large colored umbrella). Sisal is a very particular crop, which is drought and disease resistant and requires much sunlight and a narrow range of moisture. The long spiky sisal leaves are Sisal Farm (1920’s) cut by hand, starting usually at 2 to 3 years after planting, and then annually for up to 8 years, when the plant dies after producing a long flowering pole that is used for low-cost roofing poles. The sisal ‘flowers’ are actually seedlings that can be planted directly into the soil. Harvesting is an arduous task and workers have to be careful of the sharp black spike at the end of each leaf. Fibres are removed from the leaves in a factory by crushing and scraping. They are then dried in the sun, graded and packed in bales for export. Sisal fibres are turned into ropes, twines, cords, fishnets, mats and carpets, and more recently, insulation in luxury cars. Modern biogas technology allows using the waste from sisal production for power generation. The stem oozes a juice rich in starch and sugar, which the Mexicans ferment into strong liquor called pulque, a practice not known in East Africa. By 1956, half the world’s sisal was produced in East Africa (225,000 tons), with roughly 186,000 of these from colonial Tanganyika. In Tanga Region, sisal covered 5% of the land area. The sisal industry was very labour-intensive and attracted workers from other regions, in particular Tabora, Mtwara, and Morogoro. The thriving economy and trade also brought a sizable population of Europeans and Asians, and turned Tanga into a tribal, religious and racial melting pot. The town grew rapidly in the 1950s (at an annual rate of roughly 12%)
before settling down to its current level.