Wheat productivity in the Cape Colony in 1825: evidence from newly transcribed tax censuses

ABSTRACT We calculate, for the first time, farm-level wheat productivity for Cape Colony settler farmers in 1825. We can do so because we now have access to a fully transcribed tax census for that year. Although there is some variation in wheat productivity across the Colony, probably a result of the varying environmental factors, we find much larger variation within districts. We perform various tests to explain this large variation. We find, surprisingly, that slave labour has no explanatory power. Khoe labour, however, helps to differentiate farmers according to their productivity.