Rice Growers: Nigerian Woman Flailing Rice

Nigerian Woman Flailing Rice

Figure 143. Nigerian woman flailing rice

This drawing from Africa shows a Nigerian woman flailing rice on a table-like structure. It makes one wonder: was there some African-based knowledge that caused Vico Johnson, a Mars Bluff man, to think of using a table for flailing? Or was Johnson’s flailing technique an innovation that he had thought up by himself? African anthropologist Paul Richards suggests that the most important contribution that Africans made to New World agriculture was a habit of experimentation and innovation in their farming practices. (“Recommended Practices for Swamp Rice Production” [Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria: Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, 1981])

Photo courtesy, African Americans at Mars Bluff, South Carolina

Drawing is from Amelia Wallace Vernon, African Americans at Mars Bluff, South Carolina (Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University, 1993. Reprint. Columbia: University of South Carolina, 1995), p.176. In turn, the drawing originated from Recommended Practices for Swamp Rice Production, reproduced by permission of Agricultural Extension and Research Liaision Services, Ahmadu Bello University, P.M.B. 1044, Samaru - Zaria, Nigheria, p.7.