Changing family structures among the rural Hausa
Goddard, A.D.
Africa 43(3): 207-218
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-9720 DOI: 10.2307/1158523Document Number: 521974
This paper discusses those aspects of Hausa family structure which are directly related to the organization of rural production, particularly the family farming unit. This is defined as those members of a kinship group who combine their farming operations under a common leadership and organization, to form the basis for a common unit of domestic economy. Large family groups appear traditionally to have been accorded high prestige throughout Hausaland, but evidence is accumulating to suggest that both their size and functions have declined. This tendency has been accompanied by a more widely recognized trend towards the individualization of land tenure rights. Together, these trends suggest a revolution in the social fabric of rural Hausaland. Peasant farmers remain the main vehicle of agricultural development in the northern states, and changes in family organization, and land tenure are clearly important in shaping the pattern of development. A review of the literature illustrates some of the ways the family farming unit has changed. Evidence is also presented from a case study in Sokoto to suggest that the decline of large family groups has been accelerated in densely populated rural areas where individual effort has been increasingly substituted for communal organization in rural production.