Guinea-Bissau. 19th Century Peanut Production
Why do so many countries have the word “guinea” in their name? There is Equatorial Guinea, Papua New Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and just Guinea. Although its origin is unknown, “guinea” was a term used by European explorers and traders in reference to a portion of Africa’s west coast between Senegal and the Akpa Yafe River. I’ve visited several West Africa countries. On one trip, a companion and I decided to visit Guinea-Bissau, located on the eastern Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf of Guinea. Serendipitously, we discovered the ruins of a 19th century factory used to process groundnuts (aka mancarra or peanuts). A little background may be helpful.
When Portuguese-controlled Guinea achieved independence from Portugal in 1974, the word “Bissau” was added to its name so it wouldn’t be confused with Guinea, its French-speaking neighbor to the southeast. The name “Bissau” refers to the Bijago, an ethnic group that inhabits many of the country’s small islands. Covering an area of 36,125 km2, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau is about the size of Maryland. Its history is closely tied to West African kingdoms of the 16th and 17th centuries and to European colonialism. Between 1537 and 1867, the area was part of the Kaabu Empire and later the Mali Empire. The Portuguese first controlled parts of Guinea-Bissau during the 16th century. When slavery ended, the Portuguese began establishing trading posts in the country’s interior. In an effort to generate income, indigenous farmers were pressured into cultivating groundnuts for export to European countries.
Today, Guinea-Bissau is among the poorest countries in the world with two-thirds of its two million citizens living below the poverty line. The country’s economy centers on agriculture, especially exports of palm nuts, cashews, and groundnuts. In addition, some income is generated through commercial fishing. The country’s major trading partners are Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. At the same time, Guinea-Bissau has been at the center of illegal drug smuggling (especially cocaine) to Europe. The country’s population is made up of more than a dozen ethnic groups, the largest being Fula, Balanta, and Mandinka. Although Portuguese is the official language, the most common dialect is a Portuguese-based creole, spoken by about 44% of the population. Located on low lying land adjacent to the Geba River estuary, Bissau is the country’s capital and largest city (population 490,000). It was founded in 1687 as a Portuguese trading post.
Simply put, Guinea-Bissau isn’t a center of international tourism. There is no U.S. embassy in the country, so my travel companion and I arranged visas through the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. We’d planned in advance for a car and English-speaking driver to take us southwest. The road outside Dakar was in poor condition. Along one section we passed children holding shovels who pointed to potholes they had filled with the hope we would give them a few francs. On one of our driving breaks we were approached by curious Sabaeus monkeys, distinguished by their yellowish hair, gold/green coats, and white undersides. The international border crossing was uneventful. Like much of Africa, being processed into Guinea-Bissau was an entirely manual affair. We filled out a customs form and received an ink stamp in our passports.
On our first evening in Bissau our driver took us to a restaurant he described as being safe for foreigners (including himself since he was Senegalese). Seated across the dining room, a woman dressed in western clothing was working on an Apple computer. The next day we visited the Port of Bissau. Adjacent to a modest-sized pier were a few dilapidated ships that listed to one side and appeared to be sitting in mud on the harbor’s bottom. The port has an infamous past. In 1959 it was the scene of a massacre when police fired into a crowd of striking dock workers, killing twenty-five. Along the muddy shoreline we waited for a boat that would take us a short distance across the Geba River to an unnamed island. On arrival we walked around an abandoned red brick building that was once used to process groundnuts. Oddly, a tree protruded upwards from the building’s roof. We followed a pathway that took us past dilapidated houses with corrugated metal roofs and through a thick stand of trees towards the island’s southwest side. There we inspected a vacant schoolhouse. In Guinea-Bissau, children ages seven to thirteen are required to attend school. Returning to the inland-facing side of the island, we stopped to see men smoking a fish called bonga over a grill. Fresh bonga are prepared by being roasted for at least two hours. Subsequently, the skin is removed, and the fish are salted and dried.
That evening we were taken back to the “safe restaurant” where the woman from the previous evening was sitting again. After a few minutes she approached our table to introduce herself, explaining that she visited often because her father was raised in Guinea-Bissau. “Why are you here?” she asked. We explained in American English that we were university professors who like to travel to out of the way places. We must not have sounded convincing. “Uh-huh. S-U-R-E,” she said before walking back to her table.
