Agrochemical Transformations and their Knowledge Resources in Egypt, 1880s-1950s
This project explores the history of agrochemicals – chemical fertilizers and pesticides – in Egypt and the Middle East from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. It studies how Egypt developed a growing reliance on chemical fertilizer during the first half of the previous century in order to unpack the history of our modern-day reliance on agrochemicals and untangle the Gordian knot that ties modern-day agro-food systems with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Whereas the chemical-based transition of agriculture is usually depicted as a post-World War II phenomenon that accelerated during the 1960s-1970s “Green Revolution,” this project anchors the agrochemical transformation generated by fertilizers and pesticides in the imperial context of the interwar period and earlier, studying how it shaped colonial and postcolonial trajectories.