ABSTRACT
Existing literature 1 has suggested that while Igbo women were primarily involved in small-scale production and marketing of palm oil and kernel, men were involved in large-scale marketing as middlemen and local agents. In this chapter, I argue that while most women dominated small-scale production and petty marketing of palm produce and imported commodities, some of them emerged as powerful middlewomen trading directly with European merchants and expatriate firms. As middlewomen or brokers, these women involved in export-import trade, bulking and breaking bulk in palm produce and imported goods respectively. Profiles of some of these women traders are examined later in this chapter to provide an insight into their varying backgrounds, and explain how and why they became leading palm produce and import traders in Igbo society. The wealth and the increasing political power these women merchants acquired under stiff competitive and exploitative colonial situation are also discussed to raise the issues of gender relations and social mobility as well as access to and control of such important resources as money and credit facilities. Impact of improved transportation system, pax Britannica and urbanization on the role of women in the distributive aspects of Igbo economy is also analyzed.
