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If the history of cane is relatively well known for Reunion, which continues its production and exports, it is not the same for Mayotte, where the colonists tried their hand at its cultivation with mixed success, until to its final stop.
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Sugar exports, and rum to a lesser extent, represent significant revenues for Reunion (75 million euros in total in 2019), despite repeated socio-economic crises in the sector. In terms of heritage, the latter also constitutes a strong historical heritage for the former Île Bourbon. Not very far in Mayotte, the beginnings of a sugar industry also existed, before its collapse after some time.
The sugar industry in Reunion
The cultivation of cane, a variety originating from the Pacific Islands, begins at the turn of the 19th century, while that of coffee, at the origin of the agricultural development of Reunion, is in the process of disappearing. At the time, demand was very strong, especially in France which lost Saint-Domingue (the Caribbean island having wrested its independence by beating Napoleon’s troops). Tens of thousands of slaves from the east coast of Africa and Madagascar drive the sugar economy. But on December 20, 1848, the abolition of slavery was officially proclaimed in the territory. The majority of the workforce subjected to bonded labor then deserted the plantations. To remedy this, the colony had recourse to the system of “engaging”, the recruitment of contract workers. The latter, numbering around 100,000, are mainly employed in India, China, Madagascar and Africa.
The sugar industry will be the backbone of the Réunion economy until the end of the Second World War. It will shape its environment and make the fortune of large families, before diversifying. In this context, slavery and indentured labor structured the sociology of the territory, and contributed to the formation of an extremely diverse cultural dynamic. The progressive interbreeding of populations from all walks of life, despite sometimes inhuman circumstances, has given Reunion Island a singularity and a particular charm, which can be found in all aspects of daily life, in architectural and musical terms. , culinary, religious, etc., very popular with visitors.
The Bois-Rouge sugar factory in Reunion today
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The sugar industry remains important to the agricultural sector today. In 2018, according to the Emission Institute of the Overseas Departments (Iedom), the area dedicated to cane amounted to 22,855 ha, or 54% of the agricultural area used by farms. Exports of goods, which reached 350.7 million euros in 2019, consist of non-durable consumer goods, of which more than a third comes from the sugar industry (sugar and rum). In 2019, sugar exports generated 53 million euros (down however by 2.5% compared to 2018, which already showed a decrease of 32.8%). Half of the exports relate to sugars intended for refining and the other half to special sugars. At the same time, rum posted an increase in export income in 2019 (+ 6.2%, to 22 million euros), after an increase of 6.4% the previous year. This production is mainly intended for mainland France for 85.3% and Germany for 9%.
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The Hexagon mainly buys the products of the cane exploitation (sugar and rum represent 24.7% of its purchases, an increase of 5.4% compared to 2018). With 26.6% of total sugar exports, the metropolis was again in 2019 the main outlet for sugar on the island. For Europe, Portugal succeeds Spain as the leading importer of Reunion sugar (excluding France) to reach 21.3% of total sugar. The other main outlets for local sugar are Italy (19.6%) and Spain (12.1%).
♦ To have : Is there a sugar aristocracy? Sugar families in Reunion
Cane in Mayotte
It is a lesser known facet of the ultramarine history of sugar cane, but the latter was also cultivated in Mayotte from the second half of the 19th century. It all started with the creation of the Comoros Company (or Company, depending on the sources) by a group of shipowners from Nantes, who obtained concessions of nearly 4,000 hectares in the Kaweni and Dembeni valleys. Some 50,000 vines of cane, purchased in Reunion and Mauritius, were planted from 1848 on part of the properties. For the construction and equipment of sugar factories, machines are imported mainly from France and England. The first factory began to produce sugar in 1850, with five tons. According to official estimates, the production of sugar cane by the Compagnie des Comores will amount to around 4,000 tons in the 1880s. to decrease drastically at the beginning of the XXth century, until the final stop of the production in 1955, year of the closing of the last sugar factory. At its peak, the Company would make rum and export up to 100,000 liters per year.
♦ Video : the remains of the Soulou sugar factory in M’Tsangamouji
Over time, the sugar industry in Mayotte has profoundly changed the face of the territory, in particular its population. In its beginnings, the local workforce being reluctant or refusing to go to work on the plantations, the settlers had to call on a population of “committed” and free male workers, slavery having been abolished on the island in December 1846. The recruits were mainly recruited in the South-East of Africa (region of Mozambique), Grande Comore and Anjouan. For this, the planters entered into agreements with the Comorian sultans and the Portuguese governor of Mozambique. However, Arab and European slave traders managed to pass off slaves for hired labor by selling them. In 1875, Mayotte thus had nearly 3,800 engaged. Their working conditions were very harsh, and even close to slavery according to some records of the time. More than 13 hours of work per day, insufficient food rations, unsanitary housing, corporal punishment, and sometimes more than a year behind in wages! Numerous strikes took place in protest against the ill-treatment.
For further
► « Heritage of Mayotte », Edited by Thierry Mesas – Couleurs Métisses editions, February 2015, 496 pages.
► 2019 report from the Emission Institute of the Overseas Departments (Iedom) on Reunion Island
► Overseas, what are they? The meeting (Overseas La 1ere)
► Web-series: Once upon a time there was sugar (Overseas La 1ere)
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