Products of the oil palm

The first of the techniques to obtain palm wine consists of tapping the sap of a live palm through a cut at the base of the stem of the male flower, and collecting it in a calabash. This method causes little damage to the tree but requires a physical effort and technical skill. A man must climb the palm every morning and evening, with the help of a belt made from a piece of Iiana). The second technique requires cutting down the oil palm (generally a young one), and collecting the sap directly from a hole at the top. Every day, the cavity is enlarged and the sap drips through a small piece of bamboo into a calabash or jar. The two techniques are quite different from a sociological point of view, as in the case of other food products which can be used as cash crops. The first procedure, with its socially prescribed forms of consumption, reinforces lineage and marriage bonds as the personal qualities of the person providing the wine (such as strength and fidelity) are projected through the quality and quantity of the product. The second technique tends to erode traditional solidarity as the wine is usually sold and is thus consumed outside the kinship network. ln fact, the meaning and social bonds conveyed by a beverage, vary considerably from one culture to another