Fear of hunger and the stench of disease': Guano, Nuisance Management and Public Health Struggles in the Cape Colony, c.1840-1910

Following an environmental infertility crisis, guano fertilisation became an important part of Cape colonial agriculture in the nineteenth century. Collected from various offshore islands, guanopreneurs initially exported the product directly to its main markets in Europe and America. Because of a strong local demand for state-subsidised guano, a central storage facility for mixing and dispatch was established in Cape Town in 1890. In addition, a number of guano depots were established in the principal wheat-growing areas of the Colony. Because of guano's obnoxious smell and the dust created by its mixing, it soon acquired status as an urban nuisance at a time that fear of miasmic diseases persisted. Urban dwellers with a heightened awareness of plagues and other infectious diseases also demanded the removal and closure of the various storage facilities. Farmers naturally resisted this call as contrary to their interests and forced the Cape government and legislature as the owners of the guano stores and the elected representatives of all citizens, to mediate. This article traces the discourse, compromises, convergence and resolution of the issues against the background of the struggle for a proper public health system.