20th century – 20th century
Woleu-Ntem, French Equatorial Africa
A famine affected Woleu-Ntem in French Equatorial Africa between 1922 and 1925. It followed food shortages and forced sales associated with provisioning the Congo-Océan railway projects. The crisis was linked to a probable reduction of the Fang population from 140,000 to 65,000 by 1933. The passage treats the demographic figure as an estimate and presents the famine as part of the recurrent food crises produced or aggravated by the colonial economic system.
Continue exploring
The Story
Famine had begun in AEF in 1918 and spread into the northern half of the territory, including Woleu-Ntem, between 1922 and 1925. The passage connects the crisis to forced sales that continued in the following decade to provision the Congo-Océan railway projects. Food production was therefore drawn into an infrastructure programme whose human cost fell on already vulnerable communities.
The demographic consequences were severe for the Fang population. The passage states that famine probably reduced the population by half, from 140,000 to 65,000 in 1933. Because the wording is explicitly qualified and the population figures are given at different temporal points, the demographic interpretation requires careful review rather than mechanical conversion into a precise mortality count.
Woleu-Ntem formed part of a wider pattern in which colonial food demands, labour requirements, and export priorities weakened local subsistence systems. The crisis demonstrates that railway construction could reorganize territories while simultaneously intensifying pressure on food supplies. It also illustrates the uneven relationship between infrastructure and social welfare in AEF.
20th century – 20th century
Woleu-Ntem, French Equatorial Africa
A famine affected Woleu-Ntem in French Equatorial Africa between 1922 and 1925. It followed food shortages and forced sales associated with provisioning the Congo-Océan railway projects. The crisis was linked to a probable reduction of the Fang population from 140,000 to 65,000 by 1933. The passage treats the demographic figure as an estimate and presents the famine as part of the recurrent food crises produced or aggravated by the colonial economic system.
Continue exploring
The Story
Famine had begun in AEF in 1918 and spread into the northern half of the territory, including Woleu-Ntem, between 1922 and 1925. The passage connects the crisis to forced sales that continued in the following decade to provision the Congo-Océan railway projects. Food production was therefore drawn into an infrastructure programme whose human cost fell on already vulnerable communities.
The demographic consequences were severe for the Fang population. The passage states that famine probably reduced the population by half, from 140,000 to 65,000 in 1933. Because the wording is explicitly qualified and the population figures are given at different temporal points, the demographic interpretation requires careful review rather than mechanical conversion into a precise mortality count.
Woleu-Ntem formed part of a wider pattern in which colonial food demands, labour requirements, and export priorities weakened local subsistence systems. The crisis demonstrates that railway construction could reorganize territories while simultaneously intensifying pressure on food supplies. It also illustrates the uneven relationship between infrastructure and social welfare in AEF.
Continue the journey
Other paths related to this story.