Trade and market among the Mossi people

Skinner, Elliott P. (Elliott Percival)

book chapter

Trade and market among the Mossi people

Markets in Africa • (9) • Published In 1962 • Pages: 237-278, 739-753

By: Skinner, Elliott P. (Elliott Percival).

Abstract
According to Skinner, the Mossi kingdoms with their elaborate class system and hierarchical administrative apparatus derive much of their wealth and power from regulating and managing both internal and external Mossi market commerce: taxation and tribute obtained from the local and regional markets being a source of revenue maintaining the government and ruling elite. The point of view of the author is that the Mossi markets have multiple functions: not only as foci for internal trade exchanges between agriculturalists, herders, and certain craftsmen, but also that marketplaces are sites for rural-urban communication, intervillage social contact, rural administration, and performance of sacred and secular rituals and ceremonies. The author's thorough and complete coverage treats the social-political-economic-religious organization of the market as seen in all its dimensions. Historical evidence points to the crucial effects long range caravan trade had in establishing Mossi political power and dominance. The author refers liberally to these early sources for data on trade routes, volume and frequency of foreign trade, and on the marketable commodities themselves. Today, he claims that Mossi commerce is viable in two forms: external (trade with other West African societies) and internal (trade among the Mossi), both being a response to economic forces or pressures and to the existence of some surplus productivity enabling the Mossi to specialize in various types of production and distribution. Most of the article deals with the dynamics of the average daily or weekly market. He lucidly describes such ongoing processes as: market attitudes and expectations, structure and organization of mercantile establishments and retail selling, the commodities and services disposable on the market, the operation of the price mechanism in determining values and costs of products, the function of money, the nature of Mossi government supervision and inspection of the market, the integration of such institutions as marriages and funerals into the market situation, and other market rituals, ceremonies, and social behavior. While the author's discussion is not a theoretical analysis of general Mossi economic principles or their determinants, its descriptive generalizations on market interrelationships are superb. References at the end of the article are included in a combined bibliography for the entire volume.

Commercial facilities

Exchange transactions

Labor supply and employment

Production and supply

Retail marketing

Taxation and public income

Mossi