It is not so long ago that women were a commodity in Europe

It is not an Islamic phenomenon: there are plenty of European Christians who treat women as breeding stock (certainly Roman Catholic and New Life communities can sometimes be like this).
There is an old Greek curse: "May all your sheep be rams and your children be daughters!" There are still older women who feel intensely guilty if they were unable to produce a son. Women had to be kept, fed and clothed by their fathers' money. Often women could not earn much money to support themselves and their family. The most that a man could hope for was for his daughter to "marry well" (i.e. marry someone with property and money). Consequently some men did want to get rid of their daughters as soon as possible!
I imagine a similar situation exists in these developing countries.
I suppose younger girls are more impressionable, more obedient, and more likely to be virgins - therefore they are attractive to men who want them to be a personal possession.