Role of Women in the Growth of the Traditional Igbo Economy

Abstract

The dynamism of women in the growth and development of the traditional Igbo economy would appear to have been obscured by negative and erroneous ideas of two groups of people. The first was the opinion expressed by some European writers such as David Hume, George Hegel and Trevor–Roper about Africa and Africans generally. According to these writers, Africa lacked the ingenuity to develop any form of civilization, science or arts¹. Thus Africa was given a blanket condemnation as a dark corner of the globe. The second biased opinion stemmed from the Igbo culture which was chauvinistic in favour of men, and thus played down on women values and their contributions to the socio-economic development of the Igbo economy. Until recently, the activities of women in the growth of Igbo traditional economy lacked the right attention by scholars; hence the need for this essay to highlight areas the Igbo women had contributed immensely to the growth of the traditional Igbo economy from the pre –colonial times up to the present.