The Inca system of reciprocal labor was called ayni. It was a form of mutual assistance in which individuals, families, or households exchanged work when help was needed. A family might assist another with planting, harvesting, house construction, or other demanding tasks, expecting equivalent help in return later.
Ayni reflected the broader Andean principle of reciprocity: social relationships were strengthened through balanced exchanges rather than through wages or unrestricted individual labor. The practice existed in Andean communities before the Inca Empire and continued after Spanish conquest in various local forms.
A common mix-up is between ayni, minka, and mita. Minka generally involved collective work for the benefit of a community, such as maintaining irrigation works or building public facilities. Mita was labor service owed to the state, often performed on a rotating basis for roads, temples, farms, or military infrastructure. Unlike those systems, ayni primarily described household-to-household mutual aid.
The word is Quechua and remains associated with reciprocal cooperation in the Andes today.