African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 346: Chapter 25 Pig Farming

June 12, 1871.

East African Kingdom, First Town, Ruvu Village.

A tragedy is unfolding at the village entrance. If you pass by the Ruvu village entrance at this time, all you can hear is the tear-inducing sound of angry howls.

Today, all the villagers of Ruvu have gathered at the entrance to watch the spectacle. Some who haven’t seen such a scene in years are watching with relish, while others who have never witnessed it before are exclaiming in shock.

Especially the European villagers, who have never seen such a scene, feel both shocked and a tightness in their lower bodies, as if they are experiencing it themselves.

”My God, is he really a veterinarian? He looks more like a butcher, and his equipment looks very different from ordinary knives, more like a flattened spoon. Is this some kind of oriental secret technique? Andre.” Joris asked his eastern neighbor, who is also the village security captain, Andre.

Andre tried to explain to Joris using his language, ”According to your European logic, yes, treating pigs would make him a veterinarian! After all, this is part of a surgery, and I think castrating pigs should also count as surgery! That castration knife should be considered a kind of surgical knife.”

Joris: ”But these pigs are very healthy! They don’t look sick. What’s the point of this?”

Andre: ”Healthy? Have you ever eaten pork?”

Joris: ”Of course!”

Andre: ”That’s good. When I was in Germany, I also saw your pork, which indeed had a much stronger flavor than Far East pork, and it was the kind that couldn’t be washed clean no matter how much water you used.”

Andre had graduated from Heixinggen School, and without attending middle school, he was assigned to East Africa. So he had some knowledge about this:

Andre: ”So you don’t castrate piglets in Europe?”

Joris: ”Of course not. No one in Europe does that. Is there something special about it?”

Andre explained to Joris, ”Let me tell you, after castrating the piglets, the meat grows faster and doesn’t have a strong odor. If they are not castrated, the pork produced has a stench.”

Joris was somewhat skeptical, ”Is that really the case?”

Andre: ”Why would I lie to you? This is the experience summarized by our predecessors! After all, everything has its reason for existence, but castrated pork is just more delicious. Your ancestors simply didn’t have the chance to discover it yet.”

Yuri: ”Is that so? So, you’re saying that a castrated pig grows up without a stench?”

Europeans also eat pork, but in farming, they do not castrate pigs, resulting in very strong-tasting pork, making secondary processing very important. Europeans generally do not know how to handle pork well, usually using spices to cover up the pork’s smell.

Although East Africa is one of the spice-producing regions, the planting area is small, and spices are mainly for export. East African citizens don’t need spices, which is Ernst’s view.

So how to solve the problem of pork having a strong odor is to introduce the profession of pig castrators. According to Western standards, a pig castrator is a sure veterinarian.

Looking like a butcher, but actually an East African veterinarian, standing there strong as a mountain, two villagers handed over a piglet, which he lifted with one hand by the pig’s leg, handling the piglet with skill.

Randomly he took a sterilized castration knife from a bowl of alcohol, ”Cut open the path of life and death with both hands, sever root of right and wrong with one cut,” he muttered.

In an instant, the knife was raised and lowered, cutting the piglet’s ”lychees” with a single stroke. Instantly, the two lychees fell into a pre-prepared bowl.

The piglet then realized what happened, squealing in pain. The veterinarian took out needle and thread to give a simple suture, sprinkled some powder on the wound, and the castration operation was complete, with people on both sides watching closely.

”Okay, does your village have any more piglets? If there are more that need castration, bring them over quickly. I still have to go to the next village!” the veterinarian said.

East Africa has few veterinarians, and even fewer who can castrate pigs, so most work is mobile, arranged by the government, following a fixed route to castrate livestock in their designated area.

”No more, no more, these are all the piglets the government provided!”

The piglets were distributed for free by the East African government to villages for raising, to increase meat consumption among East African residents and to consume the surplus grain production.

In East Africa, livestock farming is divided into agricultural and pastoral areas. Pastoral farming is easy to understand, while agricultural farming primarily involves the raising of livestock in enclosures, with feed being the main component.

Previously, East African farms mainly enclosed labor animals such as cattle and horses. Now, the production of cattle and horses has increased but is primarily used for labor, transportation, and some in northern pastures for export, although few make it to the tables of East African citizens.

East African pastures are, in fact, much less impressive compared to other regions, only slightly better than Australia.

Like Europe and the Americas, they have moist grasslands suitable for growing pasture, but East Africa’s moist areas are rainforests, and the savannas are divided into wet and dry seasons. In the dry season, pasture decreases, making grazing unfavorable.

Hence, East Africa always emphasizes a balance between pastoral and agricultural farming. However, agricultural farming is more scattered and consists of smaller units, but its scale is not inferior to pastoral farming.

Additionally, agricultural farming is naturally more suited to grain feed for chickens, ducks, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Pork is particularly suitable for increasing meat production in East Africa. First, a pig takes about half a year to grow from birth to market, and its reproductive capacity is strong. Secondly, as an omnivorous animal, pigs are not picky eaters, and a lot of agricultural by-products can be used as pig feed, making pig farming relatively cost-effective compared to other livestock.

In East Africa, a large amount of tuber crops grown for Black Slaves are available, which do not require much effort to manage, are easy to cultivate, and have a high yield, making them suitable for pig feed.

For Europeans, meat choices are not much different from the Far East, as pork is the primary source of meat for everyone, except for those influenced by Arabic culture who do not consume pork.

However, Germans have a great enthusiasm for eating pork, as reflected in the art of sausage-making. But in the current era, it is fortunate enough to eat to one’s fill, without being too particular. Just throw it into a pot and cook it until it’s done.

This time, the East African Kingdom imported a total of 200,000 breeding pigs, mainly piloting in the Central Province, Marine Province, Sea Lake Province, and South Salzburg Province, using the village as the unit for farming, avoiding large-scale farming practices.

Large-scale farming carries high risks and technical demands. One wrong step could lead to a total wipeout, especially with confined farming. With so many livestock housed together, hygiene issues become hard to manage.