OGNI KANGA, Benoît., 1997. “Role and Status of Women Within a Plantation
Economy System”, Women and Families: Evolution of the Status of Women as
Factor and Consequence of Changes in Family Dynamics, Maria Eugenia COSIOZAVALA (ed), Paris, CICRED, pp 309-321.
16
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN
WITHIN A PLANTATION ECONOMY SYSTEM
Benoît OGNI KANGA
Institute of Ethno-Sociology
Abidjan-Cocody University
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
The analysis of the role and status of women in plantation economies
is based on a case study of the Abè in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. The study
began in 1992 and is still ongoing. The results presented in this paper are
provisional.
The Abè are farmers who have gone from subsistence farming to
producing cash crops, coffee and cocoa. Traditional social structures have
been extensively shaken by new economic and cultural conditions. Solidarity
within lineages is undergoing a complete transformation, leading to the
creation of small family production units in which women play an important
economic role.
BACKGROUND: PLANTATION ECONOMICS
The plantation economy is a commercially-oriented agricultural
production system introduced by Europeans in tropical regions which until
then had mainly been oriented primarily towards subsistence farming. The
plants (shrubs) it relies on, as well as the forms it takes, vary from one
region to the next. The plantation economy of Côte d'Ivoire, traditionally
based on coffee and cocoa, has diversified and today includes poyo banana,
oil palm, rubber tree, coconut palm, cotton, pineapple, etc.
Production is organised in two ways. The first organisational form
concerns very large cultivated areas. It is managed by private individuals
(from Côte d'Ivoire and from abroad) and by companies, especially state
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B. OGNI KANGA
companies (SODE). This type of organisation employs hired workers,
requires considerable capital investments, and involves the technical division
of labour. It relies on advanced production techniques and a system of
accounting procedures. Plantations organised and managed in this way in
Côte d'Ivoire are called industrial plantations, as opposed to village
plantations. The latter are set up and managed by smallholders.
This study concerns the second type of plantation. These plantations
are run by families with or without the help of hired workers. They usually
cover smaller areas than the first type of plantation, entail low investment,
use little equipment and do not rely on any accounting procedures. The man
is recognised as the founder and owner; this is not the case for his wife who
works with him.
Coffee and cocoa are the plantation crops which have had the most
success with smallholders. The plantation economy, defined as a system of
production essentially commercially oriented and based on export crops,
excludes food crops. However, in coffee and cocoa producing regions where
the economy is considered as a plantation system, food crops such as
plantain banana, cassava, yams, taro and vegetables are still produced and
often in quite large quantities. These crops are used to feed the family and
the paid farm workers. Peasant women sometimes sell some food crops just
to obtain certain essential goods. But with the phenomenon of urban
development and the decline of this plantation economy, there is today a
substantial commerce in food crops toward urban areas. This activity is
essentially female.
It is in this general context of the plantation economy that the question
of the status and role of women in rural society is analysed in this case study
of Abè society in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire. The study will attempt to show,
based on a field survey, the role and status of women in the plantation
economy.
PLANTATION ECONOMY AND THE DIVISION OF LABOUR BETWEEN
THE SEXES
The introduction of new crops has not been accompanied by any
improvements in farming tools. What is new is that the peasant farmers no
longer produce these tools themselves but buy them on the open market.
The transition from artisanal to industrial production has only brought with it
a few minor changes in the shapes of the tools. They have remained similar
to traditional tools and their design is basically the same, in that they are an
extension of the arms and their use relies on human energy.
The acquisition of the plantation relies on traditional farming methods,
with their simple and discontinuous character: an area of forest land is
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
311
staked out and cleared, trees and plants are cut down, the branches are
burnt and then the sowing is done.
As for space, the smallholder has quickly adapted to the new crops
and the current farming system follows a specific pattern. Instead of
cultivating food crops on one side and industrial crops on the other, the
farmer combines in the same field food and shrub crops (coffee, cocoa).
Given that the clearing of forest land using traditional tools requires a great
deal of labour, clearing land specially set aside for shrub crops in addition to
land used for food crops would require twice as much work. The growing of
shrub crops and food crops in the same field allows the smallholder to save
time for other activities.
However, the work involved in growing these new crops has been
added to that of the food crops, thus increasing the overall workload.
Therefore, the traditional design of farming implements explains why
traditional work methods persist as well as their order of succession and
their traditional division between men and women. The traditional gender
division of labour linked to the traditional economic mode still remains. In
such a context any production increase can only be obtained from an
increase in the labour force.
WOMEN’S WORK IN PLANTATIONS
Starting up and running a plantation involves a certain number of
tasks (Tables 16.1.and 16.2.)
Table 16.1.–Tasks carried out by women on plantations.
(For a total of 147 women)
Tasks:
Clearing land
Felling trees
Clearing of ground
Sowing
Planting coffee or cocoa
Cleaning of plantations
Harvesting of coffee or cocoa
Shelling of the coffee
Sorting of the coffee
Drying
Transporting the products
Does not work on the plantation
Number of women engaging in each task
6
22
145
70
123
98
2
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B. OGNI KANGA
Table 16.2.– Distribution of agricultural tasks according to sex
Tasks
Clearing land
Felling trees
Clearing of ground
Sowing
Planting coffee or cocoa
Weeding
Cleaning of plantations
Harvesting coffee
Harvesting cocoa
Shelling coffee
Sorting coffee
Drying
Transport to market
Does not work in the plantation
Men
Women
+++
+++
+++
+
+++
+
+++
++
++
+
++
+++
++
+
+++
+
+++
++
+++
++
++
+
++
Legends: + + + = high rate of involvement
+ + = predominant
+ = involvement
= no involvement
Out of 147 women, 145 work with their husbands on the plantations.
In 1981, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock decided to purchase coffee
in the form of fresh beans, thus putting a stop to the drying, shelling and
sorting of the coffee. Moreover, the organisation of planters into farming
cooperatives made it possible for each village or cooperative organisation to
own a truck for collecting the produce in the fields. This enabled
smallholders, and especially the women for whom this task was reserved, to
avoid having to carry the harvest on their heads. These changes which have
had an impact on predominantly female tasks have freed peasant women
from certain exacting tasks. In addition to traditional tasks (sowing of food
crops, weeding) women play an important role in the growing of industrial
crops. They are largely involved in cleaning of the plantations, harvesting,
shelling, sorting and transport of the harvest to where it will be sold.
Industrial crops have greatly increased workloads and especially women's
workloads. In fact, the introduction of industrial crops has contributed to the
disappearance of a number of tasks traditionally carried out by men (hunting,
fishing, food gathering) freeing them for new agricultural tasks. However, to
the women's traditional farm work activity has been added the plantation
work, thus greatly increasing their workload.
In the age group considered as being most active (30-49), women
dedicate 85.12% of their time in the day to work, of which 49.7% is farming
work. The corresponding figures for men are 60.4% and 46.7%, respectively.
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
313
Table 16.3.– Distribution of time into productive and non-productive
activities, men and women aged 30-49
Time use (activity)
Men
Women
39.6
14.8
-Inactivity
25.4
7.8
-Social activities
14.2
7.0
60.4
85.2
-Domestic activities
4.8
30.1
-Farming
46.7
49.7
including: - food crops
10.2
27.1
- cash crops
I- Nonproductive time
II- Productive time
36.5
22.6
-Gathering
7.9
2.2
-Activities linked to farming
1.0
3.2
Moreover, the time women spend on domestic chores is very high
(30%). Many of the tasks carried out by women are directly linked to the
men's work. For example, if women often leave in the morning to go to the
fields after their husbands it is because they prepare breakfast and bring it to
them. This allows the husband to avoid having to wait in the village or the
camp and permits him to go directly to the field, thus saving time and
allowing him to work longer. In the same way, if the woman goes home from
the fields before the husband it is to prepare meals.
Women's domestic work thus provides essential support for men's
work on the plantations. This domestic role played by the woman is crucial
for the planter. In fact, it is one of the reasons why smallholders marry before
becoming planters or as soon as they become planters. When considering
agricultural production, women's work exceeds that of men, and more
generally, productive work time of women is substantially greater than that of
men. The man spends a good part of his time in social activities (14.2%).
Women have much less spare time than men. The work of the woman is as
essential for food crops as it is for cash crops.
POLYGAMY AND THE PLANTATION ECONOMY
In the overall process of change affecting Abè society, the production
unit, which was the patrilineal lineage, has been broken down into small
units, reducing the work force of each unit. At the same time, the plantation
economy has substantially increased the agricultural workload. To make up
for this reduction in the work force, the planter has two options: to increase
the number of wives or to hire workers.
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B. OGNI KANGA
To check the relation between polygamy and the plantation economy,
a link has been established between the number of women, the age of the
smallholder and the size of the plantation (Table 16.4).
Table 16.4.– Cultivated area of plantations, average number of wives
and age of planters
Size of plantation in hectares
Age group of planter
Average number of wives
1 to 5
24-35
1.4
6 to 10
36-45
2.3
11 to 15
16 and over
46-55
3.6
56 years and over
2.1
As the age of the farmer increases, the size of the plantation also
increases. The reason for this link can be looked for in the gradual
accumulation of new plantations created over the years added to already
existing plantations. But this increase in the size of plantations is reversed in
the oldest age group of planters. They have older plantations which are
partly destroyed. This changing trend reveals the influence of time on the
starting up, the size and the disappearance of plantations. There is also a
link between the size of the farms and the number of wives. Planters with the
largest farms often have more wives than others. One hundred and thirteen
(113) of the 147 women have a polygamous husband. The number of wives
varies from 1 to 5.
The plantation economy has strengthened polygamy. In fact, a
comparison with the previous generation shows that out of the 113 women
with polygamous husbands, 76 had monogamous parents. The association
between the number of wives and the size of the plantation is only a general
one: the biggest plantations are not always those with the most wives. The
biggest planter (21 hectares) only has two wives whereas two farmers with
11 and 14 hectares each have five wives. Moreover, polygamy exists at all
ages and among all plantation size categories. The increase in the number
of wives for many planters, especially for beginners, is a means of
increasing farm size and the main way of increasing the work force.
HOW DOES POLYGAMY SERVE THE PLANTATION ECONOMY?
When a planter acquires a second, third or fourth wife he has to
increase the size of the new field so that each wife may have a plot large
enough to grow food crops and increase production, especially if there are
many children. The planter then plants all the plots with coffee and cocoa
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
315
shrubs which will be tended by the wives during the first two years. As new
fields are opened every year, the polygamous planter increases the size of
his plantation faster than the monogamous planter. Afterwards he benefits
from the help of all his wives in cleaning the plantations once the food crops
have been harvested.
Polygamy also plays an important role in the race for land: to stop
competition, the first thing planters do is to open several plots at the same
time and increase the number of their wives. The plots cleared by the
farmers are entrusted to the wives to avoid the land being taken over by
other planters. Thanks to the women's work in the fields every day (sowing,
weeding, etc.), all the plots of land cleared on the initiative of the husband
may either be exclusively used to grow food crops, or may be used to grow
both food and industrial crops and to be handed over to the person in charge
of the clearing of the plot. The work of the wives during the first year after
clearing the land is decisive in the upkeep of the plots, of their immediate
vicinities and therefore in the process of extension and accumulation of land
and of plantations. From the second year on the plots are tended by the
planters themselves or by farm workers. The wives are then free to tend a
new plot of land.
LIMITS OF POLYGAMY
One might think that the economic success of the planter
automatically depends on the productive work of his wives and on increasing
their numbers. If this were the case, the biggest planters would have the
most wives. However, it appears that the planters with the most wives are
not necessarily the owners of the largest plantations. This raises the problem
of profitability as the number of wives increases.
Indeed, the increase in the number of wives does not relieve the
husband from carrying out the tasks ascribed to him by the sexual division of
labour. Although his wives help him with these tasks, they cannot replace
him. By increasing the number of wives and as a consequence the size of
the fields, the planter increases his workload to more than he can handle:
the work of opening up new land and of tending it. Often busy with the many
tasks involved in managing existing plantations, the planter cannot plant the
new fields with coffee or cocoa plants. The fields then become overgrown
after the food crops have been harvested.
The increase in the number of wives up to a certain point constitutes
an economic advantage for the planter. Beyond this, polygamy is no longer
profitable we can speak of a “threshold of profitability of polygamy”,
threshold beyond which the planter can no longer properly exploit fields
which have become too big because of the increased number of wives. As
the new fields are opened up for farming, the old fields or part of them are
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B. OGNI KANGA
abandoned. Therefore, instead of a rapid extension of the plantation with the
increase in the number of wives, there is rather a stagnation in the cultivated
area because of insufficient male labour power.
Moreover, even though coffee and cocoa growing still relies on family
help, it also relies greatly on labour provided by hired workers. This is
especially true in the large plantations where a large part of the work is done
by labourers. In fact, in the large plantations the women's work is often
limited to traditional tasks. After having done the sowing and the weeding,
and between harvests, many of them leave the farming camps and will stay
in the village to look after their children who go to school. The planter who
has become a big farmer now has the means to employ labourers. He then
moves gradually from using family help (his wives) to using hired workers.
The transition from one type of labour to another marks a change in the
structure of the plantation and a change in the planter's socio-economic
situation.
MARRIAGE AS A MEANS OF INTEGRATION OF WOMEN INTO THE
PLANTATION ECONOMY
Coffee and cocoa farming, which are the only sources of income, are
controlled by men. The woman occupies a marginal status in this economic
system. When she does not go to town, which is one way for her to cope
with this marginalisation, a woman is obliged to get married. Marriage to a
planter is for her the only means of becoming a part of rural economic life.
With this concern in mind, she will readily agree to marrying a polygamist,
which represents an economic and social advantage for men. Moreover,
although women have now acquired more freedom and freer access to
divorce, plantation economics tends to keep them in the home. In fact, the
new economic conditions have not changed the traditional relations
concerning family property. According to tradition, the wife cannot inherit
from the deceased husband. But through the levirate system she is given in
marriage to the brother or the cousin who inherits. Current economic
conditions force her to accept this system because it is difficult for a woman
to accept that she may, at the death of her husband, be suddenly
dispossessed of her plantations, the fruit of many years of hard work. The
thought that if she should refuse to marry her husband's heir she may not be
fortunate enough to marry another rich planter, but rather a beginner with
whom she will have to start from scratch, is enough to make her accept the
heir.
In this way, plantation economics play a part in and support the
levirate system insofar as they contribute to perpetuating it.
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
317
PLANTATION ECONOMICS, POLYGAMY AND FAMILY SIZE IN RURAL
AREAS
As a means of acquiring wealth (plantations), men take several wives
to benefit from their work. The Abè planter knows he cannot count too much
on his children's labour in the fields, since they will go to school or sooner or
later they will leave to go to the city1. Some of the children who have left
school will eventually return to the village. They will work for a certain time
for their father or mother. The boys will set up their own plantations and once
they are married the girls will leave the family home. Therefore, family
production units are often reduced to a man and his wife or wives.
Given current living conditions the planter knows it will be very difficult
for him to send many children to school. He no longer seeks, as in the past,
to assert his wealth and social status through having many children.
However, he does wish to acquire a certain social status by having children.
Even if he is a big planter, his social status will be diminished if he has no
children. Consequently, although he may rely greatly on his wife's work, he
will repudiate her if she is sterile. As for the woman, she will leave her
husband if he cannot father a child with her.
The average number of children per family is 12. It is 9 in
monogamous families, 14 in families with two wives, 20 in families of 3
wives, 24 in families with 4 wives and 28 in families with 5 wives. The
number of children thus increases with the number of wives.
Although the number of children is higher in polygamous than in
monogamous families, the wife of a monogamist has on average more
children (9) than a polygamist's wife (7). Polygamy as an element
supporting plantation economics by providing labour is definitely also an
important means of increasing the size of families.
PLANTATION ECONOMICS AND WOMEN'S INCOME
Income Generated by Work in the Plantations
In exchange for her work the wife is rewarded by her husband. This
reward can take the form of a gift, the harvest or cash. The gifts are cloth,
shoes or jewellery. The husband buys these things either at the market in
town in the company of his wife or in the village from travelling salesmen.
Apparently in the past, remuneration in kind in the form of gifts was the most
1
Out of 100 children of school age, 92 attend school. The rate of attendance in the region is close to the
highest rates in Côte d'Ivoire.
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B. OGNI KANGA
common practise. Today this form of remuneration is less frequent. Only two
women received gifts as payments in kind.
Payment by harvest is often practised. During one or two years, the
husband has his wife harvest on her own account the often small yield of a
young coffee or cocoa plantation which is just beginning to produce crops.
Since the woman is the symbol of fertility, this is seen as a way of ensuring
the plantation will yield good harvests in coming years. The money from this
harvest is paid to the woman, it is her reward and also allows the man to
stop giving her anything else if he considers she has earned enough. The
gift of money is the type of reward most often used. The sums paid vary
considerably among the wives of planters belonging to the same category as
well as among the wives of planters belonging to different categories.
The substantial variation in the amounts depends on several factors:
- on the work carried out by the woman and according to which her reward is
evaluated. Sometimes when the woman does not work she receives nothing.
Out of all the work done by the woman it is often her participation in the
harvest which is decisive and it is often according to the harvest that the
man evaluates and gives the reward.
- on the expenses the man has;
- on the number of wives. When a planter has several wives, it is often
difficult for him to give each wife enough money; he avoids putting a strain
on his resources. Therefore, the wife of a monogamist usually gets more
money than each of the wives of a polygamist.
Moreover, traditionally the first wife always receives a much bigger
reward than the others. The reward also depends on the relations between
the man and the woman and on how generous the husband is.
How Income is Used
Usually the wife's reward is 3 to 5% of the income from the sale of the
coffee or the cocoa. The average annual income per planter is about
450 000 CFA Francs.
The way the income is used follows the traditional sociological model
involving the purchase of prestige goods, but now it can also follow a new
model.
As before, women use their income to buy cloth, jewellery and
cooking implements which they accumulate. But whereas in the past women
had only one occasion to appear in public and that was at the traditional
feast or celebration, now there is mass on Sunday, there are religious
celebrations, New Year celebrations, visits from important civil-servants in
the villages, all of which provide occasions for popular celebrations, and
travelling also provides opportunities for the women to dress up and show off
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
319
their possessions. This means the women always need to acquire more
possessions for which they spend a large part of their income. The two main
new expenses for women are for food and for the schooling and upkeep of
the children.
The rule in traditional marriage is that the man is responsible for the
family. Therefore, it is he who must pay for everything. In fact, the husband
only pays for major expenses: lodging, food, etc. For food he buys during the
period when income is provided by the sale of coffee or cocoa. A few
months later when his resources are exhausted, he relies on his wife who
pays for everyday expenses. This is the case especially in polygamous
households where everyday expenses are usually paid for by the women.
Especially as traditionally each wife keeps her own fire and looks after her
own children.
Children's schooling is an area which uses up all the income of many
women. The wife of the man who does not have large plantations and who
has children at school must confront high expenses, which obliges her to
take a higher degree of economic responsibility in the household.
In addition, the wife has to cover travel costs, medical expenses,
contributions for the construction of public buildings (churches, maternity
hospitals, health centres, schools), contributions for funerals or undertaker's
fees and domestic expenses (purchase of essential goods, etc.). Most
women end up with no money some time afterwards.
The wives of the big plantation owners have fewer expenses and
therefore contribute less to the household budget. Since their husbands
have more means they pay for all the big expenses and pay for the family's
food all year round. Therefore, among the wives of these planters there is an
increase in spending linked to prestige.
Women's Other Income Sources
Current problems in plantation economics, linked to the ageing of the
coffee and cocoa orchards and to the constant reduction in prices paid to
producers, have resulted in a degradation of the economic situation of rural
families and especially of women. The production and commercialisation of
food crops (cassava, vegetables) is gradually replacing coffee and cocoa or
is becoming an essential support activity. This activity is mainly undertaken
by women.
The dynamism of women expressed through these extra activities
corresponds to two lines of action: one in which they seek greater financial
independence from men, and the other in which they seek to improve their
families' living conditions.
The women work with their husbands on the coffee or cocoa
plantation. The income from this work is managed by the husband. The
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B. OGNI KANGA
woman must wait for him to give her the money to satisfy her personal
needs. She is often deprived of this money. Modern life has brought with it
an increase in women's needs. They want to acquire certain goods but find
themselves limited because they depend on their husbands for their income
and because this income is small.
For the women an extra activity represents a means of obtaining
money to buy things they want without having to ask their husbands. In this
way they acquire financial autonomy. On the other hand, this represents an
advantage for the woman only if almost all of her income is not used for the
household and the children, in other words when the husband also
guarantees the subsistence of the family with his income. However,
observations already made concerning the woman's contribution to the
household budget seem to indicate that this situation is the least frequent.
Women are limited in their savings by household expenses. It is in fact the
main reason for their taking up another activity. The growing of cassava is
undoubtedly a means by which women can possibly gain a certain degree of
financial autonomy. With the current reduction in the standard of living of
rural households, women's auxiliary activities have become more than ever
an economic necessity.
When the woman grows and commercialises her own food crops it is
to provide extra income for the family and to cover the expenses that the
husband's income cannot cover. Often when the man has only a small
income he may be fully dependent after the period of "financial abundance"
and for a certain period afterwards on the woman who provides for all of the
family's food needs. The women in families with small plantations play a
more important economic role in their households than women in families of
large plantation owners. Among the wives of the latter, financial necessity is
not the incentive for extra activities. The growing of cassava provides them
with an extra income making their lives a little less uncertain. Having fewer
expenses they lend their money for interest which enables them to
strengthen the socioeconomic position they have acquired from their
husbands and to climb the social ladder.
The economic role of women is becoming more and more important,
since not only are their contributions an absolute necessity in the planting of
perennial crops, but the extra income they generate is becoming
indispensable for their family's survival.
ROLE AND STATUS OF WOMEN…
321
CONCLUSION
The disintegration of the traditional family, the fact that children attend
school and the fact that the young are leaving has reduced the farm
household’s labour power. At the same time plantation economics have
increased the amount of agricultural work to be done on the farm. Polygamy
therefore has become a means for the man to increase the work force of the
production unit. This is how in plantation economics the important role the
woman plays is perceived. The indispensable and complementary tasks she
carries out at her husband’s side are essential to production, however her
status within the system remains marginal.
Given the difficult economic context plantations are currently facing
and in which planters' incomes are insufficient to cover all of their expenses,
the women are forced to grow and sell food crops. These extra activities, in
addition to their role on the plantation, provide women with new sources of
income and enable them to improve the poor living conditions of rural
families.