Union Agricole Calédonienne

The Union Agricole Calédonienne (U.A.C.), founded in 1894, was a settler-led association dedicated to promoting the agricultural and economic development of New Caledonia as a French colony. Comprised largely of European landowners and entrepreneurs, the U.A.C. sought to attract investment and settlers from mainland France while lobbying against the island’s longstanding penal system, which it saw as an obstacle to private land ownership and commercial progress. The organization played a central role in reshaping the colony’s image, sponsoring promotional materials—including maps and exhibits at the 1900 Paris Universal Exposition—and pushing for a future rooted in free colonization and settler-driven industry. Its influence extended into policy and public discourse, often reinforcing colonial ideologies that marginalized the indigenous Kanak population in favor of European expansion.