Chapter V
	LABOUR AND LEISURE IN KIMBAW

THE chart on the previous page gives some idea of the variety and also the sequence of agricultural activities throughout the Bamenda year, but it does not show the amount of time which must be devoted to each crop, the trouble entailed, the factors which lighten or hinder a task, the proportion of days spent on the farm to those spent in relative leisure or in other occupations at home.

SIZE OF FARMS

According to Intelligence and Assessment Reports, as well as estimates made by the Senior Agricultural Officer at Bambui, a Bamenda woman who has no assistants cultivates from 1.0 to 1.5 acres a year.¹ In addition to this she may have 0.75 acre under grass fallow. This last figure is based on some data from Kimbaw and is approximate, since there are obvious difficulties in measuring areas completely overgrown with tall grasses and scrub. As far as the actual area under cultivation is concerned, there are considerable variations owing to such factors as age, health, temperament, and particularly the number of children in the household. A sickly old woman with no dependants may find that even an acre is beyond her strength, and may concentrate on those plots which happen to lie within a short radius of the compound. Or a Christian widow, who engages regularly in petty trade for the provision of such necessaries as cloth, salt, oil, tools and utensils, may farm only 1.07 acres, as was the case with Sui of Djem (No. 8 in the Table below). At the other extreme there is the young woman in her early thirties who has four young children to provide for, not to mention a large and hungry husband, and who may work 1.8 acres with no outside assistance, except at the harvest of finger millet (see Yeduda, No. 6). When the working team consists of mother and daughter, the area cultivated is much larger and my Kimbaw figures give an average of 2.9 acres; while that for a working team of three is 4.25 acres. While in Kimbaw during my second tour, I devoted three months to measuring all the farms of 21 women, as well as those of the Føn, some of the nobility, lineage heads, and others. In a report to the Senior Agriculture Officer, I included details of the size of each plot, its distance from the compound, the number of years which it would be worked, the period of fallow, the type of soil, and the area under various crops. In addition there were figures for the harvest of maize, millet, and guinea corn. The report is too detailed to incorporate here, but I have extracted some data from it in order to indicate the range in variation (Table IV, pp. 64, 65 & 66) ².

¹ A similar estimate has been made by Madame R. Dugast, who has written a very detailed account of agriculture among the Ndiki (Banen) in the French Cameroons. A Ndiki woman, on an average, cultivates 1/2 to 1/4 hectare a year. Crops, tools and methods are very similar to those of Bamenda.
Vide, Mme R. Dugast: " L'Agriculture chez leg Ndiki de population Banen," Bulletin de In Société D'Etudes Camerounaises, No. 8, 1944, p. 77.

² I should like to thank Mr. S. E. Gwilliam, S.A.O., Bambui, for permitting Damon Wirkom (artisan overseer) to help me in the measurement of Kimbaw plots; and also to thank Damon himself for his untiring co-operation. Most of the work was done from October 1947 to January 1948.

Average acreage cultivated by one woman: 1.29 acres

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*Dependants include children and the husband, where the latter has only the one wife; but, in the case of a polygynist, I have included only the children among the dependants, since the husband is a lineage head and supplies some grain from his own store; and, secondly, the burden of feeding him is distributed among his wives.

TABLE IV (cont.)

Average acreage cultivated by two women: 2.65 acres.
Average acreage per woman: 1.32 acres.

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*Dependants include children and the husband, where the latter has only the one wife; but, in the case of a polygynist, I have included only the children among the dependants, since the husband is a lineage head and supplies some grain from his own store; and, secondly, the burden of feeding him is distributed among his wives.

TABLE IV (cont.)

Average acreage cultivated by three women: 4.25 acres.
Average acreage per woman: 1.41 acres.
Average acreage cultivated by one woman for whole sample: 1.34 acres.

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A number of points arise for consideration. In the first place, the tendency for most women to cultivate a number of separate plots is typical, I think, of most of the uplands and plains. In the forests, I made no first-hand investigation of the problem, but, in response to my general inquiries, most informants said that they had one or two large farms for maize, and three or four smaller ones for yams, rizga, and other subsidiary crops. The average number of plots worked by a woman in the Kimbaw sample is eight; but as in the case of the total acreage farmed by a woman, there is a fairly wide range of variation, and much the same determining factors are involved. Shemsum (No. 11) had only four, - all within 20 minutes' walk of her hut. She had abandoned others at Kingomen, but the area left to her was still 1.04 acres since, as senior wife, she had large plots adjoining the compound. Apart from occasional acts of hospitality and an occasional meal for her husband and sister's son, she had only herself to feed. At the other extreme was Yeduda (No. 6), who cultivated 14 different plots and from them had to provide food for her husband and her four insatiable children! Nine of these plots lay within ten minutes' walk from the compound; two were within 30 minutes'; two were an hour away; and one very large tract was 90 minutes' journey over two steep hills, one of which rises 1,200 feet from the valley floor.¹

Clearly this fragmentation of a woman's total farm holding into a number of small plots, often scattered over a wide region, entails inconvenience and a loss of time and energy. This is recognized by the women themselves, but at the same time they explain and defend the practice on empirical grounds. In the first place, certain crops such as yams, rizga and sweet potatoes thrive best when planted in separate beds, and the odd individual who disregards this elementary principle is treated with considerable contempt for her slipshod laziness. Sometimes the soil of one area is fairly suitable for yams, sweet

* Dependants include children and the husband, where the latter has only the one wife; but, in the case of a polygynist, I have included only the children among the dependants, since the husband is a lineage head and supplies some grain from his own store; and, secondly, the burden of feeding him is distributed among his wives.

¹ At Ro-Køng, the stream just below Mbonyaar compound in Kimbaw, an aneroid barometer gave a reading of 5,400 feet above sea-level. From here women, on their way to outlying farms, ascended to 6,150 feet, descended into another valley, and then climbed a hill at a height of 6,600 feet.

potatoes and maize, and in this case a woman who has a large plot may demarcate small sections for the first two; or, if it is less than 1/4 acre, she may plant these in rotation over a period of 2 1/2 years. But, where possible, a woman tries to secure some alluvial land for maize and cocoyam, and here yams and millet give such a poor yield that plots for them on higher ground must be found.

Besides two main farms for maize, most women have a number of smaller ones. Camilla Labam (No. 10) had 0.7 acre under maize, but this was distributed among 5 different plots. Elizabeth-Bika (No. 21) worked 2.8 acres of maize in 11 plots, and Vindjan (No. 19) worked 3.7 acres in 8 plots. It was explained to me that, despite the additional labour involved, this procedure was justified. Maize is the staple and the preferred food and one cannot have too much of it. Even a bumper harvest will not last during the rains, and there is usually some loss owing to mildew and rats. There is also a further reason: land around Kimbaw varies in its fertility, and it is not wise to put all ones seed into one plot and run the risk of a poor yield. Quite apart from deterioration through constant cropping of plots, others brought under cultivation after a long period of fallow may sometimes prove unsatisfactory (or "refuse" the crop, as the Nsaw say). Finally, the amount of rich alluvial land within reasonable distance of the village is limited; and, while the system of land tenure ensures that most members of a lineage, owning a tract, have a fairly equitable share, there is not sufficient for large plots for them all, and still less for non-kin. All these considerations are of relevance for any proposals to change the existing system of land tenure in Nsaw and elsewhere; and it is worth noting that women in Nsungli, who had been compelled to abandon outlying plots and plant their crops in large farms close to their neighbours as protection against cattle depredations, complained bitterly of the decrease in the food supplies.

ACREAGE DEVOTED TO SPECIFIC CROPS

According to my Kimbaw figures, a woman devotes about 77% (or 1.15 acres) of her total holding to maize and finger millet. The average area under maize is 0.9 acre, and that under millet is 0.5 acre, some of which is intercropped with maize. There is very little cultivation of guinea corn in Kimbaw itself, but an Artisan Overseer from the Department of Agriculture made some measurements of farms in the village of Tabessob, 7 miles to the south, and the average size of these was one-third of an acre. Of course the percentage devoted to all these cereals varies in individual cases, and is not constant from year to year. In Yeduda's holding of 1.8 acres, 66% was under maize and millet (0.9 acre for maize and 0.3 acre for millet), and the rest of it was given over to large plots of Irish potatoes, cocoyams and rizga. But her millet farm, though smaller than the average, gave an exceptionally high yield at the harvest in December 1947. Another woman, Dzøøndzoiy, had 89% under maize and millet, but the actual area for each of these crops was 0.4 acre and 0.9 acre respectively. The maize farm was very small, but the soil was good and gave her a yield which was commensurate with that of women cultivating a much larger area.

The maize farms, as mentioned earlier, are intersown with a host of subsidiary crops, - cocoyams, gourds, legumes, and greens. In addition to these there are the small plots for yams, rizga and sweet potatoes. Their size depends on the strength of the woman, the number of her children, and her predilection for the food concerned. Most women work only one plot of trifoliate yams - about 500 square yards -, but an elderly woman who has a strong preference for them as food may have over 1,000 square yards. The rizga farms are the smallest, because of the heaviness of the labour entailed in their preparation. One which I measured was only 88 square yards, while the largest was 666. The average size is 300 square yards. Finally, there are the beds for sweet

potatoes which are made twice a year and which average about 400 square yards.

TIME DEVOTED TO CROPS

(a) Maize: As might be expected, much of the time during the dry season is given over to the preparation of plots for maize, whether it be the clearing of land which has lain fallow, or the rooting out of stubble and weeds from land which has been cropped earlier in September. From October 1947 to March 1948 I kept the diaries of the women and girls whose farms I also measured, and on the basis of these was able to estimate the approximate number of days devoted to various tasks. Age enters as a factor, but a woman in her thirties who enjoys fairly good health requires about 30 days to clear, to prepare special beds of the kinfuuni type (see p. 58 of Ch. IV), and do the final reweeding of just under 0.5 acre of ground.¹ The actual sowing of all maize farms is accomplished in two or three days, and is followed by the interplanting of subsidiary crops, after which women may relax a little though they still go to the farms on the traditional working days. The first weeding of corn begins about the second week in May, and anything from 14 to 21 days are devoted to it. The work is not regarded as particularly onerous, but it occurs when food is running short - a point to which I shall return later. After the weeding of yams and the sowing of millet, the women begin the second weeding (tsøøni) of maize which is lighter than the first, since the few weeds which have sprung up in the interim can be removed quickly by hand within the course of about 10 days. In less than a week the bulk of the harvest is done by the family, which forms itself into a working team. Gleaning is carried on spasmodically through September; and, in late November, a morning may be spent in transferring the dried cobs from the loft to a raffia bin.

(b) Finger Millet: Since most of the millet is inter-planted in maize, very little additional time is needed for the preparation of plots. The first weeding of maize clears the ground, and the seed is broadcast in five to seven days. The real drudgery comes with weeding, mainly during October and November, though a start may be made in August. All told, 30 days may be devoted to pulling out by hand the tares which so closely resemble the grass-like seedlings. Women who cultivate more than half an acre may take 40 days or more. The job does not require much strength but it is tedious and indeed irritating, unless seasoned with a little companionship and the opportunity for some self-pity! The harvest begins at the end of December and is likewise time-consuming, since the heads of grain must be cut off separately with a small knife. The women used to laugh at me when I asked them if they had filled a tall cylindrical basket (kegati) during the day, and they would reply: "Many days pass before a kegati is filled". When there are no children or close relatives to help a woman, a husband (unless he is a lineage head) lends a hand.² On an average the harvest of half an acre takes 21 days.

(c) Yams and Rizga: The preparation and planting of a yam plot (some 500 square yards in area) takes from 6 to 10 days; while a rizga patch (300 square yards) requires 10 or more. Weeding makes few demands on time; and harvesting even less, as the crops are dug out as needed for the house. One hour may be spent in obtaining some 20 to 40 lbs.

¹ In this estimate, the work done by two women in one day has been counted as two days' work. Some individuals do not hoe as rapidly as others, especially if their total acreage is small. Thus Melalia (No. 5) took 4 days to clear 750 square yards of high grass; 8 days to make beds; and another 4 days for the final weeding in early March.

² Among the 11 men whose diaries I kept, two of them gave considerable assistance to their wives. One man spent 12 days, and the other 7 days in the cutting of the grain, besides carrying the baskets back to the compound.

One further point arises for discussion before we turn to examine the women's attitude to farming. Owing to the dispersal of plots over a wide area and the variety of crops, the planning of work demands considerable foresight and empirical knowledge. As a rule, advantage is taken of fine weather and good health to tackle the outlying farms, which may be 3 to 5 miles away; and these are finished if possible before those nearer home are attended to. But if there is rain threatening or a woman is feeling sickly, she goes to those within easy access of the compound. For some areas there is a day when the hoe must not be used and, unless there is a task which can be done by hand, she must perforce work in another area where the taboo is not observed. On the distant farms companionship is sought and two relatives or friends usually arrange to go together.

The women carry out their activities methodically, generally completing, for example, the weeding of maize before turning their attention to yams and rizga. They criticize those who start one thing and leave it unfinished for another, and regard them as incompetent farmers or as lazy individuals. When a woman and her daughter (or daughters) regularly constitute a working team, the mother may exercise her authority and order the others to do some task if time is pressing. But she is no martinet and generally permits them to decide whether they will assist her on the main farms or else attend to their own.

WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TO WORK

Before we consider the proportion of days spent on the farm to those at home, it is important to grasp the attitude of the women themselves to their agricultural activities, since it is a factor to be taken into account in any attempt to change or modify the existing division of labour between the sexes. The women of Nsaw were almost unanimous in declaring the preparation of the rizga plots to be the hardest of all; but they justified the expenditure of effort on the grounds that rizga is an excellent food for babies, small children and for those who are ill. One variety is boiled and easily digested but is rarely eaten by the men. Many men do not like finger millet, declaring that it is very hard on the bowels, particularly if taken immediately before or after palm wine! They express a somewhat perfunctory sympathy over the work entailed in the weeding of this crop and even go so far as to say it is "a women's job, which is too strenuous for the men"! As for the women themselves, they regard it as the most irksome during the early part of the dry season, and on more than one occasion said to me: "now you have seen one of the troubles of women!" But the harvest is worth the effort. The grain is resistant to mildew and can be stored indefinitely. It is easy to grind; is sustaining in so far as a little porridge goes a long way; and, finally, it is an important supplement to the food supply, when maize is almost finished and there are few yams and rizga left at the farm.¹ It says much for the providence and conscientiousness of the women that they are willing to make the sacrifice of time, patience, and labour involved in the cultivation of this crop.

Next to these two tasks-the growing of rizga and finger millet - the Nsaw women regard the preparation of maize plots as one of the heaviest of their duties, and in this matter they are at one with other members of their sex in the rest of Bamenda. Outside Nsaw I had little opportunity to go to the farms; but everywhere I made inquiries about their attitudes to farm work and there was a general consensus of opinion about this phase of the agricultural activities.

¹ Sometimes a little finger millet is mixed with guinea corn for porridge. The Mbembe mix their bulrush millet with guinea corn.