Abstract

The paper examines the structural outlines of the traditional economy of the Urhobo in the nineteenth century prior to the advent of British colonial rule at about 1900. The study highlights elements of the geographic environment like climate, vegetation and soil in stimulating a meta-economy that promoted various economic activities like agriculture, industrial and handicraft manufacture, fishing, alcohol production, weaving, trade and related activities in which many segments of the population were engaged. Apart from the influence of the physical environment on the pre-colonial economy, the essay also examines cultural and historical experiences of the Urhobo as factors which helped shape their proclivity towards the ―independence‖ or self-reliance associated with the traditional occupational pursuits. Specialisation and environmental conditions further facilitated the growth of the cash or market economy in which various products of agriculture and wares of industry were exchanged. The paper submits that the structural interdependence among the various economic units, and between the economy and society‘s social and cultural institutions were salient factors which promoted sustenance, tenacity and resilience of the traditional economy of the Urhobo.

Keywords