article
Near death in the streets of Karibib: famine, migrant labour and the coming of Ovambo to central Namibia
Journal of African history • 44 (2) • Published In 2003 • Pages: 211-239
By: Gewald, Jan-Bart.
Abstract
This study explores the cultural and political legacies of the 1915 famine that prompted massive population movement from Portuguese-controlled northern Ovamboland to central Namibia, which had recently become a protectorate of South Africa. In focusing on the town of Karibib, which emerged as an important center for both government-provided relief aid and labor recruitment among Ovambo migrants, it is shown how the famine contributed to the end of Ovambo independence by accelerating South Africa’s control over Namibia. The conditions of Ovambo migrant laborers and famine refugees became an important motivation for subsequent political mobilization and armed insurgency against the South African government.
- Region
- Africa
- Sub Region
- Southern Africa
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Historian
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2021
- Field Date
- not applicable
- Coverage Date
- 1915-1916
- Coverage Place
- northern Namibia
- Notes
- By Jan-Bart Gewald
- Includes bibliographical references
- LCCN
- 63005723
- LCSH
- Ovambo (African people)