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Writing history backwards or sideways: towards a consensus on African population, 1850–2010

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  • Ewout Frankema
  • Morten Jerven

Abstract

type="main"> This article aims to make an empirical and theoretical contribution towards the creation of a continent-wide dataset on African population extending into the pre-1950 era. We investigate the reliability and the validity of the current population databases with the aim of working towards a consensus on the long-term series of African total population with a reliable 1950 benchmark. The cases of Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana are explored to show the uneven coverage of census taking in colonial and post-colonial Africa and to demonstrate the need for an upward adjustment of the conventional 1950 benchmark. In addition, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Manning's approach of projecting population growth estimates backwards in time by adopting the available Indian census data as African ‘default growth rates’, and we propose an alternative approach by incorporating the demographic experiences of tropical land-abundant countries in South-East Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • Ewout Frankema & Morten Jerven, 2014. "Writing history backwards or sideways: towards a consensus on African population, 1850–2010," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(4), pages 907-931, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:67:y:2014:i:4:p:907-931
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-0289.12041
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Moradi, Alexander, 2009. "Towards an Objective Account of Nutrition and Health in Colonial Kenya: A Study of Stature in African Army Recruits and Civilians, 1880–1980," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(3), pages 719-754, September.
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    4. Roy, Tirthankar, 2012. "Natural Disasters and Indian History: Oxford India Short Introductions," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198075370, Decembrie.
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    7. Frankema, Ewout, 2010. "Raising revenue in the British empire, 1870–1940: how ‘extractive’ were colonial taxes?," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 447-477, November.
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