Discover how a day at the Bandjoun market with Ta Defo became a powerful lesson in social justice. Learn how Bamiléké trade practices balance fairness, dignity, and community values.
Following Ta Defo to the Bandjoun Market: The Art of Winning Without Making Others Lose
If you ask me why going to the market with Ta Defo was such an important part of my initiation in Bamiléké culture, my answer may surprise you. What I learned from Ta Defo is simple but profound: the market is the ultimate place where social justice is practiced.
Without giving lectures, Ta Defo taught me how to win without making the customer lose.
A Market Built on Flexible Prices
One of the unique features of the Bamiléké marketplace—shared by many African cultures—is that products do not have fixed prices.
There are no labels. No fixed rates.
The price is created in conversation—through a negotiation between the seller and the buyer. This negotiation takes into account:
- the true value of the product, and
- the customer’s situation or need.
To illustrate how this works, here is a story from my childhood.
A Lesson From a Day at the Grand Market
It was Dzedze, the day of the grand market in Bandjoun. The sun was high, and sales were slow. Suddenly, a woman arrived with her porter carrying many items she had already purchased. She wanted two small hoes used in ancestral rites.
These hoes are highly sought after because the ritual of the ancestors’ skulls holds deep religious and cultural meaning in Bamiléké society.
She asked for the price.
Ta Defo gave it.
She proposed her own—but it matched his exactly.
She explained that her children had returned from the city and wanted to organize a major ceremony. Ta Defo maintained his price, explaining that it reflected the true value of the tools. She paid and left.
A little later, another woman came. Poorer, visibly troubled, and clearly carrying her burdens alone, she asked for the same items.
To my surprise, Ta Defo offered her a lower price—for the exact same product.
She paid, thanked him, and left relieved.
I was confused.
Why sell the same product at two different prices on the same day?
Ta Defo’s Teaching: The Market as Social Justice
After a moment of silence, as he often did, Ta Defo looked at me and said gently:
“I hope you understood.”
I hadn’t.
So I asked again, “Understood what?”
He replied:
“The first woman had enough means—her children even provided for her.
The second woman was alone and suffering.
You must have the sensitivity to see other people’s problems.
What we gained from the first helped us lift the second.
And remember—we didn’t lose anything.
We built a relationship with both women.
They will return, and they will tell others to come.”
It was then that I understood:
the market can be a real space of social justice—where the dignity of the weak is protected, and relationships are strengthened.
This is the philosophy of Ubuntu lived through everyday gestures.
And You?
How does the marketplace work in your culture?
Do negotiation, solidarity, or community values shape the way people trade?
Share your experience with us!
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