Ivory has been desired since antiquity because its relative softness made it easy to carve into intricate decorative items for the very wealthy. For the past one hundred years, the ivory trade in Africa has been closely regulated, yet the trade continues to thrive. e need for human porters meant that the growing trade of ivory and enslaved people went hand-in-hand, particularly in East and Central Africa. In those regions, African and Arab traders of enslaved people traveled inland from the coast, purchased or hunted down large numbers of captives and ivory, and then forced the enslaved people to carry the ivory as they marched down to the coast. Once they reached the coast, the traders sold both the enslaved people and ivory for hefty profits.

ivory trade has been valued since ancient times in art or manufacturing for making a range of items from ivory carvings. Hard ivory generally comes from elephants in the western half of Africa, soft ivory from those in the eastern half. A hard ivory tusk is darker in colour and is more slender and straighter in form than a soft tusk. Traders transported ivory from eastern along the Saharan trade routes to the North African. in the 19th century that the great development of the East African ivory trade took place. An increased demand for ivory in America and Europe coincided with the opening up of East Africa by Arab traders and European explores, and this led to the intensive exploitation of the ivory resources of the interior

The image of trade with ivory

This article identifies problematic elements in the ivory trade during the late 19th century. African and external, participated in the ivory trade. This participation grew out of differing beliefs about the power of trade to bring about economic, social and political change. Late 19th century British debates about trade with Africa had no direct counterpart in the African communities involved in the ivory trade, the changing nature and meaning of trade and trade goods produced a variety of contending political, social and economic options. the interest in the literature on the ivory trade and in 19th century thinking about the trade and its effects on Africa. the first participants in the trade were elephants, the only group for whom ivory was truly essential. elephants played an important ecological role in the transformation of wooded areas into grassland, affecting a wide variety of species. it was also important to the hunters. it contributed to their livelihood, largely through exchange value, but in some parties of East central Africa it was also employed in terms of hunters or their families.

ivory has been traded for hundreds of years by people in Africa and Asia, resulting in restrictions and bans.. it is driven by transnational organized crime syndicates. they devastate elephant populations and undermine the rule of law, destabilize governments, and promote corruption.