is disliked and despised.¹ Finally, Nsaw women - young and old, Christian and pagan, - have their due share of vanity. Once they have acquired the habit of wearing clothes they want more than a modest covering. They delight in fine materials, brightly coloured headties, beads, ear-rings, and even henna for their nails.² But the average family purse does not stretch to cover all these items, and a woman must find the additional means herself.

Besides this change in the category of women who engage in petty trade, there is also one in the type of goods which they handle. This is not very noticeable in Nsaw and the markets to the north, where it is still almost inconceivable that a woman should be entrusted by her husband with the sale of kolas, salt, kerosene, bags of grain, cloth and livestock; still less that she should traffic in these things on her own account. But in Bali, and especially in Nyen (Meta), I was struck by the number of women who did so. There were even a few who had learnt to use sewing machines and who made a small turnover from tailoring.³ As yet, the numbers concerned are very small but any increase will pose problems in the future, for it will not only bring the women into competition with the men, but may well tempt them to spend less and less time on their farms. Of course, in so far as the best profits can only be obtained by buying cloth and other European articles in the larger centres of distribution near the ports, the men have the advantage because there are difficulties in married women, who have children, travelling so far afield.

While noting the desire of the women to engage in petty trade on a larger scale, or more frequently, than formerly in order to obtain extra articles for the household or pin-money for themselves, one should also emphasize the general expansion of trade which has occurred over the last decade and, with that, the enlargement of old markets and the establishment of new ones. This has created a greater demand for the products (food and beer) sold by the women, and has provided centres where they may easily dispose of any small surplus.⁴ The factors which have contributed to this extension of trade are multiple, and reference has already been made to some of them. The spread of Christianity and, with that, a demand for a higher standard of living is one; the development of new and more lucrative occupations is another. These have led to the emergence of a class of individuals, some literate, who have a bigger income and can afford more money not only for European articles, but also for additional quantities of food, oil, salt, and meat.

Again, better roads and greater mobility of population have increased attendance at markets.⁵ The transients, particularly among the men and boys, require a meal during the day, while those who live in the village are tempted to have a snack from the array of cooked foods which quicken and tantalize the appetite. Strangers resident in the community or near it are also another

¹ The Nsaw phrase - kiwo ke teeteeeer -means literally outstretched or flat hand, and is used for the generous person. Kiwo ke kfëftin, or the clenched hand, is applied to the stingy and the grasping. These attitudes to generosity are not of course confined to Nsaw, but are very typical of Bamenda as a whole. I was told in Esimbi that a woman who grows much food and calls in the passers-by for a meal acquires a good reputation, and "name i go up!".

² Some of the young women spend a considerable amount of time trying out different styles of coiffure. Those from Southern Nigeria are particularly popular.

³ In the forest areas women occasionally sell oil and palm kernels for their menfolk, more especially when it is a matter of buying extra food, pots, or pans for the household.

⁴ As mentioned previously, some foodstuffs grow better in some villages than in others, and the existence of a market provides, therefore, a means for their distribution over a wider area. It is noteworthy that new markets have developed, often with the encouragement of the Mission, in centres where there is a large Christian population or a school, e.g. Njinikom.

⁵ Even the stay-at-home Ngie have recognized the importance of roads in stimulating trade, and have advanced this as an argument in their request for the construction of a motor road through their territory.

potential source of custom: the Hausa women, who do no farming and who must buy food; the Fulani women who come in from the hill tops to sell their butter and milk, and to purchase flour, grain, and other vegetables; men and women from other parts of the Province and the French Cameroons who may have insufficient land to produce all that they require.

Finally, the wide range of articles displayed in the larger markets attracts many sight-seers, not least the women and young girls who may come from several miles away dressed in their finery, frocks and headties if they are Christians, or liberally besmeared with camwood if they are pagans. They wander arm-in-arm about the stalls content to watch, chat and if possible pick up the odd halfpenny. I remember one who had crowned her graceful nudity with a strawboater made by her schoolboy-brother; two others, who had strung halfpennies together to make anklets, which they jingled provocatively to induce some admiring males to make a further contribution to their collection! More and more, the women are coming to regard market-day as a day of leisure and pleasure. Money, news, and views circulate in the marketplace; new friends are acquired, and assignations made.

WOMEN'S CONTRIBUTION TO HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION

Throughout this book we have described in some detail the activities of women on the farm, in the home and, lastly, in the market-place. But, while distinctions have been drawn between the work of men and women and their respective roles in the economic system, we have been mainly concerned with the differential roles of members of the family and have taken this group as the unit of study. For certain purposes it is profitable to discuss the nature of the particular contribution made by women to the functioning of the economy as a whole; but, in analyzing processes of change and in considering measures for the improvement of the standard of living and especially that of the women, a primary question is not merely how and when the women work, but for whom they work. We have seen that in the economic sphere the focal point of a woman's interests is the family, and it is in relation to this group that her chief responsibilities may be defined, - as a daughter in her youth; and as a wife, and normally as, wife and mother, after marriage.

I have set out in Table XII below some figures on the relation of cash to gross income and the proportional value of the wife's contribution to household production. Before we look at them in detail one or two points require comment. In the case of Budget No. 12, Melalia Shikiy was the head of the household as she had no husband. Her budget was recorded for a year but during my absence from Kimbaw no details of her son's contribution were noted. Through petty trade in groundnuts and soap, as well as the sate of straw hats, he was able to pay for his school fees and books (about 15s. a year) and provide clothes, the sewing being done for him as a gift by a tailor in the compound. On occasion he contributed a shilling or sixpence on behalf of his mother to the djanggi to which she belonged. A relative paid the school fees and bought some clothing for the other son. The contribution made by the sons, or on their behalf by relatives, has been included in the figures placed in brackets in the Table.

In Budget No. 6 I have also set out in brackets a second lot of figures which are inclusive of the wife's production in a normal year. As mentioned previously she usually farmed 1.2 acres but during 1947 she was deprived of land and cultivated only 0.46 acre. Finally, in Budget No. 11, I have worked out an approximate estimate of the income of Fai-o-Djem on the basis of some data I collected on the number of kola trees, raffia stands, livestock and maize harvest owned by him. I have regarded him as the male head of Kengeran's household and in calculating his gross income have included only the value

of the crops produced by Kengeran, and not that produced by his other wives, and from which, in any case, Kengeran derived no benefit. Kengeran's household was almost entirely self-supporting in that the only source of income from the husband was about 7s. 2d. worth of salt, oil and meat during the year. If, then, Kengeran is considered the head of the household, she and her daughters produce 98% of the gross income. Her earnings from trade and cash gifts constitute 6% of the total income. I have excluded from the Table the budgets of four women (Nos. 13-16) since their earnings from petty trade were diminutive, ranging from 9d. to a maximum of 5s. 6d.

The budgets of Mawo, Kibu, Vincent and Tanye may be regarded as typical of those of Nsaw men who engage in one of the traditional occupations on a traditional scale. Cash income ranges from a little over £3 to just over £6, and gross income from £12 odd to nearly £22. The last figure is large since the man's wife farmed, with the help of her daughter and her mother, 4.0 acres, as compared with 1.3 acres by the respective wives of the other men. In my opinion, the average gross income for the adult married man in Nsaw varies between £11 and £15.¹ The proportional value of cash to gross income ranges between 22% and 33% for those men who earn 92s. in cash or less; but it is worth noting that in the case of the female household head, Melalia, it falls to 17%. In the remaining budgets listed in the Table (see next page) the proportion of cash income to gross income increases to over 50%, and is as much as 62% and 63% in the case of Francis and Benedict. All these men followed occupations which were either of comparatively recent introduction in Nsaw or else, under present conditions, offered a more lucrative source of income than formerly, as for instance smithing and the repair of dane-guns and sale of gunpowder. Fai-o-Djem alone, in this higher income bracket, depended on traditional sources of income; but, by virtue of his office as lineage head, he had control of the products of kola trees and stands of raffia.

In the sixth column of the Table I have estimated the value of the contribution of the wife (in some cases wife and daughters) to the household and included the crops produced and the kindling collected by her. The last item has been assessed at about 25s. a year. Even so, the woman's contribution does not rise above 48% in the lowest income group, and I am confident that this represents a maximum, not only in Nsaw but also in the other upland areas of Bamenda, - namely Nsungli, Oku, and parts of Kom and Fungom. In the higher income group her contribution falls to 40% or less, but of course such an estimate does not reveal its material importance for the maintenance of the family. Under present conditions the woman is still the economic mainstay of the household. The percentages which have been tabulated reveal certain tendencies of change: the increasing value of the husband's production; they do not indicate those bearing on the economic role of women. For example, Elizabeth-Kila produced only 33% of the gross income of the household, while Elizabeth-Bika in a household of a similar size produced 48%. On the surface the difference might be attributed merely to the larger cash income of the husband of the former. But, in actual fact, Elizabeth-Kila in addition to harvesting crops at an estimated value of £7-5-0 also earned £3 odd from the brewing of beer.

¹ Mr. W. Bridges, in his Report for 1934 (op. cit., paras. 195-231), estimated that the average gross income of a Nsaw adult male was £5-9-10; but he suggested that many commodities at that time were fetching only half their normal value and that the income would have about double the value in normal times. In estimating the gross income for Nsaw as a whole, he included only half the value (£ 14,823) of the farm produce instead of the full value (£29,647). If the latter figure is used, the average gross income per adult able-bodied male is £7-13-8; and the proportional value of farm products to the gross income is 57%. On the basis of my own data I would suggest a lower figure, since Mr. Bridges did not include the value of kindling collected by the women. nor the earnings of men in occupations subsidary to their main one.

The question arises how far the figures for Nsaw provide a norm for the rest of the Province. It is possible that in the Ndop Plain, Bali and Nyen (Meta) the woman's production may be a little higher than 48% in those households where the man engages in a traditional occupation. Firewood has not the scarcity value that it possesses on the uplands; it is doubtful whether the same variety of crops is grown; but in the last two villages and at Bamessi in Ndop the women manufacture pots during the dry season. Some are for household use, some for gifts for friends and kin, some for sale in the local markets, and others again are headloaded by men to more distant villages. The processes involved in manufacture have been described in Ch. V, p. 86; output per week depends on size, and value varies between 8d. and 2s. On an average, production of pottery at local market prices per married woman may be assessed at a figure ranging from 15s. to 30s. per annum.

In the forest areas of Esimbi, Ngwo, Befang and Beba the value of the woman's contribution to the household may be somewhat lower than in Nsaw since firewood is not a problem and there is little in the way of female handicrafts, apart from the pottery produced mainly for home consumption.

In Mbembe and Mfurnte in the north of the Province, the figure would, I think, be much lower - perhaps a little under 40%. Firstly, apart from cereals there is only a small range of subsidiary crops, as compared with Nsaw; secondly, firewood is accessible to the compounds and available in large quantities so that the kindling collected by a woman has less value than in Nsaw; thirdly, the men give considerable assistance with the cultivation of guinea-corn and bulrush millet; and, finally, the men in addition to expressing oil, tapping wine, and tending livestock also catch quantities of game and fish during the dry season. It is, I think, only in the forest area of Ngie (and possibly Mogamaw, which I did not visit) that the woman's contribution to the household within the traditional economic system exceeds in terms of cash value that made by the man. Only a little maize is grown in villages such as Teze and the value of the crops produced by a woman would be about 55s. per annum, the husband being responsible for the cultivation of plantains worth about 20s. per year. A woman collects firewood (10s.); expresses about 30 gallons of palm oil (2s. a gallon) during the course of a year; and disposes of about 10s. worth of palm kernels. But, as her husband tends the palm trees, taps some wine, and cuts down the heads of fruit, his contribution might be assessed at 10s. He also takes care of livestock (fowls and goats or pigs) which probably bring him in about 40s., catches some game and fish (10s.), and manufactures palm mats for the repair of the roofs of the huts in the compound. The gross income of a small household is in the vicinity of £ 10-10-0 a year, to which the woman contributes about £6-5-0 (or 60%) and the men about £4-0-0 (or 40%). It is clear that the average man of Ngie does less work than a man of the upland villages, even when allowance is made for differences in economy and climate. Whether the average Ngie woman is overworked is another matter. My impression was that the Ngie women, on the whole, were not only more energetic than the men, indeed necessarily so, but were also more vivacious, high-spirited and independent in their bearing. In Chapter V I have already discussed my reasons for believing that it is the Nsaw women who have the harder row to hoe.

So far we have been mainly concerned with the position of women in the traditional economy, with describing a standard of living and a way of life which is still typical for the vast majority living in Bamenda, more especially in the areas to the north and west, as well as in the villages at some distance from the main motor roads which encircle the south and cast of the Province. The number of men who, apart from Government employees and a sprinkling of Mission teachers, pay income tax is still negligible. The more prosperous

pagan trader who earns from £10 to £15 in cash a year may be able to provide his wife (or wives) with a little more salt, oil and meat, but he is still, as a rule, reluctant to clothe her in wrap and headtie. It is mainly in the Christian households, where the husband earns about the same income or even less, that there are changes in the standard of living of the wife. But as yet only about 14% of the total population of Bamenda is converted to Christianity and this figure includes children so that the proportion of adults is probably 10% or less.¹ As might be expected, adherents to Christianity are not evenly distributed over Bamenda but tend to be concentrated, at present, in the southern part of the Province, near the main motor roads and where there are mission stations with Europeans in charge. As early as 1913 the Roman Catholic Mission began its work in Nsaw and, by 1937, it was estimated that it had 21% of the population as converts and catechumens.² In the same year it was estimated that some 4.5% of the population were adherents of the Basel Mission. I myself made a census of Kimbaw village in 1945 and calculated that about 25% of its population were members of either the Roman Catholic or the Basel Mission. In the outlying villages the percentage would be considerably less.

Most of the differences in the standard of living in the Christian household, as compared with the pagan household, have already been discussed in the preceding chapters and require but a brief recapitulation here. Where the cash income of the husband is from £4 to £5 there is little margin for saving and little for the purchase of extra quantities of salt, oil, and other necessaries. But the woman and her daughters are clothed and, as a rule, the man is more willing than the pagan husband to take advantage of the services of maternity clinic and hospital for his wife and children. Nowadays he is also likely to construct a larger and more substantial house of mudbrick as sleeping quarters, though the traditional style of hut still serves as kitchen. With an increase in income the household enjoys a better standard of nutrition; the wife usually receives better clothes; and, finally, small quantities of firewood may be purchased to provide additional warmth at night and to lighten one of the wife's burdens - the daily collection of kindling.³

Perhaps the most radical change, however, is the increasing tendency for the women to participate regularly in trade and to handle larger sums of cash than formerly. And in this category I would include not only married women among the Christians but also among the pagans, particularly when they have a large number of children. This applies also to the inherited wives of polygynists, but as a group they are a small one and probably decreasing in numbers.⁴ As yet, the expansion of trade carried on by the women has not altered the pattern of traditional division of labour between the sexes: that is, the women

¹ Vide, Annual Report .... on the Administration of the Cameroons, Col. No. 244, 1949, pp. 100-101. The number of converts claimed by the R.C.M. for 1948 was 19,120 (or 6.3% of the population); the number by the Basel Mission was 17,823 (or 5.9%); and by the Baptist Mission 5,476 (or 1.8%).

² Vide, H. N. Harcourt, op. cit. paras. 117-123.

³ It is perhaps unnecessary to point out that the clothes worn by the women on the uplands are sometimes decorative, confer prestige, but are rarely a source of warmth and bodily comfort. Warm woollen sweaters and jackets are sometimes knitted by young girls and women but are almost invariably bought and worn by the men, though it is the women who, in their work on the farms, are far more often exposed to an inclement climate, especially during the season of heavy rains and mists.

⁴ In the census carried out in 1934 (vide, W. Bridges, op. cit., para. 146) it was estimated that some 64.9% of the total male population of Nsaw were married. Of these 74.5% had only one wife; 18. 1 % had two wives; 6.3 % had 3 to 5 wives; and 0.8% had over 5 but under 11. It is highly probable that the number of polygynists is less now, if, as may be assumed, the number of Christians has increased.

continue to do most of the farming even when they are married to men in the higher income bracket - to teachers, clerks, messengers, and other government employees. In other words, the trend is towards increased production by the women rather than a diminution. And this brings us to a point made in an earlier chapter, where an analysis of some 30 diaries showed that, on an average, a Nsaw woman devoted only about 53.1 % of the days of the year to farm work, enjoyed some 30.8% in leisure, and lost about 16.1% through personal illness or the care of sick relatives (see p. 79). Even when a lower standard of health and diet is given full weight she is not, I think, overworked; while the large proportion of days when she does not go to the farm do, and will, permit her to engage in other activities such as trade and the processing or manufacture of goods for trade, not to mention sewing, knitting, and attendance (perhaps somewhat spasmodic) at maternity clinics, domestic science centres, and mass literacy classes.

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