Traditional Rwanda
Primary 4 · Social and Religious Studies
Traditional Rwanda
Lesson 5 of 5
13 min
Imagine you lived long ago. You have a goat, and you need a new hoe. There are no shops and no money. What would you do? You would find a blacksmith who wants a goat, and swap!
Trade is buying, selling or exchanging goods and services. In pre-colonial Rwanda, people traded by barter: exchanging goods for other goods, without money.
Examples: a pot of beans for a clay pot; a goat for an iron hoe; a basket for some honey.
Some goods, like iron hoes and cows, were so valued that people used them almost like money. People traded at local meeting places and with neighbouring lands, to get things they could not make, such as salt.
Today, we use money: Rwandan francs (Frw), in coins and notes, or mobile money on a phone. Money solves the problems of barter: everyone accepts it, it is easy to divide and carry, and prices are clear.
Example: Mutesi's aunt sells 3 clay pots at 300 Frw each. She gets 3 × 300 = 900 Frw, which she can spend on anything she needs.
| Traditional trade | Modern trade | |
|---|---|---|
| How people pay | Goods for goods (barter) | Money: coins, notes, mobile money, bank cards |
| Where | Homes and local meeting places | Markets, shops, supermarkets and online |
| How goods travel | Carried on foot, on heads and backs | Lorries, motos, boats and aeroplanes |
| How far | Nearby hills and neighbouring lands | The whole world: Rwanda sells tea and coffee abroad and buys fuel and phones |
| Keeping money safe | No banks; wealth kept as cows and goods | Banks, savings groups and mobile money |
| Records | Kept in memory | Receipts, and taxes paid to the government |
Tip
BARTER = swap. TRADE with money = pay.
Barter needs a "double match": you want what I have, AND I want what you have. Money only needs one!
Answer: Exchanging goods for other goods, without money.
Answer: Any one: you must find someone who has what you want and wants what you have; some goods cannot be divided; it is hard to agree on value; goods are hard to carry.
Answer: Iron hoes and cows.
Answer: 4 × 200 = 800 Frw.
Answer: Any two: goods for goods vs money; local places vs shops and online; carried on foot vs lorries and planes; nearby vs the whole world; no banks vs banks and mobile money.
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The rest of the lesson, including the practice questions, is written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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