ABSTRACT
EARLIER in this book we analysed the claim that lineage heads own the land; but, apart from pointing out that women manage their farms, we left without further comment the categorical statement that “women own the crops or food.” We saw that rights over land are never absolute, but are to be defined in terms of social relationship and circumstance. A similar approach is necessary if we are to understand the nature and extent of the control exercised by women over the distribution of foodstuffs: it must, in short, be studied in a range of contexts, such as responsibility for the protection of standing crops, household management, gifts, trade, divorce, and inheritance.
