The History of Sisal - White Gold of Tanganyika
This blog series follows the captivating history of Agave sisalana.
Taking you on a journey through the history of one of the world’s lesser-known but highly impactful agave species. From its contribution to the development of ancient civilisations in Mexico to the plains of Africa, where hundreds of people were involved in processing a valuable commodity, then onward to the future of agave spirit production outside of Mexico.
The imperialist era brought about many advances in technology and global trade networks, fuelled by the invention of steam engines and the construction of large ships capable of traversing further distances in ever faster times. It was these particular developments that enabled the dispersion and proliferation of our intrepid sisal plants.
Towards the end of the 19th century, a German agronomist named Dr. Richard Hindorf had an outlandish plan to take a few hundred sisal plants from the Yucatan Peninsula and plant them in East Africa, in what was then known as Tanganyika. The tropical coast of Tanzania and Kenya have an incredibly similar climate to that of the Yucatan Peninsula and even have quite similar geology of predominantly limestone bedrock.
The legend has it that Dr. Hindorf, upon seeing an article from Kew Gardens, organised for 1,000 sisal plants to be shipped from the Yucatan port. The shipment took a rather circuitous route via Hamburg and finally to the port of Tanga in Tanzania (a territory that used to be known as Tanganyika). The lengthy journey was unfavourable for the sisal plants, and a mere 68 survived, but as is testament to the hardiness of Agave plants, this was enough to propagate considerable numbers of sisal that was then exported globally. The success of this agricultural endeavour provided sisal another nickname of ‘White Gold’. The exports of sisal grew considerably, and the extent of sisal farming spread to coastal regions in neighbouring Kenya.
Drying white gold in Tanga
After WW2 the territory of Tanganyika was handed over to the British, who controlled the territory until Tanzanian Independence in 1961. During this time Sisal production increased considerably, making up 40% of all exports and peaking at 200,000 tonnes in 1958. Sadly, mismanagement and the rise of synthetics that replaced natural fibres collapsed the sisal industry, which today amounts to only 8 per cent of 1958 levels.
Unfortunately, the proliferation of sisal to neighbouring Kenya also experienced the emblematic boom and bust that took place globally due to slowing demand in the 1960s. This is where we are headed next, for the last chapter in the sisal story, to find out what cultures and traditions have developed around sisal and where innovation is starting to lift the plant back toward its prior valued state.