RECIPROCAL LABOUR IN AN AGRARIAN SOCIETY: 'IGBA ONWE ORU' AMONG THE IGBO OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Agriculture is the primary occupation of the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. However, at the centre of their agricultural practice is an enduring supply of labor, which practically involves everybody, so much so that in pre-colonial times it even influenced the composition of families. Labor was commonly exchanged among the people in what was called “Igba Onwe Oru." In fact, in the traditional and colonial societies, up to the period immediately after independence, the exchange of labor was common among families and friends. Reciprocal labor exchange, or “Igba Onwe Oru” was indeed at the center of the people's farming practice. Using historical methodology, which relies heavily on primary and secondary sources of information, the paper discusses the place of reciprocal labour in the people's agricultural practice. It draws strength from two socio-economic theories—reciprocity and communitarianism—and argues that reciprocal labour is an integral part of the people's communal living tradition. The paper concludes that although reciprocal labour may have gone through transformations, it will subsist considering the important role it plays in the 
people's agricultural and economic life