'One of the Most Urgent Problems to Solve': Malnutrition, Trans-Imperial Nutrition Science, and Nestlé's Medical Pursuits in Late Colonial Africa. Issue 5 (2nd September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wilhelm, Lola
• Is Part Of: Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth history. Volume 48:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 914
• Page End: 933
• Publication Date: 2020-09-02
• Subjects: Colonial medicine -- nutrition -- infant formula -- Nestlé -- World Health Organization -- Food and Agriculture Organization -- Commission for Technical Cooperation -- trans-imperial history -- public-private cooperation; Commonwealth countries -- History -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 909.0971241
• DOI: 10.1080/03086534.2020.1816624
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-6534

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Infant nutrition was key field of imperial health policies in Africa from the inter-war period to the end of colonisation. Although this phenomenon has been documented on the scale of some African countries, this article argues that infant nutrition stood as a particularly crucial field of trans-imperial exchanges on the scale of the African continent. It further demonstrates that trans-imperial rivalries and collaborations in Africa created a propitious political, institutional, and scientific context for business participation in infant nutrition. The article illustrates these phenomena by examining colonial, trans-imperial, international, and public-private nutrition initiatives in Africa, focusing especially on the Commission for Technical Cooperation in Africa (CTCA) and the food company Nestlé.