Some Comments on the Origins of Traditional Markets in Africa South of the Sahara

Abstract

OVER THE last decade or so, a certain amount of work has been begun by social anthropologists, economists and geographers on the market institutions of Africa south of the Sahara. Markets, in the sense of public gatherings of buyers and sellers meeting at appointed places at regular intervals, have been found to be important elements of the social and economic landscape and their study essential to any real understanding of the life and work of many African communities. The study of markets, however, and in particular the description, understanding and explanation of their distributions and functions, raises a host of problems, most of which can be discussed in as yet only very tentative terms. The present paper focuses attention on one of the most difficult yet fundamental of such problems-the origins of markets in the regionand puts forward some suggestions as a basis for further discussion and field research. To simplify the present discussion, only traditional, indigenous markets, in existence before the arrival of the various European colonial administrations, will be considered. There are two main theories about the origins of market institutions. The first, wholly orthodox theory starts from the individual's propensity to barter, perhaps involving silent barter; deduces from this the necessity for local exchange, the division of labour and local markets; and infers, finally, the necessity for long-distance or at least external exchange or trade.1 In other words, the starting point is seen to be in local exchange and local markets, only few of which, commonly because of certain fortuitous locational advantages, become important market centres associated with long-distance trading. To quote one source on this, 'barter exists among the most isolated and inaccessible societies; and the wordless exchange of goods made without witnesses in the furthermost recesses of the jungle, in Asia, America and Africa is evidence of an economic need. As confidence grows between individuals exchanging their respective goods, local markets spring up; and in the more advanced cultures wide use may be made of money in the more important markets or regional fairs'.2 An alternative theory about market origins reverses entirely this sequence of events, claiming that trade with its associated market phenomena can never arise within a community; for trade, it is contended, is an external affair involving different communities.3 Markets can never arise out of the demands of purely individual or local exchange. As one writer puts it, [in a substantive economy] 'local needs of exchange for foodstuffs or craft products do not seem sufficient to promote marketing activities.... Markets are primarily induced by external exchanges of complementary products with an alien population'.4 According to this viewpoint, then, markets are not the starting point but rather the result of long-distance trading, itself the result of division of labour and the variable geographical location of goods. The true sequence of events, it is argued, is thus: (i) trade route; (ii) market established on this