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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Gender and Innovation: Farming, Cooking and Palm Processing in the Ngwa Region, South-Eastern, Nigeria
Author:Martin, Susan
Year:1984
Periodical:The Journal of African History
Volume:25
Issue:4
Pages:411-427
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:economic history
farm management
palm kernels
History and Exploration
Women's Issues
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Economics and Trade
colonialism
Labor and Employment
Historical/Biographical
agriculture
economics
Sex Roles
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/181224
Abstract:Histories of the groundnut and oil palm industries tend to focus on the themes of labour supply and income distribution rather than of innovation in production. In such studies, African initiative is displayed more in the actions of traders than of farmers. It is argued here that the history of palm production in the Ngwa region during the early twentieth century demonstrates the importance of innovation as a recurrent theme in rural West African economic history. The common factor which most theorists of agrarian change leave out of their models is gender. This factor is put at the centre of the analysis here, with the aim not only of redressing the balance but also of reflecting the economic and social realities of the Ngwa region. Ngwa history is outlined in some detail, especially the period 1900-30, during which Ngwa farmers adopted cassava and engaged in a rapid expansion of palm oil and kernel production for the export market. The changes of this period are set against the background of earlier Ngwa history. Finally: the changes related to innovations and social changes after 1930. Fig., notes, sum.
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