Kaberry - Grassfields

BUDGET 9

Alphonse Fannso and Clara Yaya

Alphonse Fannso of Ka compound is a Roman Catholic as is also his wife, Clara
Yaya, and their five children. The eldest daughterJulia, aged about 16 years, is a child of Clara's first marriage. The first husband had died and, as his kin did not look after her, Clara left their compound and married Alphonse despite their opposition.
She is thus a wiiy-o-tsheemin and Alphonse has no commitments to her kin. The children born to Alphonse are all much younger than Julia, and one is a babe in arms.
Clara, with the assistance of Julia, farmed 2.1 acres but the maize and millet harvests for 1947 were poor, so the outlay on staples was heavier than normally. Alphonse, during the weeks beginning 18th January and 11th February, gave considerable help to his wife in clearing new plots. Clara occasionally made cassava gruel for Julia to sell in the market. Just before the end of my tour she began to brew beer for sale in order to augment the family income.
Alphonse was a smith who repaired guns, pots, and pans, and sold gunpowder as a
side-line. He had a rough shelter near the market where he worked but, during the
5 months when I kept his budget, he was ill with fever early in December, and again from the 25th December to the 6th January. There were also two weeks (30th October and 7th November) when I did not see him, so his budget was less complete than that of the other men.

NOTES

(a) Clara's harvest of maize and millet was poor and, by the end of January, she had only 1/2 kegati maize and 2 vegati millet for the household. Between the 1st December and the 11th February Alphonse bought 6 bags of hulled maize.
(b) The expenditure on relishes was heavy but, while at Mbiami market, Alphonse bought a bag of dried okra for 1s., as greens on the farm were scarce.
(c) Alphonse obtained salt about once a month from the Mbonyaar 'bank', and it is probable that he sold some and gave a little away to his wife's mother who was in the leper settlement at Kimbaw.
(d) Just before Christmas Alphonse bought a dress for 12s. for his wife; and at Christmas he bought her a headtie (4s. 6d.); and in the New Year a Munshi cloth for 1s.
(e) At different times Alphonse bought a stool (2 1/2d.) for use while working; a tool basket (3d.', a second-hand file (4s.), and a fretsaw (5s. 2d.).
(f) He bought 1s. worth of solder; and later a boy-scout buckle for 5s. which he said he would smelt down.
(g) Alphonse had 31s. 5d. in savings in the Mbonyaar 'bank'. On the 7th October, and again on the 27th January, he drew out 20s., and paid a total of 3s. 4d. interest.
(h) When a sub-lineage head was installed in the compound, Alphonse provided salt, oil, etc., to the value of 3s. See (q) below.
(hh) Owing to the fact his wife Clara was a wiiy-o-tsheemin, Alphonse did not make gifts to his father-in-law; but, from time to time, he gave his mother-in-law salt and oil from household supplies. During the period he bought 6d. worth of oil specially for her. In addition he gave two parcels of salt to friends.
(i) Clara occasionally bought small amounts of raw cassava for 2s. 0 1/2d. and cooked cassava gruel which she retailed for 3s. 2d.
(j) Clara was given 5s. by Alphonse to buy maize for beer, which she sold for 6s. 4d.
(k) Alphonse bought gunpowder by the cigarette-cup at 4s. 6d., and estimated that he made 6d. profit by retailing it in egg-cups at 6d. each. On one occasion he spent 24s. on gunpowder; but by March, 1948, had sold only 8s. 6d. worth. He made about 20s. profit per year.
(l) Alphonse made approximately 4s. a week from the repair of pots, pans, hoes, etc., his largest earnings being derived from the repair of dane guns, which brought him in about

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5s. a-piece. I estimated that he made about £9 a year from his craft. The period during which I personally recorded his budget was not typical, as there were interruptions for the ceremonies connected with the succession of a sub-lineage head, Christmas, farm clearing, and illness.
(m) I have allowed 10s. 6d. for salt and oil; 2s. for meat; 1s. for groundnuts; and 10s. for staples. Note that Clara had better farm land than the wife of Nicholas Ngee of the same compound.
(n) On two occasions Alphonse withdrew 20s. from the bank.
(o) Alphonse 'cooked' the Ka djanggi for 29s. and provided 5 calabashes of wine (2s. 6d.), and 2 of beer (1s.). The remaining 8s. should really be included in the succeeding 5 months when he provided 4 calabashes of wine (2s.) and 12 calabashes of beer (6s.) for the Mbonyaar djanggi, which he 'cooked' for £3. This amount enabled him to meet expenses incurred at the time. He also withdrew savings from the bank.
(p) Clara paid for her contribution card by profits from trade.
(q) When the sub-lineage head was installed, Alphonse gave one of his own fowls (1s. 6d.), 2 sticks of firewood (2s.), and food. The firewood was originally given to him by a kinsman at Ketiwum village.
(r) Clara took food, salt, and oil to her mother at the leper camp. She also looked after her mother's small farm at Shisong and took the produce to her, though she retained a portion for herself.
(s) I have allowed 2s. for food given to friends, especially those at Mbonyaar. On one occasion Clara gave Melalia honey (3d.) and a pineapple.
(t) Fai-o-Mbonyaar had a tree cut down for timber for a bridge over Ro-Kimbaw. The helpers received some of the branches, and Alphonse made two-hoe-handles.
(u) Clara harvested 5 vegati of maize in September and later, in January, 2 vegati of finger millet.
(v) Clara was unsuccessful with her trifoliate yams in 1946 and did not plant any in 1947. But in 1948, she prepared a patch. She cultivated, with the help of her daughter, relatively large areas under rizga and sweet potatoes.

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