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F O R S C H U N G
A F R I K A
Hans Peter Hahn (ed.)
Consumption in Africa
Anthropological Approaches
Z U R
Consumption in Africa
F O R S C H U N G
LIT
B E I T R Ä G E
Institut für Afrikastudien
B E I T R Ä G E
Z U R
Cover photos: Bicycle owner and vendor of locally brewed beer in Kollo
(Dép. de Tiébélé) on the way to the market, woman selling millet on the
market of Zabré (both Burkina Faso)
Hans Peter Hahn (ed.)
The contributions of this volume are the outcome of a workshop
held at the African Studies Centre at Bayreuth University.
Each chapter deals with the social dynamics engendered by
new modes of consumption in specific areas (Côte d’Ivoire,
Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Niger).
-
The study of consumption, including such aspects as social
differentiation, communication and the change of needs, has
become a major field of study within material culture research.
This volume unites a number of ethnographic case studies
documenting a wide range of local practices with regard to
consumer goods. Although based on the acquisition of globally
circulating goods, consumption in Africa is appropriated and,
thus, becomes part of the local material culture.
A F R I K A
Band 37
LIT
ISBN 978-3-8258-0725-2, ISSN 0938-7285
Consumption in Africa
Anthropological
Approaches
edited by
Hans Peter Hahn
Content
Preface............................................................................................... 7
Consumption, Identities and Agency in Africa – Introduction
Hans Peter Hahn (Frankfurt a. Main) ............................................... 9
Negotiating Dress Practices in Northern Côte d’Ivoire:
Social Belonging, Social Becoming and Generational Dynamics
Kerstin Bauer (Basel)....................................................................... 43
Filling up the Wardrobe: Decision Making, Clothing Purchases,
and Dress Valuation in Lusaka, Zambia
Karen Tranberg Hansen (Chicago) ................................................. 79
Ostentation as Lifestyle? Conspicuous Consumption, Identity
and Home Culture in Northern Nigeria
Editha Platte (Frankfurt a. M.) ........................................................ 97
‘Ni Fesheni tu’ – Just Fashion. Consumption of Beads and
Beadwork in Tanzania
Ulf Vierke (Bayreuth)..................................................................... 119
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers – the Appropriation
of Goods among the Kel Ewey Tuareg in Niger
Gerd Spittler (Bayreuth) ................................................................ 147
How Many Things Does Man Need? Material Possessions and
Consumption in Three West African Villages (Hausa, Kasena
and Tuareg) Compared to German Students
Hans Peter Hahn, Gerd Spittler & Markus Verne (Frankfurt a. M. /
Bayreuth)........................................................................................ 173
Abstracts ....................................................................................... 201
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and
Consumers – the Appropriation of Goods
among the Kel Ewey Tuareg in Niger
Gerd Spittler (Bayreuth)
Introduction1
The once popular dichotomy of subsistence societies, which produce
only for themselves and are able to make everything they need, and
market societies, in which all goods circulate through the market, has
long ago been shown by anthropologists to be false. There is no society which produces everything itself, and conversely there is no society which regulates everything through the market. Even societies
with a mainly subsistence economy have external economic relations. In this context, scholars have often referred to the central role
of professional traders. Another form of external economic relation
has received less attention, the trading expedition. I will first describe
the current state of anthropological theory on this topic (I), and then
present a case study of such an expedition, the caravan system of the
Kel Ewey Tuareg, which still exists today (II). In section III, I will
analyse the local appropriation of goods procured by the caravaneers
in relation to the role of women in Timia. Thirty years ago the first
shops were opened in Timia, and they have continued to increase in
number ever since. In section IV, I examine the new relationship
between shopkeepers and consumers. In the concluding section (V), I
compare this new consumer behaviour with the appropriation of
goods under the caravan system.
I. The Expedition in Anthropological Theory
When we think of long-distance trade, we first of all think of professional traders, i.e. people who control the purchase, transport and
1
I am grateful to Hans Peter Hahn, Marko Scholze and Markus Verne for their
criticisms of earlier versions of this article.
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sale of goods in order to gain a profit. It is mainly this form of longdistance trade which has been studied in the anthropological and
historical literature. Here I will concentrate on another form of longdistance trade, in which local needs and the procurement of goods
are not separate phenomena concerning different groups of people,
but are united within one group. As end consumers, the households
themselves organize the procurement of goods from far off places. In
anthropological literature, this form of long-distance trade is referred
to as an expedition or trading expedition2. The starting point is an
economy which is chiefly organized as a subsistence economy, but
which procures some goods from outside. In connection with his
theory of the “independent domestic economy”, Bücher early on
pointed out that some goods are obtained from outside. He cited the
example of trade journeys in the Pacific Ocean (Bücher [1901]
1912:108).
Bücher did not pay much attention to the institutional form of this
long-distance trade. For the classic description of a long-distance
trade system we must turn to Malinowski's book “Argonauts of the
Western Pacific” (1922). The Kula trade is organized in the form of
an expedition.3 This is an expedition across the ocean, in which boats
are specially equipped and a number of different islands are called at.
An expedition includes a large number of participants, under a single
leadership. In his Kula studies, Malinowski focuses on the ceremonial exchange of bracelets and necklaces, but also mentions a “subsidiary exchange of ordinary goods” (Malinowski [1935] 1965:361,
395). Yams, betel nuts and coconuts are exchanged for each other or
for craft products. Later, Malinowski revised his opinion and came to
the conclusion that what he here refers to as subsidiary exchange is
actually a main object of the Kula expedition: in the kula the most
important economic fact is that the non-utilitarian exchange of valuables provides the driving force and the ceremonial framework for
2
Trading expedition is the more precise term, since it permits a distinction between
this type of expedition and scientific or military expeditions. When I speak of expeditions in this article, I always mean trading expeditions.
3
Malinowski uses the term frequently, e.g. (1922:136ff).
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
149
an extremely important system of utilitarian trade (Malinowski
[1935] 1965:456).
Malinowski repeatedly mentioned the Kula Ring as an example of
intertribal trading, but he did not make any systematic economic
analysis of this kind of expedition. This was done by Richard
Thurnwald, who was then referred to by later authors (Thurnwald
1932:145-149). Expeditions are collective enterprises with many
participants under a single leadership. They can be conducted according to various principles, including the hunting principle, on the
basis of the exchange of gifts or as a collective trade journey. Caravan trading is an example of such collective trade journeys. The expeditions described by Thurnwald cover long distances and last for
weeks or months. Different societies have different social and economic structures and not all are equally predestined to this form of trading. It is most likely to be found among hunting and herding nomads.
In “The Great Transformation” ([1944] 1957b) and in “Trade and
Markets in Early Empires” (1957a), Karl Polanyi took up Thurnwald's ideas. Borrowing directly from him, Polanyi writes:
External trade is, originally, more in the nature of adventure, exploration, hunting, piracy and war than barter. It may as little imply
peace as two-sidedeness, and even when it implies both it is usually
organized on the principle of reciprocity, not on that of barter (Polanyi 1957b:59).
In “The Development of Indigenous Trade and Markets in West
Africa” (1971), Claude Meillassoux took up the notion of the expedition again in his discussion of long-distance trade (p. 68f.). In an
evolutionary line, the trading expedition constitutes one of the first
forms of long-distance trade. Only later came the development of
“trade”, in which exchange value is more important than use value,
and later still “commerce”, in which goods are exchanged for money.
The expeditions are carried out not by professional traders but by
peasants whose interest is in the immediate use value of the goods.
They try to exchange as advantageously as they can, but their aim is
not to make a profit. This is true even if they are obliged to make
another exchange before obtaining the desired goods. Meillassoux
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mentions briefly the conditions and limitations of these expeditions:
since they are carried out by peasants, they are subject to the conditions of the agricultural cycle and seasonally limited.
We can summarize the features of trading expeditions, as described by Bücher, Malinowski, Thurnwald, Polanyi and Meillassoux, as follows:
- Expeditions complement the local subsistence economy but do
not replace it. The subsistence economy (domestic economy) continues to be the economic basis.
- The purpose of the expedition is to procure goods for immediate
use.
- The goods are obtained from places that are far away in (ethnically) foreign territory.
- The enterprise takes a long time (weeks, months).
- The organizational form is the expedition with many participants
under a single leadership.
All authors assume that in an evolutionary framework the expedition precedes long-distance trade by professional traders. Such expeditions are unknown to us today. We do not go and bring goods from
far away places because they are always brought to us. Consumers
thus have only indirect control. We choose from among those goods
which have been produced far away and brought to us here.
There are a few interesting exceptions in this respect. European
business travellers or tourists who go to Asia, Africa or America
often bring gifts or souvenirs home with them. Their journey really
has some other purpose. They bring some local products with them
as a side effect, but this is not of existential importance for them. It is
extremely rare for anyone to travel such a long distance in order to
buy consumer goods for his own household use. We tend to hear of
this only through the gossip columns of the newspapers: wealthy
women who fly to Rome to buy shoes, or to Paris to update their
wardrobe with the latest fashions. This is a form of luxury consump-
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
151
tion which few can afford. It is possible only for those with enough
time and money, and would be unthinkable without modern means of
transport such as a fast train or an aeroplane. The goods which are
bought are of a high quality and are correspondingly expensive. They
are not mass produced but unique and exquisite specimens, bearing
the name of their maker. The client often has a personal relationship
with the maker, such as in the case of clothes which are specially
designed in accordance with the customer's wishes.
The procurement of goods among the Kel Ewey Tuareg, whom
we shall be looking at more closely, is similar to these luxury shopping trips in several ways:
- People travel a long way, up to 1,000 km, in order to obtain
goods.
- People look for high quality and enter into personal relations with
the manufacturers, whose name is a guarantee of quality.
- The products are made by hand in a complicated work process
and are more expensive than machine-made products.
Despite these similarities, there are also some obvious differences:
- The Kel Ewey are not wealthy but – at least according to our criteria – extremely poor.4
- The Kel Ewey do not board a plane or a high-speed train but ride
camels to reach their destination 1,000 km away.
- These are not individual shopping trips but collective journeys,
i.e. “archaic” expeditions, as we know them from the anthropological literature. These Kel Ewey expeditions take the form of
caravans which look back on a centuries-old tradition. Yet they
are not part of the past but still take place today.5
4
The emphasis here is on “our criteria”. Our joint article in this volume (Hahn,
Spittler, Verne) shows that the Kel Timia are wealthy in comparison with the Hausa
and Kasena villages.
5
Another form of procuring goods from far-away places, which used to be widespread among the Tuareg, is the raid (Spittler 1984). It would be well worth analys-
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II. The Caravans of the Kel Ewey Tuareg6
The Kel Ewey Tuareg have lived for centuries in the Aïr, a mountain
range situated in the south central Sahara, in the state of Niger. My
investigations were concentrated in particular on the Kel Timia
(about 6000 individuals), who live around the Timia oasis and represent in typical form the traditions of the Kel Ewey and their economic system.
Right from precolonial times, the Kel Ewey have always obtained
most of their foodstuffs and other commodities from outside, and this
is still true today. Dates, wheat, fruits and vegetables are the main
crops grown in the gardens in the oasis, while camels and goats supply milk, cheese and meat. But the most important staple, which is
eaten two or three times a day, is millet. This has to be brought from
far away. The Kel Ewey spend even more money on tea and sugar
which come from very far away: the tea from China, the sugar from
Europe.
Clothing and shoes are also not procured locally; in the case of
hand-crafted products they are made in Hausaland, while machinemade fabrics and shoes come from neighbouring African countries or
from Europe and Asia (Spittler 2002; forthcoming). Some household
goods are made by local craftsmen, such as wooden spoons or mortars and pestles, and the same applies to leather articles (cushions,
saddles, saddlebags) and metal products such as knives, sickles, etc.
These goods are made to order and in earlier times they were paid for
by exchange of millet, salt, clothing, etc. However, most household
articles are also obtained from Hausaland: cooking pots of clay (tin)
or metal (egher), wooden bowls (akos, takarwas) used for eating,
ing the effects of this on consumer goods, but we cannot do this here for reasons of
space.
6
I have been carrying out research among the Kel Ewey since the 1980s with the
support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), first on my own and then
within the framework of two Bayreuth collaborative research centres financed by the
DFG: “Identity in Africa” (SFB 214) and “Local Action in Africa in the Context of
Global Influences” (SFB/FK 560). In addition to a number of articles, I have published the following books on the Kel Ewey: Spittler (1989a; 1989b; 1993; 1998).
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
153
calabashes (talkas) that are used for eating and drinking, teapots
(from China, Czechoslovakia or Hungary), tea glasses (from France).
How do the Kel Ewey obtain these goods? Until recently Timia
had no market, no shop and no traders. It was not possible to buy
either millet or cloth in Timia. Each household had to procure whatever it needed itself. This was achieved by means of a trading expedition organized as a caravan, characterized by the following features:7
- It enters foreign territory.
- It concentrates on specific goals which are fixed in advance.
Many difficulties have to be overcome before the goal can be
achieved.
- After achieving the goal, the expedition returns home.
- The expedition is carried out in a group.
- The expedition is equipped in a way which makes it almost completely self-supporting (transport, tools, food, overnight needs,
etc.).
The Kel Ewey undertake two related expeditions each year. One
of these lasts about a month and passes through the desert to Bilma,
an oasis 600 km away (Spittler 1990). The expeditionary character of
this enterprise is immediately obvious. The aim of the caravan is to
buy salt and dates in Bilma (taferde). It crosses the desert under extremely harsh conditions and has to take with it everything it needs to
survive for a month: food, wood for cooking, the entire fodder for the
camels, etc.
7
In my publications on 19th century explorers (Spittler 1987; 1996), I make a distinction between expedition and caravan. In this article, following the linguistic
usage of economic anthropology, I see the caravan as a form of expedition.
154
Fig. 14: Kel Ewey Caravan Routes and Pasture Areas
Gerd Spittler
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
155
Fig. 15: Kel Ewey Salt Caravan from Bilma to Aïr (Spittler 1980)
After returning, men and camels rest for a few weeks and then set
off on the expedition to Hausaland. This lasts about six months. The
aim of this expedition is: 1. to reach the seasonal pasture grounds for
the camels in the south, and 2. to purchase a year's supply of the staple, millet, and of consumer goods such as cloth, shoes, household
equipment, etc. These goods, bought with the proceeds from the sale
of the salt and dates from Bilma, are not bought in one place, but in a
number of different places within an area half the size of Germany.
Some things are only available at certain places, or the quality is
better there, or the goods are cheaper. The Kel Ewey travel hundreds
of kilometres in order to obtain one particular article. The most
southerly points reached during this expedition are Kano and Kura,
both in Nigeria. They are approximately 1,000 km from the starting
point in Timia.
The economy of the caravan trade displays several features which
distinguish it from other consumer purchases: 1. a long time frame,
2. the possession of a large sum of money at a particular time,
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Gerd Spittler
3. collective purchases, 4. integration with the grazing cycle of the
camels.
The caravaneers of the Kel Ewey stay in Hausaland for four to six
months. They thus have sufficient time to effect their sales and their
purchases. They sell the salt slowly in small amounts in rural markets
and obtain better prices in this way than they would if they sold the
salt and the dates to a single trader in one place. They buy the millet
likewise in small amounts directly from the farmers, immediately
after the harvest, and thus pay less than buyers in the towns. They
have time to go to Kano, Kura, Zinder and Tessaoua, and smaller
markets, in order to purchase the best commodities at favourable
prices.
When the caravaneers have sold their salt and their dates, they
have a sum of money at their disposition which allows them to buy
the entire annual needs of a household at one time (although it takes
them two months to buy all the millet they need). This distinguishes
them from wage-dependent households where the daily or monthly
wage determines when purchases are made. Because they buy large
amounts, they can take advantage of discount prices just like traders.
The goods acquired by the Kel Timia are therefore good value for
money, but cost a great deal of time and physical effort. The caravaneers spend a long time on each purchase, inspecting the quality
and aesthetic appearance of the goods carefully. They compare different offers and frequently do not buy because they are not satisfied
with the goods.
It should not be thought that this inspection means that the caravaneers decide on one out of a large range of goods. The caravaneers
know exactly what they are looking for. They do not wander through
a market gathering information about the variety of products available; they are looking for a particular item, such as a wooden bowl, a
clay pot or a pair of sandals. Unlike the Hausa, who stroll leisurely
around a market, they walk quickly and purposefully, without looking to right or left. But once they have reached the right place, they
spend a long time there, inspecting the goods on display.
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
157
Between the ages of 10 and 60, the Kel Ewey men spend about
six months of each year in Hausaland. In this respect they can be
compared with migrant labourers who spend a large part of their
active life away from home, but who do not lose contact with their
families. Such migrant labourers are frequently the first to bring
home new consumer goods, which then start spreading among the
rest of the population. This is not the case among the Kel Ewey. One
of the reasons for this is that there is only a superficial resemblance
to migrant labourers. In reality the situation of the Kel Ewey is very
different.
The Kel Ewey do not arrive empty-handed in their host country,
as labourers do, but as independent “entrepreneurs”. They put their
own camels out to pasture there, they sell their own products, they
are completely equipped with everything they need. Therefore they
need very little contact with the local people, are not dependent on
them, and can live as they please. The herders who tend the camels
live isolated in the bush, far from the towns. This is quite different
from the situation of a migrant labourer who is exposed to frequent
contacts with the local people and occupies a subordinate position
among them. It therefore stands to reason that he should recognize
their superiority as a group and use them as a reference group in the
matter of adopting new consumer goods. Since the Kel Ewey are
completely equipped for their expedition, they are not dependent on
others for food and lodging, and do not feel any temptation or pressure to adopt the norms of the local people.
The structure of the expedition creates a greater detachment from
the products offered in the markets and shops than is the case with
migrant labourers. The Kel Ewey herders who look after the camels
in Hausaland see no more of these products than the people in Timia.
The situation is different for the amadellil, the businessman in each
household group. He is responsible for selling the salt and dates, and
for purchasing millet, cloth and other items. This involves not only
going to the local markets but also spending time in large towns such
as Tessaoua and Zinder, or even in the metropolis of Kano. He is not
on a shopping spree but knows exactly what he wants to buy.
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Gerd Spittler
The goods which the Kel Timia buy in the south can be divided
into three categories: 1. millet, 2. industrially manufactured products,
3. hand-made products. Millet, the staple food, has the highest priority, because the whole of a family's annual requirements of this
commodity have to be bought. The purpose of the caravans to the
south is frequently described as “the search for millet” (agamay nenale). The millet is bought directly from the farmers immediately
after being harvested and is stored there. The other goods are bought
only after this has been accomplished. The factory-made fabrics
come from Nigeria, North Africa, Europe and Asia. The caravaneers
buy them from different traders in the markets and in shops in the big
towns (Kano, Tessaoua, Zinder). Because they buy as a group they
are usually granted a discount. But normally there is no personal
relationship between customers and traders. The Kel Ewey are only
marginal customers in the case of factory-made fabrics. They therefore have no influence on their manufacture. The fabrics they look
for can easily disappear from the market from one year to the next.
Fig. 16: Kel Ewey Caravaneers with Hausa Trader in Kura (Spittler 1997).
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
159
This is different in the case of hand-made products that are specially made for the Tuareg, or even for the Kel Timia. The most
valuable object bought by the Kel Ewey in the south is the alassho
cloth that is hand-woven and hand-dyed in Kura (south of Kano).
This finds everyday use as a head covering for women and has to be
replaced once a year. On festive occasions it is also made up into
veils for Tuareg men, blouses for women and tobes for men. Depending on the rate of exchange, a simple shawl costs between 10
and 50 euros, and bigger garments many times this amount. The
caravaneers stay in Kura for several days as the guests of a trader –
or, to be more exact, a putting out entrepreneur – in order to inspect
the quality of the cloth and to negotiate the price as a group.
Sandals are much cheaper (2 to 5 euros), yet here, too, the Kel
Timia spend much time and go to a great deal of trouble to find high
quality, inexpensive sandals. In almost every Hausa town there are
sandal-makers who make the widespread balka type. Almost all the
Kel Timia go to Balarabe, a sandal-maker in Zinder who produces
sandals for both men and women. Over the last fifty years the
women of Timia have preferred his sandals to all others and Balarabe
therefore considers them as his most important customers, producing
mainly for them. The sandals have to be ordered and paid for in advance. But here, too, the goods are carefully inspected and any criticisms are openly expressed. If the sandals prove to be unsatisfactory
when worn in Timia, a complaint is made in the following year and
Balarabe will be extra careful when making the new ones. The differences in quality and appearance between different types of sandals
are barely perceptible to an outsider, but are fundamental in the eyes
of the Kel Timia.8
8
The women of Timia are convinced that Balarabe's sandals are better quality and
more beautiful than other sandals. I have shown various models to students in
Bayreuth and they were often unable to detect any difference.
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Gerd Spittler
III. Local appropriation of goods and the role of women
In our society it is usually the women who do the shopping, but in
the Kel Ewey caravan system the goods are bought exclusively by
men. However, once they arrive back in Timia, most of the goods
pass into the possession or at least the control of the women. It is the
women who decide whether they will accept new goods or not.
The Kel Ewey have matrilocal residence. When a young couple
marries, a tent is erected for them close to the bride's mother. Thus it
is the men and not the women who move away on marriage. When
he re turns from a caravan, a man unloads the millet and the other
goods he has brought in front of his mother-in-law's storehouse, and
from this moment on no longer has any rights over the goods. He
does not even have the right to enter the storehouse. As Moslems, the
Kel Ewey generally practise the Islamic law of succession according
to the Maliki school. But there remain some matrilinear rules. In the
law of succession there is the rule of abatol. This says that property
can be inherited only by daughters and cannot be sold. All children,
including sons, are life beneficiaries of the property. In particular this
includes date palms, but also a certain number of camels and goats.
Men are completely excluded from other abatol items, such as
women's clothing, and silver and agate jewellery.
The structure of the family is an obstacle to the acceptance of new
goods in several respects. In many other societies, emigration is an
important factor for the acceptance of foreign cultural elements. The
emigrants, who occasionally return home to visit their relatives,
adopt the new culture and take parts of it home with them. The Kel
Ewey of Timia are different – we could almost say from all other
rural communities in Africa – in that there was migration, but no
emigration among them until recently. There is no known case of a
definitive emigration between 1920 and 1980.9 One of the main reasons for this is the structure of the family. First, we must remember
9
After Kawsan’s rebellion of 1916-18, the whole population of the Aïr was evacuated to Agadez by the French colonial powers. The people of Timia then returned to
Timia with a very few exceptions. After temporary emigration following hostile
raids in 1920, most of the people of Timia returned (Spitter 1989b, ch. 2).
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
161
that with matrilocal residence, the man moves to the wife's residence
and not the other way round. Anyone who emigrates will not find a
wife, at least not a Kel Ewey wife. There is no doubt that this is an
important obstacle to emigration, unlike in other societies where the
wife follows the husband wherever he goes. A man who does not
find a Kel Ewey wife could marry another woman. But there are
good reasons why the Kel Ewey prefer a wife from their own people.
Especially in poorer households, the husband profits from the abatol
and his wife's goat herd. If he decides to leave his wife and emigrate
to Hausaland, he loses not only the benefits of the abatol and the
goats, but also the bride-price camel and its offspring, and, above all,
his children by this wife.
The structure of the family helps to bring about stable needs not
only by discouraging emigration. Because women, until recently, did
not leave Timia and its goat pasture grounds, they knew very little of
the world outside the Aïr. They had never seen women dressed differently, or new consumer goods. They were therefore the tradition
keepers, even more than the men. 10
Until recently the women were not familiar with money and were
therefore not interested in prices. This lack of interest in the price is
striking in the case of the shawl or alassho, which cost 80 German
marks at the beginning of the 1980s.
Anyone with any economic sense would tell the Tuareg that they
were too poor to be able to afford this item. I once asked a woman
what such a shawl costs, and she said she didn't know. She told me,
that she was not even interested in knowing; her husband was the one
10
In pre-colonial times the structure of the family among the Kel Ewey was less
closed and therefore more open to Hausa cultural influences. In pre-colonial times
many Kel Ewey men married Hausa slave girls (tewahey), in order to avoid the
disadvantages – as the men saw them – of the matrilinear and matrilocal system. At
that time many elements of Hausa culture were more widespread among the Kel
Ewey than today, such as Hausa food customs but above all the Hausa language.
While Kel Ewey women today speak no Hausa, there are some old women who can
still speak Hausa. They learned it either because there was a Hausa slave girl in the
household or because their mother was a Hausa slave (Spittler 1998, ch. 4).
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Gerd Spittler
Fig. 17: Woman with
alassho Shawl (Spittler
2003).
who brought it home. The men, on the other hand, who have always
used money for their commercial transactions in other societies, are
price-conscious in respect of their own consumer goods. The fact
that they have switched from the valuable alassho veil to a less beautiful muslin material (ashash) is just as much a result of their price
calculations as the substitution of cotton clothing by more robust but
less comfortable clothing made of man-made fibres.
The women are more conservative, but over long time periods
changes in consumer habits can be observed among them as well.
Agate jewellery has been widely used by them for centuries, but
tazerked, a head ornament specifically for brides, and elkurshi, a bracelet, both made of agate, were introduced at the end of the 19th century.
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
163
Fig. 18: Bride Ornament
(Spittler 2006).
Tea drinking became established among men at the beginning of
the 20th century, and among women from the middle of the century
onwards. As far as fabrics are concerned, only the handwoven
alassho was able to retain its supremacy. Machine-woven cotton
fabrics were used for all other garments from the middle of the 20 th
century onwards, although they were still dyed indigo. About twenty
years ago, the cheap multi-coloured cotton fabrics known as attanfa,
as worn by most women in West Africa, started becoming increasingly popular.11 Traditional household utensils, such as calabashes
and articles made of clay or wood, have gradually been replaced by
metal and plastic goods over the past twenty years.
11
The reasons why women wear attanfa today merit a special explanation. I have
treated this topic in my article “Explorations in African Vitality” (Spittler 2004:457458). The change of clothing among the Kel Ewey during the last 200 years is
treated in my article “Foreign Cloth and Kel Ewey Identity” (forthcoming).
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Introducing innovations was difficult because the individual desire to be different from others never played an important role in the
purchase of goods. All the women thought that Balarabe's sandals
were better than other sandals, and they all preferred jelegloki fabrics
to other indigo fabrics. If a woman did not wear them or did not possess Balarabe sandals, this was only because she, or rather her husband, could not afford them and they were forced to choose something cheaper instead. Thus it was not at all easy for innovations to
become established because finding a niche through individual variations in taste was not possible. New things either pleased everyone or
no one.
Nevertheless there were and are innovations. The first step is
taken by a caravaneer who brings home something new for his
mother, sister or wife. It first has to prove itself in his own household. There are many examples of goods which have not been accepted. The women do not directly criticize the item (such as a new
fabric or a new cooking pot), but show their opinion of it by not using it. If the item becomes established in one household, however, a
more or less lengthy process begins which ends either with its being
introduced in all households (e.g. the Balarabe sandals) or not at all.
The result depends not only on the degree to which people are convinced by the item itself, but also on the prestige of the household in
which it was first introduced. A whole range of new goods (including
Balarabe sandals and new types of fabric) were introduced through
the household of Alhaji Moussa (1921 – 2005), for example.
Sometimes it is not a ready-made product that is introduced, but a
raw material which only becomes a product by means of local appropriation. At the end of the 19th century, Alhaji Kel Ewey brought
agate beads with him from Mecca and gave them to his nieces. These
women combined them with other stones to create bracelets (el kurshi) for everyday use and a bridal head ornament (tazender, see Fig.
18). These adornments came into general use in the whole of Timia,
although there are only a few specimens of the head ornament in the
families, all of which originate from the four nieces of Alhaji Kel
Ewey. They are lent out to every bride in Timia and today (together
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
165
with the bracelets) form part of a specific identity through which the
Kel Timia distinguish themselves from other Tuareg.
IV. Shopkeepers and consumers in Timia
The caravans and the appropriation of goods associated with them, as
described in the preceding sections, still exist today. But today,
unlike in earlier times, they no longer have a supply monopoly but
share this with an increasing number of traders and shopkeepers in
Timia. Goods were always traded on a small scale in Timia. Wealthy
caravaneers, such as Alhaji Moussa, bought more goods in
Hausaland than they needed for their own household, such as tea and
sugar, sandals and alassho cloth. They did not display these goods in
a shop but hid them in their storehouse. No one knew that they had
something to sell unless they enquired. For various reasons, however,
this remained a sideline and did not lead to the development of professional traders and shopkeepers:
- No one in Timia had large amounts of cash that were continuously available for shopping.
- As a rule, those people in Timia who did not take part in the caravans because they had some other occupation (gardeners, craftsmen, marabouts) nevertheless possessed camels which they entrusted to relations or friends on the caravans, in order to obtain
their own supplies. Even if they did not possess any camels, they
could give money to a caravaneer. He then bought sandals or
shawls or other goods for them at the same price he bought them
for himself. By means of this system, known as albada (commission, order), those who stayed behind in Timia were able to buy
goods from Hausland at no extra cost through the agency of a
relative, neighbour or friend.
- It was not possible for a caravaneer to maintain a permanent monopoly on certain goods and exclude the others. Alhaji Moussa
had to learn this the hard way after discovering the Balarabe sandals. At first he tried to monopolize this trade for himself, but
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pressure from the other caravaneers forced him to reveal his
source.
- Anyone in Timia who does not hide his property but displays it
openly is subjected to great pressure from relations and neighbours
to share it, since he obviously owns more than he needs.
A number of social and economic changes were therefore necessary
before traders and shopkeepers could become established:
1. There had to be large amounts of cash regularly available. This
condition was fulfilled as from the 1980s, when a large number of
labourers were employed in a German development project in Timia
and paid in cash at the end of each month. Since that time the cooperative in Timia has run a lorry to take vegetables and fruit grown by
the gardeners to Agadez and Arlit and this gives the gardeners a
regular cash income. On the return journey, the lorry can then transport goods needed by the shopkeepers. The traders buy their goods
only in these two towns. As a rule, they do not go there themselves,
but give their order to the lorry driver.
2. Since the end of the 1990s, after the end of the Tuareg rebellion, increasing numbers of tourists have come to Timia. They are
not so much interested in the goods for sale in the shops as in traditional handmade products (silver jewellery and leather goods). But
the young men who work in the tourist business12 are good customers
in the shops, and in some cases own shops themselves. They are also
interested in new products.
3. While in earlier times women never left the oasis of Timia except to take their goats to the pasture grounds, in the last twenty
years or so an increasing number of women have got to know towns
such as Agadez, Arlit and even the capital, Niamey, or Algerian
towns such as Djanet. In some cases these are schoolgirls and students, and in other cases women who, unlike in earlier times, accompany their husbands who go to work in these towns. All these women
become familiar with new products which did not figure among the
12
They are known as chasse touristes, tourist hunters.
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
167
traditional range of products of the caravaneers. They cultivate individual tastes which distinguish them from other women, especially
those of the older generation. When they visit Timia, they bring their
new tastes with them and influence the other women.
4. In the last ten years there have been women in Timia who have
come from outside, in some cases from other ethnic groups. They are
teachers or wives of foreigners working in Timia and are a living
example of foreign dress customs.
5. For about twenty years several NGOs have regularly distributed clothing in Timia. At least as far as children are concerned, new
dress customs have been adopted, although it is not yet clear whether
these changes are permanent.
When I began my research in the mid-1970s, there was not a single shop in Timia, but now, at the beginning of the new millennium,
there are over twenty. All of them belong to natives of Timia. Some
of these are professional traders who have no other occupation and
who open their shop at fixed times. But for the majority their shop is
Fig. 19: Professional shopkeepers like this trader in Timia stock a wide range of
goods. (Spittler 2002)
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Gerd Spittler
a sideline or seasonal. Within the last years there have been great
fluctuations. Each year some shops close down and others start up.
The economic conditions for running a business are obviously not
widely known. Most of the traders are men, but there are also some
women.
There are no shop windows but the items are carefully arranged
inside the shop so that customers can clearly see what is there. Some
things are placed on shelves, some are hung on the wall (clothing),
and some things stand on the ground (such as sacks of rice, local
vegetables or cooking oil). The shops are open at fixed times and for
long periods (often from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), which means that potential customers are sure of being able to buy what they need at any
time of day. As a rule, goods are paid for in cash, but sometimes they
are exchanged for other goods or bought on credit.
The traders are not professionalized to such a degree that they
have no time for anything but their stock and their customers. For
most of the time there are friends sitting inside or in front of the
shop. Chairs are often put out especially for this purpose. Each shop
is also a place of communication for people who do not want to buy
anything. Because of this it it is difficult for women to enter the
shop. The customers are usually children sent by their mothers, or
older people. A girl or young woman needs a certain amount of
courage to enter the shop under the eyes of the young men.
What is new about these shops as compared with the caravan
trade? In what ways has consumption changed, or, to put it more
accurately, emerged? For all those who are willing and able to enter
a shop, there is a comprehensive range of goods permanently on
display which in principle they can buy if they wish and if they have
enough money. When people enter a shop, they always know beforehand exactly what they want. I have never seen anyone make a spontaneous decision to buy something they suddenly see. But some customers notice what is on display, look curiously at everything and
absorb these impressions. Anyone who goes frequently to the same
shop is familiar with most of the goods displayed there.
Caravaneers, Shopkeepers and Consumers
169
Small shops mostly stock a small range of standard, frequently
needed articles: salt, tea and sugar, cooking oil, rice, pomade, rubber
sandals, with just one type of each article. Bigger shops have not
only a wider range of articles but also different types of the same
article: several kinds of pomade or spaghetti, a selection of different
kinds of rubber sandals. Some shopkeepers introduce new products
from time to time which were previously unknown in Timia. They
stock them for a test period, to see whether people buy them or not.
They are obviously able to rely on at least a few customers who are
willing to try out new things.
In comparison to the caravan system, it is obvious that the goods
available in Timia have not only become more varied, but they have
also become more integrated in everyday life and more anonymous.
The customer and especially the trader know more or less vaguely
that the goods come from far away, often from outside Africa. But
because they are permanently present in the shops, they belong to the
everyday life of Timia. They are available at any time. In principle it
is easy to buy them; one only has to go across the street, but one
must have enough money – and that is where the difficulty lies. In
the caravan system, the goods arrive in Timia once a year, and the
arrival and unpacking of the goods is a big event. The goods have
been carefully selected. The caravaneers have spent many days in
Kura choosing the best quality alassho. The caravaneer has visited
several different markets, far apart from each other, searching for the
right wooden bowl for his daughter who is shortly to be married.
Many of the goods are bound up with stories. People know that the
sandals come from Balarabe, and they can enquire about his state of
health, or whether the sandals are now made by his son instead of by
himself. The fabrics from Nigeria come together with stories of harassment by the police, and the problems associated with smuggling
them across the border.
In Timia money is playing a new role. Many women are handling
money for the first time. Only thirty years ago there were women in
Timia who had never seen a banknote. They can now recognize the
different banknotes and are learning the prices of things. But the men
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Gerd Spittler
have also had to change their habits. In earlier times they had money
in their pockets once a year, following the sale of the dates and salt.
A caravaneer had to set priorities: first, he had to buy a year's supply
of millet for the family, then various items of clothing in Kano and
Kura. If any money was left over, he could then buy luxury items
such as honey or jewellery. On his return to Timia, the caravaneer
had spent everything he had on the annual requirements for his family. After this he saw no money for many months. But in the shops,
people buy things regularly in small amounts.
Today in Timia it is possible to speak of consumption and consumers, terms which were hardly appropriate under the monopoly of
the caravan system. Today there is a permanent and varied range of
products on sale and everyone can make their own selection. The
people mostly do not have much money, but they frequently have
some very small sum which enables them to buy what they need in
tiny amounts. When they enter a shop they almost always know exactly what they are going to buy. But they notice all the different
things on display and know that everything can be purchased.
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