AGRICULTURE AND LAND TENURE SYSTEM IN IGBOLAND: THE UMUAHIA EXAMPLE UP TO 1896

Resumo

This article studied agriculture and the land tenure system in Igboland: the Umuahia example up to 1896. This study observed that Umuahia practiced a self-sufficient economy with the production of agricultural products such as: cash crops and its subsidiaries. Such crops include: palm farming, cocoa, yam, kola nuts, banana, cocoyam, raffia palm, vegetables and livestock. This study is of the view that land tenure systems were mainly patrilineal in Umuahia pre-colonial economic institutions. This study adopted a historical method. Primary, secondary and tertiary sources like oral interviews, archival materials, journals, published and unpublished texts, were employed as means of data collection for the historical reconstruction of the study. This study concluded that Umuahia's pre-colonial economy should be transformed and modernized. It should as a matter of fact employ mechanized farming so as to compete favorably with other communities in West Africa.