§ 32. Mr. Pargiterasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what is the average weekly wage paid to agricultural workers in the rural areas of Northern Rhodesia; what is the number of Africans working at subsistence farming; and what steps are being taken by the Government of Northern Rhodesia to encourage cooperative or other forms of remunerative agricultural schemes to provide unemployed copper miners with opportunities to earn a living wage for their families.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs the reply is rather long, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Following is the reply:The latest figures available for December, 1956, show that more than three-quarters of African farm labourers were paid the equivalent of 15s. to 22s. a week exclusive of housing and food. As I stated in my reply on 16th July, 1957, to the hon. Member for Dartford (Mr. Sydney Irving), the number of Africans, including women, farming at a subsistence level is approximately 414,000. African farmers receive capital assistance through the African Farming Improvement Scheme and the Peasant Farming Scheme: the former encourages improved farmers, many of whom employ labour, while the latter provides capital for the establishment of small scale farmers. I am consulting the Government of Northern Rhodesia about that part of the question which concerns redundant African mineworkers and will write to the hon. Member.