African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1128: Chapter 137: Rural Boom

March 8, 1912.

Great Lake Province of the Rhein Empire, Caprato City, Kley Village.

The afternoon in Kley Village is a rather leisurely time for the villagers, when suddenly the village’s broadcast system sounded.

As an important part of the new rural development, many villages in East Africa are now equipped with broadcast systems to facilitate communication, and Kley Village had its system installed only at the beginning of this year.

The loudspeakers were hung on a utility pole near the village center so the announcements could reach every household.

”Hello, hello, hello! All villagers, gather at the agricultural machinery office before five o’clock. Make sure everyone is informed; our village’s agricultural machinery has arrived.” The boisterous voice of the village chief, Boka, echoed throughout the village through two loudspeakers.

After repeating it three times, Boka found the switch and turned off the microphone, inwardly praising, ”Truly a great product promoted by the state, it’s so convenient to use. Since we’ve had this broadcast system, there’s no need to inform everyone door to door.”

Thinking of the village committee’s single telephone, Boka muttered to himself: ”I suspect this thing works on a similar principle as the telephone!”

Of course, Boka didn’t dwell on it much. Taking the loudspeaker, he headed toward the agricultural machinery office. After all, he had just announced a meeting, and as the leader, he certainly couldn’t be late.

The agricultural machinery office in Kley was right beside the village committee, so Boka arrived after only a few steps. Upon stepping into the courtyard, he saw four brand-new pieces of farming machinery parked inside.

”Chief, you’ve arrived?” At this moment, someone suddenly appeared and said to Boka.

”Jose, what are these new machines for? They look a little different from the tractors we have in the village!”

A young man named Jose said, ”Uncle Boka, these are rice transplanters, mainly used for planting rice seedlings. With these, there’ll be no need to bend over to transplant rice anymore.”

Looking at the so-called rice transplanters, Boka only felt that the times were becoming increasingly incomprehensible, and he sighed, ”Now there’s even a machine for transplanting rice. In the future, will farming not need people at all?”

Jose laughed and said, ”You’re going a bit too far, Uncle Boka. Agricultural machines aren’t omnipotent; they still need us to manage them. Just take these rice transplanters, for example. While they save a lot of effort, cleaning them up after their time in the paddies takes quite a while. And if they break down, they’re even more troublesome.”

Boka: ”Yes, that’s a good point. That’s why your agricultural machinery office exists; ultimately, people still operate the machines.”

But, Boka was still curious, ”Why is there so much machinery sent this time? They sent four at once!”

Jose laughed and said, ”When I was in town, I heard from the people at the town’s agricultural machinery office. The main reason is twofold: First, the production of agricultural machinery has increased, so naturally, the state is speeding up the promotion of agricultural mechanization. And the second is a bit of a rumor, so I don’t know how accurate it is, but apparently, the state has made a significant investment in rural development this year.”

The news Jose heard was not unfounded but rather true. While East Africa was frantically taking loans from other countries, it naturally needed to spend the money domestically to turn it into tangible industries. The East African Government seized this opportunity to attempt a significant increase in the mechanization of East African agriculture.

While Jose and Boka were chatting, most villagers had already arrived at the agricultural machinery office. Seeing the four newly arrived machines, everyone immediately understood why the village chief had called them over.

”Chief, is this another new machine? What’s it for?”

Boka: ”Jose just told me these are rice transplanters, specifically for transplanting seedlings.”

Boka’s words also sparked curiosity among the villagers, who began asking Jose how these machines operated.

Although many villagers had limited educational backgrounds, some were literate and knowledgeable, so they could understand some of the technical terms Jose was using.

At this moment, Boka said, ”We’ve got quite a few machines this time, and there will probably be more in the future. So the village will also need more professional operators and drivers. That’s why I’ve called you here to ask who wants to attend the training organized by the town in June this year.”

Quite a few villagers signed up, as it’s always good to have more skills, and driving these machines carried prestige within the village.

Finally, Boka selected ten people, all young men who had recently graduated from school, as the candidates.

Although urbanization in East Africa is continually increasing, the rural population remains significant, with many young people. Boka’s reason for choosing these young people was straightforward.

”Young people today are well-educated and quick to learn. Once they’ve learned, they can pass their skills on to everyone in the village, so in the future, everyone in our village can drive tractors and big trucks.”

Boka firmly believed this. After all, just looking at the development of rural East Africa in recent years, he found it more and more incomprehensible; however, he believed that what the state said about achieving agricultural mechanization would eventually come true.

After all, Kley Village is just an insignificant small village in East Africa, so there are many villages more developed than Kley Village.

However, Boka had reason to believe that the current state of development in Kley Village would hold its own even in Europe. Boka had moved to East Africa with his parents from Hungary as a child, so his memories of Europe, or rather Hungarian rural areas, remained in the last century.

Of course, Hungary and European agriculture have made significant progress now, but it’s hard to say which is superior when compared to Kley Village.

While East Africa is at the forefront of global agricultural mechanization, the accumulated depth of European and American countries cannot be overlooked; even if steam tractors are somewhat outdated, their high prevalence allows them to compete with East African agriculture.

Of course, looking nationwide, East African agricultural mechanization is undoubtedly higher than the overall level of Europe. However, generally speaking, East Africa disdains comparing itself with Central and Eastern European countries, such as those in the Balkan Peninsula. Each gained independence not long ago and has been focusing on developing military strength. Forget agricultural mechanization; even developing traditional agriculture is challenging.

Of course, the major country in Central and Eastern Europe is Russia. Russia’s level of mechanization needs no mention and doesn’t serve as a reference for East Africa now.

Actually, East African rural areas aren’t much different from those in Europe and America. In Europe and America, land is largely concentrated in the hands of nobles, landlords, or farm owners, while in East Africa, it is concentrated in the hands of the government.

This is one of the reasons why the East African Government can smoothly promote agricultural mechanization. East Africa is currently using national power to achieve the effect of large farms in Europe and America. After all, without economic strength, purchasing large agricultural machinery is impossible.

Kley Village is a typical example of this. Of course, Kley Village hasn’t achieved this without effort. In fact, the Kley Village agricultural machinery office is equivalent to a collective enterprise. The East African Government provides subsidies and discounts to reduce the cost of purchasing agricultural machinery in rural areas, rather than giving them away for free.

This is understandable; suppose a piece of machinery is worth ten thousand Rhine Shields, while the annual income of East African villagers is less than five hundred Rhine Shields. In that case, even without spending on anything else, it would take almost twenty years to buy this machinery. But if one hundred villagers pool their resources, it becomes much easier; they would each need only three months’ income to buy one.

And with this machinery, they can save time and improve production efficiency, making it easier to purchase the next piece of equipment. Over time, as the cost of manufacturing agricultural machinery in East Africa decreases further, this forms a virtuous cycle.