There are four features of traditional Melanesian economic systems and they are organised due to its diverse environmental conditions and cultural contracts.
By Flora Kageni
The traditional Melanesian economic systems are organised due to its diverse environmental conditions and cultural contracts.
There are four features of traditional Melanesian economic systems that are commonly found in Melanesia. They are; Production, property ownership, exchange, and the significance of gift exchange in Melanesian Life.
The principle mode of production in Melanesia is by doing horticulture and this enables the traditional communities to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. Staple food crops such as sweet potatoes, taro and yams vary from one area to another depending on the climate.These food crops are grown on shifting cultivation and simple tools such as digging sticks and stone axes. Raising of pigs is quite common in all Melanesian societies as it is known for its wealth in the societies.
There is little specialization in traditional Melanesian communities because people of the same sex know the same type of work to be done. Men do physically heavier duties such as clearing the bush for gardening, fighting, and hunting while women do weeding, planting and harvesting and doing house chores. Productive activities are done by the household group.
In order to understand the production system of Melanesian society, one must come to know the knowledge of the local’s social structures.
When talking about property ownership, the concepts differ from the Westerners. As in the Western concept, they are concerned with ‘Who owns the property?’ whereas in the Melanesian context we think of ‘Who has the rights over the property?’ Understanding the native concepts of property and patterns of inheritance is very significant.
In the traditional Melanesian economic system, there are three principle modes of exchange through which goods and services are distributed. They are;
- Reciprocal exchange - This takes the form of gift giving and mutual aid based on kinship sentiments and social obligations.
- Trade - when a community needs the goods which are produced or controlled by another community unrelated by kinship, they trade their own products for them. Many extensive trading routes have existed in Melanesia over the years.
III. Redistributive exchange - this mode of exchange involves pooling of goods and services by a central agent, often a big-man or sponsor of a feast, who then recollects them. Redistributive exchange involves reciprocity between the agent and a group or between groups. The most common examples are the communal celebrations and life-cycle feasts associated with birth, initiation, marriage and death.
With the significance of gift exchange in Melanesian life, goods and services were exchanged in the form of gift giving through the modes of reciprocal exchange, redistributive exchange and ritual trading. Gift exchange validates relationships. The exchange of valuables in Melanesia is not simply a transfer of ownership of goods from one person or group to another. A gift expresses and cements a relationship.
Gift exchange also marks the socio-political status of individuals or groups. In most Melanesian societies where no hereditary status exists, a man’s social position depends on how much wealth he can accumulate and give away.
PINIS.
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