African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1115 Rural Development

1912 3 Month 8 Day.

Klei Village, Caprato City, Great Lakes Province, Rhine Empire.

The afternoon in Kleyi Village was a time when the villagers were relatively leisurely, when the village radio suddenly sounded.

As an important part of new rural construction, many villages in East Africa are now equipped with radios, which facilitates the transmission of information. However, the radio in Kleyi Village was only installed at the beginning of this year.

The radio loudspeaker is hung on a telephone pole in the center of the village, so that the sound of the loudspeaker can reach every household as much as possible.

"Hello, hey, hey! All villagers, gather at the agricultural machinery institute before five o'clock. Everyone is notified and in place. The agricultural machinery for our village has arrived." The rough voice of Boca, the chief of Kleyi Village, echoed throughout the village through two loudspeakers.

After repeating it three times, Boca found the switch and turned off the microphone. He praised in his heart: "It is indeed a good thing promoted by the country. It is very convenient to use. Since we have this broadcasting system, we don't need to notify every household anymore."

Thinking of the only telephone in the village, which was in the village committee, Boca said to himself, "I guess the principle of this thing is similar to that of a telephone!"

Of course, Boca didn't hesitate too much. He took the loudspeaker and started walking towards the Agricultural Machinery Institute. After all, he had just said that there would be a meeting, and as the leader, he certainly couldn't be late.

The Kleyi Agricultural Machinery Institute is actually right next to the village committee, so Boka is just a few steps away. As soon as I stepped into the yard, I saw four brand new agricultural machinery vehicles parked inside.

"Village chief, you are here?" At this time, a man suddenly jumped out and said to Boca.

"Joseph, what are the farm machinery sent down this time for? It looks a little different from the tractors in our village!"

The young man named Joseph said, "Uncle Boca, this time we brought a rice transplanter, which is mainly used for transplanting rice. When the time comes, we can use this thing to go down to the field, and we don't need to bend over to transplant rice."

Looking at this thing called a rice transplanter, Boca felt that the development of the times was becoming more and more incomprehensible. He sighed, "Now there are special machines for transplanting rice. In the future, farmers will not even need people."

Joseph smiled and said, "Uncle Boca is exaggerating. Farm machinery is not omnipotent. We still need to take care of it. Take this rice transplanter for example. It can save a lot of time, but once it goes into the paddy field, it takes a long time to clean it up. If it breaks down, it will be even more difficult to fix."

Boca: "Well, that makes sense. That's why your agricultural machinery exists. In the end, it still depends on people to operate the machinery."

However, Boca was still curious and asked, "Why are there so many farm machines distributed this time? Four were delivered at once!"

Joseph smiled and said, "When I went to the town, I heard from the people at the town's agricultural machinery institute that there are mainly two reasons. One is that the output of agricultural machinery has increased, so the country's pace of promoting agricultural mechanization has naturally accelerated. The other is a rumor, and I don't know if it is accurate or not, that is, this year the country has invested a lot in rural construction."

The news Joseph heard was not groundless but true. While East Africa was frantically borrowing money from other countries, it naturally had to spend the money domestically and turn it into real industries. The East African government took this opportunity to try to significantly increase the progress of agricultural mechanization in East Africa.

While Joseph and Boca were chatting, most of the villagers had already arrived at the agricultural machinery institute. Looking at the four newly arrived agricultural machines, everyone immediately understood why the village chief had called them over.

"Village Chief, there's a new machine this time? What is it for?"

Boca: "Joseph just told me that this is a rice transplanter, specially used for transplanting rice." Boca's words aroused the curiosity of the villagers, and everyone asked Joseph how these machines worked.

Although many villagers were not well educated, they still had some knowledge and experience, so they were able to understand some of the professional terms Joseph used.

At this time, Boca said: "There are quite a few agricultural machines coming this time, and it is estimated that there will be more in the future, so the village also needs more professional operators and drivers. So I asked you to come here mainly to ask who wants to participate in the study organized by the town in June this year."

Many villagers from Kleyi Village signed up. After all, having many skills is always a plus, and being able to drive these farm machinery would make one look impressive in the village.

In the end, Boca selected ten candidates, all of whom were young men who had just graduated from school.

Although urbanization in East Africa is increasing, the rural population is still very large, with many young people. The reason why Boca chose these young people is very simple.

"Young people nowadays have a high level of education and learn quickly. When they have learned well, they will return to the village and pass on their skills to everyone. In this way, everyone in our village will be able to drive a tractor or a large car in the future."

Boca firmly believes in this. After all, the development of rural areas in East Africa in recent years has become increasingly confusing to him. However, he believes that the agricultural mechanization that the country talks about will eventually be realized.

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

But Boca has reason to believe that the current development of Klei Village is not bad in Europe. When Boca was a child, he immigrated to East Africa from Hungary with his parents, so the Europe in his memory, or the Hungarian rural areas, are still stuck in the last century.

Of course, Hungarian and European agriculture have made great progress now, but it is hard to judge which one is better or worse when compared with Klei Village.

Although East Africa is at the forefront of the world in agricultural mechanization, the foundation accumulated by European and American countries cannot be ignored. Even if steam tractors are relatively backward, they can compete with East African agriculture with their higher penetration rate.

Of course, agricultural mechanization in East Africa is definitely higher than that in Europe as a whole. However, generally speaking, East Africa is unwilling to compare Central and Eastern European countries with East Africa. For example, the countries in the Balkan Peninsula have not been independent for long and have been developing their military strength. Not to mention agricultural mechanization, even developing traditional agriculture is difficult.

Of course, the main country in Central and Eastern Europe is still Russia. There is no need to say much about Russia's level of mechanization, which is completely useless for East Africa today.

The rural areas in East Africa are actually not much different from those in Europe and the United States. The land in Europe and the United States is basically concentrated in the hands of nobles, landlords or farmers, while in East Africa it is only concentrated in the hands of the government.

This is also one of the reasons why the East African government can smoothly promote agricultural mechanization. At present, East Africa is using national power to achieve the effect of large farms in Europe and the United States. After all, it is impossible to easily purchase large agricultural machinery without economic strength.

The village of Klei is a typical example of this. Of course, it's not that Klei Village has not made any efforts. In fact, the Agricultural Machinery Institute of Klei Village is equivalent to a collective enterprise. The East African government only provides subsidies and price cuts to reduce the cost of purchasing agricultural machinery in rural areas, rather than giving it away for free.

This is easy to understand. Suppose an agricultural machine is worth 10,000 Rhine guilders, and the annual income of an East African villager is less than 500 Rhine guilders. If he wants to buy this agricultural machine, it will take nearly 20 years without eating or drinking. But if 100 villagers raise funds to buy it, it will be much easier. Each person only needs to save three months' income to purchase one.

With this agricultural machinery, they can save time and improve production efficiency, which makes it easier for them to buy the next agricultural machinery. Moreover, as time goes by, the production cost of agricultural machinery in East Africa will further decrease, forming a virtuous circle.

(End of this chapter)