ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the structure and organisation of the West African farming household. Although it relates to various societies in Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, as well as to Bamenda and to the Hausa in the Niger Republic, many observations have general application to West Africa south of the sahel zone. Polygyny is the rule in West Africa in the statistical sense that the average number of wives per husband at any point of time. With short intervals between marriages, the married state is normal for all West African men who have ever been married, except in some cases of severe ill health. There are five possible categories of adult in West African farming households headed by men: household heads, married sons, young unmarried sons, wives, and older widows. Speculation does not explain the very great variations in the roles of women within the West African forest zone, where tsetse infestation altogether prevents the use of the plough.
