African Pastoralist Systems: An Integrated Approach 9781685859602

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African Pastoralist Systems

PASTORALISTS OF AFRICA BEDOUIN

MOORS

TUAREG fODAABE EULANI

Mean Annual Rainfall (mm) 1000

EAST-AFRICAN PASTORALISTS ZULU,

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SAMBURU MUKUCUDO

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Kilimanjaro Indian Ocean

200km Deasy CeoCraphics Penn State

African Pastoralist Systems An Integrated Approach edited by

Elliot Fratkin Kathleen A. Galvin Eric Abella Roth

LYN NE RIENNER BOULDER LONDON

Published in the United States of America in 1994 by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 1800 30th Street, Boulder, Colorado 80301 and in the United Kingdom by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Gardens, London W C 2 E 8LU © 1994 by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data African pastoralist systems : an integrated approach / edited by Elliot Fratkin, Kathleen A. Galvin, Eric Abella Roth, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55587-322-7 (alk. paper) 1. Pastoral systems—Africa. 2. Nomads—Africa. 3. Human ecology—Africa. 4. Africa—Social conditions. I. Fratkin, Elliot M. II. Galvin, Kathleen A., 1949- . III. Roth, Eric Abella. GN645.A365 1994 306 ' .096 — d c 2 0

British Cataloguing-in-Publlcation Data A Cataloguing-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

Printed and bound in the United States of America

(~)

The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.

94-4470 CIP

Contents Map of Pastoral Groups in Africa List of Illustrations 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Introduction Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, and Kathleen A. Galvin

ii vii

1

Archaeological Perspectives on East African Pastoralism Fiona Marshall

17

Pastoralism in Historical Perspective Richard Waller and Neal W. Sobania

45

Mobility and Land Use Among African Pastoralists: Old Conceptual Problems and New Interpretations J. Terrence McCabe

69

Labor, Livestock, and Land: The Organization of Pastoral Production Elliot Fratkin and Kevin Smith

91

Diet, Nutrition, and the Pastoral Strategy Kathleen A. Galvin, D. Layne Coppock, and Paul W. Leslie

113

Demographic Systems: Two East African Examples Eric Abella Roth

133

Child Fostering Among Nomadic Turkana Pastoralists: Demographic and Health Consequences Bettina K. Shell-Duncan

147

Maidens and Milk Markets: The Sociology of Dairy Marketing in Southern Somalia Peter D. Little

165

v

vi

10

11

12

Contents

Rangeland Tenure and Pastoralism in Africa John G. Galaty

185

Pastoralist Decisionmaking: A Behavioral Ecological Perspective Monique Borgerhoff Mulder and Daniel W. Sellen

205

Future Directions in Pastoral Society and Research Eric Abella Roth, Elliot Fratkin, and Kathleen A. Galvin

231

Index The Contributors About the Book

237 245 247

Illustrations Tables 2.1 Pattern of Archaeological Research on Early Pastoralism in East Africa 2.2 Relative Proportions of Cattle, Sheep and Goats, and Wild Animals at Ngamuriak 2.3 Variation in Elmenteitan, Savanna Pastoral Neolithic, and Eburran 5a Subsistence 4.1 Annual Summary of Distance Traveled by Awi 1979-1982 4.2 Determinants of Movements 1979-1981 5.1 Time Allocation in Ariaal Settlements 5.2 Frequency of Task Performances of Married Women, December 11-21, 1985 5.3 Frequency of Task Performances of Married Men, December 11-21, 1985 6.1 Ecosystem Characteristics of the Turkana and Borana Regions 6.2 Human and Livestock Densities for Turkana and Borana 6.3 Anthropometric Measurements and Body Mass Index Scores for Turkana and Borana Adults 7.1 Mean Parity Levels for Postreproductive Women, Selected African Pastoral and Agropastoral Populations 7.2 Distribution of Additional Wives and Polygyny Measures 7.3 Distribution of Toposa Additional Wives by Husbands' Age 7.4 Husband-Wife Age Differences by Wife Order, Toposa Data 7.5 Fertility Histories for Sepaade Versus Non-Sepaade Women 7.6 Distribution of Male Heirs, Postreproductive First Wives 7.7 Variables for Logistic Regression 7.8 Logistic Regression Results 8.1 Percentage of Children Not Residing with Their Mothers 8.2 Frequency of Fostered Children by Marital Status of the Mother at Birth 8.3 Relation of Foster Parents to Fostered Children 8.4 Primary Reason for Fostering 8.5 Paired Sample T-test 8.6 Paired Sample Sign Test

vii

18 26 31 79 81 101 107 107 117 118 124 134 135 136 137 140 142 142 143 157 159 159 160 161 161

viii

9.1 9.2 9.3

Illustrations

Average Number of Milk Traders in Urban Markets, Kismayo Region Average Daily Number of Nomad Traders Selling Cattle and Camel Milk, Kismayo Region Sour Camel Milk Trader Costs and Returns, Kismayo Town

172 172 176

Figures 2.1a Cattle Survivorship at Ngamuriak Based on Dental and Epiphyseal Data 2.1b Average Growth Rates for East African Zebu Bulls 2.2a Caprine Survivorship at Ngamuriak Based on Dental and Epiphyseal Data 2.2b Average Growth Rates for Male and Female Maasai Goats 5.1 Time Allocation—Pastoral Rendille 5.2 Time Allocation—Town Rendille 6.1 Percent Contribution of Foods in the Diets o f T u r k a n a and Borana 6.2 Triceps Skinfold and Weight Measurements for Women and Men 8.1 Fostering Rates by Cohort 8.2 Proportion of Children Fostered by Sex and Cohort 8.3 Proportion of Nonmarital Births by Birth Order 9.1 Average Retail Price for Milk Products, Kismayo Region 11.1 Relationship Between Mean Number of Reproductive Wives per Married Year and Plot Size for Maina Men

27 27 28 28 106 106 121 126 156 157 158 174 215

Maps 2.1 2.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 5.1 6.1 8.1

Distribution of Important Early Sites of Stone-Using Pastoralists in Africa Location of Key Sites in East Africa Dating to Between 5,000 and 1,000 Years Ago Turkana Ngisonyoka Migration, Normal and Drought Years Angorot Herd Movement, 1980-1981 Location of Ariaal, Samburu, and Rendille in Kenya Locations of Several East African Pastoral Populations South Turkana

19 22 76 80 83 98 116 151

Plates 2.1 The Hut Floor at Ngamuriak 2.2 Cattle Distal Humeri from Ngamuriak

25 29

1 Introduction Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

Before 1960, anthropologists studying African pastoralist societies numbered a distinguished few—E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1940) on the Nuer, Philip Gulliver (1955) on the Turkana and Jie, Paul Baxter (1954) on the Boran, and Derek Stenning (1959) on the Wodaabe Fulani of Nigeria. What characterized these studies was their attention to the unique fit between livestock-keeping peoples and the arid lands they inhabit, between their particular social organizations and the demands of mobile livestock production. Interest in African pastoralists flourished in the 1960s and 1970s as a new generation of anthropologists produced ethnographies on the Boran (Dahl 1979a; Hjort 1979), Dasenech (Almagor 1978), Cyrenaican Bedouins (Behnke 1977), Fulani (Dupire 1962, Frantz 1980), Gogo (Rigby 1969), Hima Ankole (Elam 1973), Karimojong (N. Dyson-Hudson 1966), Maasai (Jacobs 1963; Spencer 1988), Pokot (Schneider 1979), Samburu and Rendille (Spencer 1965, 1973), Sebei (Goldschmidt 1976), Somali (Lewis 1961), and Tuareg (Nicolaisen 1963; Swift 1975). Though most of these works adhered to the structural-functional framework of British social anthropology, many followed Dyson-Hudson's (1972:14) call that to understand herders, one must understand herding. Studies increasingly applied n e w theoretical approaches and methods to the study of pastoralists, particularly those drawing from ecological anthropology (e.g., R. and N. Dyson-Hudson 1969; N. Dyson-Hudson 1980; Dyson-Hudson and Smith 1978; Dahl and Hjort 1976) and political economy, especially in studies about regions experiencing extensive drought and famine (Swift 1977; Horowitz 1979; Franke a n d C h a s i n 1980; Watts 1983). A major transition during this period, as noted in Rada and Neville Dyson-Hudson's (1980) discussion of nomadic pastoralism, was a trend away from ideal typologies of "pure pastoralists" to detailed, data-driven studies focusing on the dynamic processes characterizing specific pastoral adaptations. These studies, drawn from ethnographic research in Africa, the Mideast, and Asia, did not produce a unifying description of "pastoralism," but instead revealed the large amount of variation in social organization and environmental adaptations experienced by different livestock-keeping populations. Models predicting the range of variation included Philip Salzman's (1971) continuum of the degrees of multiresource exploitation and dependence on 1

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Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

nonpastoral products, Rada Dyson-Hudson and Eric Alden Smith's (1978) analysis of human territoriality and environmental resources, Fredrik Barth's (1964) and Harold Schneider's (1979) economic analyses of livestock as capital, and Marxist studies of the relationship between property and power in kinship societies (Asad 1979; Bonte 1978, 1981; Bourgeot 1979; Rigby 1985, 1992; Tomay 1979). During the 1980s, anthropologists increasingly turned to multidisciplinary approaches linking the study of pastoral peoples to the physical conditions and problems of arid lands, especially in the wake of continuing drought, environmental degradation, and political instability throughout Africa's arid regions. Several important interdisciplinary projects emerged during this period, including the South Turkana Ecosystem Project (STEP), which brought together ecologists, anthropologists, nutritionists, and demographers to study human dynamics of pastoral land use among Turkana pastoralists in Kenya (Little and Leslie 1990); the UNESCO-MAB Integrated Project in Arid Lands (IPAL), which studied impact of domestic livestock on desert environments in northern Kenya (IPAL 1984); and a multinational project studying human health, demography, and nutrition among settled and nomadic populations of Mali (Hill 1985). Although anthropologists continue to produce focused monographs of pastoral peoples, increasingly these studies are situated within larger historical and economic contexts (e.g., Ensminger 1992; Fratkin 1991; Little 1992; Rigby 1992; Schlee 1989). Furthermore, there is a trend in African pastoral studies, as in other areas of anthropological investigation, to engage in more collaborative and interdisciplinary research (e.g., Little and Leslie 1990; Dyson-Hudson and McCabe 1985; Fratkin and Roth 1990). At this time, interest in pastoralism is very high, as judged by the number of edited volumes recently published. Following the Sahelian drought of 1968-1973, specialized collections focusing on problems of ecological hazards and economic change included Pastoralism in Tropical Africa (Monod 1975), Pastoral Production and Society (Equipe Ecologie 1979), and The Future of Pastoral Peoples (Galaty, Aronson, and Salzman 1981). In the 1980s, as conditions for African pastoralists deteriorated with the Ethiopian famine (1982-1984) and civil wars in Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and elsewhere, new volumes appeared linking studies in anthropology, history, ecology, and development. These included The Ecology of Survival (Johnson and Anderson 1988), The World of Pastoralism (Galaty and Johnson 1990), Property, Poverty and People (Baxter and Hogg 1990), Herders, Warriors, and Traders (Galaty and Bonte 1991), Being Maasai (Spear and Waller 1993), and The Nomadic Alternative (Barfield 1993). Although they persuasively argued for the need to include history in the study of pastoral societies, a feature often lacking in older ethnographies, these volumes did not include discussions of biobehavioral topics such as demographic change, health and nutrition, and human and livestock ecology,

Introduction

3

despite the increase in these studies. This omission was unfortunate, as anthropologists conducted outstanding quantitative research, as in the STEP or UNESCO-IPAL projects mentioned above. Anthropology is a holistic approach to human organization, investigating both biological and cultural phenomena and utilizing both quantitative and qualitative analyses based on synchronic and diachronic data. It is toward the goal of combining perspectives and methodologies from a variety of subdisciplines that this volume is dedicated. African Pastoralist Systems emerged from an invitational session at the 1991 American Anthropological Association (AAA) meetings titled "Recent Developments in African Pastoralist Research." Researchers from a variety of disciplines, including archaeology, history, cultural anthropology, cultural ecology, behavioral ecology, demography, health, nutrition, and economic development, drew together to share their approaches in an integrated session. The panel was remarkable for assembling field researchers weary of the splintering and fracturing endemic in anthropology today. In addition to discussing their own active research in the context of new and varied theoretical approaches and methodologies, researchers were drawn together on one panel, perhaps for the first time, to present studies relying on predominantly qualitative approaches (history, ethnography, social change) and quantitative methodologies (archaeology, ecology, health, nutrition, demography, economic development). Rather than drawing hard-to-cross theoretical boundaries, the contributors were interested in and appreciative of other perspectives and sought to bring together different approaches in one concise volume on pastoralist systems. The resulting book, we feel, will occupy a unique niche in pastoral studies because of its integrated treatment of culture, history, pastoral ecology, economic development, demography, health, and nutrition. Anthropologists interested in pastoralism find themselves drawn by a fascination with nomadic peoples and a strong interest in studying the problems of cultural and biological adaptation of human populations (and their livestock) to arid lands. Romantic views of the nomad, love of open spaces, or affection for large animals may lure researchers to the field (more than many will publicly admit), but once there anthropologists must set about the serious business of studying how humans survive in arid and highly variable lands, where herders must depend on their domestic animals (with highly particular needs of their own) to achieve a regular food supply of milk and meat, or trade wool, hides, and livestock to obtain foods. Livestock-keeping peoples are found throughout Africa's arid regions and can be heuristically divided into four compass regions in which pastoral inhabitants share roughly similar environmental conditions, types of livestock, methods of economic production, related social histories, and cultural practices, including religion and political organization. (See the map that precedes this chapter.) North African pastoralists live within or along the margins of the Sahara

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Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

Desert, subsisting on small stock (goats and sheep), camels, and/or cattle, o f t e n in combination with oasis or highland horticulture (e.g., the B e r b e r s of M o r o c can Atlas, Kababbish Arabs of Sudan, Cyranaican Bedouins of Libya). T u a r e g groups of Niger, Algeria, and Mali c o m b i n e earnings f r o m long-distance trade across the Sahara with camel raising and oasis horticulture (Bernus 1990). Most North African pastoralists are practicing M u s l i m s whose societies tend towards hierarchically stratified systems, particularly a m o n g (formerly) slavekeeping Tuareg and Moorish societies (Baier and Lovejoy 1977). West African pastoralists include cattle-keeping peoples of the Sahelian grasslands, exemplified b y Fulani (Fulbe) peoples of Nigeria and Niger. T h e s e populations are also M u s l i m and have a long history of interaction w i t h sedentary states including the Hausa, Songhai, and B o m u . Like T u a r e g , Fulbe pastoralists undertake long-distance transhuman migrations, following the annual seasonal distribution of rainfall as they m o v e between the Sahara a n d the grasslands to the south. Southern African pastoralists include both N a m a (Khoisan) speakers a n d Bantu-speaking agropastoralists, including T s w a n a , Herero, Swazi, and Z u l u peoples, w h o combine cattle raising with dryland horticulture. A l t h o u g h these populations are largely sedentary, cattle play an increasingly important role in their economies, particularly in export-oriented countries such as B o t s w a n a (Hitchcock 1990). East Africa, with the largest variety and n u m b e r of pastoral societies, has historically been a focus of anthropological studies. Over 70 percent of K e n y a and 50 percent of Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia are occupied by livestock-keeping peoples, ranging f r o m specialized camel keepers (the Somali, Afar, Beja, Rendille, Gabra) to cattle and small-stock keepers (the Turkana, Pokot, Maasai, and Samburu). M a n y groups combine cattle keeping with dryland horticulture, including the Nuer, Dinka, and Toposa of Sudan; the Dasenech, Mursi, and O r o m o of southwestern Ethiopia; the K a r i m o j o n g , Jie, and Teso of Uganda; and the Parakuyu and Tatoga of Tanzania. East A f r i c a n p a s t o r a l i s t s are u s u a l l y o r g a n i z e d as small, d e c e n t r a l i z e d , a n d autonomous household units. M a n y live in semisedentary villages f r o m which livestock are herded daily, moving their villages periodically as resources diminish or political threats increase. T h e y differ f r o m M i d e a s t e m or Saharan pastoralists, w h o m o v e great distances with their animals as seasonal stresses increase. The majority of chapters in this volume are based on research a m o n g East African societies, although each author attempts to place his or her particular research focus in the larger context of pastoralism throughout the A f r i c a n continent.

A Systems Approach The varying perspectives presented here can be v i e w e d as different subsets of African pastoralism, hence the v o l u m e ' s title. T h o u g h none of us w o u l d adhere

Introduction

5

to the dogmatic version of systems theory that swept anthropology in the 1960s and 1970s (cf. von Betralannfy 1968), it is useful heuristically to conceive of any pastoral society as an overall system or structure within which are nested subsystems. Furthermore, this perspective mirrors today's academic world, in which necessity dictates specialization rather than generalization. Unfortunately, such specialization often results in walls of technical expertise and language, blocking communication between subfields. This is particularly true in anthropology departments, where divisions between qualitative and quantitative or cultural and biological approaches become rigid and, sadly, antagonistic to one another. In contrast, one of our major objectives is to eradicate as much as possible these artificial obstructions and allow communication across differing perspectives. We have less to gain and too much to lose by not doing so. In the terminology of systems theory adopted by U.S. archaeologist Kent Flannery (1972), subsystems exhibit two opposing features: segregation and centralization. Although these terms are defined in respect to the degree of control higher-level decisionmaking bodies maintain over lower-level bodies, they can more simply be interpreted to mean that subsystems are individually identifiable (segregated) yet simultaneously interdependent (centralized). Applying this view to East African pastoral societies, readily identifiable and vital subsystems would include livestock production and labor organization, nutrition, demography, mobility, and so forth. Identification of these subsystems— i.e., segregation—is a prerequisite to understanding the larger system within which they are nested. Yet, just as in statistical analysis, real understanding arises from examination of the interaction between variables—in this view, systems—represented by centralization. Rather than providing the ubiquitous and often bewildering flow diagram that accompanies systems theory analysis, let us use some of the particular case studies reported in this volume as subsystems to illustrate how a systems perspective can provide new views of older, established models in African pastoralism. One example involves the concept of "household development cycles" (Goody 1958), which stresses that households be viewed as the sum of vital processes within specific social systems rather than as invariant typologies. For pastoral research, this concept highlighted Stenning's (1958, 1959) analysis of Fulani household herd dynamics and human demography, which led to the view that a "pastoral strategy" entailed regulating household demography in accordance with the labor requirements of the principal herd animal. This model was reiterated for West African (Swift 1977), East African (Spencer 1975; Sato 1980), and indeed all African pastoralists (Dahl and Hjort 1976). Built upon Stennings's pioneering study of pastoral households, this model had a great deal to offer both theoretically and in terms of development planning. It traveled particularly well in the late 1970s, the heyday of cultural ecological models. Today cultural ecology has transformed into behavioral ecology, and cultural factors of residence, marriage patterns, and economic differentiation are integrated with Darwinian biological theory (see Borgerhoff Mulder and

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Elliot Fratlcin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

Sellen, Chapter 11, this volume). Similarly, socioeconomic theory has grown to embrace political economy, world systems theory, and political developments, including current democracy movements in Africa and elsewhere (see Little, this volume). Methods have also grown in sophistication, as landsat photographs replace (or complement) surveying instruments and laptop computers allow statistical analysis during fieldwork. Contributions in this volume discuss current developments in theory and method in the study of African pastoralists as they attempt to define particular subsets of pastoral systems. Using a broad systems format as described above, let us ask what subsystems would be explicitly and/or implicitly involved in a discussion of population regulation in a pastoralist society. First and foremost, such a model would involve demographic subsystems involving all three principal parameters: fertility, mortality, and migration. Equally important for East African pastoral regimes, labor needs are traditionally regulated by the formation of regularly spaced age sets, as detailed in Fratkin and Smith's chapter on pastoral production (Chapter 5). Unexpectedly, Roth's overview of African pastoral and agropastoral demography reveals a very wide range of demographic regimes. Such diversity could be explained in terms of differing ecological conditions, leading to dependence upon differing domesticated animals—e.g., cattle versus camels, as previously postulated for Samburu versus Rendille pastoralists of northern Kenya (cf. Spencer 1973, 1975). Or, as detailed by Shell-Duncan's chapter on child fosterage (Chapter 8), problems in satisfying labor requirements arising from naturally occurring demographic differentials could be assuaged through "fostering out" children for varying periods. However, inspection of the particular case studies presented here sheds doubt on the broad validity of these assumptions. First, consider the disparate cases represented by the Rendille (Roth) and the Turkana (Galvin, Coppock, and Leslie). Though both feature dependence upon camels in arid northern Kenya, the Rendille demographic strategy has long been cited as emphasizing population regulation in order to avoid the loss of slowly reproducing camel stock (cf. Douglas 1966; Kreager 1982; Roth 1993; Spencer 1973, 1975; Sato 1980). In contrast, Galvin, Coppock, and Leslie suggest that Turkana population strategy is actually to maximize human population size. Both cultures have the same environment, and the same central domesticated animal, the camel; why, then, is the Rendille demographic strategy so different from that of the Turkana? Although one variable alone cannot hope to answer this question, one important, often-ignored perspective is historical. In this and other texts, Sobania (1980, 1988, 1991) documents the differing recent historical backgrounds of the Rendille and the Turkana, with the former suffering territorial restriction as a result of colonial policies and the latter enjoying steady territorial expansion. In addition, in this volume Waller and Sobania focus our attention on the history of livestock epidemics, which affected the Rendille differently than the Turkana (see also Waller 1988). Their research reveals

Introduction

7

repeated periods in which herd decimation occurred far m o r e rapidly than human demographic adjustments could be made. B y casting doubt on the implicit view o f h u m a n p o p u l a t i o n — a n i m a l herd homeostasis, such i n f o r m a tion negates the m o d e l of pastoral households adjusting their d e m o g r a p h i e s to satisfy the labor requirements of their herds. However, child fosterage could represent a key adaptive strategy to periods of population-herd disequilibrium, as households suffering drastic livestock loss could foster out suddenly "surplus" children to households with larger livestock holdings and hence higher labor requirements. A s noted b y Waller and Sobania in this volume, this pattern was p r o m i n e n t during the time of the Emutai, or disaster, at the end of the nineteenth century, w h e n epidemics devastated both livestock herds and h u m a n labor. At this time, livestock-rich but labor-poor Rendille m a d e h e a v y use of Samburu labor. Yet a m o n g the m a n y surprises in S h e l l - D u n c a n ' s remarkable analysis of T u r k a n a child fosterage in this v o l u m e is the finding that the most c o m m o n rationale for fostering children arises f r o m nonmarital births. T h o u g h this finding does not invalidate fostering for labor shortages, which is classified in T u r k a n a society as short-term borrowing (akilep, to beg), it does reveal an unsuspected rationale for fostering that m a y not be entirely linked to labor demands. These case studies neither c o n f i r m nor negate the broad-based m o d e l of pastoralists regulating their own d e m o g r a p h y to meet the labor d e m a n d s of their herds. Rather, b y focusing on the interactions of subsystems necessary to implement culture-specific strategies of livestock m a n a g e m e n t , they can provide tests of such broad-based m o d e l s on a case-by-case basis. In the same w a y , case studies in this v o l u m e p e r m i t critical e x a m i n a t i o n of what Bonte and Galaty (1991:5) term "the myths, misconceptions, simplifications a n d overgeneralizations about pastoralists that p e r v a d e our popular and a c a d e m i c vision of A f r i c a . " By far the m o s t tenacious and pernicious of these is the idea of A f r i c a n pastoralists as ecologically insensitive. U n d o u b t e d l y this view gained t r e m e n d o u s p r o m i n e n c e as a result of Garett H a r d i n ' s " t r a g e d y of the c o m m o n s " a r g u m e n t (1968), w h i c h used a hypothetical pastoral system of c o m m o n grazing lands as a m e t a p h o r for overpopulation. H o w e v e r , this is really only the most recent evocation of this view. Indeed, H o r o w i t z and Little (1987) trace this v i e w b a c k to the fourteenth century, and A n d e r s o n (1984) s h o w s h o w the dismal picture of the 1930s dust bowl of North A m e r i c a w a s transferred to the East A f r i c a n savannas. A l t h o u g h m o d e m data s h o w that traditional pastoralism is at least as productive as c o m m e r c i a l r a n c h i n g (cf. C o u g h e r n o u r et al. 1985; C o s s i n s and Upton 1987), this negative v i e w of pastoralism m a d e its w a y into the d e v e l o p m e n t world, w h e r e a f o r m e r director of the U N E S C O Integrated Project in Arid L a n d s wrote, "In b a l a n c e it s e e m s that the symbiosis o f pastoral m a n and his domestic a n i m a l s has been very successful if v i e w e d as a survival strategy in the short term. In the long term it appears less s u c c e s s f u l since it tends to destroy its o w n h a b i t a t " ( L a m p r e y 1983:656, quoted in

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Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

McCabe, Chapter 4, this volume). In contrast, Marshall's chaptcr on the archaeology of East African pastoralism (Chapter 2) paints a picture of a long-standing cultural tradition successfully adapted to its immediate environment. This prehistoric perspective, when linked to modem studies showing pastoralists coexisting in stable ecosystems, exemplified by the Maasai of Ngorongoro Crater (Homewood and Rogers 1987), is a powerful argument for the ecological sensitivity of African pastoral systems over long periods. Likewise, McCabe's analysis of Turkana mobility sheds new, well-researched, and reasoned light on an old, contentious topic. As nicely laid out in his initial review, anthropologists in the 1970s and 1980s went to considerable trouble to establish a strictly dichotomous interpretation of pastoral movements: Such movements resulted either from ecological concerns or from political considerations. McCabe's rich database showed that far from being mutually exclusive, these two factors did not even adequately cover the rationale given by herd managers. By eliciting einic responses for herd movements over time, McCabe's analysis demonstrates that yet another pastoral strategy (cf. Dyson-Hudson 1980) consists of several subsystems, in this ease including environmental, social, and security conccrns. Yet another misconception about pastoral societies is that they constitute isolated, self-sufficient systems. The work of several authors in this text puts this notion to rest, either directly or in more subtle ways. In the first instance, Waller and Sobania (Chapter 3) show that pastoralist ethnic boundaries were far more fluid than fixed in precolonial times, whereas the onset of the colonial period witnessed large-scale interaction, which varied widely among pastoralists because of geographical location, contact history, and vested colonial interests. Though not as blatant, the Galvin, Coppock, and Leslie analysis of the nutritional regime of the largely subsistence-based Turkana economy (Chapter 6) reveals significant amounts of cereal in the diet. This staple, obtained through trade, undoubtedly provides evidence of the long-standing links between pastoralists and agriculturalists in East Africa (cf. Galvin 1992; Little 1992). Two case studies presented here—John Galaty on Maasai group ranches (Chapter 10) and Peter Little on milk marketing in Somalia (Chapter 9)—particularly highlight forces that preclude pastoral isolation in the modern world. Galaty's judicious combination of social statistics with life histories paints a depressing picture of change for many Maasai after the demise of Kenya's group-ranching scheme. Dramatic changes in Maasai culture include privatization of land previously held communally and commoditization of alcohol, which was previously drunk communally by Maasai men. The resulting modern mixture is unfortunately a potent brew, which is a significant factor in land sales. As for the Somali, Little begins by pointing out that milk sales have been largely overlooked in the pastoral literature, which historically has been

Introduction

9

androcentrically focused on males and male activities—e.g., herding and livestock sales. As with previously recorded shifts from subsistence to market economies for agricultural societies (cf. Kennedy and Cogill 1987), one crucial variable is the changing roles of women. Little's lucid analysis of milk marketing in one of the few countries where the majority of people are pastoralists clearly demonstrates vital linkages between rural and periurban populations within the country, as well as the effects of international food aid. In these circumstances pastoralists and their products can hardly be viewed as isolated. A final "pastoral myth" concerns the egalitarian nature of African pastoralists. Specifically, this view stresses collaboration and cooperation in pastoral societies (cf. Dahl 1979b; Schneider 1979), largely underlain by the existence of a "moral economy" (Watts 1983) that provides at least subsistence-level provisioning for all. Today this perspective is changing, with new findings emphasizing inequalities in livestock holdings (Sutter 1987; Roth 1990; Fratkin and Roth 1990) and production (Grandin 1988; Holden, Coppock and Assefa 1991; Little 1992). Fratkin and Smith utilize time-allocation methodology (cf. Fratkin 1989) to examine inequalities in labor patterns found within Ariaal Rendille households. Their findings reveal strong influences exerted by wealth levels as well as livestock specializations—e.g., focusing on small versus large stock. S u r p r i s i n g l y , h o u s e h o l d d e p e n d e n c y ratios had little e f f e c t , n e g a t i n g Chayanov's Rule (Sahlins 1972) which posits that in subsistence economies people from large households work less intensively. Other exceptions to Chayanov's Rule as applied to pastoral societies have been noted (cf. Roth 1990); the real finding from Fratkin and Smith's article is the consideration and quantification of the many sources of inequalities within a single pastoral group. In this volume two differing theoretical perspectives, cultural ecology and behavioral ccology (often viewed as conflicting, if not incompatible—cf. Smith 1984; Smith and Winterhalder 1992), focus on decisionmaking. In the first regard, McCabe employs emic description of Turkana herders as they choose herding locations based on a variety of environmental and sociopolitical variables. In the second case, Borgerhoff Mulder and Sellen employ the theoretical concepts of behavioral ecology to understand decisions pastoralists make about livestock and labor, particularly in the context of competing demands for wives (through bridewealth of livestock payments) or larger animal herds. Pastoralist stock keepers must constantly weigh the growth of their herds against the growth of their families, needing security in each to provide for the other. The authors show how evolutionary ecology, though originally applied to demographic analysis of pastoral populations (cf. Borgerh o f f Mulder 1988a, 1988b; Cronk 1989, 1991), has great potential for modeling and understanding diverse aspects of pastoral life, including multispecies stocking strategies, recovery from drought, settlement patterns, and the in-

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Elliot Fratkin, Eric Abella Roth, Kathleen A. Galvin

f l u e n c e of w e a l t h differentials. T h e o r e t i c a l l y c o m b i n i n g the biological principle of natural selection w i t h e c o n o m i c d e c i s i o n m a k i n g rules to c o n s t r u c t optimality m o d e l s ( S m i t h and W i n t e r h a l d e r 1992), b e h a v i o r a l e c o l o g y m o v e s dramatically a w a y f r o m p r e v i o u s m o d e l s o f g r o u p cooperation to stress intrag r o u p c o m p e t i t i o n o v e r physical and labor resources, for m a t e s , a n d f o r w e a l t h . T a k e n together, the case studies in this v o l u m e represent current, fieldb a s e d , d a t a - d r i v e n a n a l y s e s o f East A f r i c a n p a s t o r a l i s m and E a s t A f r i c a n pastoralists. D r a w i n g f r o m e x t r e m e l y varied theoretical p e r s p e c t i v e s , they n e v e r t h e l e s s are united in p r e s e n t i n g empirical portraits, both d i a c h r o n i c a n d s y n c h r o n i c , on these people. In a t t e m p t i n g to bring t o g e t h e r m u c h o f w h a t is n o w k n o w n a b o u t these p e o p l e a n d their societies, the a u t h o r s ' dual goals are to critically r e e x a m i n e past m o d e l s of pastoral life and to p o i n t to possible future research directions. In addition to p r o v i d i n g a s y s t e m s a p p r o a c h , this v o l u m e h o p e s to discredit the untrue but persistent generalizations about p a s t o r a l i s t s — t h a t t h e y are either ecologically shortsighted and destructive or, equally false, that they are selfsufficient or intrinsically egalitarian (what W a l l e r and S o b a n i a in this v o l u m e describe as the " c o f f e e - t a b l e - b o o k s t e r e o t y p e " of the " w a n d e r i n g n o m a d " or the d i s a p p e a r i n g " n o b l e savage"). Pastoralists rarely w a n d e r , they are certainly not disappearing, and, in truth, they are n o more nor less n o b l e than any other p e o p l e in the w o r l d . Pastoralists do, h o w e v e r , face particular p r o b l e m s b e c a u s e of their habitation o f scmidesert or arid lands, w h i c h in A f r i c a are increasingly subject to drought, w a r f a r e , land constriction, and f a m i n e . D e s p i t e these hardships, pastoralists c o n t i n u e to d e p e n d on livestock for f o o d and i n c o m e , constituting an important c a t e g o r y of h u m a n adaptation and a f a s c i n a t i n g p o p u l a t i o n to study and understand.

References Almagor, Uri 1978 Pastoral Partners: Affinity and Bond Partnership Among the Dasenetch of Southwest Ethiopia. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Anderson, David 1984 Depression, Dustbowl, Demography and Drought: The Colonial State and Soil Conservation in East Africa in the 1970s. African Affairs 83: 321-343. Asad, T. 1979 Equality in Nomadic Social Systems? Notes Towards the Dissolution of an Anthropological Category. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societes Pastorales (ed.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 4 1 9 - 4 2 8 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Baier, S., and P. E. Lovejoy 1977 The Tuareg of the Central Sudan: Gradations in Servility at the Desert Edge (Niger and Nigeria). In Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, pp. 391-411. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Barfield, T. 1993 The Nomadic Alternative. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Barth, Fredrik. 1964 Capital, Investment and the Social Structure of a Pastoral Nomad Group in South Persia. In R. Firth and B. X. Yamey (eds.), Capital, Savings, and Credit in Peasant Societies, pp. 69-81. London: George Allen and

Introduction

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Unwin. Baxter, P. T. W. 1954 The Social Organization of the Boran of Northern Kenya. Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University. Baxter, P. T. W., and Richard Hogg (eds.) 1990 Property, Poverty and People: Changing Rights in Property and Problems of Pastoral Development. Manchester, UK: Department of Anthropology, Manchester University. Bchnke, Roy H., Jr., 1980 The Herders of Cyrenaica: Ecology, Economy, and Kinship Among the Bedouin of Eastern Libya. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Bemus, Edmond 1990 Dates, Dromedaries, and Drought: Diversification in Tuareg Pastoral Systems. In John G. Galaty and David Johnson (eds.), The World of Pastoralism, pp. 149-176. London: Guildford Press. Bonte, Pierre 1978 Pastoral Production, Territorial Organization, and Kinship in Segmentary Lineage Societies. In P. Burnham and R. F. Allen (eds.), Social and Ecological Systems, pp. 203-226. London: Academic Press. Bonte, Pierre 1981 Marxist Theory and Anthropological Analysis: The Study of Nomadic Pastoralist Societies. In J. S. Kahn and J. Llobera (eds.), The Anthropology of Precapitalist Societies, pp. 22 -56. London: MacMillan Press. Bonte, Pierre, and John Galaty 1991 Introduction. In J. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 3 - 3 2 . Boulder: Westview Press. Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique 1988a Kipsigis Bridewealth Payments. In L. L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Türke (eds.), Human Reproductive Behavior, pp. 65-82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique 1988b Reproductive Success in Three Kipsigis Cohorts. In T. H. Clutton-Brock (ed.), Reproductive Success, pp. 419-435. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bourgeot, A. 1979 Structure de classe, pouvoir politique et organisation de l'espace en pays Toureg. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societes Pastorales (ed.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 141-153. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cossins, N. J., and M. Upton 1987 The Borana Pastoral System of Southern Ethiopia. Agricultural Systems 27: 199-218. Coughernour, M., J. Ellis, D. Swift, D. Coppock, K. Galvin, J. McCabe, and T. Hart 1985 Energy Extraction and Use in a Nomadic Pastoral Economy. Science 230: 619-662. Cronk, Lee 1989 Low Socioeconomic Status and Female-Biased Parental Investment: The Mukogodo Example. American Anthropologist 91: 414—429. Cronk, Lee 1991 Wealth, Status and Reproductive Success Among the Mukogodo of Kenya. American Anthropologist 93: 345-360. Dahl, G. 1979 Ecology and Equality: The Boran Case. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societies Pastorales (ed.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 261-281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dahl, Gudrun 1979 Suffering Grass: Subsistence and Society of Waso Borana. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Dahl, Gudrun, and Anders Hjort 1976 Having Herds: Pastoral Herd Growth and Household Economy. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology, No. 2. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Davison, Jean 1989 Voices from Mutira: Lives of Rural Gikuyu Women. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. Douglas, Mary 1966 Population Control in Primitive Groups. British Journal of Sociology 17: 263-273. Downing, Thomas E., Kangethe W. Gitu, and Crispin M. Kamau 1989 Coping with

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Drought in Kenya: National and Local Strategies. Boulder: Lynne Rienner. Dupire, Marguerite 1962 Trade and Markets in the Economy of the Nomadic Fulani of Niger (Bororo). In P. Bohannon and G. Dalton (eds.), Markets in Africa, pp. 335-364. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. Dyson-Hudson, Neville 1966 Karimojong Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Dyson-IIudson, Neville 1972 The Study of Nomads. Journal of Asian and African Studies 7: 2-29. Dyson-Hudson, Neville 1980 Strategies of Resource Exploitation Among East African Pastoralists. In D. Harris (ed.), Human Ecology of Savannah Environments, pp. 171-184. New York: Academic Press. Dyson-Hudson, Neville, and Rada Dyson-Hudson 1982 The Structure of East African Herds and the Future of East African Herders. Development and Change 13: 213-238. Dyson-Hudson, Rada and Neville 1969 Subsistence Herding in Uganda. Scientific American 220 (2): 76-89. Dyson-Hudson, Rada and Neville 1980 Nomadic Pastoralism. Annual Review of Anthropology 9: 15-61. Dyson-Hudson, Rada, and J. Terrence McCabe 1985 South Turkana Nomadism: Coping with an Unpredictably Varying Environment. Ethnography series FL 17-001, Human Relations Area Files. New Haven, CT. Dyson-Hudson, Rada, and Eric Alden Smith 1978 Human Territoriality: An Ecological Reassessment. American Anthropologist 80: 21—41. Elam, Y. 1973 The Social and Sexual Roles of Hima Women: A Study of Nomadic Cattle Breeders in Nyabushozi County, Ankole, Uganda. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Ensminger, Jean 1992 Making a Market: The Institutional Transformation of an African Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societes Pastorales (eds.) 1979 Pastoral Production and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940 The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Flannery, Kent 1972 The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3: 399—426. Franke, Ronald W., and Barbara Chasin 1980 Seeds of Famine: Ecological Destruction and the Development Dilemma in the West African Sahel. Montclair: Montclair Press. Frantz, Charles 1980 The Open Niche, Pastoralism, and Sedentarization in the Mambila Grasslands of Nigeria. In P. C. Salzman (ed.), When Nomads Settle, pp. 62-79. New York: J. F. Bergin Publishers. Fratkin, Elliot 1989 Household Variation and Gender Inequality in Ariaal Pastoral P r o d u c t i o n : R e s u l t s of a S t r a t i f i e d T i m e A l l o c a t i o n S u r v e y . American Anthropologist 91: 430-440. Fratkin, Elliot 1991 Surviving Drought and Development: Ariaal Pastoralists of Northern Kenya. Boulder: Westview Press. Fratkin, Elliot, and Eric Abella Roth 1990 Drought and Economic Differentiation Among Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya. Human Ecology 18: 385-402. Galaty, John G., Dan Aronson, and Philip Carl Salzman (eds.), The Future of Pastoral Peoples. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre. Galaty, John, and Pierre Bonte (eds.) 1991 Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Galaty, John, and David Johnson (eds.) 1990 The World of Pastoralism. London: Guildford Press. Galvin, Kathleen A. 1992 Nutritional Ecology of Pastoralists in Dry Tropical Africa.

Introduction

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American Journal of Human Biology 4: 209-221. Goldschmidt, Walter 1976 The Culture and Behavior of the Sebei. Berkeley: University of California Press. Goody, Jack 1958 The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Grandin, Barbara 1988 Wealth and Pastoral Dairy Production: A Case Study from Maasailand. Human Ecology 16: 1-21. Gulliver, Philip H. 1955 The Family Herds. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Hardin, Garrett 1968 The Tragedy of the Commons. Science 162: 1243-1248. Hill, Allen G. (ed.) 1985 Population, Health and Nutrition in the Sahel: Issues in the Welfare of Selected West African Communities. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Hitchcock, Robert K. 1990 Water, Land, and Livestock: The Evolution of Tenure and Administration Patterns in the Grazing Areas of Botswana. In John G. Galaty and David Johnson (eds.), The World of Pastoralism, pp. 216-254. London: Guildford Press. Holden, Sarah J., D. Layne Coppock, and Mulugeta Assefa 1991 Pastoral Dairy Marketing and Household Wealth Interactions and Their Implications for Calves and Humans in Ethiopia. Human Ecology 19: 35-60. Homewood, Katherine, and William Rogers 1987 Pastoralism, Conservation and the Overgrazing Controversy. In D. Anderson and R. Grove (eds.), Conservation in Africa: People, Policies and Practice, pp. 111-128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Horowitz, Michael M. 1979 The Sociology of Pastoralism and African Livestock Projects. AID Program Evaluation Discussion Paper No. 6, The Studies Division, Office of Evaluation, Bureau for Program and Policy Coordination. Washington: United States Agency for International Development. Horowitz, Michael M., and Peter D. Little 1987 African Pastoralism and Poverty: Some Implications for Drought and Famine. In Michael Glantz (ed.), Drought and Famine in Africa: Denying Drought a Future, pp. 59-82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hjort, Anders 1979 Savanna Town. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm. Hjort, Anders 1981 Herds, Trade and Grain: Pastoralism in Regional Perspective. In J. Galaty, D. Aronson, and P. Salzman (eds.), The Future of Pastoral Peoples, pp. 135-143. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre. IPAL 1984 Integrated Resource Assessment and Management Plan for Western Marsabit District, Northern Kenya. IPAL Technical Report No. A-6. Nairobi: UNESCO. Jacobs, Alan H. 1965 The Traditional Political Organization of the Pastoral Masai. Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University. Johnson, David, and David Anderson (eds.) 1988 The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from North East African History. London: Lester Crook Academic Publishing. Kennedy, Eileen T., and Bruce Cogill 1987 Income and Nutritional Effects of the Commercialization of Agriculture in Southwestern Kenya. Research Report No. 63. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute. Kraeger, Phillip 1982 Demography In Situ. Population and Development Review 8: 237-266. Lamprey, Hugh 1983 Pastoralism Yesterday and Today: The Overgrazing Problem. In F. Bouliere (ed.), Tropical Savannahs, pp. 643-666. Vol. 13, Ecosystems of the World. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Lewis, I. M. 1961A Pastoral Democracy (A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among

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the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa). L o n d o n : O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y Press. Little, Michael D., and Paul W . Leslie (eds.) 1990 The South Turkana Ecosystem Project. Report to the Government of Kenya, Office of the President. Department of A n t h r o p o l o g y , State University of N e w York, B i n g h a m t o n . Little, Peter D. 1992 The Elusive Granary: Herder, Farmer and State in Northern Kenya. C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press. M o n o d , T h e o d o r e (ed.) 1975 Pastoralism in Tropical Africa. L o n d o n : O x f o r d University Press. N d a g a l a , Daniel K. 1990 Pastoral Territoriality and L a n d Degradation in Tanzania. In Gisli Palsson (ed.), From Water to World Making: African Models and Arid Lands, pp. 1 7 5 - 1 8 7 . Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of A f r i c a n Studies. Nicolaisen, J. 1963 Ecology and Culture of the Pastoral Tuareg. N a t i o n a l M u s e u m of C o p e n h a g e n , Ethnografisk raekke Vol. 9. Rigby, Peter 1969 Cattle and Kinship Among the Gogo. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Rigby, Peter 1985 Persistent Pasiorulisis. L o n d o n : Z E D Publications. Rigby, Peter 1992 Cattle, Capitalism, and Class: Ilparakuyo Maasai Transformations. Philadelphia: T e m p l e University Press. Roth, Eric Abella 1990 M o d e l i n g Rendille H o u s e h o l d Herd Structure. Human Ecology 18: 4 4 1 - 4 5 6 . Roth, Eric A b e l l a 1993 A R e e x a m i n a t i o n of Rendille P o p u l a t i o n R e g u l a t i o n . American Anthropologist 95(3): 5 9 7 - 6 1 1 . Sahlins, Marshall 1972 Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton. Salzman, P. C. 1971 M o v e m e n t and Resource Extraction A m o n g Pastoral N o m a d s : The Case of the Shah N a w a z i Baluch. Anthropological Quarterly 4 4 (2): 185— 197. Sato, Shun 1981 Pastoral Movements and the Subsistence Unit of the Rendille of Northern Kenya. Osaka: Senri Ethnological Series, N o . 6. Schlee, G u n t h e r 1989 Identities on the Move: Clanship and Pastoralism in Northern Kenya. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Schneider, Harold 1979 Livestock and Equality in East Africa. B l o o m i n g t o n : Indiana University Press. Smith, Eric A l d e n 1984 A n t h r o p o l o g y , Evolutionary T h e o r y and the E x p l a n a t o r y Limits of the E c o s y s t e m Concept. In E. M o r a n (ed.), The Ecosystem Concept in Anthropology, pp. 5 1 - 8 6 . A A A S Selected S y m p o s i u m 92. Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Smith, Eric A l d e n , and Bruce Winterhalder 1992 Natural Selection and Decision M a k i n g : S o m e Fundamental Principles. In E. Smith and B. W i n t e r h a l d e r (eds.), Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior, pp. 2 5 - 6 0 . Chicago: Aldine de Ciruyter. Sobania, Neal W . 1980 The Historical Tradition of the Peoples of the Eastern Lake Turkana Basin, c. 1840-1925. Ph.D. dissertation, School of Oriental and A f r i c a n Studies, University of L o n d o n . Sobania, Neal W . 1988 Pastoralist Migration and Colonial Policy: A Case Study f r o m N o r t h e r n Kenya. In D. J o h n s o n and D. A n d e r s o n (eds.), The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from North East African History, pp. 2 1 9 - 2 3 9 . L o n d o n : Lester Crook A c a d e m i c Publishing. Sobania, Neal W . 1991 Feasts, F a m i n e s and Friends: N i n e t e e n t h C e n t u r y E x c h a n g e and Ethnicity in the Eastern Lake Turkana Region. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 1 1 8 - 1 4 4 . Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Spear, T h o m a s , and Richard Waller (eds.) 1993 Being Maasai: Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa. L o n d o n : James Currey.

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Spencer, Paul 1965 The Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe. Berkeley: University of California Press. Spencer, Paul 1973 Nomads in Alliance: Symbiosis and Growth among the Rendille and Samburu of Kenya. London: Oxford University Press. Spencer, Paul 1975 Scarcity and Growth in Two African Societies. In R. Moss and R. Rathbone (eds.), The Population Factor in African Societies, pp. 57-75. London: University of London Press. Spencer, Paul 1988 The Maasai of Matapato: A Study of Rituals of Rebellion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Sperling, Louise, and John Galaty 1990 Cattle, Culture and Economy: Dynamics in East African Pastoralism. In J. Galaty and D. Johnson (eds.), The World of Pastoralism, pp. 69-98. London: Guildford Press. Stenning, Derek 1958 Household Viability Among the Pastoral Fulani. In J. Goody (ed.), The Developmental Cycle in Domestic Groups, pp. 92-119. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Stenning, Derek 1959 Savannah Nomads. London: Oxford University Press. Sutter, John W. 1987 Cattle and Inequality: Herd Size Differences and Pastoral Production Among the Fulani of Northeastern Senegal. Africa 57: 29-50. Swift, Jeremy 1975 Pastoral Nomadism as a Form of Land Use: The T w a r e g o f Adrar n Iforas. In T. Monod (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa. London: Oxford University Press. Swift, Jeremy 1977 Sahelian Pastoralists: Underdevelopment, Desertification, and Famine. Annual Review of Anthropology 6: 457-478. Tornay, Serge 1979 Generations, Classes d'ages et superstructures: a propos de l'etude d'une ethnie du cercle Karimojong (Afrique Orientale). Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societies Pastorales (eds.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 307-327. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. von Beralanffy, L. 1968 General Systems Theory. New York: Braziller. Waller, Richard 1988 Emutai: Crisis and Response in Maasailand, 1883-1902. In D. Johnson and D. Anderson (eds.), The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from North East African History, pp. 73-113. Watts, Michael 1983 The Demise of the Moral Economy: Food and Famine in a Sudano-Sahelian Region in Historical Perspective. In J. Scott (ed.), Life Before the Drought, pp. 124-146. Boston: Allen and Unwin.

2 Archaeological Perspectives on East African Pastoralism Fiona Marshall

Louis Leakey laid the background to archaeological study o f early pastoralists in East Africa by establishing the Holocene archaeological sequence during his first and second East African archaeological expeditions between 1926 and 1929 (Leakey 1929, 1931, 1935). But systematic study o f early pastoralism in East Africa has taken place only during the last twenty-five years. Field work has been patchy (Table 2.1), and much remains to be done. Nevertheless, research to date in East Africa on stone tool-using pastoralists is among the most detailed on the continent. It shows that pastoralism has a minimum 4,000-year time depth in East Africa and probably first spread from the Sahel and Sudanic regions to the north between 5,000 and 4 , 0 0 0 years ago (Ambrose 1984a; Barthelme 1985; Marean 1992; Marshall et al. 1984; Phillipson 1977). East Africa also represents the most southerly portion o f Africa to have been occupied by substantial populations o f stone tool-using pastoralists. Pastoralism was the first form o f food production practiced in the region and developed in the social and economic context o f adjacent hunter-gatherer rather than agricultural groups. Recent regional and multidisciplinary studies demonstrate that by 3 0 0 0 B.P. some pastoral economies in East Africa differed from those known in other parts o f Africa because they relied upon a much more specialized economic base, focusing on domestic stock, with little i f any hunting, fishing, plant cultivation, or use of wild plants for food (Marshall 1990b). But there was variation in modes o f production within and between Neolithic pastoral groups in their degree o f dependence on domestic animals (Ambrose 1984a, 1984b; Gifford et al. 1980; Marshall 1986, 1990b). I argue here that this variation suggests considerable flexibility in the subsistence strategies o f stone-using pastoralists in response to 1) opportunities created by the development o f a bimodal rainfall system in the region; and 2) constraints resulting from relations with local hunter-gatherer and pastoral groups and 3) the distribution o f the tsetse fly in the area. The scope o f this chapter is limited to stone-using pastoralists. In it I lay out the North African background to the spread o f pastoralism to East Africa;

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Table 2.1 Pattern of Archaeological Research o n Early Pastoralism i n East Africa Region Northern Kenya Laikipia Baringo Central Rift and Western Highlands Loita-Mara Lake Victoria Serengeti Ngorongoro Mt. Kilimanjaro

Date of Fieldwork

Robbins 1960s, Phillipson 1970s, Barthelme 1970s, Merrick ongoing Siiriainen 1970s Hivemel 1970s Leakey, Louis 1930s, Leakey, Mary, 194ft-1950s, Sutton 1960s, Brown 1960s, Cohen 1960s, Nelson 1970s, Bower 1970s, Onyango Abuje 1970s, Wandibba 1970s-1980s Ambrose 1980s-ongoing, Marean 1980s, Mbae 1980s-ongoing Marshall 1980s, Robertshaw 1980s, Siiriainen 1980' Gabel 1960s, Robertshaw 1980s, Munene ongoing Bower 1970s-1980s Reck 1920s, Sassoon 1960s Mturi 1970s

Based on Azania volumes 1-26; Nyame Akuma volumes 1-36.

outline the cultural and chronological framework for the study of stone-using pastoralists in East Africa; detail the results of recent research on the development of early pastoral economies in southwestern Kenya; and discuss the influence of climatic, social, and political factors on the development of pastoral subsistence strategies in East Africa.

The North African Background Because the ultimate origin of East African pastoralism is northern, a brief review of the development of pastoralism in the Sahara provides a useful context for the spread of pastoralism into East Africa. Just as in East Africa, pastoralism in North Africa developed among hunter-gatherer rather than settled agricultural or urban populations. The origins of pastoralism in North Africa are still a matter of controversy, however. There is some evidence (Nabta Playa and Bir Kiseiba, Map 2.1) to suggest that local wild cattle (Bos primogenus) may have been domesticated in the eastern Sahara about 9000 B.P. (Gautier 1984a, 1987). However, little is known about the ecology and morphology of North African Bos primogenus, and archaeological samples are small, so this date is not widely accepted (Smith 1984b, 1986; but see Wendorf et al. 1987). The traditional view is that domestic cattle in North Africa

Archaeological

M a p 2.1

Perspectives

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Distribution of important early sites of stone-using pastoralists in Africa, with approximate dates for their first occurrence in northern, eastern, and southern Africa. Reprinted with permission from American Anthropologist 92:880.

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Marshall

originated in the Near East (Clutton-Brock 1989; Epstein 1971; Epstein and Mason 1984), where an agricultural economy appeared by about 10,000 B.P. (Moore 1985). Most scholars still accept this as the most likely origin for sheep and goats in North Africa (Gautier 1984a, 1987; Mcintosh and Mcintosh 1988). It is, however, generally agreed that by 7000 B.P. a distinctive form of pastoralism had developed in North Africa. This date coincides with the end of a wet period in the Sahara and extension of Mediterranean vegetation, grasslands, and shallow lakes in the region. Seven thousand years ago cattle-, sheep-, and goat-herding pastoralists with a diverse subsistence base, comprising domestic animals and an array of wild resources, lived at sites in the central and southeastern Sahara (Wadi Bakht, Gabron, Enneri Bardague, Uan Muhuggiag, Ti n Torha; see Map 2.1) (Gautier 1982, 1987). Use of wild plant resources was intensive at some sites, and evidence from Nabta Playa suggests that it was sufficient there to result by as early as 8000 B.P. in alteration of the lipid struture of sorghum to a structure similar to that found in modern domestic varieties. There is no evidence for morphological change (Wendorf ct al. 1992). By 6000 B.P. pastoral sites were common in the Sahara (Smith 1980a, 1980b, 1984a). Pastoralists at these sites used pottery and grindstones and were apparently quite mobile (but see Barich 1987 and Wendorf et al. 1984 for some exceptions), making seasonal use of the diverse resources of the Sahara; activities included hunting, fishing, shellfish collecting, fowling, and specialized gathering of wild grains (Gautier 1987). There is no evidence of social stratification in burials of this time period or of systematic exchange or trade (Mcintosh and Mcintosh 1988). Hunter-gatherer groups persisted, especially in the western Sahara. Nothing is known about hunter-gatherer social structure or hunter-gatherer/pastoralist relations. However, pastoral groups made substantial use of wild resources, and there is evidence that some hunter-gatherer groups were quite specialized wild-grain collectors, hunters, or fishermen (Mcintosh and Mcintosh 1988; Petit-Maire et al. 1983; Sutton 1977), some perhaps semisedentary (Close 1980; Gautier and Van Neer 1982; McDonald 1991); thus, there must often have been competition for food. The subsequent development of pastoralism in North Africa took place against a background of deteriorating climatic conditions resulting from major systemic changes at the end of the last glaciation (Street and Gasse 1981; Mcintosh and Macintosh 1988; Nicholson and Flohn 1980). One response to the increasingly seasonal rainfall and aridity after 6500 B.P. may have been heavier reliance on small stock at the expense of cattle (Gautier 1987:173). The most widespread strategy, however, appears to have been to move south to wetter areas. Cattle were raised to the south in the Sahelian zone between the sixth and the fourth millennium B.P. (Adrar Bous, Arlit, and Karkarichinkat; see Map 2.1) (Gautier 1987; Smith 1980, 1984) and in the Sudan (Kadero) as

Archaeological Perspectives

21

early as 6500 B.P. (Gautier 1987; Haaland 1992; Kryzaniak 1991). B y the fourth millennium B.P. the Sahara was as dry as it is today, and grasslands h a d vanished; b y 3 0 0 0 B.P. m u c h of it w a s deserted (Mcintosh and M c i n t o s h 1988). The earliest secure evidence of domestic plants in A f r i c a also appears on the fringes of the Sahara and dates f r o m this period. At the site of Dhar Tichett in Mauritania, domesticated pearl millet f r o m 3 5 0 0 B.P. is f o u n d , suggesting seasonal use o f plant resources b y a pastoral group (Holl 1985; cf. M u n s o n 1976; see also A m b l a r d and Pernes 1989). It has been suggested that s o r g h u m and millet were domesticated in a n u m b e r of different places in the Sahelian zone at this period (Harlan 1976, 1982, 1989, 1992), but our k n o w l e d g e is h a m p e r e d b y p o o r preservation and retrieval of botanical material. Seasonal use of domestic plants, however, w a s certainly adopted b y m a n y pastoral groups by 3 0 0 0 B.P. It has also been argued that morphologically wild sorghum was cultivated by pastoral groups to the southeast in the Sudan b y as early as 5000 B.P. at the site of Kadero (Haaland 1992; but see Kryzaniach 1991 for a different view). There, intensive use of plants seems to have f o r m e d part of a mobile and seasonally diverse pastoral e c o n o m i c strategy, including cattle keeping, fishing, hunting, and collecting of mollusks (Gautier 1984b; Haaland 1992; Kryzaniak 1978, 1984, 1991). In s u m m a r y , the responses of early N o r t h African pastoralists to environmental instability and increasing aridity in the region, starting as early as 6500 B.P., included use of a wide variety of wild plants and animals, plant cultivation, and southerly m o v e m e n t of pastoral populations. The spread of pastoralism into East Africa can best be understood as part of this larger picture of early pastoralism in Africa.

East Africa: Origins of Pastoral Economies Sheep and goats have been found in what have been interpreted as hunter-gatherer levels at E n k a p u n e Ya M u t o (level R B L 2.1) in the central R i f t Valley f r o m as early as about 5000 B.P. (Marean 1992) ( M a p 2.2). T h e earliest securely dated pastoral sites in East Africa, however, as yet date to only about 4 0 0 0 B.P. and are found in northern Kenya. The term Pastoral Neolithic is used in East A f r i c a to refer to all societies with a Later Stone Age lithic technology, ceramic vessels, and an economic base relying heavily on domestic stock ( B o w e r et al. 1977). At the site of GaJi 4, or Dongodien, on the eastern shores of Lake Turkana, an associated Nderit material culture is found in levels that date to about 4 0 0 0 B.P. (Barthelme 1985). It is characterized by distinctive pottery and a microlithic stone tool industry. Bones of fish, domestic cattle, sheep and goats, and small wild animals suggest a generalized herding, hunting, and fishing subsistence base at the site (Marshall, Stewart and Barthelme 1984). N o plant

22

Fiona Marshall

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Location of key sites in East Africa dating to between 5,000 a n d 1,000 years ago. Reprinted with permission f r o m American Anthropologist 92:880.

Archaeological Perspectives

23

materials were recovered at this site, and the nature of plant use is u n k n o w n . Other sites of this period f r o m northern K e n y a include GaJi 2, Illeret, and N o r t h Horr. Unfortunately, very f e w sites of this age have been f o u n d and excavated in East A f r i c a . At present most scholars believe that early pastoral sites of this time resulted f r o m m o v e m e n t of pastoral groups into East A f r i c a f r o m the Sudanese or Ethiopian areas as a result of increasing aridity to the north (Ambrose 1984a; Barthelme 1985; B o w e r 1991; Phillipson 1977). There are also similarities in aspects of the material culture and subsistence systems between such pastoral sites as Kadero near K h a r t o u m and the Nderit sites of northern Kenya (Barthelme 1985). In both areas use of domestic stock is combined with hunting and fishing. The material culture on the K h a r t o u m sites, however, is m u c h more rich and varied than on the northern K e n y a n sites (Kryzaniak 1978, 1984, 1991) and perhaps more suggestive of some degree of internal social differentiation. It has also been argued that there are resemblances b e t w e e n K a n s y o r e pottery f o u n d on Later Stone A g e sites in East A f r i c a and Neolithic sites f r o m the southern Sudan, suggesting influences f r o m the north on East A f r i c a n hunter-gatherer groups well prior to the presence of pastoralists in the area (Ambrose 1990). The degree to which local hunter-gatherer groups in East Africa adopted pastoralism between 5000 and 4 0 0 0 B.P. is u n k n o w n , although the presence of domestic stock in hunter-gatherer levels (RBL2.1) at E n k a p u n e ya M u t o by 5000 B.P. (Marean 1992) is suggestive either of herding or of significant contact with herders by that time. By 3000 B.P. there was a substantial increase in the n u m b e r and size of sites f o u n d in East A f r i c a and in the amount of variation in material culture and subsistence systems (Bower 1988, A m b r o s e 1984a). M a n y of the sites studied f r o m this time period are distributed in the productive grasslands of central and southwestern Kenya. On the basis of differences b e t w e e n sites in location, stone tool reduction sequences, pottery shapes, and decoration and burial traditions, A m b r o s e (1984a) recognized two m a j o r divisions in the pastoral Neolithic starting between 3000 and 2000 B.P.: Savanna Pastoral Neolithic and Elmenteitan. He also suggested that Eburran sites such as E n k a p u n e Ya M u t o (level R B L 1 ) or Naivasha Railway Rockshelter represent a continuation of hunter-gatherer traditions in the central R i f t Valley areas. Although not all scholars agree, A m b r o s e ' s system does provide a useful f r a m e w o r k within which to view the development of pastoralism in East Africa. It should, however, be borne in mind that archaeologically distinct material culture complexes d o not necessarily correspond with ethnic boundaries (Herbich and Dietler 1989, Dietler and Herbich 1989). T h u s archaeologists, sociocultural anthropologists, linguists, and historians (Sobania and W a l l e r 1989) group people in different ways. For this reason, and because of our

24

Fiona

Marshall

insufficiently detailed knowledge of the East African archaeological sequence, archaeologists cannot tie the archaeological record directly to present-day people (see also Bower 1991). There is no archaeological evidence to support past attempts to correlate the Nderit with Cushitic-speaking peoples and the Elmenteitan with Nilotic-speaking people (Ambrose 1982; Phillipson 1977). Data on the East African Pastoral Neolithic are best suited to documenting how people lived, and how these lifeways vary with place and through time.

Development of Early Pastoralism I will now outline the archaeological evidence for the development 3,000 years ago of distinctively East African forms of pastoralism oriented toward production from domestic herds. I will also detail the archaeological evidence for considerable variation and flexibility in pastoral subsistence strategies at that time. Some of the key evidence comes from the Loita-Mara region of southwestern Kenya and the site of Ngamuriak (Marshall and Robertshaw 1982; Robertshaw and Marshall 1990). Ngamuriak is a large open site covering an area of some 8,000 square metres and containing only one major occupation horizon, which dates to approximately 2,000 years ago. It is characterized by pottery and an obsidian-based lithic industry of the Elmenteitan type. Features of the location, structure, and material culture of the site indicate that it was occupied by people primarily oriented toward the needs of domestic herds rather than agricultural production. It is situated, as are many other Elmenteitan and Savanna Pastoral sites—as well as the contemporary Maasai settlements in the Lemek Valley—on a gentle slope with a gradient that facilitates drainage and minimizes livestock diseases (Western and Dunne 1979). The site is made up of a complex of refuse heaps, huts, and stock-holding areas. The refuse heaps contain stone tools, animal bones, and pottery. Animal dung is preserved in some places within the site, suggesting stock-holding areas. A single hut floor was excavated (Plate 2.1); its structure is somewhat ephemeral and shows no evidence of rebuilding (Robertshaw and Marshall 1990). This fact, together with the single occupation level at the site, suggests that Ngamuriak was not occupied for as long as would be expected in a settled agricultural community. Instead it falls within the range of variation found among contemporary pastoralists, who move frequently for pasture and because of the buildup of dung and insect pests (Marshall 1990b). Given the very high biomass of wild animal species in the area today, we would expect to find abundant wild animal remains preserved in the domestic refuse. Instead it appears that few if any wild animals were consumed at the site. Out of a total of some 60,000 bones, only 22 bones of wild animals were found. Cattle, sheep, and goat bones, however, are present in large numbers at Ngamuriak, and it seems likely that the focus on domestic rather than wild

Archaeological Perspectives

25

Plate 2.1 The hut floor at N g a m u r i a k (scale units 50 cm).

animals was a conscious choice. The morphology of cattle orbital rims, together with animal size, indicates that these people were using humped cattle, Bos indicus, rather than North African Bos taurus (Marshall 1989). This is the earliest documentation of humped cattle in East Africa by some 1,500 years (but see Grigson 1991 for a different view). The presence of Bos indicus is significant because of likely Asian-African connections at this time (Marshall 1989) and because of this species' apparently superior productivity to Bos taurus in hot and dry conditions. Bos indicus breeds are particularly well adapted to the fluctuations in heat, water, and forage quality characteristic of East Africa (Epstein 1971; Frisch and Vercoe 1977; Ledger and Sayers 1977; Philips 1960, 1961; Western and Finch 1986). They are also more resistant to ticks, gastrointestinal parasites, and rinderpest than are Bos taurus breeds (Epstein and Mason 1984; ILCA 1979). A l t h o u g h more sheep and goat than cattle bones are preserved at Ngamuriak (Table 2.2), given the high turnover rates of small stock (which multiply four times as fast as large stock), it is likely that cattle herds were considerably larger than sheep and goat herds (Marshall 1990a).

26

Fiona Marshall

Table 2.2 Relative Proportions of Cattle, Sheep and Goats, and Wild Animals at Ngamuriak (estimations of age based on teeth) Taxon

NISP

MNI'

Age Class N

Sheep and 2,404 goats Cattle 2,228 Impala 13 Dik-dik 1 Zebra 1 Warthog 1 Rhinoceros 1

68 26 1 1 4 3 1

8 4 —

OJ

16 2 —

2 4 1

YA

AD

AG

12 —

27 14

4 2

—

—

—

VO

— — —

—

NISP = Number of identifiable specimens; MNI = minimum numbers of individuals. Age classes: N= neonate; J= juvenile; OJ = Old juvenile; YA = young adult; AD = adult; A G = aging adult; V O = very old. Based on Marshall 1990a, p. 211.

Data on dental eruption and wear and on epiphyseal fusion provide information about patterns of livestock management at the site. In response to fluctuating cycles of drought and disease, contemporary pastoral herds in East Africa are primarily managed for growth, rather than milk or meat (Dahl and Hjort 1976). Animals that die are usually eaten, and animals surplus to the growth needs of the herd are culled, optimally adult males. Under stress, pastoralists may cull relatively higher proportions of animals, including male calves (which compete with females and humans for milk) and older females. At Ngamuriak, peaks of young adult and adult animals indicate highly selective culling of cattle between approximately thirty-six and forty-eight months (Figure 2.1). This would be after their first growth spurt, when animals have achieved a considerable body weight. There is a similar pattern for small stock (Figure 2.2). Thus the cattle and caprine age profiles at Ngamuriak suggest a settlement that was relatively unstressed for food and able to leave animals until close to maximum weight before culling. Some additional clues to the diet and well-being of pastoralists at the site can be derived from butchery marks on animal bones and from patterns of intentional bone breakage. By comparison with bones from earlier archaeological sites, the large mammal bones at Ngamuriak show evidence of intensive processing. Cattle limbs show heavy longitudinal and transverse chopping, ends are commonly chopped into two or three pieces (Plate 2.2), and all shafts are broken. These patterns, together with the location of burning on

Archaeological Perspectives

27

100

SI

3 CO

Age (months): • Dental A Epiphyseal Figure 2.1a

Cattle survivorship at Ngamuriak based on dental and epiphyseal data.

500 o>

JZ o> " 5 a> >

20

Age Figure 2.1b

30

40

50

(months)

Average growth rates for East African Zebu bulls (after Semenye 1980:16). Figures 2.1a and 2.1b are r e p r i n t e d with permission f r o m American Anthropologist 92:880.

28

Fiona

Marshall

JZ

o > 3

en 10

20

30

Age (months): • Dental A Epiphyseal Figure 2.2a

Caprine survivorship at Ngamuriak based on dental and epiphyseal data.

O)

o> a> 5 a> >

10

20

Age (months) Males — 0 — Females Figure 2.2b

Average growth rates for male and female Maasai goats (after Wilson, Peacock, and Saycrs 1981:22). Figures 2.2a and 2.2b are reprinted with permission from American Anthropologist 92:880.

Archaeological Perspectives

Plate 2.2

29

Cattle distal humeri from Ngamuriak, showing the extent of fragmentation.

bones, suggest roasting of some bones and intensive processing of bone for fat t h r o u g h boiling. A n i m a l s must have been in good condition w h e n they died, or b o n e s would not have contained enough m a r r o w to have been worth processing (Speth 1983, 1987). Moreover, this level of processing suggests that there w a s a particular need for fat in the diet (Speth and Spielman 1983; Speth 1987). It is clear that animal foods were obtained chiefly f r o m domestic herds rather than f r o m the hunting of wild animals. But because of p r o b l e m s in retrieval of botanical material and interpretation of negative evidence, whether o r not cultivation played a role in the subsistence activities at N g a m u r i a k is a m o r e difficult question to resolve. R o b e r t s h a w (1990) has argued on the basis o f differences in size and in animal dung accumulation b e t w e e n Elmenteitan sites in southwestern K e n y a that there was variation b e t w e e n such settlements in the degree of concentration on production f r o m domestic stock. S o m e plant material w a s found at Ngamuriak, but the samples studied w e r e too small for absence to be meaningful. H o w e v e r , there is little material

30

Fiona Marshall

culture to suggest m u c h processing of plant material. F e w grindstones and n o stone axes or hoes were recovered. There are n o traces of ancient field systems, and sites are located away f r o m water sources. The p e o p l e 2,000 years ago at N g a m u r i a k were certainly pastoralists. Although only small quanitities of d u n g were f o u n d at the site, I believe that they specialized in production f r o m domestic herds and were not cultivating. This conclusion also fits with the intensive bone processing at the site and the need for fat in a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet largely oriented toward consumption of milk, blood, a n d meat f r o m domestic herds (Marshall 1990b). Other Elmenteitan sites (such as those at Aitong) with similar general features of site structure, domestic faunas, and quantities of animal d u n g clearly fall into this pattern. V e r y small Elmenteitan sites such as S a m b o N g i g e also have entirely domestic faunas and fall within the size range of specialpurpose meat feasting, or ceremonial, sites found a m o n g contemporary pastoralists (Mbae 1990). They may also—as R o b e r t s h a w (1990) suggests—reflect variation between households in social relations or e c o n o m i c success. H o w e v e r , in m y view differences in material culture based on quantity rather than kind are not sufficient to indicate any degree of social hierarchy within the Elmenteitan. T h e question of h o w widespread the apparent concentration on production f r o m domestic stock was at Elmenteitan sites in southwestern K e n y a can be addressed through data from other sites in southwestern K e n y a and in the central Rift Valley.

Variation in Early East African Economies Evidence f r o m a n u m b e r of other sites associated with both Elmenteitan and Savanna Pastoral Neolithic cultures dating f r o m 3 , 0 0 0 - 2 , 0 0 0 years ago in southern K e n y a reinforce the pattern of specialized use o f animal resources d o c u m e n t e d at Ngamuriak. There is similar evidence for concentration on production f r o m domestic stock at other Elmenteitan sites in the Loita-Mara area, the R e m n a n t site on the M a u Escarpment, Elmenteitan levels at Maasai Gorge, and E n k a p u n e Ya M u t o shelters near Naivasha (Table 2.3). This pattern can also be seen at Savanna Pastoral Neolithic (SPN) sites in the L e m e k Valley, in the Loita area, and in the central R i f t Valley (Marshall 1990b). In the L e m e k Valley, SPN sites such as L e m e k - N o r t h - E a s t appear generally contemporary with the Elmenteitan sites, but pottery style and decoration, local clay sources, lithic reduction sequences, a n d sources of obsidian all d i f f e r between Elmenteitan and SPN sites, suggesting considerable social and economic separation. This conclusion m a k e s the similarity in concentration on production f r o m domestic stock even m o r e striking. S P N sites f r o m other areas with large faunal assemblages and concentra-

Archaeological

Perspectives

31

tion on production from d o m e s t i c stock include Narosura in the Loita area and Crescent Island Main in the central Rift V a l l e y . H o w e v e r , there are e x c e p t i o n s to this pattern o f s p e c i a l i z e d u s e o f d o m e s t i c animals. First, there is a set o f sites that preserve mixtures o f w i l d and d o m e s t i c fauna and are a s s o c i a t e d w i t h diverse pottery a s s e m b l a g e s and stone tools. A m b r o s e b e l i e v e s that these sites f o l l o w the tradition o f Later Stone A g e Eburran hunter-gatherers o f the area ( A m b r o s e 1984a, 1984b), s u g g e s t i n g that they represent the persistence o f p e o p l e with foraging adaptations in the area and perhaps s i g n i f y i n g transitions to f o o d production. Sites o f this kind include Crescent Island C a u s e w a y and

Table 2.3 Variation in Elmenteitan, Savanna Pastoral Neolithic, and Eburran 5a Subsistence (based on fauna)

Subsistence

Elmenteitan

Savanna Pastoral Neolithic

5000-3000 B P. Hunter-gatherers with some stock 4000 B P Generalized herder/hunters 3000-2000 B P. Specialized herders

Enkapune Ya Muto RBL2.1 GaJi 4

Ngamuriak Sambo Ngige Maasai Gorge Enkapune Ya Muto Elmenteitan levels Aitong sites* Loita Hills sites*

Generalized herder/hunters Hunter-gatherers with some stock

Eburran 5a

Gogo Falls

Narosura Enkapune Ya Muto Crescent BS1 Island Main Lemek North-East Kilimanjaro sites* GvJm 44, Lukenya*

Prolonged Drift Serengeti sites Enkapune Ya Muto RBL-1 Crescent Island Causeway Naivasha Railway Rockshelter

Sources: Ambrose 1984b: 128; Gifford-Gonzalez 1985:71-72; Gifford-Gonzalez and Kimengich 1984:459-460; Gramly in Odner 1972:88-90; Marean 1992; Onyango-Abuje 1977:304, 310—311; Marshall: 1986:167-169, 1990a, 1990b. * indicates unpublished faunal sample.

32

Fiona

Marshall

Naivasha Railway Rockshelter. Second, two sites—Prolonged Drift and Gogo Falls—appear to be pastoral on the basis of material culture and site structure but preserve large quantities of wild fauna. Both of these sites are isolated and difficult to interpret, but they may be important to understanding variation in early pastoral subsistence strategies. Prolonged Drift lies in the central Rift Valley in a region that is well explored archaeologically and close to sites with evidence of specialized production from domestic animals. But the site appears atypical in m a n y ways. The material culture is not distinctive of either Elementeitan or SPN groups but rather is a mixture of both: The site structure appears pastoral, and the site preserves abundant remains of large migratory wild animals (Gifford et al. 1980). It may be that this site represents reactions to local or personal circumstances rather than a widespread pattern of subsistence. Other sites may indicate regional patterns of more diversified pastoral production. At the Elmenteitan site of Gogo Falls, west of the Mara and close to Lake Victoria, there is evidence of a fishing, hunting, and herding adaptation (Marshall 1986). There is no reason that opportunities for hunting should have been better in South Nyanza than in the Loita-Mara; given the absence of hunting in the Loita-Mara, the hunting and fishing conducted by people with the same material culture sixty miles away in South Nyanza is striking. Considering material culture and site structure, culling patterns of domestic animals, and hunting and fishing strategies, I think it unlikely that the people of Gogo Falls were hunter-gatherers who acquired Elmenteitan material culture and domestic stock. Rather, I believe them to have been Elmenteitan pastoralists constrained for some reason to alter their production base (Marshall 1986; Marshall and Stewart in press). A possible reason for such an alteration is the presence of tsetse flies, which are found in the area today, and the resultant difficulties of sustaining high levels of milk production from pastoral herds (ILCA 1979, Lamprey and Waller 1990). This explanation would fit with unpublished information on large quantities of domestic and wild fauna in sites excavated by John Bower in the Serengeti, also usually a tsetse region (Bower, personal communication). The failure of pastorally oriented Elmenteitans to solve the problem by moving may indicate that by 2000 B.P. there was already competition for the productive grassland regions of East Africa suited for domestic animal herds. Slightly later in time, a more regional pattern of diversified animal production may also be present at Akira SPN sites dating to between about 1900 and 1300 B.p. (Bower 1988, 1991). However, not many sites of this type are known, and faunal samples are small. There is no evidence of any focus on cultivation among early pastoralists in East Africa. Pastoral sites are all located in the grassland regions, and it is not until the Iron Age that there is evidence for agriculture in the fertile regions of East Africa. At Gogo Falls, one of the few sites located in what is an

Archaeological Perspectives

33

agricultural region today, there is n o evidence for domestic plants in Pastoral Neolithic levels. Preservation and retrieval of botanical material at the site are good. W e t t e r s t r o m and R o b e r t s h a w ( 1 9 8 9 , W e t t e r s t r o m in R o b e r t s h a w 1 9 9 1 : 1 8 0 - 1 9 1 ) report that wild plants are preserved, although not in large quantities, and that weeds normally associated with cattle enclosures are present. There are n o domesticated plants or w e e d s of cultivation. In addition, at G o g o Falls, as at other pastoral sites in East A f r i c a , relatively f e w grindstones or stone axes are found. Negative evidence is always difficult to interpret, and we cannot say there was n o cultivation b e t w e e n 3 0 0 0 and 1500 B.P. in East Africa; on the basis of present-day practices, however, it seems most unlikely (Ambrose and de Niro 1986; see R o b e r t s h a w 1990 for criticism of Ambrose). In any case, cultivation w a s certainly not a large-scale activity on any site yet found, and there is no evidence that wild plant foods were an important food source (see also B o w e r 1991). Robertshaw (1990) has argued that there was. variation between Elmenteitan settlements in the degree of concentration on production f r o m domestic stock versus cultivation. He suggests that this variation results f r o m s o m e f o r m of sociopolitical hierarchy that m a y have developed as a result of control b y select individuals of access to obsidian sources in the Lake Naivasha area. Although this is an intriguing possibility, it has not been b o m e out by empirical evidence to date, including R o b e r t s h a w ' s o w n data f r o m G o g o Falls (Wetterstrom and Robertshaw 1989; Wetterstrom in Robertshaw 1991). There is n o clear evidence in either the Elmenteitan or SPN for social stratification and n o logical reason access to obsidian sources could not have been achieved through personal journeys (much as white clay sources or distant markets are used by the Maasai today) rather than controlled by p o w e r f u l individuals. In summary, the archaeological record d o c u m e n t s a great deal of variation in pastoral material culture and in subsistence base b y 3,000 years ago. Both Elmenteitan and Savanna Pastoral Neolithic communities in the grasslands of the Rift Valley relied on specialized production based on domestic stock. B u t Elmenteitan sites in adjacent, more w o o d e d tsetse areas of Western K e n y a s h o w reliance on a diversified subsistence base that included hunting, fishing, stock keeping, and gathering of wild plants. Small and unpublished samples also suggest hunting by some SPN groups at this time and hunting at slightly later Pastoral Neolithic sites associated with Akira pottery. There is n o evidence for subsistence focused on cultivation. In addition, there are huntergatherer occupations in southern Kenya adjacent to and contemporary with pastoral occupations. Some of these groups m a y have had an adaptation m u c h like that of the Okiek today, combining a hunting- and perhaps honey-oriented m o d e of subsistence with acquisition of some domestic stock. B u t further research is badly needed in order to d o c u m e n t the range o f variation in social organization and subsistence a m o n g later hunter-gatherer groups in East A f r i c a a n d to learn something of their relations with early pastoralists.

34

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The most unexpected findings include the evidence in two different archaeological cultures, SPN and Elmenteitan; for specialized pastoral production apparently similar to that historically present among some sections of the Maasai; the relative lack of cultivation in the Pastoral Neolithic, especially in western Kenya, where soils and rainfall would have allowed it; and the amount of synchronous variation in subsistence orientation within archaeological cultures.

Discussion A variety of questions naturally arise from these findings. First, given that there is no connection between prehistoric and present-day pastoralists such as the Maasai, why does a pattern of specialized pastoralism consistently arise in East Africa? Second, what are the dietary and economic implications of the lack of cultivation in the Pastoral Neolithic? Last, why do we see such variation in subsistence strategies within cultures? None of these questions is easy to answer with the existing data, but all of them can be addressed at one level or another in terms of the flexibility of responses of early East African pastoralists to environmental and sociopolitical opportunities and stresses. I believe that the establishment of the modern climatic regime, with a bimodal pattern of rainfall, and the resultant productivity of the rangelands of East Africa provided opportunities for specialization in pastoral production about 3,500 years ago (Marshall 1990b). The rich rangelands of southern Kenya have fertile volcanic soils and no long dry season, making it possible to keep cattle in milk for most of the year. Dahl and Hjort (1976) and Western and Finch (1986) have argued that a pattern of bimodal rainfall in East Africa is the basis for differences in production between East African and SaheloSudanic pastoralists. There is evidence for the advent of the modem bimodal rainfall regime in East Africa about 3500 B.P. (Richardson and Richardson 1972). This, combined with the ecological diversity of East Africa and highaltitude dry-season grazing lands (Ellis and Swift 1988), as well as the presence of productive Bos indicus cattle (Marshall 1989), would have created an opportunity for substantial dependence on domestic herds. At the same time, interactions between early pastoralists and huntergatherers may have been key to the development of specialized pastoralism in the region, providing both subsistence opportunities and sociopolitical tensions. Unfortunately, very few hunter-gatherer sites have been excavated that date to the early pastoral period in East Africa. But the Eburran sites appear to document continuation of hunter-gatherer modes of subsistence well into the pastoral period, as at Enkapune Ya Muto level RBL-1. Indeed, the Eburran adaptation occurs in the same place and seems to be similar to that of Okiek hunter-gatherers today (Ambrose 1984b, 1986; Marean 1992).

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The Okiek have complex relationships with their pastoral neighbors (Blackburn 1982; Kenny 1981;Kratz 1979,1986). Some Okiek groups provide honey and other products the Maasai need (Berntsen 1976). A similar exchange of honey between hunter-gatherers and pastoralists in the past would have provided a carbohydrate source that could have strengthened the ability of some groups of Elmenteitan and SPN pastoralists to focus on production from their domestic herds and to reduce the need for cultivated plants. In spite of mutually beneficial trading arrangements, however, there is a great deal of fear and mistrust between the contemporary Okiek and the Maasai (Galaty 1981, 1982). It is possible that considerations of ethnic identity and boundary definition may have played a role in the decision of prehistoric pastoral groups to specialize in production from domestic herds. Thus, exchange between hunter-gatherers and pastoralists may have influenced the subsequent nature of both pastoralism and foraging in the region, resulting in both herd-oriented and honey-oriented production foci among pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, respectively. In other areas, there are consistent suggestions that regional variation in subsistence within cultures—as in the hunting/fishing/pastoral subsistence base at Gogo Falls or the hunting/herding subsistence base in the Serengeti— did not result from less herd-oriented subgroups of the Elmenteitan or SPN. Instead, these sites appear to indicate responses to stress on pastoral herds, perhaps caused by the tsetse fly in western Kenya and northern Tanzania, and responses to political pressures that prevented movement to alternative grazing lands. By contrast, variation in subsistence at sites such as Prolonged Drift is more enigmatic but suggests flexible responses at the household or settlement level to stresses such as loss of stock through disease or raiding. The archaeological data thus provide evidence for considerable opportunism and flexibility in prehistoric pastoral subsistence strategies. We see change through time in subsistence base. Specialized pastoralism developed among Elmenteitan and SPN groups 3,000 years ago in response to the environmental opportunities presented by East African rangelands; the dietary opportunities presented by the presence of highly productive Bos indicus cattle, and, perhaps, the availability of honey from adjacent hunter-gatherers. Later Akira sites hint at a return to more widespread dependence on wild resources (Bower 1991). There is also good evidence of flexibility in subsistence strategies within Elmenteitan and SPN groups 2,000 years ago, probably in response to constraints such as the availability of land and the distribution of cattle disease carried by tsetse flies. South of the grasslands of northern Tanzania, stone-using pastoralists were rare. The reasons for this low habitation are unknown, though it has been suggested that widespread distribution of tsetse in southern Africa may have been a barrier to the southward movement of herders during the last few thousand years (Lambrecht 1964; Phillipson 1977; Robertshaw 1990; Smith

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1984c). The earliest sites of stone-using pastoralists in southern Africa are found only in the southern and western portions of the area. Sites with early dates for domestic sheep date to between approximately 2200 and 1600 B.P. (Bambata Cave in Southwestern Zimbabwe, Lotshitschi in Northwestern Botswana, Mirabib in Namibia, and Kasteelberg, Die Kelders, Byneskranskop, Nelson Bay, and Boomplaas in the southern Cape Province of South Africa; see Map 2.1) (Denbow 1990; Klein 1984; Klein and Cruz-Uribe 1989; Phillipson 1985; Sandelowski etal. 1979; von den Driesch and Deacon 1985; Walker 1983). There are very few sites, and they seem to be associated with sheepherding and widespread use of wild plant and animal resources. There is no evidence that pastoral populations moved into southern Africa, and it has been suggested that the earliest herders were local hunter-gatherers who acquired domestic stock from areas to the north (Klein 1984; Denbow 1990). Unlike the situation in East Africa, in southern Africa the record of the earliest stone-using pastoralists is much less well known than that of later iron-using agropastoralists.

Conclusion By contrast with the Near East, in both East Africa and North Africa, pastoralism developed among hunter-gatherers and existed prior to the existence of settled agricultural communities in the region. Pastoralists themselves may have been responsible for domestication of cattle in the eastern Sahara and, later, for some of Africa's major food crops in the Sahelian region and East Africa. Stone-using pastoralists in Africa generally continued to pursue subsistence, rather than trade-oriented, economies (but see Sadr 1992). However, unlike the situation in North Africa, pastoralism spread fully developed into East Africa. Pastoralists with a broad subsistence base including wild and domestic animals, fishing, and (presumably) domestic plants moved into East Africa from the north 5,000—4,000 years ago. A major difference in subsistence base between East African pastoralists and those of other areas developed through time, as some pastoral groups in East Africa reduced their dependence on wild plant and animal resources and came to rely heavily on domestic herds. However, some variation in subsistence base and degree of dependence on domestic versus wild animal resources occurred within and between pastoral groups and through time in East Africa. I believe that this variation resulted from flexible and opportunistic responses by early pastoralists in the region to the diversity of East African habitats; the advent of a bimodal rainfall system in the region; the distribution of cattle disease, the acquisition of Bos indicus cattle breeds; and the evolution of political and economic relations with hunter-gatherers and other pastoral groups. Unlike the Sahara, East Africa is a region of sustained pastoral produc-

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tivity, and although groups have been highly mobile, it has never been completely abandoned by pastoral populations. The history o f pastoralism in the region is thus especially long and complex. The widespread and sustained nature of Stone Age pastoralism in East Africa also contrasts with pastoralism in Southern Africa, where stone tool-using pastoralists with a diverse subsistence base inhabit parts of the region only, and at low population densities. In conclusion, the archaeological data on the Pastoral Neolithic o f East Africa fit current thinking about the flexibility o f recent pastoral subsistence strategies in response to political or environmental stress (Anderson 1988; Waller 1988). They suggest that long-term pastoral responses to sociopolitical, economic, and environmental conditions distinctive to East Africa, have contributed to the development of equally distinctive forms o f pastoral production in the region.

Note I am grateful to the Government of Kenya for research clearance and the staff of the National Museums of Kenya, especially of the archaeology and osteology sections, for their assistance. I am indebted to Peter Robertshaw for collaboration and to Stanley Ambrose, Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, and Tom Pilgram for sharing ideas and information. I am also grateful to Elliot Fratkin, Kathleen Galvin, and Eric Roth for providing an exciting interdisciplinary forum for thinking about East African pastoralism. This research was funded by the British Institute in Eastern Africa and by the Leakey Foundation.

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Animal Production 25: 343-358. Galaty, John G. 1981 Land and Livestock Among Kenyan Maasai. Journal of African Studies 16: 68-88. Galaty, John G. 1982 Being "Maasai"; Being "People-of-Cattle": Ethnic Shifters in East Africa. American Ethnologist 9: 1-20. Gautier, Achille 1984a Quaternary Mammals and Archaeozoology of Egypt and the Sudan: A Survey. In L. Krzyzaniak and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), The Origin and Early Development of Food Producing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa, pp. 43-56. Poznan: Polish Academy of Sciences. Gautier, Achille 1984b The Fauna of Kadero. In L. Krzyzaniak and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), The Origin and Early Development of Food Producing Cultures in N.E. Africa, pp. 317-319. Poznan: Polish Academy of Sciences. Gautier, Achille 1984c Archaeozoology of the Bir Kiseiba Region, Eastern Sahara. In A. Close (ed.), Cattle Keepers of the Eastern Sahara: The Neolithic of Bir Kiseiba, pp. 49-72. Dallas: Department of Anthroplogy, Southern Methodist University. Gautier, Achille 1987 Prehistoric Men and Cattle in North Africa: A Dearth of Data and a Surfeit of Models. In Angela Close (ed.), Prehistory of Arid North Africa: Essays in Honor of Fred Wendorf pp. 163-187. Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press. Gautier, Achille, and Willem Van Neer 1982 Prehistoric Fauna from Ti-N-Torha (kTadrart Acacus, Libya) Origini 11: 87-127. Gifford, Diane P., Glynn L. Isaac, and Charles M. Nelson 1980 Evidence for Predation and Pastoralism from a Pastoral Neolithic Site in Kenya. Azania 15: 57-108. Gifford-Gonzalez, Diane P. 1985 Faunal Assemblages from Maasai Gorge Rockshelter and Marula Rockshelter. Azania 20: 69-88. Gifford-Gonzalez, D. P., and John Kimengich 1984 Faunal Evidence for Early Stock-keeping in the Central Rift of Kenya: Preliminary Findings. In L. Krzyzaniak and M. Kobusiewiecz (eds.), Origin and Early Development of Food-Producing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa, pp. 357-471. Poznan: Polish Academy of Science. Grigson, Caroline 1991 An African Origin for African Cattle—Some Archaeological Evidence. African Archaeological Review 9: 119-144. Haaland, Randi 1992 Fish, Pots and Grain: Early and Mid-Holocene Adaptations in the Central Sudan. The African Archaeological Review 10: 4 3 - 6 4 . Harlan, Fred, J. M de Wet, and K. A. Stemler 1976 The Origins of African Plant Domestication. The Hague: Mouton. Harlan, Fred, J. M de Wet, and K. A. Stemler 1982 The Origins of Indigenous African Agriculture. In J. Desmond Clark (ed.), The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 1, pp. 624-657. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Harlan, Fred, J. M de Wet, and K. A. Stemler 1989 The Tropical African Cereals. In David Harris and Gordon Hillman (eds.), Foraging and Farming, pp. 335-343. London: Unwin, Hyman. Harlan, Fred, J. M de Wet, and K. A. Stemler 1992 Indigenous African Agriculture. In C. W. Cowan and P. J. Watson (eds.), The Origins of Agriculture: An International Perspective, pp. 59-70. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. Herbich, Ingrid, and Michael Dietler 1989 Ethnicity in the Archaeological Record: An Ethnoarchaeological Caveat. Paper presented at the First Joint Archaeological Congress, Baltimore, Maryland, January 1989. Holl, Augustin 1985 Subsistence Patterns of the Dhar Tichitt Neolithic, Mauritania. The African Archaeological Review 3: 151-162. International Livestock Centre for Africa 1979 Trypanotolerant Livestock in West

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and Central Africa, Vol. II. Addis Ababa: ILCA. Kenny, Michael G. 1981 Mirror in the Forest: The Dorobo Hunter-gatherers as an Image of the Other. Africa 51: 476^195. Klein, Richard 1984 The Prehistory of Stone Age Herders in South Africa. In J. D. Clark and S. A. Brandt (eds.), From Hunters to Farmers; The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa, pp. 281-289. Berkeley: University of California Press. Klein, Richard, and Kathryn Cruz-Uribe 1989 Faunal Evidence for Prehistoric Herder-Forager Activities at Kasteelberg, Western Cape Province, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 44: 82-97. Kratz, Corinne A. 1979 Are the Okiek Really Maasai? or Kipsigis? or Kikuyu? Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines 20: 355-368. Kratz, Corinne A. 1986 Ethnic Interaction, Economic Diversification and Language Use: A Report on Research with Kaplelach and Kipchornwonek Okiek. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 7(2): 198-226. Krzyzaniak, Lech 1978 New Light on Early Food-Production in the Central Sudan. journal of African History 19: 159-172. Krzyzaniak, Lech 1984 The Neolithic Habitation at Kadero (Central Sudan). In L. Krzyzaniak and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), The Origin and Early Development of Food Producing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa, pp. 309-315. Poznan: Polish Academy of Sciences. Krzyzaniak, Lech 1991 Early Farming in the Middle Nile Basin: Recent Discoveries at Kadero (Central Sudan). Antiquity 65: 515-532. Lambrecht, Frank L. 1964 Aspects of Evolution and Ecology of Tsetse Flies and Trypanosomiasis in Prehistoric African Environment. Journal of African History 5: 1-24. Lamprey, Richard, and Richard Waller 1990 The Loita-Mara Area in Historical Times: Patterns of Subsistence, Settlement and Ecological Change. In P. Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-Western Kenya, pp. 1 6 - 3 5 . Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. Leakey, Louis 1929 An Outline of the Stone Age in Kenya. South African Journal of Science 26: 749-757. Leakey, Louis 1931 The Stone Age Cultures of Kenya Colony. London: Cambridge University Press. Leakey, Louis 1935 The Stone Age Races of Kenya Colony. London: Oxford University Press. Ledger, H. P., and A. R. Sayers 1977 The Utilization of Dietary Energy by Steers During Periods of Restricted Food Intake and Subsequent Realimentation. Journal of Agricultural Science 88: 11-26. Marean, C. 1992 Hunter to Herder: Large Mammal Remains from the Huntergatherer Occupation at Enkapune Ya Muto Rock-shelter, Central Rift, Kenya. The African Archaeological Review 10: 65-128. Marshall, Fiona 1986 Aspects of the Advent of Pastoral Economies in East Africa. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. Marshall, Fiona 1989 Rethinking the Role of Bos indicus in Sub-Saharan Africa. Current Anthropology 30: 235-240. Marshall, Fiona 1990a Cattle Herds and Caprine Flocks; Early Pastoral Strategies in Southwestern Kenya. In P. Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-Western Kenya, pp. 205-260. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. Marshall, Fiona 1990b Origins of Specialized Pastoral Production in East Africa. American Anthropologist 92: 873-894. Marshall, Fiona, and Peter Robertshaw 1982 Preliminary Report on Archaeological Research in the Loita Mara Regions, S.W. Kenya. Azania 17: 173-180.

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Marshall, Fiona, Kathylin Stewart, and John Barthelme 1984 Early Domestic Stock at Dongodien in Northern Kenya. Azania 19: 120-127. Marshall, Fiona and Kathlyn Stewart Hunters, Fishers and Pastoralists of Gogo Falls [in press, Archeozoologia]. Mbae, Bernard 1990 The Ethnoarchaeology of Maasai Settlements and Refuse Disposal Patterns in the Lemek Area. In P. Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-western Kenya, pp. 279-292. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. M c D o n a l d , M . 1991 T e c h n o l o g i c a l O r g a n i z a t i o n and S e d e n t i s m in t h e Epipalaeolithic of Dakhleh Oasis. African Archaeological Review 9: 81-109. Mcintosh, Susan K., and Roderick J. Mcintosh 1988 From Stone to Metal: New Perspectives on the Later Prehistory of West Africa. Journal of World Prehistory 2: 89-133. Munson, Patrick 1976 Archaeological Data on the Origins of Cultivation in the Southwestern Sahara and Their Implication for West Africa. In J. Harlan, J. de Wet, and A. Stemler (eds.), The Origins of African Plant Domestication, pp. 187-209. The Hague: Mouton. Nicholson, Sharon E., and Herman Flohn 1980 African Environmental and Climate Changes and the General Atmospheric Circulation in Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Climatic Change 2: 313-348. Odner, Knut 1972 Excavations at Narosura: A Stone Bowl Site in the Southern Kenyan Highlands. Azania 7: 25-92. Onyango-Abuje, John Crispin 1977 A Contribution to the Study of the Neolithic in East Africa with Particular Reference to the Naivasha Nakuru Basin. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. Petit-Maire, N, J-G. Celles, D. Commelin, G. Delibrias, and M. Raimbault 1983 The Sahara in Northern Mali: Man and His Environment Between 10.000 and 3,500 Years BP. African Archaeological Review 1: 105-125. Phillips, G. D. 1960 The Relationship Between Water and Food Intakes of European and Zebu Type Steers. Journal of Agricultural Science 54: 231-234. Phillips, G. D. 1961 Physiological Comparisons of European and Zebu Steers, 2. Effect of Restricted Water Intake. Research in Veterinary Science 2: 209-216. Phillipson, D. W. 1977 The Later Prehistory of Eastern and Southern Africa. London: Heinemann. Phillipson, D. W. 1985 African Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richardson, J. L. 1972 Paleolimnological Records from Rift Lakes in Central Kenya. Paleoecology of Africa 6: 131-136. Richardson, J. L., and A. E. Richardson 1972 The History of an East African Rift Lake and Its Paleoclimatic Implications. Ecological Monographs 42: 499-534. Robertshaw, Peter (ed.) 1990 Early Pastoralists of South-Western Kenya. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. Robertshaw, Peter 1992 Gogo Falls: A Complex Site East of Lake Victoria. Azania 26: 63-195. Robertshaw, Peter, and Fiona Marshall 1990 Ngamuriak. In Peter Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-Western Kenya, pp. 54-72. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. Sadr, Karim 1991 The Development of Nomadism in Ancient Northeast Africa. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Sandelowsky, B., J. Van Rooyen, and J. Vogel 1979 Early Evidence for Herders in the Namib. South African Archaeological Bulletin 34: 15-32. Semenye, Patterson 1980 A Study of Masai Herds on Elangata Wuas Group Ranch near Kajiado District, Kenya. International Livestock Centre for Africa Working

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Document No. 14. Nairobi: ILCA. Smith, Andrew B. 1980a Domesticated Cattle in the Sahara and Their Introduction into West Africa. In M. A. Williams and H. Faure (eds.), Sahara and the Nile, pp. 489-501. Rotterdam: Balkema. Smith, Andrew B. 1980b The Neolithic Tradition in the Sahara. In M. A. Williams and H. Faure (eds.), Sahara and the Nile, pp. 451-465. Rotterdam: Balkema. Smith, Andrew B. 1984a The Origins of the Neolithic in the Sahara. In J. D. Clark and S. A. Brandt (eds.), From Hunters to Farmers: The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa, pp. 84-92. Berkeley: University of California Press. Smith, Andrew B. 1984b The Origins of Food-Production in North East Africa. Palaeoecology of Africa 16: 317-324. Smith, Andrew B. 1984c Environmental Limitations on Prehistoric Pastoralism in Africa. African Archaeological Review 2: 99-111. Smith, Andrew B. 1986 Cattle Domestication in North Africa. African Archaological Review 4: 197-203. Siiriainen, Ari 1990 Excavations of Elmenteitan Sites in the Oldorotua Valley. In Peter Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-Western Kenya, pp. 262-266. Nairobi: British Institute in Eastern Africa. Sobania, Neal W., and Richard Waller 1989 Oral History and the End of Time. Paper presented at the Conference on Reconstructing African Protohistory, University of Illinois, Urbana, April 22-24, 1989. Speth, John D. 1983 Bison Kills and Bone Counts: Decision Making by Ancient Hunters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Speth, John D. 1987 Early Hominid Subsistence Strategies in Seasonal Habitats. Journal of Archaeological Science 14: 13-29. Speth, John D., and Katherine A. Spielmann 1983 Energy Source, Protein Metabolism and Hunter-gatherer Subsistence Strategies. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 2: 1 - 3 1 . Street, F. A., and F. Gasse 1981 Recent Developments in Research into the Quaternary Climatic History of the Sahara. In J. A. Allen (ed.), The Sahara, Ecological Change and Early Economic History, pp. 8 - 2 8 . London: Menas Press. Sutton, John 1977 The African Aqualithic. Antiquity 51: 25-34. Von den Driesch, Angela, and Hilary Deacon 1985 Sheep Remains from Boomplaas Cave. South African Archaeological Bulletin 40: 39-44. Walker, N. 1983 The Significance of an Early Date for Pottery and Sheep in Zimbabwe. South African Archaeological Bulletin 38: 88-92. Waller, Richard 1988 Emutai: Crisis and Response in Maasailand 1883-1902. In Douglas Johnson and David Anderson (eds.), The Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from Northeast African History, pp. 73-114. Boulder: Westview Press. Wendorf, Fred, Romuald Schild, and Angela E. Close 1984 Cattle Keepers of the Eastern Sahara: The Neolithic of Bir Kiseiba. Dallas: Southern Methodist University. Wendorf, Fred, Romuald Schild, and Angela E. Close 1987 Early Domestic Cattle in the Eastern Sahara. The Palaeoecology of Africa and the Surrounding Islands. 18: 441-448. Wendorf, Fred, Romuald Schild, and Angela E. Close 1993 Saharan Exploitation of Plants 8,000 Years BP. Nature 359: 721-724. Western, David, and Thomas Dunne 1979 Environmental Aspects of Settlement Site Decisions Among Pastoral Maasai. Human Ecology 7: 75-98. Western, David, and Virginia Finch 1986 Cattle and Pastoralism: Survival and Production in Arid Lands. Human Ecology 14: 77-94. Wetterstrom, W., and P. Robertshaw 1989 Plant Remains from Gogo Falls. Nyame

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3 Pastoralism in Historical Perspective Richard Waller & Neal W. Sobania Themes and Images in Pastoral History Pastoralism has been observed and written about for centuries. In the last twenty years, substantial advances have been made in our understanding o f its history and prehistory. Yet much o f the debate over pastoralism and its development in modern Africa unfortunately takes place in the virtual absence o f any historical context and is filtered through a set o f images and presuppositions that cloud who and what a pastoralist is. In this survey, we look briefly at some o f the main themes that have emerged in the history o f East African pastoral peoples, using as a base our own research on the societies o f northern and southern Kenya between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Over the last century, both the position of pastoralists and perceptions of pastoralism have changed in East Africa. In 1890 pastoralists were at the center of regional networks of exchange. Broadly speaking, the terms o f trade favored stock producers, and the dominant value systems reflected this. The herds they controlled were the universally acknowledged store o f durable, investable, and reproducible wealth. For the male heads o f agricultural households it was these same commodities, acquired from pastoralists, that enabled them to translate their control over labor and land into authority within the community and to ensure the continuation o f their own lineages through the investment o f stock in marriage, thereby controlling female fertility (Waller 1985a). B y 1950, however, pastoralists had been relegated to the periphery o f an economic and political system that was now dominated by the needs o f export agriculture and in which stock had been bypassed for new avenues o f accumulation. Agricultural producers could invest the products o f labor directly in land and indirectly in the patron/client relationships that underpinned modern politics. Pastoralists, by contrast, had a very small place in this new order. Their access to markets was challenged by competitors who were favored by government—white settlers first and then the mixed producers o f central and western Kenya. B y the 1940s, the latter were responsible for many o f the animal products, i f not the actual animals, officially marketed by Africans, whereas pastoralists were blocked by the twin barriers o f distance and quarantine regulations (Van Zwanenberg and King 1975; Kitching 1980). Because 45

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they have appeared to have little to offer the state, either colonial or postcolonial, they have had less political influence. Lack of alternatives, together with a well-founded skepticism about the state's intentions, fostered the outsider assumption that pastoral societies were unwilling or unable to " m o d e r n i z e " and that they had a "conservative c o m m i t m e n t " to a traditional w a y of life (Gulliver 1969). T h e image of the pastoralist in the m o d e m world is a by-product of this historical shift. Pastoralists, a constant staple of coffee-table books, are popularly presented as a distinctive but carefully stereotyped construction for the aesthetic appropriation of outsiders (Little 1991; Galaty and Bonte 1991). Pictures, text, and titles suggest that "traditional (nomadic) pastoralists" are a dying breed; that they are the inheritors of a martial tradition of raiding and large-scale migration; that they are instantly recognizable b y their exotic and romantic dress and bearing and by their obsessive concern for livestock; that they are in some undefined sense to be equated with other forms of African wildlife; and that they themselves collude in this external definition of the "noble s a v a g e " because they resist change and disdain the m o d e m world (e.g., Ricciardi 1971; Riefenstahl 1982; A m i n 1983; Deckwith and Fisher 1990). All these cliches are unpleasantly reductionist and ethically questionable. They are also either quite w r o n g or dangerously misleading, as these portrayals only slightly e x a g g e r a t e ahistorical a s s u m p t i o n s b u r i e d in the heart of d e v e l o p m e n t attitudes. A m o n g s t these assumptions are the beliefs that pastoralists live in sharply bounded traditional communities separated f r o m their neighbors by language, " c u s t o m , " and "tribe," and that these divisions have a long history. In fact, both propositions are wrong. The societies that w e n o w think of as quintessentially "traditional" are merely the current manifestation of a long and continuing process of development and change (Spear and Waller 1993). The territorial sections of the Maasai, for example, are almost certainly the result of social reconstructions at the beginning of the present century. Similarly, m a n y of the Maa-speaking groups that existed in the nineteenth century have since disappeared, having been assimilated into other communities (Waller 1979). T h e same can be said of the Oromo-speaking peoples w h o s e traditions reveal the disappearance, relocation, and assimilation of groups such as the Wardai B o r a n (Sobania 1980; Schlee 1985). Other groups, such as the Ariaal, are still emerging. The apparent separation b e t w e e n pastoral communities and their agricultural and pastoral neighbors is also a recent development. Ethnic b o u n d aries have hardened or been redefined in the present century. A century ago, parts of K i k u y u l a n d were so interpenetrated that they had " c o m e to resemble Masai c o u n t r y " (Kikuyu elder, quoted in Waller 1985b:87; Muriuki 1974). At that time, local communities were accustomed to a far higher degree of social uncertainty. Ethnic boundaries were easily permeable, and individuals or whole groups crossed f r o m one society to another, seeking r e f u g e or a better life; such is the origin of the Randal (Rendille) and K o r o (Samburu) sections

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of the D a s e n e c h (Sobania 1990). Again, it is often asserted that pastoralism is b y its nature aggressively warlike and expansionist, as communities seek m o r e lands to a c c o m m o d a t e their herds, w h i c h increase through breeding a n d raiding (Galaty 1991). T h o u g h warfare and expansion are certainly an integral part of pastoral history, they are b y n o m e a n s the w h o l e story. Pastoral c o m m u n i t i e s traded as well as raided, and p e a c e f u l interaction with neighbors has generally been the n o r m except during short periods of extreme stress. Nineteenth-century travellers were often surprised at h o w mild pastoralists could be despite their fearsome reputation. Control of violence w a s often a subject of dispute b e t w e e n y o u n g m e n and their seniors ( T h o m s o n 1885; Waller 1985b; A l m a g o r 1979). In their proper context, both raiding and m o v e m e n t are part of a rational response to the n e e d to control the essential resources on which pastoralism is based (Fukui and Turton 1979). Associated with this stereotype is the notion, almost an article of faith amongst colonial and postcolonial development experts, that pastoralists are inefficient and wasteful producers whose "pernicious pastoral proclivities" (Governor Belfield 1914, quoted in Sorrenson 1968:278) must be repressed or rechanneled into settled agriculture. The fallacy of this view has been repeatedly demonstrated both in print and in pasture (Rodgers and H o m e w o o d 1991). Here we m a k e only two short observations: that this antipastoral counterideology has a long history—indeed, it w a s the dominant construct of colonial pastoralism, w h i c h both preceded and overlapped with the more familiar image of the ocher-decked "noble s a v a g e " — a n d that it cannot be understood simply in technical terms, for it is deeply influenced by changing social and political policies and priorities (Anderson and Grove 1987; A n d e r s o n 1984; Waller 1993). In our own research, three themes have been important to an understanding of h o w pastoralism in East A f r i c a has changed. W e have looked at the e c o n o m i c and environmental base, and at the interactions b e t w e e n different pastoral and nonpastoral communities required to maintain this base. This t h e m e has led us to consider h o w boundaries b e t w e e n c o m m u n i t i e s are constructed and interpreted and therefore to reexamine the nature of ethnic identity a m o n g pastoralists. Our third theme will perhaps be more immediately familiar to students of contemporary pastoral society: It concerns historical responses to stress and disaster when, for example, drought c o m e s or disease decimates herds. A s we introduce each of these m a i n themes, w e will set them within the context of a broad comparison b e t w e e n the precolonial and colonial eras. H o w e v e r , in adopting this periodization w e do not intend to imply that the imposition of colonial rule caused a sharp break with the past, nor that pastoral societies necessarily felt a sense of discontinuity. Daily life in most pastoral communities w e n t on m u c h as it had b e f o r e at least until the 1950s, and in the north even longer; albeit within a wider context that w a s increasingly influ-

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enced b y the distant and often incomprehensible priorities and d e m a n d s of the n e w colonial state. Colonial rule impinged on most pastoral societies relatively lightly and in a w a y that, on the whole, tended to confirm rather than challenge the existing structures of p o w e r , authority, and resource allocation within the community. Moreover, its impact w a s uneven as between different pastoral societies. T h o s e closer to the n e w centers of p o w e r , like the Maasai, felt it earlier and more fully than those further off, like the Turkana. Indeed, the latter were not fully " p a c i f i e d " until after W o r l d W a r I, b y which time there was already a government Maasai school in N a r o k District (Lamphear 1992; Tignor 1976). There were, then, differences in the rates of incorporation that have persisted to this day. In general, the colonial state was both too w e a k and too committed e l s e w h e r e — t o the support of white farmers and ranchers, for e x a m p l e — t o do more than ensure a degree of order in pastoral areas and to extract taxation in return. It is not surprising that m a n y pastoralists saw colonial rule as a n e w form of raiding rather than as the beginnings of centralized g o v e r n m e n t (Lamphear 1992). In this, their experience of colonialism differed markedly f r o m that of their former agricultural partners, whose societies and economies were n o w part of the core of the colonial state. This differential impact began to dislocate networks and to pull older regional solidarities apart, leaving pastoral peoples isolated on the northern and southern peripheries in what had n o w b c c o m e Kenya. It was not until after independence that the state w a s both strong enough and sufficiently motivated to intervene in pastoral areas and to promote, directly or indirectly, the kinds of developments—class formation and social stratification, for e x a m p l e — w i t h which m a n y agricultural c o m m u nities had long been coping (Kitching 1980; H e d l u n d 1980). In a sense, the present parlous condition of pastoralism in Kenya has come about as a result of the conjunction between increased state action and a prolonged period of natural stress. Drought and d e v e l o p m e n t have been equally devastating to the older tradition of pastoralism (Fratkin 1991).

Environment, Economic Change, and Interaction The diversity of the environment within which pastoralists live and herd requires an equally diverse set of adaptations. This diversity is readily evident as one m o v e s north f r o m the Rift Valley savanna occupied b y Maasai and S a m b u r u cattle into the arid plains surrounding the Chalbi, w h e r e the camelherding Rendille and Gabbra dominate, or up the western shores of Lake T u r k a n a o c c u p i e d b y the Turkana, to the O m o River, along w h i c h the Dasenech, Mursi, and others herd and plant. Each pattern of resource exploitation is specially adapted to particular environmental opportunities and limitations and is reflected in the type of stock herded as well as in the structure and identity of the community. Together, however, they form an integrated

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"common economy" (Johnson 1991). Cattle, camels, sheep, and goats have different, but not necessarily competing, food and watering requirements. In the swamps at the southern end of Lake Baringo, for instance, sheep graze on vegetation that cattle have already reduced; but in the Chalbi area camels, which browse and require less frequent watering, are at a distinct advantage over cattle. Careful attention is paid to herd composition in order to maximize the utilization of resources and to ensure survival under all foreseeable conditions. Cattle colors, for instance, are selected for different temperatures, whereas goats can be used to clear tsetseinfested bushland, as they consume woody vegetation and are tolerant of trypanosomiasis (Finch and Western 1977; Lamprey and Waller 1990). Animals require different amounts of labor, a significant consideration when labor is scarce, and they breed, mature, and die at different rates. For example, goats, sometimes called "the poor m a n ' s friends," increase at the rate of at least 30 percent per annum, whereas camels, with breeding rates of less than 10 percent, barely keep pace with human population increase. Put very simplistically, small stock may double in numbers within five years; cattle take five times as long; and growth in camel herds may be hardly perceptible (Dahl and Hjort 1976). These differences have important social as well as economic implications (Spencer 1973). Herd composition may change over time. Turkana have acquired camels within living memory and now combine them with cattle and small stock (Gulliver 1955). In the 1880s and again in the 1930s, some Maasai herdowners began to concentrate on sheep and goats as a way of building up their herds after periods of stress. There appear to have been two broad changes since 1900. Small stock (sheep and goats) have become the mainstay of the herd in some areas for a variety of reasons: partly in response to disease and drought, partly in response to market opportunities, partly because of the gradual curtailment of grazing patterns, partly because of changes in labor supply and demand both within and between households, and partly as a reflection of increasing structural differentiation between rich and self-sufficient households on the one hand and poor, dependent ones on the other (Little 1992). Again, there may have been a gradual shift in some areas toward a more commercially oriented herd, geared to the beef market rather than to subsistence milk production. These changes have become more obvious in the last two decades, but it is possible to detect their origins much earlier. Stock management is obviously integral to the domestic economy of specialized pastoralists. Indeed, such is the close and interdependent relationship between the two that the continuation of household and family herd is almost indistinguishable. The family tends the herd, which in return guarantees its subsistence and social reproduction. Continued survival as a pastoralist depends on the successful management of both herd and household. There is nothing haphazard in the "family business," as Spencer terms it (Spencer 1988:11), of stock raising; the consequences of poor management are destitu-

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tion or even death. Successful herd management requires access to three interrelated resources—water, grazing, and labor—all of which have been subject to changes in availability over the last century or more. Access to water is primary. Without it, grazing is quite unusable just as surely as proximity to water dictates where people can live. It is the utilization of water points and the grazing areas tied to them that determines transhumance, the selective and regular movement of stock and sometimes entire settlements from place to place. It is helpful to visualize pastoral movements as taking place on a strategic grid whose fixed points are wells, permanent springs, rivers, and areas of dry-season (reserve) grazing where water can be reliably found all year. From such points, pastoralists can fan out into larger areas of seasonal grazing. Maa-speakers divided their grazing territories into osopuko, highland reserves, and olpurkel, lowland wet-season pastures whose grasses were often rich in essential minerals. Each sectional territory contained both (Waller 1979). In the precolonial period, transhumant patterns often covered very wide areas. The Rendille once moved regularly from the Turkana lakeshore to east of Marsabit Mountain. Since the imposition of colonial rule, however, both movement and the lands over which it can take place have progressively shrunk. The Rendille are today largely concentrated around the missions and growing town of Korr at the southern end of their former range (Sobania 1988b; Fratkin 1992). This form of gradual scmisedentarization has serious long-term management and environmental implications which have in turn created another stereotype: the "destructive pastoralist" responsible for the "tragedy of the commons"—no longer "noble savage" but "eco-thug" (Jacobs 1975; Hogg 1986). The strategic map is also useful as a frame for understanding pastoral conflict, especially in the nineteenth century. Competition over water points and dry-season reserves was often intense, as loss of access could lead to the dissolution of the community. In the south, Maasai sections singly and in concert expanded throughout Maasailand between roughly 1830 and 1880, progressively depriving other Maa-speaking groups (the so-called Iloikop) of the resources necessary for continued pastoral subsistence. They did this by seizing control of strategic areas, such as the wells at Naberera in southern Maasailand, rather than by indiscriminately raiding. Iloikop households were either incorporated within the victorious Maasai sections or forced onto the margins as cultivating pastoralists, foragers, or refugees in agricultural communities. As pastoralists, they disappeared (Waller 1979; Sobania 1993). In the north, the arena was larger and the participants more diverse, but the overall picture of a "cutting edge" of strategic control was the same. In response to the expansion of Ethiopian imperialism, the Boran descended from the plateau grasslands of Dirre-Liban and pushed southward across semiarid plains to seize control of permanent water and grazing at Marsabit. Further east, Somali extended their range to the Tana River and to the wells at Wajir at the expense of Oromo-speakers; and in the far west, Turkana, having

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occupied the western shores of the lake, m o v e d around its southern tip and toward the rich grasslands of Mbarta, denying M a a - s p e a k e r s access to the eastern shore. In the latter part of the century, there w a s m o v e m e n t and displacement everywhere in the north (Sobania 1979, 1980; Lewis 1963; L a m p h e a r 1992). Since then, conflicts have continued over land and water, but in different ways. Patterns of regional exploitation have been upset. Increasingly, pastoralists have had to deal with two new threats to their resource base: cultivation and environmental change, both of w h i c h were beginning to m a k e an impact by 1900 and were intensified by colonial policies. Societies that m i x e d agriculture and stock keeping, such as the Nandi and the Arusha, were e x p a n d i n g out of the pastoral periphery to contest control of grazing areas and, later, to put them under cultivation. Moreover, the ecosystem which supported pastoralism altered as a result of increased h u m a n pressure, state policies that (ironically) were often intended to halt or ameliorate degradation, and a shift toward a generally drier climate. It has been argued that ecological decline, as it is c o m m o n l y but perhaps mistakenly assumed to be, began with the great pand e m i c s toward the end of the nineteenth century: however, in pastoral areas at least, the droughts of the 1920s and 1930s, together with land loss and the restrictions on m o v e m e n t imposed by colonial rule, were at least equally important (Kjekshus 1977; Waller 1986; Sobania 1979, 1988b). Certainly by 1930 conditions had already become m u c h harsher. Present ecological crises have deep and tangled roots. Disease is an integral part of the environment. Although the m a j o r epizootics of bovine pleuropneumonia and rinderpest (particularly but not exclusively associated with the 1880s and 1890s) and the spectacular advance of tsetse after 1900 had an often devastating impact on pastoralists and their herds, the b a c k g r o u n d h u m of other diseases such as East Coast Fever (transmitted by ticks) and the routine depredations of parasites such as the liver fluke in sheep have perhaps had a greater long-term influence on m a n a g e m e n t strategies (Pratt and G w y n n e 1977). T h e history of stock disease is still unstudied, as are most aspects of the historical ecology of pastoralism. W h a t has b e g u n to emerge is an understanding of the interaction between different elements of the ecosystem (including diseases and their vectors) and a recognition of the importance of local systems of disease and environmental control (McCorkle 1986; Giblin 1992). In this respect, the situation has changed radically in the last century and, f r o m the pastoralist's point of view, for the worse. The classic case o f interactive change is the spread of trypanosomiasis, which b y 1930 had m a d e large areas of grazing land unusable. To understand the d y n a m i c fully one n e e d s to look at changes in grazing and settlement, in the demographics of wild and domestic animal populations, and in vegetation patterns and climate (Ford 1971; W a l l e r 1990). Patterns of stock disease have also been a f f e c t e d by changes in systems

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of, and attitudes toward, prevention and cure. In precolonial times, disease m a n a g e m e n t d e p e n d e d on the use of space and ecosystem as both b u f f e r and prophylactic (Sobania 1980). Herders avoided areas where particular diseases or parasites were prevalent and quarantined by m o v e m e n t and isolation. T o an extent, epidemics could be " o u t r u n " and allowed to b u m themselves out in infected herds, leaving a small nucleus of effectively immune stock f r o m w h i c h to rebuild (Waller 1988). Deliberate exposure to infection was sometimes practiced, and herders rotated stock over different pasture types and areas in order to c o m p e n s a t e for mineral deficiencies and to escape seasonally occurring diseases. Pasture m a n a g e m e n t , especially in the form of regular burning, kept d o w n parasites and disease vectors by restricting their habitats ( H o m e w o o d and R o d g e r s 1991). Essentially, precolonial veterinary practice a n d stock m a n a g e m e n t was based on the assumptions that prevention was m o r e feasible than cure and that mortality could be controlled but not eliminated. Pastoralists thus accepted disease as a part of the environment; they did not seek to eradicate it. In the first half of the present century, however, m a j o r changes occurred in both attitude and environment. Pastoral m o v e m e n t and land use was increasingly restricted, thus making it difficult to manage space as before. At the same time, colonial veterinary policy m o v e d slowly f r o m containment and control to intervention and improvement. At first, A f r i c a n herds were left largely untreated. The spread of disease was prevented by quarantine barriers w h i c h divided " d i s e a s e d " stock and pastures f r o m " h e a l t h y " ones. M o v e m e n t across quarantine lines was tightly controlled, but within each area herdowners w e r e left to their own devices (Tignor 1976; Spencer 1983). It w o u l d be overly reductionist, however, to argue that these measures were imposed merely, or even primarily, as a f o r m of extraeconomic control over the stock market to the detriment of A f r i c a n pastoral d e v e l o p m e n t — e v e n though this m a y h a v e been one effect. T o understand policy and its implementation in historical context, it is necessary to look as m u c h at the politics of knowledge as at the economics of colonialism. Veterinary policy, like conservation schemes, reflected a complex of ideas and assumptions about ecology, epidemiology, a n d pastoralism, as well as the influence of several different and conflicting interest groups (Anderson and Grove 1987; Cranefield 1991). A s veterinary services expanded, attempts were m a d e to eradicate diseases in A f r i c a n herds, partly because the older m e t h o d s of containment had p r o v e d unworkable and partly because general policy h a d shifted toward the improvement, or rather the increased capitalization, of pastoralism. M a s s inoculation campaigns were m o u n t e d in the 1940s, for example, to eradicate rinderpest, and dipping, sometimes compulsory, was instituted to " c l e a n " pastures of ticks (Sobania 1979). In some ways, state intervention w a s successful, but at the cost of m a k i n g herdowners increasingly dependent on access to veterinary investment and technology and their herds highly vulnerable to any resurgence of disease. Rinderpest eradication, for example, required periodic reinoculation

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in order to ensure the i m m u n i t y of y o u n g stock, and tick cleansing required the upkeep of an infrastructure of dips. Herd owners themselves initially resisted, more f r o m distrust of patently crude and unreliable immunization techniques than b e c a u s e of any lack of interest in veterinary care per se. Eventually they cooperated to the extent of operating between parallel systems—rather on an analogy with pluralistic medical systems found elsewhere. They accepted m o d e m medicines but continued to m a n a g e their herds as before to minimize the effect of mortality. Colonial (and postcolonial) veterinary care operated on very different assumptions. It strove toward the goal of a disease-free environment in w h i c h pastoral production could be improved without regard to natural constraints. The practical effects of this enduring contradiction are grimly evident today. Successful herd m a n a g e m e n t involves more than water and grazing, however. Given competition over resources and the vagaries of the environment, it also requires the establishment and maintenance of supportive social relationships both within and beyond the community. Reciprocal exchanges of stock or gifts of such items as tobacco and c o f f e e create social ties and establish networks of support on which individuals and households m a y rely in time of need for extra herding labor, for preferential access to water and pasture, for stock loans to rebuild a herd, and so on ( A l m a g o r 1978; Sobania 1991). T h e household itself is the creation and site of such a r a m i f y i n g relationship, symbolized by stock transfers f r o m wife receivers to wife givers (Gulliver 1955; Goldschmidt 1969; Turton 1980). A wider range of options was provided by the establishment of b o n d partnerships with neighboring people. These gave reciprocal access to resources extending b e y o n d the confines of the c o m m u n i t y and regulated relations with nonpastoralists as well. Such relationships were vital, because households relied on agricultural f o o d s to m a k e up for shortfalls in the production of the family herd and often took in outsiders as dependent labor. " F o o d , " as they say, " w a s friendship" (quoted in Waller 1985b: 126), and all e c o n o m i c transactions were simultaneously social exchanges (Sobania 1991). A n individual without stock w a s soon isolated f r o m these p a t h w a y s of cooperation and insurance and forced outside the pastoral e c o n o m y . Poverty thus o f t e n m e a n t asociality (Sobania 1988a, 1990). D u r i n g the nineteenth century, pastoral communities were situated at the center of wide and c o m p l e x networks of exchange and reciprocity that linked c o m p l e m e n t a r y e c o n o m i e s and ecological z o n e s or n i c h e s w i t h i n w h a t a m o u n t e d to regional systems (Sobania 1980, 1991). The range and intensity of these contacts belies any notion of pastoral isolation. Maasailand, for e x a m p l e , was visited regularly b y trading parties f r o m virtually all neighboring societies, exchanging grains, beans, tobacco, and a variety of other g o o d s for small stock, milk, meat, and other pastoral by-products. M o r e o v e r , daughters were married into Maasai families, and sons were fostered out as herders to " l e a r n the trade." After midcentury, coastal caravans in search of ivory entered

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the picture. T h e y required b e e f oxen and transport donkeys as well as ivory and were prepared to pay highly for t h e m in trade goods. For outsiders, Maasailand seemed a land o f wealth and opportunity. In times of dearth, the social and e c o n o m i c flow w a s reversed, as pastoralists took refuge with their neighbors (Waller 1985a, 1985b; Marris and Somerset 1971; Spear 1993). Indeed, subsistence pastoralism could not function effectively in the long term without these supports. D u r i n g the colonial period, subsistence pastoralism was progressively decentered, first in the south and subsequently in the north. Yet it would be w r o n g to overdramatize the deleterious effects of colonial economic change. The u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t p a r a d i g m in w h i c h pastoral studies often languish has a certain elegance and dismal cogency to it as it traces the descent into postcolonial dystopia. H o w e v e r , in portraying pastoralists as victims, it underestimates their adaptive resilience and is often too w e d d e d to formal (and incomplete) economic data and analysis (Kitching 1980; Raikes 1981; Mosley 1983; Sindiga 1984; Little 1992). This view still tends to determine the issues addressed in the colonial history of pastoralism. Here, w e can do n o more than suggest a few areas for reassessment. Although exchange networks were reoriented to serve the new colonial economy, and although in some cases social linkages were severed by international and district boundaries, pastoral communities were able to maintain a variety of options, some of w h i c h were provided by the colonial state itself. Quarantine barriers and market controls certainly m a d e it more difficult for pastoralists to m o v e and sell animals, but they also helped to create a substantial outside d e m a n d for slaughter and breeding stock. These needs were met b y far-flung networks of itinerant stock traders operating on cash or barter terms within the pastoral areas and between them and market centers such as N g o n g or Isiolo (Dalleo 1975; Kitching 1980; Waller 1984). These networks represented an adaptation of older regional exchange systems to fit n e w conditions. Moreover, for Maasailand, at least, there is some evidence to suggest that stock owners were not only disposing of surplus stock and investing the proceeds in herd growth and pasture improvement but also, at times and under pressure, achieving o f f t a k e rates at least comparable with those of commercial ranching enterprises and sometimes in excess of breeding capacity. Far f r o m being overstocked, some pastoral areas m a y have been understocked, both in terms of the carrying capacity of the rangeland and of family subsistence r e q u i r e m e n t s (Waller 1986; H o m e w o o d and R o d g e r s 1987). Destocking, one of the key issues of policy and implementation in the colonial period, m a y have been addressing the w r o n g problem and thus using compulsion where none was required. Interethnic exchange continued and, indeed, took on a new, if illegal, lease of life as smuggling and commercial stock t h e f t — f o r m s of enterprise in effect created by state regulation (Marris and Somerset 1971; Anderson and T h r o u p 1985; Anderson 1986). Informal

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transactions based on social relationships and ecological complementarity persist to the present, though they are often invisible in household survey data. The facts that perhaps 70 percent of stock sales in the Ngorongoro area in the 1980s were illegal (mostly smuggled into Kenya) and that stock can readily be exchanged for ex-Ethiopian firearms in parts of northern Kenya suggest in themselves that pastoralists have not yet been corralled within the formal market (Homewood and Rodgers 1991; Fratkin, personal communication). In other ways, too, pastoralists were entering and taking advantage of the market to ease constraints in labor and food supplies. Family heads hired contract labor for well digging, cultivation, and, sometimes, herding and invested wages brought in by family members who had hired themselves out as herders elsewhere. Wage labor on white ranches became an alternative to raiding as a means of acquiring the nucleus of a herd (though raiding itself had by no means ceased). To make up for shortfalls in pastoral production, families began cultivation plots in favorable areas, often using the labor of "alien" wives and dependent laborers; to a limited extent, forms of tenant farming emerged (Waller 1993; Campbell 1993; Little, 1992). By the 1920s, families were also beginning to rely on regular purchases of imported commodities such as maize meal, tea, and sugar to supplement their diet, especially in times of scarcity. The cash for these purchases came from small-scale hide and milk sales often organized by women as an adaptation of their involvement in precolonial exchange networks (Dalleo 1975; Waller 1986; Kituyi 1990). In sum, then, it is best to see the period from the 1900s to the 1960s as a time of transition rather than of irreversible decline. Pastoralists attempted, with varying degrees of ingenuity and success, to maintain their commitment to specialized stock raising and subsistence by taking advantage of whatever new inputs and opportunities could be appropriately incorporated into proven economic and social management strategies.

Identity Formation The notion of a sharply bounded community carrying the name of a particular "tribe"—"Maasai," "Kikuyu," and so on—is commonplace. Implicit in these labels are ideas of identity; commonality of language, dress, "custom and tradition"; and primordiality, the continuation of such ethnicities timelessly and unchanged. Yet across East Africa communities have emerged and disappeared, relocated, and been transformed, both in the distant past and in more recent times (e.g., Spear and Waller 1993). The regional networks of close economic and social ties already described provided pathways along which individuals, households, and larger units could move to reconstitute themselves in new formations. The disappearance of the Laikipiak and the emergence of the Ariaal are cases in point. The Laikipiak, a powerful Maa-speaking group who dominated

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the plains of the central Rift Valley, were defeated and dispersed by an alliance of Maasai sections in the 1870s. Some Laikipiak families were absorbed by the victorious Maasai; others took refuge with neighboring peoples; and still others survived and regrouped as a community further north, contesting control of pastoral resources with the Boran, Samburu, and Rendille. For the Maasai, the Laikipiak had "disappeared"; for the northern pastoralists, they had not. It was only with the devastation brought on by the general disasters at the end of the century that the Laikipiak finally ceased to exist as a separate entity. Yet even now Laikipiak clans and traditions can be found embedded in other social formations (Sobania 1993). The Ariaal emerged gradually as Rendille families moved out of the camel economy and took up cattle herding with Samburu allies. Thirty years ago, they might have been described as Maa-speaking Rendille, but now they can be regarded as a separate community, neither Samburu nor Rendille (Spencer 1973; Fratkin 1993). In this case, a new identity has developed out of historical divergence. In the former case, an identity was lost through (forced) convergence. The case of the Ariaal indicates that identity may be differentiated according to mode of subsistence as well as language. Within the Maa-speakers there are both pastoralists (Maasai, Samburu, Baraguyu) and cultivators (II Chamus, Arusha). There are also Okiek hunter-gatherers who speak Maa, though not as their first language. Recent research suggests that variations of this kind, the result of long-term environmental adaptation, have very deep roots, despite the strong cultural insistence on a hegemonic "pastoral" definition of identity among Maa-speakers. "Maasai farmers" are not a contradiction in terms (Robertshaw 1990; Spear 1993). The so-called "Dorobo" (a Maa word that means "stockless") hunter-gatherers are no longer regarded as "failed pastoralists" who took refuge on the margins, a kind of relict category. They have a separate historical identity of their own, which they define "against" the dominant pastoral culture much as they are used as the "Other" in pastoral discourse (Waller 1985b; Kratz 1986; Sobania 1988a; Klumpp andKratz 1993; Kenny 1981). Common identity is rooted in and validated by a shared past. But this past is a social construct or a cultural representation set in time. Oral tradition is not simply a recounting of past events but a means of defining community by tracing its origins, and situating it in time and space. Dasenech traditions of origin, for example, explain how elements from past communities—many with historical links to present communities in the region—were accommodated into a new configuration as Dasenech. The Dasenech thus view themselves as a unity forged over time from different but complementary parts (including fishermen as well as herders and cultivators) within the ecological matrix of the Omo Delta at the tip of Lake Turkana (Sobania 1980, 1990). Yet if communities are made by their history, they in turn remake it. If the past is to act as a guarantee of continuity, it must be continuously reinterpreted so that as change occurs it can be reflected in a new version of the past. Tradition can

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thus be dynamic, an arena of negotiation and contestation in which different voices within the c o m m u n i t y strive to be heard. In a sense, it is discussion about the past that creates the moral c o m m u n i t y in the present (Sobania and Waller, n.d.). Constructions of past and present as w a y s of defining the b o u n d s of c o m m u n i t y are not only presented in the f o r m of (oral) traditions. Dress, custom, and ceremony are markers and dramatizations of identity, both between communities and within the community. Okiek b e a d w o r k styles differ deliberately and assertively f r o m the dominant Maasai canons of "taste" ( K l u m p p and Kratz 1993). Samburu and Turkana hairstyles are distinctively different and serve in part as a visual shorthand for identification. Individual families within one community, b y "following the customs of their fathers," m a y preserve the m e m o r y of their former m e m b e r s h i p in another (Sobania 1990). T h e El Molo, w h o are k n o w n as fishermen, a low-status and marginal adaptation in a pastoral world of dietary prohibitions, nonetheless have rainmakers. These individuals serve as a continuing cultural m a r k e r for a group of El M o l o with a distinct tradition of origin as herders. The f o r m of s o m e Dasencch ceremonies recalls the tradition of diversity and a m a l g a m a t i o n b y ordering different constituent parts of the c o m m u n i t y in terms of their presumed sequence of "arrival" (Almagor 1972; Sobania 1978). P e r f o r m a n c e offers an occasion for renegotiating the past and for arbitrating claims to identity and commonality. Scctional participation in j o i n t age ceremonies a m o n g the Maasai, for example, has changed markedly over the last century, reflecting shifts in alliances and in patterns of grazing and settlement (Waller 1979). Just as a c o m m u n i t y ' s past is subject to reinterpretation, so are other expressions of identity. Language, dress, and custom m a y all change or be b o r r o w e d from elsewhere. The Okiek have adopted M a a to c o n f o r m to their n e w social and economic environment. Circumcision (no m o r e than a token nick) is required of uncircumcised Turkana as a sign of acceptance b y other societies. Such outward signs are signifiers of "being"; but, at the same time, they also constitute the means b y which individuals or groups can redefine themselves and " b e c o m e , " either by changing the signifier or, m o r e subtly, by shifting its meaning, as in the case of the word "Iloikop" (Berntsen 1980). For some societies, where " p r o c e s s " is "structure," " b e i n g " and " b e c o m ing" are fused. Here the delineation of c o m m u n i t y boundaries is particularly fluid, a n d the m a n a g e m e n t of space and time together through age organization is vital for establishing identity (Waller 1985a). A g e c e r e m o n i e s a m o n g the Mursi are the best-documented e x a m p l e of a p h e n o m e n o n that m a y have m u c h wider application in our understanding of the processes of pastoral expansion, m o v e m e n t , and c o m m u n i t y formation in the past. T h e Mursi are one of a n u m b e r of small-scale societies slowly m o v i n g toward the Ethiopian Highlands by encroaching steadily on the territory of their next neighbors, rather as successive waves break on a shore. T h e forward location of each successive

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age ceremony marks the spatial advance achieved since the last occasion; the ceremony's timing relates both to the tempo of expansion itself and to the need to consolidate the human gains made through the incorporation of new m e m bers as the " w a v e " rolls onward. In a sense, "the Mursi" are coming concretely into existence through ceremony. Yet there is another field of meaning here, for the Mursi are marking not only "spatial" time but also "social" time, measured by the passage of individuals toward maturity and of cohorts through the age system (Turton 1978,1991). The relationship between the two fields is made clearer in another example. Maasai traditions of nineteenth-century expansion and warfare are structured to link successive stages in their occupation of Maasailand and control of its resources to the progression of age-sets. The advances made by one set are consolidated and exploited by their successors, land resources of stock, grazing, and water captured by murran are utilized by elders. In this construction of the past, individual maturation, the continuous flow of age-sets, and community growth and expansion are woven together to create a representation of the Maasai in time and place (Berntsen 1979; Waller 1979; T o m a y 1979). As we have seen, identity has always been mutable and is articulated through symbolic representations and discourse. During the colonial period, other, authoritative voices joined the debate, and they had very clear conceptions of "tribe," identity, and community. These views were enshrined in the Kenya Land Commission Report of 1934, at once a memorial to and an instrument of colonial ethnicity. Colonial administrators attempted to " f i x " communities by assigning each an appropriate "tribal" label with a set of supposedly "traditional" ethnic characteristics. These identities were then policed through legal boundaries. Individuals "belonged" to "tribes," and only members of the "tribe" had the right to reside within its area. Those who did not "belong" were removed and sometimes prosecuted. Throughout the colonial period, for example, Kikuyu and other immigrants in Maasailand were regularly fined and "repatriated" to their own reserves, even though many of them had patrons, kin, or bond friends among the Maasai and were "becoming Maasai" themselves (Waller 1984, 1993). The external imposition of ethnicity, freezing community boundaries and creating a new category of "ethnic" criminality for people out of place (or "aliens," as they were often called), politicized identity and intercommunity relations in a new way. "Tribes" now had tangible resources to defend: land and grazing rights. The lower slopes of Marsabit Mountain, for example, had been a valuable dry-season grazing area for Rendille camel herders. With the delimitation of the Kenya-Ethiopia border and the influx of Boran refugees across it, the area became officially recognized as Boran, and Rendille who "trespassed" over the new boundary were heavily fined (Sobania 1991). Elsewhere, lines were drawn to contain Somali expansion into the northeast and to prevent Turkana from encroaching on Samburu grazing lands from the

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west. By the 1930s, the open plains of the north were crisscrossed with an invisible network of tribal grazing areas, as the British administration tried to maintain a clearly compartmentalized and historically based regional structure that had never in fact existed (Sobania 1979, 1988b). Although "tribal" identities were initially imposed from outside, ethnicity was crystallizing inside as people learned to speak the colonial language of exclusivity, couched in ethnic terms, and grasped its potential as a weapon of defense and offense. Colonial boundaries and ethnographic expectations created a legal framework within which communities could define themselves anew and suggested new ways of determining who "belonged" and who did not. Adjudicating claims involved differing interpretations of "tradition" and appeals to the past. Increasingly, this past was being codified in the form of written compilations of traditions that sought explicitly to provide an agreedupon standard against which change could be evaluated. In western Maasailand, three different sections used different versions of a partly shared past in order to compete with one another in excluding outsiders (Waller 1984). It was not only "tradition" that was being fixed. The first ethnographic depictions of pastoral societies were available soon after the turn of the century (Merker 1904; Hollis 1905, 1909; Macdonald 1899; Dundas 1910). The extent to which they influenced community self-image at this early stage remains unclear, but in the early 1930s spokesmen used the Land Commission hearings to present a coherent image both to themselves and to outsiders. Significantly, much of the evidence collected by the commission was avowedly historical, reflecting a view of "tribes" as timeless and fixed entities with distinct and separable pasts. A recognizable image of the Maasai was promulgated and popularized in travel illustrations and stereoscope slides well before 1914, and there is some indication that individuals at least exploited the gap between image and reality for their own ends. Maasai laibons (prophets) clearly understood the significance of visual presentation, whether in posing for photographs or in receiving colonial visitors, to enhance their authority. The colonial and postcolonial stereotypes with which this chapter began have similarly been used and manipulated. Maasai elders, for instance, have made use of an appeal to a colonially constructed idea of pastoralism to have unwanted agricultural clients deported as "aliens" (Waller 1993). Thus, colonial overrule did not entirely shut down debate, destroy the old flexibility, and inhibit community formation and reformulation. It did some of this, but it also opened up new avenues and modes of expression and increased both the stakes and the penalties. The mutability of individual and community identity continued and took on new forms, which developed through a dialect i c , s o m e t i m e s u n a c k n o w l e d g e d or d e n i e d a n d o f t e n m u t u a l l y miscomprehended, between colonial demands and expectations on the one hand and community needs and individual aspirations on the other. In some ways, the colonial government itself became the "Other" against which the " S e l f ' was defined.

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Responses to Stress Early in 1891, rinderpest appeared without warning amongst the Maasai herds. Within months it had "finished the cattle and swept the l a n d " (Maasai elder, quoted in Waller 1988:76). It had been preceded in the 1880s, especially in the north, by an outbreak of bovine pleuropneumonia and a series of drought years: " M o s t people died of starvation. N o matter what person it was, a warrior, a child, a w o m a n . . . all d i e d " (Samburu elder, quoted in Sobania 1988a:45). This was the opening of two decades of disaster for pastoral peoples, recalled as the time of emutai ("wipe out") by the Maasai and Samburu. The almost complete loss of the herds was shortly followed by epidemic outbreaks of smallpox. There were again serious rain failures later in the decade. B y the mid-1890s, pastoral communities inhabiting a wide sweep of territory f r o m the southern Sudan and Ethiopia down through East A f r i c a had their e c o n o m i c base and m a n y of their people destroyed (Waller 1988; Sobania 1988a; Robinson 1985; Pankhurst and Johnson 1988). With this, inevitably, c a m e the destruction of the social and moral fabric of society: Desperate families drew in the circles of reciprocity and "ate alone," repudiated debts or d e m a n d e d their immediate repayment if they had the p o w e r to do so, stole animals, and raided kin and neighbors. It is moral collapse quite as m u c h as h u m a n and stock mortality in itself that gives the m e m o r y of the disaster its evocative p o w e r today. Emutai remains the benchmark of misery against which all subsequent crises are measured. It left a deep scar in the memories of those w h o endured it (Waller 1988). But if the crises of the 1890s were exceptional, they were not unique. Pastoral life is m e a s u r e d out in drought and m a r k e d by w h i t e n e d bones. W e k n o w little in detail about the vagaries of climate and disease b e f o r e the nineteenth century, but it is almost certain that crises of similar or greater m a g n i t u d e have occurred in the remoter past (Webster 1979). Indeed, our research suggests that m a n y of the societies with w h i c h w e are n o w familiar e m e r g e d in the a f t e r m a t h of a similar period of upheaval toward the e n d of the eighteenth century; likewise, the so-called "Iloikop W a r s " in M a a s a i l a n d m a y have been triggered by famine in the 1830s (Sobania and W a l l e r n.d.; Waller 1979; Sobania 1980). Since the 1890s, although epidemic disease h a s continued to strike both h u m a n and animal populations, drought has p e r h a p s been a greater s c o u r g e — t h o u g h the t w o have always been closely associated. T h e r e w a s constant drought between the late 1920s and the m i d - 1 9 3 0 s , the period of the Great Depression; and again during W o r l d W a r II. The n a m e s given to these colonial drought periods in Maasailand are grimly evocative: " H i d e s " (which people boiled and ate); " B o n e s " (which littered the bare pastures of K a j i a d o District by 1934); " T e a " (all that could be bought in the trading centers). A m a j o r drought in the late 1950s w a s e n d e d in the south by disastrous floods that ushered in a relatively wet d e c a d e in the 1960s ( W a l l e r 1986; Anon. n.d.).

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M o r e recently still, as is all too evident everywhere in the eastern a n d southern parts of the continent, drought has once more closed in, this time exacerbated by instability and war. It is not hard to understand w h y "rainfall probability" is often merely a bad j o k e and w h y pastoral d e m o g r a p h i c s assume a familiar "sawtooth p r o f i l e " of alternate growth and collapse (Spencer 1974; Sobania 1979). Yet even though communities have dissolved and people have died, pastoralism itself has always survived. " F e a s t and f a m i n e " is the pastoral norm, and society is organized to draw on the one in order to survive the other. Studying past crises helps us to see the strategies of survival that underpin e c o n o m i c and social structure. T h e strains of drought and disease have always fallen unevenly in different areas and on different households within the same community. Their differential impact m a d e the business of recovery possible but complex, providing one of the main dynamics of change in pastoral society. Even in the 1890s, the public tradition of catastrophe was qualified by private m e m o r i e s of escape and survival. Cattle in Nandi and Turkana, for example, were insulated f r o m the first onslaught of rinderpest because their grazing patterns did not bring them into contact with infected herds. Ironically, they were later w i p e d out by British raids made necessary in part because the expansion of the pastoral e c o n o m y in these areas encouraged resistance to colonial overrule. Sheep, goats, and camels were largely untouched. Within communities, some families coped better than others, d e p e n d i n g on the size and composition of their herds and on the extent and durability of their exchange networks. Larger herds could sustain proportionately heavier losses, and a balance of stock types helped to ensure the basic survival of the stock-owning unit. Families with smaller herds were often forced to disperse; and they were less likely than those with larger herds to regroup (Dahl and Hjort 1979). Similarly, families with a wide range of exchange contacts and bond friends might hope to scrape enough animals together to survive or find a friendly reception in a neighboring c o m m u n i t y , whereas the friendless perished or were enslaved. Societies and even communities, therefore, were rarely entirely w i p e d out, though they might be submerged for a time and reemerge in an altered shape. Pastoral history bears the imprint of n u m e r o u s crisis-induced reformulations and regroupings, with the relics of older c o m munities marked only by clan traditions and cattle brands (Schlee 1985; Sobania and Waller n.d.). W h e n crisis threatened, then, pastoral households had two basic options: to try to m a n a g e with what remained to them, acquiring more by raiding or exchange, or to take r e f u g e with other, usually nonpastoral communities. T h e s e options have not fundamentally changed, though the w a y s and contexts in w h i c h they m a y be pursued have. In the 1890s, for example, m a n y Maasai left Maasailand to live temporarily with bond friends a m o n g the K i k u y u , Meru, Chagga, Arusha, and Luo. They survived as best they could as clients and laborers in agricultural households and by hiring themselves out as auxiliaries

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in British-led punitive expeditions, from which they brought home animals to begin the process of restocking the herds (Waller 1984, 1988). In the 1930s, Maasai again took refuge, this time on white farms in the Rift Valley; and in more recent famines they have drifted to towns or taken up farming (Waller 1993; Campbell 1984). But we should not forget that centers such as Korr in Marsabit had their counterparts a century ago—Fort Smith in southern Kikuyu and Eldama Ravine—and that the Turkana who now seek employment as askaris for private security firms in Nairobi or as members of the paramilitary police are remarkably similar in both intent and action to the British-led raiders of the 1890s. In the aftermath of disaster, landscape changes both literally and metaphorically. The basic demographics of pastoral communities are altered by the differential impact of sudden mortality. Broadly speaking, the very old and the very young are most at risk, but in subsequent raids young men suffer as well. Women, and their reproductive potential, may be "lost" to the community as they are "pawned" or captured. Social networks are interrupted by death, dispersal, and the inability of young men to find the bridewealth necessary for marriage. Existing marriages and the affinal networks they guarantee may be dismantled by demands for the return or payment of valuable animals. The orderly progression of individuals and age groups toward maturity, the basis of both household and neighborhood authority, is disrupted. Ceremonies are abandoned or postponed and elders lose authority and stock together (Waller 1988; Turton 1977). Community can be reformed out of chaos, but as it reemerges it conforms to the altered social realities. Change may, however, be disguised by a commitment not so much to "conservatism" as to continuity. Thus, old forms persist, but with new meaning and content, and pastoral society continuously reinvents itself (Spear and Waller 1993). At the same time, the resources available to recovering pastoralists may be altered in type or extent. The relationship between fluctuations in settlement, land use, and tsetse fly and tick encroachment is one dramatic example, but as yet the subtler long-term variations in vegetation caused by changing grazing pressures elude historians (Lamprey and Waller 1990; Homewood and Rodgers 1991). Perhaps the most striking and significant change over the last century is that recovery has become progressively more difficult. Subsistence pastoralism is often now a one-way street. Those who are forced out into other communities and modes of subsistence (including famine relief) are rarely able to recoup their losses and return, as demonstrated by the failure of several schemes designed to help them do so (Fratkin 1991; Hogg 1985). There are a number of reasons for this trend. The most obvious is that district and national boundaries have impeded pastoral movements, making it difficult for modem refugees to disperse into neighboring communities and then reassemble (Sobania 1988b). Equally important is the change in the conditions of marketing, which first became noticeable during the crises of the early 1930s, when

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herd owners were forced both to sell and buy animals at a loss. Once valuable animals have been disposed of in return for grain, they cannot be quickly regained (Sen 1981; Turton 1985; McCann 1987). Attitudes to sedentarization have also changed in response to new opportunities and constraints. In the 1890s, most of those who settled with agricultural communities—at Taveta or Baringo, for instance—left again as soon as they had acquired the minimum number of animals to do so. Permanent settlement, which also involved cultivation and often hunting for subsistence, was regarded as the last resort. It implied poverty and lack of self-reliance (Waller 1988). More recent studies have suggested that it is now a strategy open to the rich, who have settled in towns such as Isiolo, leaving poorer kin and wage laborers to herd their stock. In this case, settlement is linked to access to other forms of employment and wealth. For others, however, sedentarization retains its association with destitution and dependence (Baxter 1975; Dahl 1979; Little 1985; Kituyi 1990). Although the advent of colonial and postcolonial capitalism has certainly opened some avenues of survival and accumulation, it has closed down others.

Conclusion We have not attempted here to give a summary account of "pastoral history." To do so would require far more space than is available; the references in the text provide a guide to further and more detailed reading. Instead, the themes that we have chosen to explore—economic and environmental change, identity, and response to crisis—reflect both our concern with the survival and changing nature of pastoralism and our belief that understanding the past may still hold keys to planning development in the future. Our intention has been to set recent change in pastoral societies within an historical perspective, to subvert the assumption that modern pastoralists are particularly "conservative" or "traditional" and that pastoralism is a special economic and social adaptation with a separate history of its own. Elsewhere both of us have argued strongly to the contrary (Lamprey and Waller 1990; Sobania 1990). We see pastoralism as a variable adaptation unable to survive without the existence of complementary economic modes, and we view pastoral communities as embedded in regional networks of exchange and accumulation. This has been the dominant pattern in East Africa for many centuries: Pastoralism has shifted its emphasis and waxed and waned in importance, and pastoral peoples have succeeded one another (Lamphear 1986; Sutton 1993). In the last two or three decades, pastoralism has entered a period of profound transformation. Land, labor and stock are becoming commoditized, and pastoralists are coping with a situation in which they are disadvantaged rather than advantaged by their position as semiautonomous subsistence producers only partly incorporated into national and international markets

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(Galaty and Bonte 1991). But it would be wrong on historical grounds to suppose that pastoralism is doomed to extinction, frozen in the timeless Eden of the glossy print. Pastoralists have always been resilient and highly adaptable under stress. Their ability to shift or redefine their identity, to alter their mode of subsistence, to expand and contract the boundaries of the community, and to maintain a strong sense of time and place have enabled them to survive in the past. Despite gloomy prognostications about the future of pastoral peoples, they will continue to survive, though not necessarily in the same form. Subsistence pastoralism as it has been practiced over the past 150 years is the product of particular historical and environmental conjunctures, and it is now being superseded by other variations. The identity of the pastoralists is also changing, just as it has done repeatedly in the past, since community survival is more than ethnic continuity. Laments for the demise of pastoralism are themselves part of the historical tradition, but real pastoralists, awkwardly, have refused to die. Unless we acknowledge the transience of historical images of pastoralism, current reality will pass us by, and we will remain locked in a fruitless attempt to grasp and conserve a mirage. Some ninety years apart, two books appeared on the Maasai with the same title: The Last of the Maasai (Hinde 1901; Amin and Willets 1987). We hope that this chapter has shown that both were right, but also fundamentally wrong.

References Almagor, U. 1972 Tribal Sections, Territory and Myth: Dassanetch Responses to Variable Ecological Conditions. Asian and African Studies 8. 185-206. Almagor, U. 1978 Pastoral Partners. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Almagor, U. 1979 Raiders and Elders: A Confrontation of Generations Among the Dassanetch. In K. Fukui and D. Turton (eds.), Warfare Among East African Herders, Senri Studies 3. National Museum of Ethnology. Amin, M. 1983 Cradle of Mankind. Woodstock: Overlook Press. Amin, M., andD. Willetts 1987 The Last of the Maasai. Nairobi: Westlands Sundries. Anderson, D. M. 1984 Depression, Dust Bowl, Demography and Drought: The Colonial State and Soil Conservation in East Africa During the 1930s. African Affairs, 83. 321-343. Anderson, D. M. 1986 Stock Theft and Moral Economy in Colonial Africa. Africa 56. 399-416. Anderson, D. M., and R. Grove (eds.) 1987 Conservation in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Anderson, D. M., and D. W. Throup 1985 Africans and Agricultural Production in Colonial Kenya: The Myth of the War as a Watershed. Journal of African History 26.

Anonymous n. d. A History of the Fluctuation of the Cattle Population in Kajiado Masailand During the Last Twenty Years. Nairobi: Agricultural Department,

mimeo. Baxter, P.T.W. 1975 Some Consequences of Sedentarisation for Social Relationship. In T. Monod (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa. London: Oxford University Press.

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Beckwith, C., and A. Fisher 1990 African Ark. New York: Abrams. Berntsen, J. L. 1979 Pastoralism, Raiding and Prophets: Maasailand in the Nineteenth Century. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin. Berntsen, J. L. 1980 The Enemy Is Us: Eponymy in the Historiography of the Maasai. History in Africa 7. 1-21. Campbell, D. J. 1984 Response to Drought Among Farmers and Herders in Southern Kajiado District, Kenya. Human Ecology 12. 35-64. Campbell, D. 1993 Land as Ours, Land as Mine: Economic, Political and Ecological Marginalization in Kajiado District. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Cranefield, P. 1991 Science and Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dahl, G. 1979 Ecology and Equality: The Boran Case. In Ecologie Equipe et Anthropologie des Societes Pastorales (eds.), Pastoral Production and Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dahl, G., and A. Hjort 1976 Having Herds. Stockholm: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm. Dahl, G., and A. Hjort 1979 Pastoral Change and the Role of Drought. Stockholm: SAREC. Dalleo, P. 1975 Trade and Pastoralism: Economic Factors in the History of the Somali ofN. E. Kenya. Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University. Dundas, K. R. 1910 Notes on the Tribes Inhabiting the Baringo District, East Africa Protectorate. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 40. 49-73. Finch, V. A., and D. Western 1977 Cattle Colour in Pastoral Herds: Natural Selection or Social Preference? Ecology 58. 1384-1392. Ford, J. 1971 The Role of Trypanosomiasis in African Ecology. Oxford: Clarendon. Fratkin, E. 1991 Surviving Drought and Development. Boulder: Westview Press. Fratkin, E. 1993 Maa-speakers of the Northern Desert: Recent Developments in Ariaal and Rendille Identity. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Fukui, K., and D. Turton (eds.) 1979 Warfare Among East African Herders. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Galaty, J. 1991 Pastoral Orbits and Deadly Jousts: Factors in the Maasai Expansion. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Galaty, J., and P. Bonte (eds.) 1991 Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Giblin, J. L. 1992 The Politics of Environmental Control in Northeastern Tanzania, 1840-1940. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. Goldschmidt, W. 1969 Kambuya's Cattle. Berkeley: University of California Press. Gulliver, P. H. 1955 The Family Herds. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Gulliver, P. H. 1969 The Conservative Commitment in Northern Tanzania. In P. H. Gulliver (ed.), Tradition and Transition in East Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hedlund, P. 1979 Contradictions in the Peripheralisation of a Pastoral Society: The Maasai. Review of African Political Economy 15/16 15-34. Hogg, R. 1985 The Politics of Drought: The Pauperisation of Isiolo Boran. Disasters 9(1) 3 9 - 4 3 . Hogg, R. 1986 The New Pastoralism: Poverty and Dependency in Northern Kenya. Africa 56. 319-333. Hollis, A. C. 1905 The Masai: Their Language and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hollis, A. C. 1909 The Nandi: Their Language and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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Homewood, K. M., and W. A. Rodgers 1987 Pastoralism, Conservation and the Overgrazing Controversy. In D. Anderson and R. Grove (eds.), Conservation in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Homewood, K. M., and W. A. Rodgers 1991 Maasailand Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Jacobs, A. H. 1975 Maasai Pastoralism in Historical Perspective. In T. Monod (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa. London: Oxford University Press. Johnson, D. H. 1991 Political Ecology in the Upper Nile: The Twentieth Century Expansion of the Pastoral "Common Economy." In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Kenny, M. G. 1981 Mirror in the Forest: Okiek Hunter-Gatherers as an Image of the Other. Africa 51. 477^196. Kitching, G. 1980 Class and Economic Change in Kenya: The Making of an African Petite-Bourgeoisie. New Haven: Yale University Press. Kituyi, M. 1990 Becoming Kenyans. Nairobi: Acts Press. Kjekshus, H. 1977 Ecology, Control and Development in East African History. London: Heinemann. Klumpp, D., and C. Kratz 1993 Aesthetics, Expertise and Ethnicity: Okiek and Maasai Perspectives on Personal Ornament. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Kratz, C. 1986 Ethnic Interaction, Economic Diversification and Language Use. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 7. 189-226. Lamphear, J. 1986 The Persistence of Hunting and Gathering in "Pastoral" World. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 7. 227-265. Lamphear, J. 1992 The Scattering Time. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Lamprey, R., and R. D. Waller 1990 The Loita-Mara Region in Historical Perspective: Patterns of Subsistence, Settlement and Ecological Change. In P. Robertshaw (ed.), Early Pastoralists of South-western Kenya. Nairobi: British Institute in East Africa. Lewis, I. M. 1963 The Problem of the Northern Frontier District of Kenya. Race 5. Little, K. 1991 On Safari: The Visual Politics of a Tourist Representation. In D. Howes (ed.), The Varieties of Sensory Experience. Toronto. Little, P. D. 1985 Social Differentiation and Pastoralist Sedentarisation in Northern Kenya. Africa 55. 243-261. Little, P. D. 1992 The Elusive Granary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Macdonald, J. R. 1899 Notes on the Ethnology of the Tribes Met With During the Progress of the Juba Expedition of 1897-99. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 29. 226-250. Marris, P., and A. Somerset 1971 African Businessmen. Nairobi: East Africa Publishing House. McCann, J. 1987 The Social Impact of Famine in Ethiopia: Oxen, Households and Some Implications for Rehabilitation. In M. Glantz (ed.), Drought and Hunger in Africa: Denying Famine a Future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McCorkle, C. M. 1986 An Introduction to Ethnoveterinary Research and Development. Journal of Ethnobiology 6. 129-149. Merker, M. 1904 Die Masai. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. Mosley, P. 1983 The Settler Economies: Studies in the Economic History of Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, 1900-1963. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Muriuki, G. N. 1974 A History of the Kikuyu, 1500-1900. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. Pankhurst, R., and D. J. Johnson 1988 The Great Drought and Famine of 1889-92 in Northeast Africa. In D. H. Johnson and D. M. Anderson (eds.), The Ecology

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of Survival. Boulder: Westview Press. Raikes, P. L. 1981 Livestock Development and Policy in East Africa. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies. Ricciardi, M. 1971 Vanishing Africa. New York: Reynal and Co. Riefenstahl, L. 1982 Vanishing Africa. New York: Harmony. Robertshaw, P. (ed.) 1990 Early Pastoralists of South-western Kenya. Nairobi: British Institute in East Africa. Robinson, P. W. 1985 Gabbra Nomad Pastoralism in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Northern Kenya: Strategies for Survival in a Marginal Environment. Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern. Schlee, G. 1985 Interethnic Clan Identities Among Cushitic Speaking Pastoralists. Africa 55. 17-38. Sen, A. 1981 Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sindiga, I. 1984 Land and Population Problems in Kajiado and Narok, Kenya. African Studies Review 27. 23-39. Sobania, N. W. 1978 The Problem of Origins: Linguistic Hypotheses and Oral Tradition or Are We the Language We Speak? Abbay, Documents pour Servir a L 'Histoire de la Civilisation Ethiopienne 9. 87-99. Sobania, N. W. 1979 Background History ofthe Mount Kulal Region of Kenya. IPAL Technical Report A-2. Nairobi/Paris: UNESCO/UNEP. Sobania, N. W. 1980 The Historical Tradition of the Peoples of the Eastern Lake Turkana Basin, cl840-l925. Ph.D. dissertation, University of London. Sobania, N. W. 1988a Fishermen Herders: Subsistence, Survival and Cultural Change in Northern Kenya. Journal of African History 29. 41-56. Sobania, N. W. 1988b Pastoralists, Migration and Colonial Policy: A Case Study from Northern Kenya. In D. H. Johnson and D. M. Anderson (eds.), The Ecology of Survival. Boulder: Westview Press. Sobania, N. W. 1990 Social Relationships as an Aspect of Property Rights: Northern Kenya in the Pre-Colonial and Colonial Periods. In P.T.W. Baxter and R. Hogg (eds.), Property, Poverty and People: Changing Rights in Property and Problems of Pastoral Development. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Sobania, N. W. 1991 Feasts, Famines and Friends: Nineteenth Century Exchange and Ethnicity in the Eastern Lake Turkana Region. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Sobania, N. W. 1993 Defeat and Dispersal: The Laikipiak and Their Neighbours at the End of the Nineteenth Century. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Sobania, N. W., and R. Waller n. d. Oral Tradition and the Beginning of Time. Unpubl. paper. Sorrenson, M.P.K. 1968 Origins of European Settlement in Kenya. Nairobi: Oxford University Press. Spear, T. 1993 "Being Maasai" but Not "People of Cattle." In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Spear, T., and R. Waller (eds.) 1993 Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Spencer, I. R. 1983 Pastoralism and Colonial Policy in Kenya, 1895-1929. In R. I. Rotberg (ed.), Imperialism, Colonialism and Hunger. New York: Lexington Books. Spencer, P. 1973 Nomads in Alliance. London: Oxford University Press. Spencer, P. 1974 Drought and the Commitment to Growth. African Affairs 73. 419-427. Spencer, P. 1988 The Maasai of Matapato. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

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Sutton, J.E.G. 1993 Becoming Maasailand. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Thomson, J. 1885 Through Masai Land. London: Sampson Low. Tignor, R. L. 1976 The Colonial Transformation of Kenya. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Tornay, S. 1979 Armed Conflicts in the Lower Omo Valley, 1970-76: An Analysis from Within Nyangatom Society. In K. Fukui and D. Turton (eds.), Warfare Among East African Herders. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Turton, D. 1977 Response to Drought: The Mursi of South West Ethiopia. In J. P. Garlick and R.W.J. Keay (eds.), Human Ecology in the Tropics. London: Taylor and Francis. Turton, D. 1978 Territorial Organisation and Age Among the Mursi. In P.T.W. Baxter and U. Almagor (eds.), Age, Generation and Time. London: Hurst. Turton, D. 1980 The Economics of Mursi Bridewealth: A Comparative Perspective. In J. L. Comaroff (ed.), The Meaning of Marriage Payments. London: Academic Press. Turton, D. 1985 Mursi Response to Drought: Some Lessons for Relief and Rehabilitation. African Affairs 84. 331-346. Turton, D. 1991 Movement, Warfare and Ethnicity in the Lower Omo Valley. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: Westview Press. Van Zwanenberg, R., with A. King 1975 An Economic History of Kenya and Uganda (1800-1970). London: Macmillan. Waller, R. D. 1979 The Lords of East Africa: The Maasai in the Mid-nineteenth Century (cl840-1880). Ph.D. dissertation, Cambridge University. Waller, R. D. 1984 Interaction and Identity on the Periphery: The Trans-Mara Maasai. International Journal of African Historical Studies 17. 243-284. Waller, R. D. 1985a Ecology, Migration and Expansion in East Africa. African Affairs 84. 347-370. Waller, R. D. 1985b Economic and Social Relations in the Central Rift Valley: The Maa-Speakers and Their Neighbours in the Nineteenth Century. In B. A. Ogot (ed.), Kenya in the Nineteenth Century. Nairobi: Bookwise. Waller, R. D. 1986 Research on Maasai History. London: SSRC mimeo. Waller, R. D. 1988 Emutai: Crisis and Response in Maasailand, 1883-1902. In D. H. Johnson and D. M. Anderson (eds.), The Ecology of Survival. Boulder: Westview Press. Waller, R. D. 1990 Tsetse Fly in Western Narok, Kenya. Journal of African History 31. 81-101. Waller, R. D. 1993 Acceptees and Aliens: Kikuyu Settlement in Maasailand. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai. London: James Currey. Webster, J. B. 1979 Chronology, Migration and Drought in Interlacustrine African. London: Dalhousie University Press.

4 Mobility and Land Use Among African Pastoralists: Old Conceptual Problems and New Interpretations /. Terrence McCabe

The way that livestock-keeping peoples use the land and the consequcnces of land-use strategies have played a central role in the literature concerning Africa's pastoral nomads for over fifty years. Some topics that were debated for decades are now no longer viewed as contentious, such as the "rationality" or "irrationality" of pastoral livestock-management strategies. Other topics, such as land degradation resulting from pastoral land use, remain controversial. In this chapter 1 will review some of the major issues and as yet unresolved theoretical debates in the literature concerning pastoral land use; I will also attempt to explicate some theoretical uncertainties through the analysis of data collected among the Turkana of Kenya. There is a renewed interest among anthropologists concerning pastoralism, as evidenced by two new edited volumes (Galaty and Bonte 1991; Galaty and Johnson 1991), the invited symposium on East African pastoralists held at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association in 1991, and the small conference sponsored by the Commission on Nomadic Peoples and held in Pavia, Italy in 1992. Much of the recent discussion is reminiscent of the 1970s, when anthropologists vigorously debated theoretical issues and pastoral economies were viewed as viable and healthy. In sharp contrast, the literature of the 1980s was dominated by issues such as drought, destitution, and the failure of pastoral economies. Much of the research related to pastoral peoples in the 1980s addressed issues such as modernization; development; social, political, or economic change; the impact of the state; expansion of the pastoral system to include wage labor; the extensive marketing of livestock; and sedentarization. (For an example of this research, see the edited volumes by Glantz 1987; Salzman 1980; Galaty, Aronson, and Salzman 1981; or many of the articles appearing in the journals Disasters and Nomadic Peoples or the Pastoral Development Network Papers). "Traditional" pastoral peoples seemed to have disappeared from the recent

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literature, with only a few notable exceptions. 1 This shift in the pastoral literature m a y be more reflective of a shift in research priorities than of a m a j o r change in the subsistence e c o n o m i e s of pastoral people. I do not want to suggest that change is not occurring rapidly a m o n g s o m e pastoral peoples or that the study of changing economies is not of great importance. H o w e v e r , m u c h of the recent literature suggests that African pastoralists are n o longer able to exist as viable communities with livestock-based economies. Even m u c h of the literature concerning the Turkana suggests a population rapidly changing and flirting with disaster (for example, see H o g g 1984). Although this literature is certainly important, it m a s k s the fact that m a n y pastoral people are surviving the vicissitudes of drought and development and living rather "traditional" lifestyles. Elliot Fratkin discusses this issue and presents a picture of a successful viable pastoral c o m m u n i t y in his n e w book of the Ariaal (Fratkin 1991). In the discussion that follows, I present a review of the literature concerning pastoral land use, followed by data concerning T u r k a n a pastoralists w h o have maintained what I feel is a traditional pastoralist lifestyle. 2 1 conclude by returning to the theoretical issues brought up in the beginning of the chapter and argue that some of the difference of opinion evident in the literature m a y be resolved by examining patterns of land use at different scales of analysis.

The Literature A n y definition of pastoral n o m a d i s m must include two basic concepts: the raising of livestock and the m o v e m e n t of livestock and people. Although there is extensive literature on pastoral peoples, there is a surprising lack of detailed information on specific patterns of mobility for specific pastoral peoples. M u c h of the literature discusses land use in general terms, but little attention is paid to variability either temporally or a m o n g individuals (the work of the DysonH u d s o n s is an exception). Within the A f r i c a n context, s o m e authors have cited this lack of information as directly contributing to the faulty design and ultimate failure of livestock development projects (Horowitz 1981). During the colonial period the dominant image of pastoralists was of lazy, warlike, lawless people w h o w a n d e r around looking for pasture for their herds. This perspective w a s supported b y H e r k o v i t s ' s 1926 publication on the "cattle c o m p l e x , " which presented a picture of East A f r i c a n pastoralists as having an "irrational" attachment to their cattle. Herkovitz had never been to Africa, and his intention in writing the article w a s to argue that values should be included in the culture-area concept, not to present an ethnographic account of East A f r i c a n pastoralists. Nevertheless, the image of "irrational" pastoralists persisted. This v i e w w a s countered by the description and analysis of the N u e r in the southern Sudan provided b y Evans-Pritchard in 1940. Evans-Pritchard

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paved the w a y for a n u m b e r of anthropologists w h o studied pastoral peoples in East A f r i c a utilizing a structural functionalist f r a m e w o r k a n d w h o v i e w e d pastoral mobility as a rational response to seasonal changes in the environment. Evans-Pritchard viewed N u e r mobility as a response to seasonal floods a n d drought: " N u e r cannot, except in a few favored spots, live in one place throughout the year. The floods drive t h e m and their herds to seek protection of higher ground. A b s e n c e of water and pasture on this higher g r o u n d c o m p e l s them to m o v e during the drought" (Evans-Pritchard 1940:57). Evans-Pritchard also presented a picture of the N u e r as a fairly autonomous people with little connection to a regional e c o n o m y . This v i e w has recently been challenged by Douglas, w h o asserts that Evans-Pritchard conducted his research during a period of unique ecological and political events (Johnson 1991). Evans-Pritchard's work set the stage for studies conducted in the 1950s a n d 1960s a m o n g the Turkana and the Jie (Gulliver 1951, 1955), the K a r i m o j o n g ( D y s o n - H u d s o n 1966), the Maasai (Jacobs 1965), the S a m b u r u (Spencer 1965), the Sebei (Goldschmidt 1969), and Pokot the (Schneider 1953). In each of these accounts, pastoral mobility is viewed as a response to environmental conditions, and pastoralists are presented as adept herd m a n a g ers. This v i e w can also be seen in Derick Stenning's work a m o n g the Fulani pastoralists in West Africa (Stenning 1957; 1959). Within this b o d y of literature, two articles stand out with respect to the analytic insight of the authors and their impact on future w o r k concerning land use a m o n g A f r i c a n pastoralists. T h e y are Stenning's 1957 publication "Transhumance, M i g r a t o r y Drift, Migration; Patterns of Pastoral Fulani N o m a d i s m , " and R a d a a n d Neville D y s o n - H u d s o n ' s "Subsistence Herding in U g a n d a , " published in 1969. Because of their important contribution to the literature, each of these articles will be discussed in some detail below. Stenning sought to describe and distinguish three types of m o v e m e n t that he felt characterized the mobility patterns of the pastoral Fulani in northern Nigeria. H e felt that seasonal patterns needed to be distinguished f r o m changes that occurred over the course of years and that m o v e m e n t as a response to the environment n e e d e d to be distinguished f r o m large-scale m o v e m e n t as a response to political events. For Stenning, " t r a n s h u m a n c e " was the "regular seasonal m o v e m e n t of cattle, southward in the dry season in response to shortages of pasture and water, northward in the wet season to avoid tsetse" (Stenning 1957:60). The pattern w a s regular and primarily a response to changing environmental conditions, although the importance of cultivators and markets w a s seen as important for certain groups. Migratory drift entailed "a gradual displacement of the customary transh u m a n t tracks a n d orbits, resulting eventually in a completely n e w orbit." (Stenning 1957:67). These changes might occur during the lifetime of an individual or over the course of a n u m b e r of generations. Migratory drift w a s seen a response to long-term fluctuations in the environment, such as a series of wet or dry years or an increase in livestock disease; or as a response to

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d e v e l o p m e n t interventions or the expansion of farmland. This information c a n be obtained by conducting life histories of individual herd owners. Migration w a s defined as a "dramatic shift to different transhumant orbits without the piecemeal abandoning of pastures which characterizes migratory drift" (Stenning 1957:69). It w a s seen as a response to intolerable political conditions, a wholesale m o v e to escape repression. Only by studying tribal history is this type of m o v e m e n t revealed. W h a t m a d e Stenning's discussion so important was the introduction of variability over time and the recognition of political events as influencing mobility. This influence on pastoral mobility patterns had been written about for pastoral peoples in Asia (see Lattimore 1940) but not within the A f r i c a n context. The D y s o n - H u d s o n s focused on the m o v e m e n t of individual herd o w n e r s a m o n g the K a r i m o j o n g of northeastern U g a n d a rather than attempting to examine mobility at the population level. It is m u c h more c o m m o n to find pastoral m o v e m e n t s described in idealized patterns, with lines or arrows indicating seasonal shifts in residence and herds. By focusing on the individual, the D y s o n - H u d s o n s saw the importance of variability and the multiplicity of factors involved in decisionmaking. This type of research requires long periods of time in the field and an intimate relationship with particular herd owners and their families. It also requires an in-depth knowledge of the local environment, facility with locations and place names, and an understanding of h o w pastoralists construct their cognitive m a p of the landscape. These are some of the reasons this type of research is so rarely found in the literature. The D y s o n - H u d s o n s concluded that m o v e m e n t patterns were extremely variable and that there was no effort on the part of the pastoral population to conserve forage resources: " K a r i m o j o n g husbandry involves total use of the environment: immediate utilization of resources, leaving none for a later t i m e " ( D y s o n - H u d s o n R. and N. 1969:79). This emphasis on variability and unpredictability w a s supported by other anthropologists working with pastoral populations in the arid and semiarid lands in East Africa; for s o m e it characterized the n o m a d i c pattern of all East African pastoralists (see K h a z a n o v 1984). H o w e v e r , anthropologists w o r k i n g with pastoralists inhabiting the wetter grasslands noted that m o v e m e n t patterns were fairly regular. Both Jacobs (1965) and later A r h e m (1985) noted that the Maasai regularly use highland pastures in the dry season and m o v e d o w n to lowland pastures for a brief period of time during the rainy season. They state that this transhumant cycle is both regular and predictable.

The Ecological Paradigm Challenged All the literature discussed in the previous section utilized an ecological explanation as the underpinning for pastoral mobility. During the late 1960s and early 1970s the ecological explanation w a s seen as part of the "neofunctio-

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nal" p a r a d i g m in anthropology. Explanations of pastoral mobility as responses to environmental variability were seen as overly deterministic, and the autono m y of pastoral peoples w a s seen as stemming f r o m the structural functionalist perspective rather than f r o m empirical reality. Jean Gallais's study of the " D i n a " system in the Niger Delta portrayed pastoral peoples as intimately connected to the e c o n o m y and agricultural cycles of local cultivators (Gallais 1972). This study suggested a system of herd m a n a g e m e n t that was m u c h m o r e reminiscent of Middle Eastern pastoralism than of African pastoralism. M a n y studies of Middle Eastern pastoralists suggested that mobility was better understood as a response to political events than to ecological factors, and this b o d y of literature supported the challenge to the ecological paradigm. N u m e r o u s examples of this approach can be found in the 1971 edition of Anthropological Quarterly, the 1975 volume on Pastoralism in Africa edited by M o n o d , and the 1979 edition oí Pastoral Production and Society (Equipe Ecologie 1979). The v i e w that mobility a m o n g n o m a d i c peoples should be analyzed in political rather than ecological terms was succinctly stated by Burnham: [T]he overly deterministic but commonly held view that settlement mobility is best analyzed as resulting from environmental necessity has been shown to be unhelpful as a point of departure for the study of mobile societies. This is not to say, of course, that mobility is not frequently advantageous from an ecological point of view and even necessary in certain cases because of environmental constraints. But the contingent quality of inter-person and inter-group relations in spatially mobile societies is a fact of their political organization and must be considered as an independently significant phenomenon whatever the environmental conditions (Burnham 1979:350). This change in theoretical paradigms was reflected in E l a m ' s account of H i m a mobility as a form of protest against local c h i e f s ' attempt to claim the g r o u p ' s labor in the construction of d a m s (Elam 1979). E l a m viewed pastoral m o v e m e n t s as purely stochastic and interpreted the pattern he observed as a political rather than ecological response to local conditions. Both Gulliver (1975) and W o o d b u r n (1972) stressed the importance of social factors in determining the pattern of mobility a m o n g pastoralists. W o o d b u r n studied mobility among Hadza hunters and gatherers in Tanzania but felt his interpretations of mobility could be generalized to pastoral people as well. H e stated: Nomadic movement therefore may be said to provide a means for the regular positive affirmation of multiple enduring social ties and for the easy segregation of conflicting individuals from each other; the value which Hadza place on movement as such, on movement more frequent than can be explained on ecological grounds alone, is related to its importance for every individual Hadza as a means through which his or her social ties may be manipulated without strain. I would expect that similar considerations are

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relevant in the interpretation of nomadic movement in other societies whether of hunters and gatherers or of pastoral nomads (Woodburn 1972:205). The literature of the 1970s revealed a lack of agreement concerning both the causes and consequences of pastoral mobility and the units of analysis to be used in the examination of mobility patterns. This literature demonstrated not only a lack of agreement but also the contentious nature of the debate (for example, see D y s o n - H u d s o n 1972). Pastoral

Land Use and Environmental

Degradation

During the late 1970s and throughout most of the 1980s, m u c h of the literature related to African pastoral peoples emphasized the failure of pastoral economies; the impact of drought; the rapid social, political, and economic change deriving f r o m development initiatives and incorporation of pastoralists into larger regional and state economies. Issues relating to land use in A f r i c a ' s arid and semiarid lands were also well represented in the literature but usually couched within a context that emphasized the destructive consequences of c o m m o n land tenure and individual ownership of livestock. M u c h of the literature on desertification attributed environmental degradation directly to m i s m a n a g e m e n t on the part of pastoral peoples. E x a m p l e s of this literature are c o m m o n but probably best exemplified in the writings of Picardi and Siefert (1976) for the Sahel and L a m p r e y (1983) for East Africa. This attitude toward pastoralists is illustrated in the following quotation from Lamprey: "In balance it seems that the symbiosis of pastoral m a n and his domestic animals has been very successful if viewed as a survival strategy in the short term. In the long term it appears less successful since it tends to destroy its own habitat" (Lamprey 1983:656). M a n y of the development p r o g r a m s targeted at peoples living in A f r i c a ' s arid regions emphasized the need to shift from traditional pastoralism to s o m e other f o r m of livestock-based e c o n o m y , such as private or group ranches (Galaty 1980), or a w a y f r o m livestock all together—for example, into irrigated agriculture or fishing ( H o g g 1984). It is not surprising that m u c h o f the literature concerning pastoral land use published at this time was c o n c e r n e d with these issues. During the latter half of the 1980s, the picture of poverty-stricken pastoralists destroying their land began to change. This change resulted f r o m a n u m b e r of studies conducted in East Africa in the early and mid-1980s, with the results published in the latter half of the decade. W o r k conducted a m o n g the T u r k a n a b y m e m b e r s of the South Turkana Ecosystem Project d e m o n strated that the N g i s o n y o k a pastoralists did not cause environmental degradation, were adept decisionmakers and environmental managers, and had a viable e c o n o m y and a healthy h u m a n population (McCabe 1 9 8 5 , 1 9 8 7 , 1990; D y s o n H u d s o n and M c C a b e 1985; Galvin 1985; Ellis and Swift 1988). These results

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were similar to those reported for the Ariaal (Fratkin 1989, 1991; Fratkin a n d Roth 1990) and the Maasai of the N g o r o n g o r o Conservation Area ( A r h e m 1985; H o m e w o o d a n d R o d g e r s 1991). During the late 1980s, r e n e w e d interest in theoretical issues concerning pastoral mobility b e g a n to emerge. Ingold's attempt to disarticulate spatial mobility, subsistence, and change of place with shifts in the composition of social groupings in mobile societies is one example (Ingold 1987). Both Ingold and K h a z a n o v attempt to reformulate typologies of mobile peoples (although K h a z a n o v rejects the " n o m a d i s m " of hunting and gathering peoples and opts for the term " w a n d e r i n g " instead) and criticize earlier attempts at categorization (Johnson 1969; Krader 1959). In the section below, I want to take a different approach to pastoral mobility by examining it a m o n g a single group of pastoralists from both a population-level perspective and f r o m an individual perspective. I feel that such an approach m a y yield some n e w insights and resolve some conceptual problems concerning patterns of pastoral m o v e m e n t , particularly the importance of individual variability in m o v e m e n t patterns.

Land Use Among the Turkana I have been fortunate to have conducted m u c h of this study as a m e m b e r of the South Turkana E c o s y s t e m Project, a multidisciplinary study in which anthropologists and ecologists attempt to understand the interrelationships b e t w e e n the environment and the Turkana pastoral community. It is one of the largest ecosystem-based studies involving local people ever to have been conducted. The project has been ongoing n o w for over ten years. The population-level data reported here were collected during 1984— 1985 as part of a study designed to e x a m i n e the impact of and response to drought a m o n g pastoral peoples in Turkana District. The data on individual herd owners are an analysis of figures collected with the assistance of Rada Dyson-Hudson for four families during the years 1979-1983. The Turkana Turkana District e n c o m p a s s e s 67,000 km 2 in the arid and semiarid regions of northwestern K e n y a (see M a p 4.1). Until recently the district w a s inhabited almost exclusively b y the pastoral and agropastoral Turkana. A l t h o u g h there were small populations of cultivators living along the Turkwel and Kerio rivers and a f e w settlements of fishermen living along the shores of Lake Turkana, the basis for subsistence of the approximately 200,000 Turkana p e o p l e w a s the raising of livestock: camels, cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys. A l t h o u g h livestock has been the basis of the economy, development efforts have concentrated on irrigation s c h e m e s located along the rivers and on the expansion of the incipient fishing industry. Following the drought of 1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 1 , massive

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N

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km Map 4.1

Turkana

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quantities of food aid were brought into the region and distributed in a few large relief centers in northern Turkana District. The combination of development and relief had a dramatic impact on the Turkana people, and by 1983 an estimated 80,000 people were clustered into settlements adjoining the relief camps. Today approximately 30,000 former pastoralists are settled in small urban centers; the remaining Turkana practice a traditional pastoral lifestyle. The Turkana are organized politically into eighteen sections, each of which is identified with a particular location. Sectional territories are bounded, and individuals of one section may only cross territorial boundaries for grazing purposes with the permission of the elders. 3 Forage resources are available to all members of a section within territorial boundaries, but water resources are subject to a number of restrictions. Rivers and open pools are available to all, as are shallow wells dug in dry riverbeds. Deep wells, however, are owned by the families of those who did the digging, and access is restricted to close family members and friends of the owners. The basic production unit of the Turkana is the homestead, or awi. The awi consists of a herd owner, his wives, their children, and frequently some dependent women and their children. These dependent women are usually close relatives—mothers, sisters whose husbands have died or are too poor to support them—and will remain with the awi as long as there are enough animals to feed them. Although each awi is independent and each herd owner makes his own decisions concerning herd management, herd owners usually join together for periods of time to share responsibilities and occasionally food. These associations may be based on kinship or friendship and may last from a few weeks to several years. The information presented here was collected from the Ngisonyoka section of the Turkana, who live in the southwest region of Turkana District. The Ngisonyoka received no famine relief during the 1980s, and the mobility pattern described was not influenced by the availability of famine relief foods. Ngisonyoka

Mobility: Population-Level

Analysis

The sectional territory of the Ngisonyoka ("people of the fat-tailed sheep") encompasses approximately 8,600 km in the southwest part of Turkana district. The area is topographically diverse, dominated by a central mountain chain. Numerous watercourses (in which water flows only two or three days throughout the year) emanate from these mountains, creating many microenvironments in the plains and footslopes of the mountains. The vegetation of the plains consists of annual grasses, forbs, small bushes, and shrubs. Large trees (Acacia tortillas and A. Senegal) grow along the banks of the watercourses. The mountains receive more rainfall than the plains, and the vegetation reflects the wetter environment. Perennial grasses, larger bushes and shrubs, and large trees can be found in the higher elevations. There is a rainfall gradient running from southwest to northeast in Ngisonyoka, with the southernmost

78 J. Terrence McCabe area receiving approximately 600 mm of precipitation per year and the northernmost area receiving approximately 240 mm per year. According to a 1984 survey, this area supported 14,500 people, 11,571 cattle, 10,464 camels, 151,600 goats and sheep, and 3,973 donkeys (Ecosystems 1985). An idealized pattern of population movement can be abstracted for the Ngisonyoka. During the two- to three-month wet season, the Ngisonyoka gather into large neighborhood associations called adakars. The people with whom we worked aggregated in the central plains in the area referred to as the Toma. Each of the herd owners in our sample had his home area, or erai, located in the Toma. The erai is the place to which the awi will return in the rainy season as long as environmental conditions permit. Gulliver mentioned in his account of Turkana mobility that fully nomadic peoples "have no fixed residence, no place that can be called home, and no interest in a determinate base" (Gulliver 1975: 370). Although the erai is not a fixed residence, it is a specific location and is associated with an individual herd owner; one could expect to find his awi in that location during at least part of the wet season. During the wet season, all the livestock and family members of individual awi are together. As the dry season sets in, herd owners often separate their cattle from the other herds and move them, under the management of young adult sons (if possible), to the higher elevations, where herbaceous vegetation is still available. As conditions continue to dry out, the adakars begin to break up, and herd owners may separate their herds into smaller units. Awis also begin to move south to take advantage of the more abundant forage in the wetter areas of the range. If drought conditions prevail, herd owners will move to the most southern part of their range, and the livestock will be divided into herds of cattle, nonmilking small stock, and nonmilking camels, all of which will be separate from the main awi; the main awi will remain with the milking camels and milking small stock. The Ngisonyoka conceive their territory as comprising a wet-season home area, and a dry-season range and drought reserve. According to information collected by the ecologists on the South Turkana Ecosystem Project, the wet-season home range has an estimated herbaceous production of 1,800 kg/ha and an estimated woody foliage and shrub production of 100 kg/ha. The dry-season range and drought reserve has an estimated herbaceous production of 2,800 kg/ha and woody foliage production of 200 kg/ha. These estimates are some of the highest for Turkana District. 4 Variation in this pattern occurs according to environmental conditions and the state of relations between the Ngisonyoka and the pastoral Pokot, who live in the region to the south of Ngisonyoka territory. The Ngisonyoka and the Pokot are often involved in raiding and counter-raiding, and moving into the productive rangelands in the south to Ngisonyoka territory can be a very risky enterprise. In good years people will remain in the large adakars for many months, keep their animals together, and only move as far south as necessary. In times of drought, such as 1979-1981,1984, and 1990, people and livestock

Mobility & Land Use 79 move to the drought reserve areas. The mobility pattern at the population level is illustrated in Map 4.2. Ngisonyoka Mobility: Individual-Level

Analysis

Research that emphasizes mobility at the individual level reveals a significant degree of variability and complexity not observed at the population level. Mobility patterns vary from one individual to another during a single year, and rarely will the mobility pattern of one individual be the same from one year to the next. This emphasis on individuality and variability was strongly advocated by Neville Dyson-Hudson in his introduction to Perspectives on Nomadism: "If we are to build on the gains of the fifties, we must pursue a behavioral and realist style of thought as systematically and vigorously as possible. We should try (for working purposes) to cultivate assumptions of variability rather than invariance, of contingency rather than regularity, of individuality rather than typicality" (Dyson-Hudson 1972:9). Research conducted at the individual level reveals the importance of variability and the complexity of movement patterns. Table 4.1 demonstrates the degree of variability both among individuals and between years. It is clear that individuals vary in the distances moved in any one year and

Table 4.1 A n n u a l Summary of Distance Traveled by Awi 1979-1982 Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Total distance Number of moves Mean distance—location Standard Deviation

153 km 13 8. 5 km 4.0

129 km 16 6.8 km 3.4

177+km 15 9.8 km 7.8

Total distance Number of moves Mean distance—location Standard Deviation

137 km 6 22.8 km 24.3

79 km 12 6.6 km 3.9

145 km 15 11.4 km 11.2

Total distance Number of moves Mean distance—location Standard Deviation

159 km 12 13.3 km 5.4

208 km 18 11.6 km 11.1

149+ km 14 10.7 km 7.7

Total distance Number of moves Mean distance—location Standard Deviation

122 km 11 11.1 km 8.2

60 km 7 8.6 km 5.6

323 km 19 13.5 km 12.9

Herd Owner

Ang

Atot

Lop

Lor

Source: McCabe 1985

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Map 4.2

Ngisonyoka Migration, Normal and Drought Years

Mobility & Land Use 81 do not move in the same way each year. (It should be noted that the satellite herds are not included in Table 4.1 presented above. Variability is more marked when they are included.) In addition, when one examines the reasons given for movement by individual herd owners, it is clear that decisions are based on a variety of factors, not just the environment. This is clearly illustrated in Table 4.2, which summarizes 149 responses concerning the determinants on movements for four herd owners. Many of the categories in Table 4.2 are fully examined and discussed in Dyson-Hudson and McCabe (1985). Environmental responses included general statements concerning the quality and quantity of forage resources and water but also included very specific comments concerning the need to secure forage for certain species (leaves of certain trees for baby goats, for instance). Security reasons involved avoidance of bandits and raiders from other tribes, in particular the Pokot. Responses classified as social included the desire to move to be near particular individuals or groupings of awis. Other reasons for moving included prophetic advice and the desire to move to one's home area (the latter could be interpreted as a social move). I have included both tables to illustrate individual variability and the complexity of factors determining individual movement patterns. Gulliver (1975) points out that each time a Turkana herd owner moves it presents the

Table 4.2 Determinants of M o v e m e n t s 1979-1981 Herd Owner

Reason

Percent

Ang

Environment Security Social Other

64 20 6 10

Atot

Environment Security Social Other

57 27 4 12

Lop

Environment Security Social Other

56 24 0 20

Lor

Environment Security Social Other

65 20 9 6

Source: Dyson-Hudson and McCabe 1985

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opportunity for choice. Rada Dyson-Hudson has commented on the many factors that must be considered by a pastoralist deciding when and where to move (Dyson-Hudson 1972). Certainly the data presented above are an oversimplification of the decisionmaking process. Each decision to move includes environmental, political, and social factors. Work with individual pastoralists will readily confirm this multiplicity of factors, and it is often difficult to separate one factor from another. As an illustration of this difficulty, a description of one year's moves for a single herd owner is presented below. The pattern of movement is illustrated in Map 4.3. I have chosen the year 1980-1981 because movements were particularly complex. This pattern illustrates how one Turkana herd owner attempted to respond to severe drought conditions and demonstrates the difficulty in assigning single determinants to individual moves. It is useful to begin a discussion of the annual mobility pattern during the initial phases of the wet season. Thus, the following description begins in June 1980 and runs through May 1981. The herd owner whose moves are described below is Angor. He was in his late thirties in 1981 and had built a large livestock holding through judicious management with the help of his five brothers. His ability to subdivide his herds was to a large extent made possible by his large and reliable labor pool. The year began with Angor in his erai in the Toma, with all the family and livestock together (locations 14-19 in Map 4.3). Because of the lack of herbaceous vegetation resulting from the failure of the rains, the cattle were forced to move out of the Toma after only ten days with the awi. They moved to the highlands of the Loriu Plateau to seek better grazing and remained there until the middle of the dry season. The awi moved a number of times within the Toma until the forage could no longer support the livestock. Then Angor, like most of the other Ngisonyoka, began moving southward (locations 19-22). When the awi was at Komykuny (22) in November of 1980, the nonmilking small stock and the nonmilking camels separated from the awi. Shortly after this division of the livestock, the awi was attacked by the Pokot. Two children were killed, and over 350 of the milking goats and sheep were stolen. Although more than half of the stolen animals were recovered, this incident affected Angor's moves for the rest of the year. Following separation from the awi, the nonmilking small stock moved to the highlands on the eastern flank of the central mountain chain. Here they were subdivided again, with the very weak animals moving west to the banks of the Turkwel River. This area was known for its high incidence of livestock disease, but the green vegetation growing along the riverbanks seemed to be the only hope for the nearly starving small stock. The healthier goats and sheep remained in the hills between the central mountains and the Kerio River. The nonmilking camels also changed locations a number of times in the same general area as the healthy small stock, moving among the highlands of

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Map 4.3

Angorot Herd Movement, 1980-1981

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Kailongkol, Lataruk, and Loretit. The cattle herds were being constantly harassed b y bandits on the Loriu Plateau, and by the middle of the dry season it was decided to m o v e off the Loriu and migrate to the highlands of Lataruk and the Loretit Mountains. A f t e r the Pokot raid, A n g o r reversed his southward migration and m o v e d north but had great difficulty finding sufficient forage for the livestock r e m a i n i n g with the awi (locations 2 3 - 2 5 ) . H o w e v e r , he continued m o v i n g north t o w a r d the T o m a with the m i l k i n g small stock and m i l k i n g camels; the satellite herds r e m a i n e d in the south of N g i s o n y o k a territory, near the P o k o t border. F o l l o w i n g the onset of the rains, one flock of small stock rejoined the awi, and together they m o v e d b a c k to the T o m a . W h e n the grasses were tall enough for the cattle to eat a n d the leaves b e g a n to g r o w on the trees a n d shrubs, the r e m a i n i n g small stock and camels returned to the T o m a a n d rejoined the awi. In interviews conducted the following year, A n g o r mentioned twentythree factors involved in the decision of w h e n to m o v e to and from particular locations. O f these, seventeen were classified as environmental, four as security-related (two Pokot and two 'bandits'), and two as related to social factors. O f the seventeen decisions related to the environment, seven were m a d e after Angor had reversed his southward migration. Because the southern area of Ngisonyoka territory receives more precipitation than the north and because the higher elevations are wetter than the lower elevations, the decision to m o v e to the north (away from the Pokot) was an u n a m b i g u o u s case of security factors taking priority over environmental ones. However, only the initial decision to m o v e northward was categorized as security-related; most of the remaining decisions were classified as environmental. 5 In this case study, an idealized description of N g i s o n y o k a m o v e m e n t at the population level was presented. H o w e v e r , the overall patterning described is based on interviews and observations collected over a ten-year period. T h e use of a wet-season h o m e area, a dry-season range, and a drought reserve is similar to the land-use strategy f o u n d in other T u r k a n a sections and analyzed in detail elsewhere (Ellis et al. 1987; M c C a b e 1991, n.d.). Mobility patterns are evident, and with few exceptions the shape and direction of migration routes are similar f r o m one year to the next. The m o v e m e n t s of individual pastoralists are far more complex than those of broad groups and m a y stress social and political factors as well as environmental ones. Although the reasons for m o v e m e n t a m o n g individual T u r k a n a herd owners stressed the importance of the environment, there were m a n y responses in which the principal reason given for a particular m o v e was social or related to security. Analysis at the level of the individual reveals variability both a m o n g herd owners in a single year and a m o n g years for a particular herd owner. I a m attempting to demonstrate that this variability, both in terms of m o v e m e n t patterns and stated reasons for m o v e m e n t s , is couched within a broader pattern of resource exploitation.

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Discussion One of the unresolved questions concerning African pastoralists, particularly pastoralists in East Africa, is whether patterns of mobility are unpredictable and stochastic or regular and orderly. I believe the answer is both: One could conclude from the literature that pastoralists who live in more mesic areas, such as the Maasai, may have fairly regular mobility patterns, whereas those living in the drier areas, such as the Turkana, have highly irregular mobility patterns. The method of analysis to a large extent determines if the results of the analysis emphasize patterning or variability. Much of my earlier work focused on variability at the level of the individual (McCabe 1985; Dyson-Hudson and McCabe 1985). I still feel this methodological emphasis results in a deeper appreciation and understanding of a culture than one that emphasizes broad patterns and depends on questionnaires and surveys as opposed to participant observation. However, this emphasis on the individual may make recognition of larger organizational structures and long-term patterns difficult. It is not surprising that most accounts of pastoral mobility in Africa, and indeed throughout the world, have emphasized patterning and regularity. Most researchers were satisfied with a description of the "tribal road," an idealized migration route. It is also not surprising that researchers such as the DysonHudsons who focused on the individual concluded that mobility patterns were complex and variable. Some of the conceptual debates of the 1970s attempted to establish the primacy of one factor involved in pastoral mobility over others, sometimes even to the exclusion of others. To some extent this conflict can be explained by examining the level at which mobility patterns were analyzed; analyses based on individual herd owners tended to emphasize variability and the importance of social and political factors as well as ecological ones, whereas analyses at the population level tended to emphasize broad patterns often based on environmental variability.6 Attempts to sort out the importance of one factor in the decisionmaking process over another are difficult, if not impossible. All decisions concerning movement involve a complex process of evaluating environmental, political, and social factors. Sometimes the principal motivation is clear, but it is questionable if any analytic utility is gained by trying to assign primacy to any one factor. Long-term studies reveal the importance of different factors under different environmental, economic, and political conditions. It is more important to describe and explain the interplay of all factors than to steadfastly adhere to any one theoretical paradigm. Finally, I want to emphasize that the Turkana people described in this paper remain an economically viable, physically healthy, and for the most part happy group of people. Although change is occurring, it is not the dominant feature of Turkana life. Others have chosen to focus their research on groups

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unable to maintain a pastoral existence, the failures in the pastoral system. These studies are certainly important, but they do not characterize African pastoralists as a whole, and w e still have much to learn from viable pastoral communities.

Notes 1. The publications of members of the South Turkana Ecosystem Project and those by Fratkin discuss issues concerning pastoral people living what is commonly referred to as traditional lifestyles. 2. For the Turkana, this means that the diet consists primarily of pastoral products, although grain is certainly consumed; that people and livestock remain highly mobile; that members of the family did not migrate to the famine-relief camps; that few children are educated; that social networks based on the exchange of livestock remain strong; and that some, but not many, animals are bought and sold in the larger market economy. Of course, the entire notion of a "traditional" pastoral lifestyle has been seriously questioned, and I do not intend to enter into the debate concerning the utility of constructing typologies of pastoral economies (for examples of these issues, see Khazanov 1984 and Ingold 1987). 3. The extent to which sections act as strict grazing reserves seems to vary between sections in northern and southern Turkana. The sectional boundaries appear to be fairly loose in northern Turkana, and individuals may cross them freely. In southern Turkana the boundaries are strictly enforced. 4. A paper concerning the pattern of movement for three sections of the Turkana is currently in preparation. Preliminary results of the analysis were presented at the American Anthropological Association meetings in 1991 (McCabe n.d.) The ecological data for the Turkana sections can be found in Ellis et al. 1987. 5. The Turkana with whom we worked never mentioned the desire to be close to shops or trading centers as a reason for moving. Turkana do sell livestock and purchase grain, but they will take animals to market regardless of the location of the awi and transport the grain back to the awi loaded onto donkeys. 6. Descriptions of migration routes for pastoral peoples in the Middle East, and to some extent West Africa, also emphasize the importance of trading centers and the need to adjust the timing of movements to the agricultural cycle for local cultivators.

References Arhem, Kaj 1985 Pastoral Man in the Garden of Eden: The Maasai of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. Uppsala: Research Reports in Cultural Anthropology. Bumham, P. 1979 Spatial Mobility and Political Centralization in Pastoral Societies. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthroplogie des Societes Pastoral (eds.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 349-360. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dyson-Hudson, N. 1966 Karimojong Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Dyson-Hudson, Neville, and Rada Dyson-Hudson 1969 Subsistence Herding in Uganda. Scientific American 220(2): 76-89. Dyson-Hudson, Neville 1972 The Study of Nomads. In William Irons and Neville Dyson-Hudson (eds.), Perspectives on Nomadism, pp. 2-9. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

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D y s o n - H u d s o n , R a d a 1972 Pastoralism: Self I m a g e and Behavioral Reality. In William Irons, and Neville D y s o n - H u d s o n (eds.), Perspectives on Nomadism, pp. 30—47. Leiden: E.J. Brill. D y s o n - H u d s o n , R., a n d J. T. M c C a b e 1985 South Turkana Nomadism: Coping with an Unpredictably Varying Environment. E t h n o g r a p h y Series F L 1 7 - 0 0 1 . N e w H a v e n : H R A F l e x Books. E c o s y s t e m s Limited 1985 Turkana District Resources Survey. Report to the G o v e r n m e n t of K e n y a . Equipe E c o l o g i e et A n t h r o p o l o g i e des Sociétés Pastoral (eds.), 1979 Pastoral Production and Society. C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press. Elam, Y i t z c h a k 1979 N o m a d i s m in A n k o l e as a Substitute for Rebellion. Africa 49(2): 1 4 7 - 1 5 8 . Ellis, J., K. Galvin, J. T. M c C a b e , and D. Swift 1987 Pastoralism and Drought in Turkana District, Kenya. Final Report submitted to the N o r w e g i a n A g e n c y for International D e v e l o p m e n t . Nairobi and Oslo. Ellis, J a m e s , and David Swift. 1988 Stability of A f r i c a n Pastoral Ecosystems: Alternate P a r a d i g m s and Implications for D e v e l o p m e n t . Journal of Range Management 41: 4 5 0 - 4 5 9 . Evans-Pritchard, E . E . I 940 The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. O x f o r d : O x f o r d University Press. Fratkin, Elliot 1989 T w o Lives for the Ariaal. Natural History 98(5): 39^49. Fratkin, Elliot 1991 Surviving Drought and Development: Ariaal Pastoralists of Northern Kenya. Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Fratkin, Elliot, and Eric Roth 1990 D r o u g h t and E c o n o m i c D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n A m o n g Ariaal Pastoralists in Kenya. Human Ecology 18: 385—402. Galaty, John 1980 T h e Maasai Group Ranch: Politics and D e v e l o p m e n t in an A f r i c a n Pastoral Society. In P. Salzman (éd.), When Nomads Settle, pp. 1 5 7 - 1 7 2 . N e w York: Praeger. Galaty, John, Dan Aronson, and Philip C. Salzman (eds.) 1981 The Future of Pastoral Peoples. International D e v e l o p m e n t Research Centre, Ottawa, C a n a d a . Galaty, John, and Pierre Bonte 1991 Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Galaty, John, and D o u g l a s Johnson 1990 The World of Pastoralism: Herding Systems in Comparative Perspective. N e w York: G u i l d f o r d Press. Gallais, Jean 1972 Essai sur la situation actuelle des relations entre pasteurs et p a y s e n s d a n s le S a h e l o u e s t - a f r i c a i n . In P i e r r e G o u r o u ( é d . ) , Etudes de geographie tropicale, pp. 3 0 1 - 3 1 3 . Paris: Mouton. Galvin, K. 1985 Diet and Nutrition of Turkana Pastoralists in a Social and Ecological Context. U n p u b l i s h e d Ph.D. dissertation. State University of N e w York at Binghamton. Glantz, Michael (ed.) 1987 Drought and Hunger in Africa: Denying Famine a Future. C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press. G o l d s c h m i d t , Walter 1969 Kambuya's Cattle: The Legacy of an African Herdsman. B e r k e l e y and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Gulliver, Philip 1951 A Preliminary Survey of the Turkana. N e w Series No. 26. C o m m o n w e a l t h School of A f r i c a n Studies, C a p e t o w n . Gulliver, P. H. 1955 The Family Herds: A Study of Two Pastoral Tribes. L o n d o n : R o u t l e d g e and K e g a n Paul. Gulliver, P. H. 1975 N o m a d i c M o v e m e n t s : Causes and Implications. In T . M o n o d (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa, pp. 3 6 9 - 3 8 1 . O x f o r d : O x f o r d University Press. Herkovits, M. J. 1926 The Cattle C o m p l e x in East A f r i c a . American Anthropologist 28: 2 3 0 - 2 7 2 , 3 6 1 - 3 8 8 , 4 9 4 - 5 2 8 , 6 3 3 - 6 6 4 .

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Hogg, R. 1984 Destitution and Development: The Turkana of North West Kenya. Disasters 164-168. Homewood, and W. A. Rodgers 1991 Maasailand Ecology: Pastoral Development and Wildlife Conservation in Ngorongoro, Tanzania. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Horowitz, Michael 1981 Research Priorities in Pastoral Studies: An Agenda for the 1980s. In John Galaty, Dan Aronson, Philip Salzman and Amy Chouinard (eds.), The Future of Pastoral Peoples, pp. 61-88. Ottawa: International Development Research Center. Ingold, Tim 1987 The Appropriation of Nature: Essays on Human Ecology and Social Relations. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. Irons, William, and Neville Dyson-Hudson (eds.) 1972 Perspectives on Nomadism. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Jacobs, Alan 1965 The Traditional Political Organization of the Pastoral Maasai. Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University. Johnson, Douglas 1969 The Nature of Nomadism. Department of Geography, Research Paper No. 118. University of Chicago. Johnson, Douglas 1991 Political Ecology in the Upper Nile: The Twentieth Century Expansion of the Pastoral "Common Economy." In J. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors, and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 89-117. Boulder: Westview Press. Khazanov, A. M. 1984 Nomads and the Outside World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kräder, L. 1959 The Ecology of Nomadic Pastoralism. International Social Science Journal 11: 499-510. Lamprey, Hugh 1983 Pastoralism Yesterday and Today: The Overgrazing Problem. In F. Bourliers (ed.), Ecosystems of the World 13: Tropical Savannas, pp. 643-666. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co. Lattimore, Owen 1940 Inner Asian Frontiers of China. New York: American Geographical Society, Research Series No. 21. McCabe, J. Terrence 1985 Livestock Management Among the Turkana: A Social and Ecological Analysis of Herding in an East African Pastoral Population. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton. McCabe, J. Terrence 1987 Drought and Recovery: Livestock Dynamics Among the Ngisonyoka Turkana of Kenya. Human Ecology 15(4): 371-389. McCabe, J. Terrence 1990 Turkana Pastoralism: A Case Against the Tragedy of the Commons. Human Ecology 18(1): 81-103. McCabe, J. Terrence n.d. Mobility Among Turkana Pastoralists. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, November 1991. Monod, T. (ed.) 1975 Pastoralism in Tropical Africa. London: Oxford University Press. Picardi, A., and W. Siefert 1976 A Tragedy of the Commons in the Sahel. Technology Review 78: 42-51. Salzman, P. C. (ed.) 1971 Comparative Studies of Nomadism and Pastoralism (Special Issue). Anthropological Quarterly, 44(2): 185—197. Salzman, P. C. (ed.) 1980 When Nomads Settle. New York: Praeger. Schneider, Harold 1953 The Pakot of Kenya with Special Reference to the Role of Livestock in Their Subsistence Economy. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. Spencer, Paul 1965 The Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe. Berkeley: University of California Press. Stenning, Derrick 1957 Transhumance, Migratory Drift, Migration; Patterns of Pastoral Fulani Nomadism. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of

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Great Britain and Ireland, 87: 57-75. Stenning, Derrick 1959 Savanna Nomads: A Study of the Wodaabe Pastoral Fulani of Western Bornu Province, Northern Region, Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press. Woodburn, J. C. 1972 Ecology, Nomadic Movement and the Composition of the Local Group Among Hunters and Gatherers: An East African Example and Its Implications. In P. J. Ucko, R. Tringham, and G. W. Dimbleby (eds.), Man, Settlement and Urbanism. London: Gerald Duckworth.

5 Labor, Livestock, and Land: The Organization of Pastoral Production Elliot Fratkin & Kevin Smith

Pastoralist societies in Africa share similar problems of economic production despite inhabiting a wide variety of environments and owning various types of livestock. All must satisfy livestock needs—pasture, water, and protection— and human needs—food, security, and social exchange. Some researchers have argued that there are very few characteristics shared by all pastoralist societies (Spooner 1972). However, this position ignores the common problems of labor allocation, variable resource use, and access to markets shared by livestockkeeping peoples across cultural and national boundaries. Nevertheless, wide variations in pastoral production exist between different societies. Some show high degrees of livestock specialization, such as Rendille camel herders or Maasai cattle pastoralists of Kenya; others rely more on mixed economies such as agriculture and animal husbandry (including the Nuer of Sudan or Herero of Botswana) or fishing and small-stock pastoralism (e.g., the Elmolo of Lake Turkana, Kenya). This chapter discusses problems of pastoral production shared cross-culturally by many African pastoralist groups but focuses on variations of household production experienced within one particular community of pastoralists, the Ariaal of northern Kenya.

The Study of Pastoral Production Livestock pastoralism in Africa is predominantly a household enterprise in which labor is recruited from the local family group. Unlike agriculture, wherein most of the production tasks occur in one location, the keeping of mixed herds of livestock, each with its own specific feeding and herding requirements, requires a large and varied domestic labor force. Turkana pastoralists who live in small, isolated, and mobile settlements often obtain additional labor by fostering children related both by kin and nonkin ties (see Shell-Duncan, Chapter 8, this volume); among stratified societies, including the Tuareg and Fulani, slaves or dependent clients carry out m u c h of the herding, cultivation, and domestic cleaning. Pastoral producers drawn more

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fully into commercial livestock markets may hire additional labor; for instance, the wealthiest members of the Waso Boran of Kenya live in towns and contract with poorer kin or impoverished Turkana to herd their animals (Hjort 1979). The anthropological study of pastoral production rightly begins with Evans-Pritchard's The Nuer (1940), whose initial chapters, titled "Interest in Cattle" and "Oecology," provide a basic context for understanding Nuer society and segmentary descent organization. In surprising detail, Evans-Pritchard describes milk production, household organization of labor, seasonal variation in rainfall and pasture, topographical effects on herd management, and the complementarity between millet farming and cattle rearing. Clearly, the "obsession" Nuer show for their cattle is linked to both the animals' economic value and their importance in defining and maintaining social relationships between individuals, households, and territorial groups. Stenning's Savanna Nomads (1959) defined the essential problem of pastoral production as maintaining a balance between household labor force and household herd size. For the Wodaabe Fulani, this balance is achieved both through proper husbandry and management (producing sufficient milk, meat, and periodic surplus for trade of animals) and through social relations affecting household composition (including the timing of marriage and the use of polygyny, fertility, divorce, fissioning, and outmigration to adjust household numbers). Stenning introduced students to concepts of "migratory drift," "household viability," and the importance of integrating history and ecology in African ethnography; his work influenced a generation of British-trained anthropologists and their research on African pastoral societies, including Uri Almagor's 1978 study ofDasenech stock partners, P.T.W. Baxter (1954, 1975) on the Boran, Gulliver (1955) on the Turkana and Jie, Neville Dyson-Hudson (1966) on the Karimojong, Alan Jacobs (1965) on the Maasai, I. M. Lewis (1961) on the Somali, and Paul Spencer (1965, 1973) on the Samburu and Rendille. Where the majority of these studies focused on social relations, the movement of property, and social structure, Dyson-Hudson's Karimojong Politics broke new ground in its insistence that the study of pastoral social organization be firmly rooted in an ecological framework. His work with Rada Dyson-Hudson (1969, 1972) presaged a wave of ecological studies that built on previous ethnographies, including studies of the Bedouin (Behnke 1980; Cole 1975), Boran (Dahl 1979; Dahl and Hjort 1976), Gabra (Torry 1973, 1977), Fulani (Frantz 1980), Maasai (Campbell 1984; Western 1982), Rendille (O'Leary 1985; Sato 1980), and Turkana (McCabe 1983,1985; R. Dyson-Hudson and McCabe 1985). Empirical techniques measuring livestock production, range use, and labor demands provided comprehensive data showing how these small and mobile groups survive in environments of high variability and aridity. Dahl and Hjort's (1976) Having Herds, in particular, drew attention to the needs of household production and human labor, as well as the particular needs of different types of livestock for vegetation, water, and minerals. Later

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studies of pastoral production have utilized quantitative methods, including time-allocation surveys, household budgets, and herd d e m o g r a p h y , to discuss social d y n a m i c s involved in livestock economies (cf. Fratkin and Roth 1990; Grandin 1988; Herren 1991; Little 1992; Roth 1990). In the 1980s, m u c h of the research on African pastoral production focused on p r o b l e m s of drought and economic development. Ecological studies described livestock production in restricted or degraded herding environments (Campbell 1984; Frantz 1982; M c C a b e 1985), w h e r e a s economic studies discussed the effects of increased marketing (Ensminger 1984; Little 1983, 1985a, 1992), labor d e m a n d s (Fratkin 1987; Sperling 1987a), the role of w o m e n in production (Beaman 1983; Dahl 1987; Ensminger 1987; Fratkin 1989; Grandin 1989; Little 1987; Talle 1987), and wealth stratification (Fratkin and Roth 1990; Grandin 1983a; Herren 1990) on pastoral activities. Researchers looked at problems of pastoral sedentarization (Fratkin 1991; Little 1985b) and at the consequences of commoditization, famine relief, and international development efforts on pastoral peoples (Bennett 1988; Fratkin 1991, 1992; Fumigalli 1977; Galaty and Bonte 1 9 9 1 ; H o g g 1982,1985; Horowitz and Little 1987; M c C a b e 1987; O ' L e a r y 1990; Sperling 1987b; Swift 1984; Sutter 1987). Their findings showed both the dislocation and reorientation of pastoral e c o n o m i e s following large-scale loss of livestock and grazing resources. Nearly all of these works indicated a trend toward p r o b l e m identification, analysis, and policy development in anthropological research on pastoral regions.

Labor, Livestock, and Land Pastoral production is a strategy in which people raise herd animals, often in arid or marginally agricultural regions, in order to provide a regular supply of food in the form of milk, meat, blood, and trade for grains ( D y s o n - H u d s o n 1972). For the most part, this production is subsistence based, aimed at p r o d u c i n g foods (primarily milk) for household m e m b e r s . E x c h a n g e is secondary. Pastoralists trade livestock, hides, or milk for other food products (or m o n e y to purchase them) including grains, tea, and sugar. Production is often organized within household units consisting of a male stock owner, his w i f e or wives, children, and other dependents. Seldom, if ever, do w o m e n have control of the herds, although the T u a r e g ' s matrilineal inheritance of livestock by both m e n and w o m e n provides a marked exception to this rule. T h e household head is responsible for herd m a n a g e m e n t and family subsistence and m a k e s decisions to adjust to changing conditions in natural resources (i.e., land, including rainfall, vegetation, free water, salt, insects, and the presence of e n e m i e s or predators), livestock (individual feeding a n d watering regimens, reproductive behavior, and exposure to and treatments for diseases), and labor (access to which is influenced b y changes in h o u s e h o l d

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composition, warfare, drought, education, urban migration, and w a g e availability). Land use varies between different ecological zones but also within larger zones as herders use specialized microhabitats. For example, the Ayr Tuareg, w h o travel in trade caravans on camels over 1,200 k m between the central Sahara of Algeria and the fertile savannas of northern Nigeria, subsist off small stock in the desert and millet agriculture in the savanna regions (Nicolaisen 1963). Cyrenaican Bedouins of Libya, by contrast, graze different livestock in different microhabitats of a m u c h smaller herding environment, keeping sheep and cattle on the grassy hills and goats and camels in the scrub vegetation of the lowlands ( B e h n k e 1980). Each type of livestock has its own feeding requirements and reproductive characteristics. C a m e l s are desert-adapted animals, preferring saline-rich browse (twigs, leaves, and stems) to grasses, and are capable of retaining water for long periods of time. Furthermore, they fare poorly in w o o d e d areas grazed by cattle owing to their high vulnerability to insect vectors of disease, particularly ticks and tsetse flies. In contrast, cattle are grazers (grass-eaters) and need free water at least every two to three days. Thus, they are confined to areas that receive more than 500 m m of rain annually. Goats, sheep, and donkeys have water needs similar to cattle's, but goats will eat a variety of forage and have a wider herding range. Both East and West African pastoralists keep goats in larger proportion to sheep (often twice as m a n y ) because of the wider feeding regime of goats. Both goats and sheep are kept for meat, milk, hides, wool, and trade; cattle are kept primarily for m i l k but also for sale as beef; donkeys are used exclusively for transporting goods; and camels are kept for milk, meat, and transportation (Tuareg and Bedouin pastoralists raise both male and female camels for riding). C a m e l s are prodigious milk producers, yielding an average of 3.5^t.O liters daily, with m a x i m u m yields of 10 liters daily in the wet season in East A f r i c a n herds. T h e supply of camel milk is lengthy and copious. Lactation lasts f r o m nine to eighteen m o n t h s and does not end during the dry season, as it m a y with cattle or small stock. C a m e l s have an unusual ability to thrive in deserts; they can g o without watering almost two w e e k s , w h i c h enables t h e m to be grazed over a wide area with limited water availability. Despite their adaptation to arid lands, c a m e l s have a low growth rate of 1.5 percent annually b e c a u s e of low birth and high mortality rates. A camel d a m drops her first calf in her sixth year, following a long gestation period of twelve to thirteen m o n t h s . A long lactation period averaging twelve m o n t h s contributes to a twenty-six- to thirty-month birth interval. A m o n g the Rendille, 30 to 60 p e r c e n t of camel calves die in their first year f r o m t r y p a n o s o m e s (blood parasites), viral infections, and tick-induced toxins. D i s e a s e s of cattle include viral infections (rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, rabies), bacteria (tuberculosis, salmonellosis, contagious p l e u r o p n e u m o n i a ) , larger internal parasites (trypanosomiasis, coccidiosis, leishmaniasis, arterial filariasis), and

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external parasites (mange, ticks). African pastoralists keep a variety of cattle types, with Bos indicus (short-horned humped Zebu cattle) kept largely in East Africa and Bos taurus (long-horned, humpless cattle) in West Africa. Bos taurus are now rare and increasingly replaced by Zebu cattle. Cattle produce significantly less milk than camels, 1.0 liter or more in wet periods and as little as 250 cc in the dry season among Turkana and Samburu herds. However, cattle have higher reproductive rates than camels, as they have shorter calving intervals, with a nine-month gestation, eight-month lactation, and year-round mating period. A cow can be expected to reproduce after seventeen months while a camel has a birth interval of 24 months. Although they show a greater resistance to trypanosomiasis than camels, cattle herds are more vulnerable to drought and periodically are decimated by epidemic diseases, including East Coast Fever, foot-and-mouth disease, and rinderpest (Dahl and Hjort 1976). Most pastoralist groups in Africa keep large numbers of small stock. Small stock are an important part of a pastoral economy because of their high reproductive rate, their ability to survive in arid conditions, and their easy convertibility to cash; moreover, they provide a ready source of meat and wool. Goats are the most important stock to the Ayr Tuareg, whose household herds average sixty to seventy goats and sheep, four cattle, and twenty-five camels per household (Nicolaisen 1963:33-45). Cyrenaican Bedouins in the eastern Sahara have household flocks of over 300 goats and sheep (with only fifteen cattle); sheep are kept largely for cash income from the sale of wool and meat (Dchnke 1980:32). In addition to separating different types of livestock into different herding groups, pastoralists divide single herds based on age and sex. Among the Mukogudo of Kenya, stock are divided into three to four herding units: adult and immature cattle, older calves, adult and immature small stock, and young calves, kids, and lambs, which are kept near the homestead (Ilerren 1991:191192). Household members must perform a variety of tasks essential to the well-being of their livestock. These include locating sites for grazing and watering, providing veterinary care, and protecting herds from both animal predators and human thieves. In addition, household members must perform tasks essential to the daily maintenance and reproduction of the human population, including preparing food, caring for children, building houses, and repairing household implements, as well as conducting political and ritual activities that ensure group cohesion and cooperation. Most daily tasks are organized around age and gender roles. Male stock owners supervise decisionmaking, dig wells, and search for lost animals; married women maintain houses, prepare food, and care for children; adolescents do much of the actual grazing and herding of animals; and young children assist in firewood collection, herding nursing stock, or running errands. Households are rarely independent, however; many, such as newlywed couples or

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elderly families, suffer from insufficient labor with few children at home. These households must either share activities with each other or rccruit labor from other households. Some families "borrow" or foster children from relatives to do their herding, as among the Samburu (Sperling 1985); others, if wealthy, hire relatives or others to herd for them, usually paying one female animal for a year's herding. Several societies have dependent clients or even slaves who carry out herding tasks. The Herero in Botswana have San herders, and the Tuareg have Iklan who perform most of the hard work for noble families, including drawing water, cooking food, and collecting firewood (Baier and Lovejoy 1977). Although the majority of pastoral societies in Africa are nonstratified and organized around kinship systems that ensure access to food or livestock through reciprocity, few of these societies are truly egalitarian. Because livestock arc reproductive capital that, unlike peasant landholdings, can rapidly increase or decrease (Barth 1964), pastoral societies are marked by large variations in household wealth and income. These differences affect performance of household tasks in a variety of ways. Households with greater wealth may have greater ability to hire additional labor; however, greater wealth often means greater numbers of animals, increasing labor demands. Furthermore, employing labor external to the herd owner's immediate family is risky and costly, as unrelated workers may steal, neglect, or consume o n e ' s livestock or its milk, depriving nursing livestock (Dahl 1979:272). Herren (1991) found that among the Mukogudo of Kenya, the animals of poor households were in better health than those of wealthier households, as they gave more veterinary attention to their smaller herds. Fratkin and Roth (1990) found that wealthier herd owners lost larger proportions of their herds to drought than did poorer households, yet wealthier herd owners were in much stronger positions than poor ones in surviving drought because they had more animals in absolute terms. To illustrate the problems of household production and decisionmaking about labor, land, and livestock resources, we now turn to the example of Ariaal pastoralists.

Ariaal Pastoral Production The Ariaal are a pastoralist society of about 8,000 people who herd camels, cattle, and small stock in the deserts and highlands of western Marsabit District, northern Kenya. The Ariaal are closely related to both Rendille (Cushiticspeaking, Afro-Asiatic family) camel and small-stock pastoralists (total population 22,000) and to Samburu cattle pastoralists (population 70,000), a Nilotic-speaking (Sudanic family) group related to Maasai. Whereas m a n y Rendille settled around permanent towns and mission stations during the droughts of the last two decades, the Ariaal continue a pastoral existence,

Organization

of Pastoral Production

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subsisting off the milk, meat, and market trade of their camels, cattle, goats, and sheep (Fratkin 1991). The Ariaal live in approximately twenty-five patrilineal communities along the base of the Ndoto Mountains and Mount Marsabit in western Marsabit District. Cattle-keeping settlements are concentrated in the highlands, and camel-keeping settlements are found in the desert lowlands at the mountain bases. These settlements are large by pastoralist standards. Whereas Turkana, Maasai, and Samburu settlements are isolated clusters of one to five households each, Ariaal camel-keeping settlements, like those of their Rendille kin, arc large circles of twenty to fifty houses, with large livestock enclosures in the center of the village. Differences in settlement size have more to do with sociopolitical arrangements than environmental factors per se; the Ariaal and Rendille prefer to live in large settlements for collective defense (against the Turkana and Boran), cooperative labor, and their own stated preference for sociability. Annual rainfall in Marsabit District averages 500 mm, ranging from 1,000 mm on Mount Marsabit (altitude 1695 m) to less than 200 m m in the Kaisut and Chalbi deserts (altitude 500 m). Rainfall is erratic but is concentrated in two seasons (April and October) corresponding to the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Ariaal settlements are clustered near permanent water sources, but the Ariaal have a wide herding environment of approximately 15,000 km 2 . For the most part, they confine their herding of cattle to highland valleys along the Milgis River or the drier forests of Mt. Marsabit; they keep their camels in Rendille lowlands of the Kaisut Desert and their small stock close to the permanent settlements along the valley riverbeds. Grazing environments include highland forests above 2000 m (less than 5 percent of the total grazing area); savanna woodlands between 1000 and 1400 m characterized by Acacia nilotica with a dense grass cover (10 percent of grazing environment); arid scrub bushland between 700 and 1000 m (30 percent); and very arid desert below 700 m receiving less than 200 m m of rain annually (55 percent of the Ariaal grazing area). Despite the Kaisut Desert's extreme aridity, periodic rains produce a large but short-lived growth of annual grasses and shrubs, which are eaten by camels and small stock during the short wet seasons. The Ariaal own large numbers of livestock, averaging in predrought years six camels, twenty cattle, and sixty small stock per household of five persons. Individual herd owners may specialize in particular stock, such as cattle in the highlands or camel in the lowlands, but most prefer to keep mixed herds to guard against drought, disease, or warfare. Like other pastoralists, the Ariaal attempt to maximize herd sizes and disperse their animals over wide areas both by maintaining independent grazing camps and by loaning animals to friends and kin in distant areas. Bccause of the aridity of the northern Kenyan environment, the Ariaal separate their animals into settlement and camp herds. Settlement residents

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LakeTurkana

Smith

\

Marsabit

KORR

NGURUNIT LEWOCOSO

Laisamis

kilometers

Sambüru National . Reserve

S O M A L I A

E l e v a t i o n in m e t e r s 200

1000

1S00

LZ^mm Primary Roads Secondary Roads Tracks Seasonal Rivers

2000

3000

— — —

T A N Z A N I A " DEASY

CiOCMPHICS

M a p 5.1

L o c a t i o n o f A r i a a l , S a m b u r u , a n d R c n d i l l e in

Kenya

Organization of Pastoral Production

99

subsist off milk animals, use small stock for meat and trade, and employ p a c k camels or d o n k e y s for transportation. Ariaal settlements are semisedentary and situated near permanent water sources and small urban centers with shops. Other stock (nonlactating females, steers, and adolescent stock) are grazed in independent and mobile herding c a m p s tended b y adolescent males and females or by m e m b e r s of the warrior age grade. Warriors are more associated with the highland cattle camps, whereas adolescents p e r f o r m less arduous herding of camels in the lowland camps. Small stock are usually herded near the main settlements and tended b y adolescent girls (Fratkin 1987, 1991). The Ariaal depend on their livestock primarily for milk, which constitutes 70 percent of the diet in the pastoral settlements, c o m p l e m e n t e d b y meat, store-bought grains, sugar, tea, and occasionally blood tapped f r o m living animals. The majority of the Ariaal herds are female (estimated at 55 percent of the cattle, 60 to 70 percent of the camels, and 50 to 60 percent of the small slock). A high proportion are mature adults so that 15 to 25 percent of the livestock are lactating at any given time. M a l e s are kept primarily for meat and exchange, and all are castrated with the exception of one or two bulls and rams. The high birthrate of cattle produces a surplus of large animals, contributing to their use in trade and rituals. Eight cattle are the ideal S a m b u r u and Ariaal bridewealth, and steers are ritually slaughtered at w e d d i n g s and age-set c c r e m o n i e s . A m a i n e c o n o m i c role o f cattle a m o n g the A r i a a l is for bridewealth; the Ariaal and increasingly the Rendille will try to build up their cattle herds to gain additional wives in polygyny. Cattle are also the main source of cash income for the Ariaal, providing over half of their cash earnings through trade and sales; small stock account for an additional 40 percent of generated income. Ariaal settlements are organized on the basis of patrilineal descent affiliation and composed primarily of male clan agnates and their families, m a k i n g up several lineages of one clan. Settlements also comprise nonagnatic kin, including poor brothers-in-law w h o exchange labor for livestock. Production is organized by autonomous households, defined as the smallest domestic units having independent herds and allocating its m e m b e r s ' domestic and herding labor (Dahl 1979: 70). Typically a household includes a married male stock owner, his wife or co-wives, children, and occasionally dependent affines or a w i d o w e d mother. Polygyny is valued by both m e n and w o m e n in Ariaal society for its contribution to the labor supply, and the p o l y g y n y rate of 1.5 is high compared to that of the Rendille. E a c h wife builds and maintains her o w n house, so a household m a y have as m a n y as five houses. Because of large differences b e t w e e n households in wealth and composition, few households are able to m a n a g e their animals independently. Several households, usually those of close agnates (such as full brothers), herd their animals collectively, whereas all households in the c o m m u n i t y often share labor in the m o b i l e camel and cattle camps. C a m e l camps in particular are large, with over 500 animals herded by 25 or m o r e male adolescents. Cattle c a m p s are smaller, with a higher

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ratio of herders to animals. In particular, cattle camps require m e m b e r s of the warrior age-set to d e f e n d the cattle against predators (especially lions and hyenas) and human enemies such as Turkana pastoralists. Ariaal households show a considerable degree of variation in household wealth, measured in total livestock o w n e d . In a census of fifty-two households in 1985, 30.7 percent were considered wealthy, more than fifty tropical livestock units (TLU; one T L U equals 1 cow, 0.8 camel, or 11 small stock); 28.2 percent were middle; and 41.0 percent were poor, with less than twenty T L U . Wealth differences f o r m a basis of interhousehold cooperation; poorer stock owners will contribute herding labor to wealthier agnates in return for the loan or p a y m e n t of milk animals to feed their own households.

Household Division of Labor in Ariaal Production Although Ariaal households are autonomous with respect to herd ownership and labor recruitment, not all Ariaal households are independent. M a n y families suffer f r o m insufficient labor. W e a l t h y households m a y lack sufficient labor for their large herds, and young married or elderly couples have few (or no) children at home. These households must recruit labor elsewhere or share herding tasks by, for example, maintaining livestock camps or watering their herds with other households. This is probably a m a j o r reason Ariaal settlements are large aggregates of households related by kinship and marriage rather than smaller independent household settlements. Yet the Turkana, w h o live in a similar environment to the Ariaal and also keep mixed herds of cattle, camels, and small stock, live in small h o m e s t e a d s of one to two stock owners. The Turkana solve labor p r o b l e m s b y dividing up their polygynous households in t w o or more locations, each concentrating either on cattle and small stock or camels and small stock (see M c C a b e , Chapter 4, this volume). The p e r f o r m a n c e of economic tasks within the household by specific age and gender categories has been described for several African pastoralist societies, including the Boran (Dahl 1979; Dahl and Hjort 1976), the Maasai (Grandin 1983b), the Turkana ( M c C a b e 1983; Weinpahl 1984), the Samburu (Spencer 1965; Sperling 1985), the Rendille (Fratkin 1987; O ' L e a r y 1985; Sato 1980) and the Gabra (Torry 1977). As in these other societies, Ariaal households must p e r f o r m a range of specific daily and seasonal tasks to maintain subsistence levels. Grandin (1983b:306) defines critical production tasks in livestock economies as those essential for the well-being of m e m b e r s of the society—that is, tasks that ensure that both livestock and the h u m a n s dependent upon them are provided with adequate nutrition, water, and protection and that both populations are able to reproduce themselves over time. A m o n g the Ariaal, these tasks can be categorized into three m a j o r groups:

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1. Household tasks, including food preparation, eating, child care, procurement of firewood and water, medical treatment, and shopping 2. Livestock tasks, including grazing, watering, and milking stock, providing veterinary care, searching for lost livestock, and general inspection 3. Manufacturing tasks, including the construction of houses and enclosures, working with leather (for clothes, harnesses, ropes), working with wood (for containers, stools, spear shafts, troughs, buckets), doing beadwork, or making ornamentation. In addition to these material tasks are essential social activities, such as political discussions and performance of rituals, and rest and leisure activities, which include socializing, playing games, singing and dancing, and sleeping. Time-allocation surveys were conducted among thirty-nine households for seven days in October 1985 and again in December 1985 between the hours of 0600 and 2000. Houses were visited unannounced, and observed activities were recorded by age, gender, and activity type (in the larger categories of household, livestock, manufacture, political/ritual, and rest/leisure). The results are shown on Table 5.1. The survey shows that household tasks are typically performed by married women, who spend 36.7 percent of their daytime hours preparing food, caring for infants, or cleaning. Women spend 4.5 percent of their time milking animals and 7.6 percent in manufacturing tasks (including the making of wooden milk containers or sisal mats for house roofs). However, women also spend a significant amount of time in livestock tasks, including herding of small stock

Table 5.1 Time Allocation in Ariaal Settlements Number of Observations Married males (ages >35) Married females (ages > 22) Warriors (ages 22-34) Adolescent boys (ages 12-21) Adolescent girls (ages 12-21) Boys (6-11) Girls (6-11) Boys (0-5) Girls (0-5)

42

Household Tasks 7.2%

Livestock Manufacturing Tasks Tasks 33.4 %

2.3%

Rest Time

Other

52.4%

4.7%

79

36.7

14.0

14.0

35.0

0

36

5.8

71.4

2.9

17.2

2.7

24

0

82.6

0

17.3

0

25

12.0

44.0

8.0

36.0

0

19 32 14 15

15.9 25.0 14.3 20.1

52.1 40.6 0 6.7

0 3.1 0 0

31.6 31.2 85.7 73.3

0 0 0 0

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and performance of veterinary functions. As Dahl (1987) points out, there is no neat separation of m e n ' s and w o m e n ' s roles—i.e., where men deal exclusively with livestock and women with household tasks. W o m e n also perform many activities associated with animals. Younger children, particularly girls, assist married women in many of these tasks, with girls around four to five years of age providing firewood as a main task (6.7 percent of their time). Older children (between six and twenty-two years of age) spend most of their time in livestock tasks, especially daily herding. Married men are ultimately responsible for the welfare of their herds. They allocate livestock chores to different members of the household, supervise husbandry and selective breeding, maintain water wells, and search for lost animals. Elders organize the separation of stock into infant, juvenile, and adult herding groups, attend to veterinary needs, and do the butchering of animals. Nevertheless, male elders work less than any other member of Ariaal society (except children under six years!), spending a good part of their day resting and socializing under the m e n ' s shade tree outside the settlement. W o m e n generally work longer than married men, with less than one-half to two-thirds of the rest time (Fratkin 1989). Most of the arduous herding labor is performed by older children, adolescents, and members of the warrior age-set; warriors spend over 70 percent of their day with animals, particularly in the distant cattle camps. Both cattle and camels are herded by warriors and adolescent boys. Boys between six and eleven years of age watch over juvenile and infant camels grazing near the settlement, whereas girls help with child care, gather firewood, and tend to young small stock near the domestic settlements. Tending grazing animals is monotonous but not difficult, requiring only that animals are taken and brought back safely from grazing areas and that none stray. Watering tasks are more rigorous and labor intensive, as thirsty animals congregate and damage wells. Nonmilking cattle are herded for much of the year in mountain livestock camps managed predominantly by warriors and adolescent boys; during occasions of drought, adolescent girls and small stock flocks m a y j o i n the camps. Although there is a sexual division of labor in livestock tasks, it is apparent that unmarried girls play a significant role in livestock production, particularly in daily herding. Individual households vary in size and composition of the labor force (measured as a dependency ratio of consumers to producers), wealth (measured in livestock owned), and type of livestock specialization (a focus on small stock, cattle, or camel production). To measure differences in intensity of labor between households, households in an Ariaal settlement were stratified on the basis of wealth, dependency ratio, and livestock type and designated as rich (R) or poor (P), high (H), or low (L) dependency ratio (the ratio of consumers to workers), and cattle/camel (C) or goat/sheep (G) livestock specialization,

Organization of Pastoral Production

where W E A L T H (P/R)

is P (poor) or R (rich)

=< = >

103

3 TLU 7 TLU

DEPENDENCY R A T I O (H/L)

is the ratio of consumers to workers, is H (high c/w ratio) = 1.5 or S (small c/w ratio) < = 1.49; and S T O C K (C/G) is C (large stock) => 50 percent T L U are in camels or cattle and G (small stock) => 50 percent T L U are in goats and sheep. Eight households were selected for comparison representing different combinations of variables. There were no poor households specializing in large livestock, although there were several wealthy households specializing in small stock (Fratkin 1989). A brief description of the selected households follows. House 1 ( L a ' a m o ) belonged to a hardworking but p o o r j u n i o r elder, L a ' a m o , a man in his forties with a young wife and two small children. L a ' a m o owned one milk camel and ten milking goats and sheep, which p r o d u c e d less than three liters of milk per day. Because his children were small, L a ' a m o did most of the small stock herding himself; his camels were grazed with a wealthier kinsman. House 2 (Lesupir). Lesupir was also a young elder, recently married, with one son of six years. Lesupir, the eldest son of a wealthy family, was middle to rich, with twelve camels and seventeen goats and sheep. Lesupir solved his labor problems by recruiting his two younger warrior brothers to herd his camels. House 3 (Ndepeyan Leriare). N d e p e y a n was a young w i d o w with one son of seven and a daughter of five years. She was middle to rich in wealth, with twenty cattle and twenty-six small stock. Ndepeyan, a friendly and hardworking w o m a n , grazed her small stock with her h u s b a n d ' s b r o t h e r ' s flock. She hired a male youth f r o m a neighboring household to herd her cattle, paying him one heifer at the end of one y e a r ' s herding. House 4 (Lengesen). Lengesen, a man in his sixties with t w o wives, h a d a large family of eleven children, ranging in ages f r o m nine m o n t h s to thirty-two years. Lengesen o w n e d twenty-six cattle, thirty-eight camels, and over seventy small stock and m a n a g e d them all with his own household labor. House 5 (Lenkiribe). Lenkiribe was a young m a n of thirty-eight years or so with a small but polygynous family of two wives and one child, a daughter of six years. Lenkiribe, one o f the wealthiest stock owners in the settlement, inherited his father's herds of 98 camels, 56 cattle, and over 170 small stock. H e p e r f o r m e d few of the livestock tasks himself; his warrior brother and a hired Rendille laborer herded his camels while his cattle were herded b y t w o other

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brothers, and his small stock were tended by his sister's daughter, w h o was to receive a ewe at the end of one y e a r ' s herding. House 6 (Lemadis). Lemadis w a s also young and wealthy, but unlike Lenkiribe he was " s e l f - m a d e , " having built up large small-stock flocks totalling over 300 animals. Lemadis was extremely hardworking, and labor was his greatest need, for although he had three wives, his six children were all under nine years old. House 7 (Leshinyea). Leshinyea, a wealthy elder in his fifties, had two wives, seven daughters between seven and twenty-two years old, and one son of seven years. He o w n e d 47 camels, 16 cattle, and 252 small stock. In addition to using his own children as laborers, Leshinyea hired a b o y f r o m another Ariaal settlement to herd his camels and hired a warrior to herd his small stock. L e s h i n y e a ' s y o u n g e r brother, an unmarried m e m b e r of the warrior age-set, herded his cattle in distant mountain camps. House 8 (Leparkeri). The household of Leparkeri w a s a large but poor one. He had one wife and five children b e t w e e n the ages of six and twenty and o w n e d eleven camels and fifty small stock. Leparkeri was a hardworking m a n of about fifty years, but he owned not quite enough animals to feed his family. In the year preceding the study, he sold eight of his goats to buy meal. Labor expenditures of m e m b e r s of these eight houses were compared over ten days by time-allocation surveys. The results are listed in Tables 5.2 and 5.3 and illustrated in Figures 5.1 and 5.2, which show the frequencies of labor allocated to specific household, herding, manufacturing, and rest/leisure activities. The results of these household time studies were analyzed to determine if the variables of wealth, dependency ratio, or livestock specialization affected labor intensity of both adult m e n and w o m e n in these eight households. Labor intensity was m e a s u r e d inversely b y comparing rest time across households. T w o types of statistical tests were p e r f o r m e d on these data: a univariate analysis to determine if any or all of the variables of wealth, producer/consumer ratio, or livestock type influenced the amount of rest time available to each person; and a multivariate analysis (logistic regression) to analyze the variables for independence (Fratkin 1989). Results of these analyses showed that both wealth and livestock specialization strongly affected labor intensity, but variations in d e p e n d e n c y ratio h a d little effect. Wealth difference affected both m e n and w o m e n equally; those f r o m wealthy households worked less intensely than those f r o m poor households. Wealth enabled males to m a r r y additional wives, with both m e n and w o m e n gaining labor f r o m additional wives and children. Wealthy stock owners also had the ability to hire additional labor. W e a l t h y stock owners such as Lenkiribe (House 5), Lemadis (House 6), and Leshinyea (House 7) used labor beyond that available in their immediate households, hiring either close relatives or distant kin to help herd their stock. But stock o w n e r s were reluctant to trust the care of their animals to nonnuclear family, and both Lemadis and

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Leshinyea spent a great deal of time with their stock; L e m a d i s spent 62.9 percent of his time in direct livestock activities, Leshinyea 40.9 percent. High labor expenditures were also related to small-stock specialization. In contrast to Lemadis, w h o w a s wealthy in small stock, Lenkiribe (Household 5), wealthy in camels and cattle, spent only 11.2 percent of his time in livestock tasks. Both m e n and w o m e n spent more time herding, milking, and providing veterinary care to goats and sheep than to cattle or camels, although livestock specialization had less effect on w o m e n ' s labor time than on m e n ' s . Despite predictions f r o m C h a y a n o v ' s Rule (Sahlins 1972) that people in subsistence economies work only as intensely as necessary to provide subsistence needs for their household m e m b e r s — i . e . , that labor intensity will increase as the ratio of consumers to producers i n c r e a s e s — d e p e n d e n c y ratios had no significant effect on either m e n ' s or w o m e n ' s labor outputs. This lack of effect m a y be explained by the fact that labor was e x p e n d e d on m a n y activities, not just food production; w o m e n in particular put " f r e e t i m e " into the manufacture of prestige items, including new sisal mats for house r o o f s and beadwork for their or their daughter's leather skirts. Wealth differences, rather than household size and composition, exerted a m u c h stronger influence on household labor expenditures a m o n g Ariaal. M e n f r o m wealthy households had more time (57.2 percent) for rest and leisure than those f r o m poorer households (44.9 percent), and m e n f r o m households specializing in large livestock (cattle and camels) had more time for rest and leisure activities (69.2 percent) than m e n f r o m households specializing in small stock (43.6 percent). A m o n g the Ariaal, as a m o n g the Maasai, Rendille, or Somali, large animals (cattle and camels) carry higher prestige than smaller animals (goats and sheep), despite the greater a m o u n t of work necessary to raise small stock. In Ariaal, those with greater wealth in animals, particularly those w h o concentrate on large stock, worked less intensely than those w h o were poor or w h o concentrated on small-stock production. Furthermore, wealthy stock owners were in a better position both to hire additional labor and to marry additional wives, providing more labor to m a n a g e their animals. The pastoralist adage "cattle are w e a l t h " is more than a figure of speech; it is a goal of pastoral life.

Conclusions Ariaal pastoral production typifies p r o b l e m s of livestock m a n a g e m e n t in arid lands that are experienced by m a n y A f r i c a n pastoralist societies. For the Ariaal, household and settlement organization revolves around raising and safeguarding livestock, which in turn provide the p r e d o m i n a n t source of food and cash income available in arid and marginal pastoral environments. B e c a u s e the Ariaal (like most A f r i c a n pastoralists) keep multiple species of livestock, each

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Married men (235) Warriors

(22-34)

HOUSEHOLD

Adol. boys (12-21) Boys

LIVESTOCK

(6-11)

Boys

MANUFACTURE REST

(0-5)

OTHffi

Married W o m e n (>22) Adol. Girls (12-21) Girls

(6-11)

Girls

(0-5) 20

40

60

80

100

Percentage of Observed Activities

Figure 5.1

Time Allocation—Pastoral Rendille ( 0 6 0 0 - 2 0 0 0 Hrs, October 1985)

Married men (>35) (22-34)

•

Household

Adol. boys (12-21)

H

Livestock

(6-11)

•

Manufacture

(0-5)

E

Rest

• •

Other

Warriors

Boys Boys

Married Women (>22) Adol. Girls

(12-21)

Girls

(6-11)

Girls

School

(0-5) 20

40

60

80

100

Percentage of Observed Activities

Figure 5.2 Time A l l o c a t i o n — T o w n Rendille ( 0 6 0 0 - 2 0 0 0 Hrs, M a y 1992)

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Table 5.2 Frequency of Task Performances of Married W o m e n , D e c e m b e r 11-21,1985 House

Family

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

La'amo Lesupir •Ndepeyan Lengesen Lenkiribe Lemadis Leshinyea Leparkeri

Status PHG RLC RHC RLC RHC RHG RLG PLG

Number Household Livestock Manufacture 192 214 193 402 213 202. 391 203

27.6% 58.3 31.1 28.7 35.2 30.7 38.4 27.1

4.2% 10.2 17.6 3.7 9.8 28.8 18.5 24.2

26.6% 7.4 2.6 21.6 1.4 6.9 14.1 23.6

Rest

Other

41.6% 23.9 46.6 45.8 53.6 33.6 29.2 25.0

0 0 2.1 0 0 0 0 0

P = p o o r , R = r i c h , H = h i g h c o n s u m e r / w o r k e r ratio, L = l o w ratio, C = c a m e l / c a t t l e , G=goats/sheep. ' W i d o w

Table 5.3 Frequency of Task Performances of Married Men, D e c e m b e r 11-21,1985. House

Family

1 2 4 5 6 7 8

La'amo Lesupir Lengesen Lenkiribe Lemadis Leshinyea Leparkeri

Status PHG RLC RLC RHC RHG RLG PLG

Number Household Livestock Manufacture 190 208 206 126 197 203 196

4.7% 1.9 1.0 9.5 2.0 7.4 3.1

50.5% 14.9 28.0 11.1 62.9 41.9 34.7

0% 15.4 0 0 0 1.0 0

Rest

Other

44.7% 46.6 70.8 79.4 35.0 49.7 31.1

0 21.1 0 0 0 0 31.1

P = p o o r , R = r i c h , H = h i g h c o n s u m e r / w o r k e r ratio, L = l o w ratio, C = c a m e l / c a t t l e , G=goats/sheep

of which has specific grazing, watering, and mineral needs, livestock production demands a sufficiently large and varied labor force to herd, milk, and protect the various types of animals. A s livestock ownership and production is household based, this labor force is recruited directly from household members; younger or older married couples with small or no children face enormous difficulties herding all their animals. Although some households can afford to hire herding labor, many cannot, and labor constraints greatly affect h o w many animals a household can maintain. The Ariaal example shows that pastoral society, far from being an undif-

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ferentiated whole, displays high variation in household size and wealth, which affects the h o u s e h o l d ' s ability to feed its livestock, on which it depends. H o u s e h o l d s that are wealthy in animals but poor in m e m b e r s m a y hire, marry, or adopt additional labor; poorer households m a y hire m e m b e r s out to wealthier relatives in exchange for livestock. Some households find their herds so decimated b y drought, disease, or e n e m y raids that they cannot recover and abandon the pastoral e c o n o m y altogether to migrate to t o w n s in search of w a g e j o b s or famine-relief aid (Fratkin 1991). Time-allocation surveys a m o n g the Ariaal show that wealth, household composition, and livestock specialization all affect household labor demands. Individuals f r o m poor households with few working children and greater small-stock holdings w o r k more intensely than people f r o m wealthy households with larger numbers of working children and sizable herds of camels and cattle. The analysis of economic variation a m o n g the Ariaal shows that underlying the seemingly "egalitarian" nature of pastoral society lie real wealth differentials. In the "moral e c o n o m y " of this kinship-based society, the wealthy m a y help redistribute surplus by loaning milk animals to poorer households. H o w e v e r , such loans are usually m a d e in exchange for labor, and the inequalities in livestock ownership and economic differentiation remain. Our recent research suggests that drought and market integration m a y intensify e c o n o m i c polarization between poorer and wealthier pastoralists; it further suggests that internal wealth differences found a m o n g pastoralists in the past m a y demarcate incipient class divisions emerging a m o n g pastoral societies today (Fratkin and Roth 1990). Pastoral production is based on individual ownership of herds, c o m m o n use of pasture, an e c o n o m y aimed at subsistence rather than market exchange, and mobility of households and herds in adapting to hard conditions of variable rainfall and prolonged drought. More recently, pastoralists have had to contend with increased population pressure on the land, enclosure of range, and individuation of land titles (see Galaty, Chapter 10, this volume). Despite these obstacles, livestock pastoralism remains a viable food production strategy in A f r i c a ' s arid regions, and it should be encouraged and supported as widely as possible in the development plans of African nations and international donors.

References Almagor, U. 1978 Pastoral Partners: Affinity and Bond Partnership Among the Dassanetch of Southwest Ethiopia. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Baier, S., and P. E. Lovejoy 1977 The Tuareg of the Central Sudan: Gradations in Servility at the Desert Edge (Niger and Nigeria). In Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, pp. 391-411. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Barth, F. 1964 Capital, Investment and the Social Structure of a Pastoral Nomad Group in South Persia. In R. Firth and B. X. Yamey (eds.), Capital, Savings, and Credit in Peasant Societies, pp. 69-81. London: George Allen and Unwin.

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Beaman, A. W. 1983 Women's Participation in Pastoral Economy: Income Maximization among the Rendille. Nomadic Peoples 12:20-25. Baxter, P.T.W. 1954 The Social Organization of the Boran of Northern Kenya. Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University. Baxter, P. T. W. 1975 Some Consequences of Sedentarization for Social Relationships. In T. Monod (ed.), Pastoralism in Tropical Africa, pp. 206-228. London: Oxford University Press. Behnke, R. H., Jr. 1980 The Herders of Cyrenaica: Ecology, Economy, and Kinship Among the Bedouin of Eastern Libya. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Bennett, J. W. 1988 The Political Ecology and Economic Development of Migratory Pastoralist Societies in Eastern Africa. In D. W. Attwood, T. C. Bruneau, and J. G. Galaty (eds.), Power and Poverty, pp. 31-60. Boulder: Westview Press. Chayanov, A. V. 1966 The Theory of Peasant Economy. Homewood, IL: American Economic Association. Cole, D. P. 1975 Nomads of the Nomads: The AI Murrah Bedouin of the Empty Quarter. Chicago: Aldine. Dahl, G. 1979 Suffering Grass: Subsistence and Society ofWaso Borana. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Dahl, G. 1979 Ecology and Equality: The Boran Case. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societes Pastorales (ed.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 261-281. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dahl, G. 1987 Women in Pastoral Production: Some Theoretical Notes on Roles and Resources. Ethnos 5 2 ( l - 2 ) : 2 4 6 - 2 7 9 . Dahl, G., and A. Hjort 1976 Having Herds: Pastoral Herd Growth and Household Economy. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology 2. Stockholm: Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm. Dyson-Hudson, N. 1966 Karimojong Politics. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Dyson-Hudson, N. 1972 The Study of Nomads. Journal of Asian and African Studies 7: 2-29. Dyson-Hudson, R. and N. 1969 Subsistence Herding in Uganda. Scientific American 220(2): 76-89. Dyson-Hudson, R., and J. T. McCabe 1985 South Turkana Nomadism: Coping with an Unpredictably Varying Environment. Ethnography series FL 17-001. New Haven: Human Relations Area Files. Ensminger, J. E. 1984 Political Economy Among the Pastoral Galole Orma. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University. Ensminger, J. E. 1987 Economic and Political Differentiation Among Galole Orma Women. Ethnos 52 (1-2): 28^19. Frantz, C. 1980 The Open Niche, Pastoralism, and Sedentarization in the Mambila Grasslands of Nigeria. In P. C. Salzman (ed.), When Nomads Settle, pp. 62-79. New York: J. F. Bergin Publishers. Frantz, C. 1982 Settlement and Migration Among Pastoral Fulbe in Nigeria and Cameroun. I n P . C. Salzman (ed.), Contemporary Nomadic and Pastoral Peoples: Africa and Latin America, Studies in Third World Societies No. 17, pp. 57-94. Department of Anthropology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, PA. Fratkin, E. 1986 Stability and Resilience in East African Pastoralism: The Ariaal and Rendille of Northern Kenya. Human Ecology 14 (3): 269-286. Fratkin, E. 1987 Age-sets, Households and the Organization of Pastoral Production. Research in Economic Anthropology 8: 295-314. Fratkin, E. 1989 Household Variation and Gender Inequality in Ariaal Rendille Pastoral Production: Results of a Stratified Time Allocation Survey. American Anthropologist 91 (2): 45-55. Fratkin, E. 1991 Surviving Drought and Development: Ariaal Pastoralists of North-

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ern Kenya. Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Fratkin, E. 1992 M a a - S p e a k e r s of the N o r t h e r n Desert: Recent D e v e l o p m e n t s in Ariaal and Rendille Identity. In T. Spear and R. Waller (eds.), Being Maasai: Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa, pp. 2 7 3 - 2 8 9 . London: J a m e s Currey. Fratkin, E., and E. A. Roth 1990 Drought and E c o n o m i c D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n A m o n g Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya. Human Ecology 18 (4): 385—402. Fratkin, E., and K. Smith [in press] W o m e n ' s Changing E c o n o m i c Roles with Pastoral Sedentarization: V a r y i n g Strategies in Alternate Rendille C o m m u n i t i e s . Human Ecology. Fumagalli, C. T. 1978 A n Evaluation of D e v e l o p m e n t Projects A m o n g East A f r i c a n Pastoralists. African Studies Review 21(3): 4 9 - 6 3 . Galaty, J. G., and P. B o n t e 1991 T h e Current Realities of A f r i c a n Pastoralists. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 2 6 7 - 2 9 2 . Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Grandin, B. E. 1983a The Importance of Wealth Effects on Pastoral Production: A Rapid M e t h o d for Wealth R a n k i n g . In I L C A , Pastoral Systems Research in Sub-Saharan Africa, pp. 2 3 7 - 2 5 6 . Nairobi: International Livestock Centre for Africa. Grandin, B. E. 1983b L a b o u r Data Collection. In Pastoral Systems Research in Sub-Saharan Africa, pp. 3 0 5 - 3 1 9 . Nairobi: International Livestock Centre for Africa. Grandin, B. E. 1988 Wealth and Pastoral Dairy Production: A Case Study f r o m Maasailand. Human Ecology 16(1): 1 - 2 1 . Grandin, B. E. 1989 L a b o r S u f f i c i e n c y , Livestock M a n a g e m e n t , and T i m e Allocation on Maasai G r o u p Ranches. Research in Economic Anthropology 11: 1 4 3 - 1 7 8 . Gulliver, P. H. 1955 The Family Herds. L o n d o n : Routledge and Kegan Paul. Herren, U. J. 1990 S o c i o e c o n o m i c Stratification and Small Stock Production in M u k o g u d o Division, Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 12:111-148. H e r r e n , U. J. 1991 " D r o u g h t s H a v e D i f f e r e n t Tails": R e s p o n s e s to Crises in M u k o g u d o Division, North Central Kenya, 1 9 5 0 s - 1 9 8 0 s . Disasters 15 (2): 9 3 107. Hjort, A. 1979 Savanna Town: Rural Ties and Urban Opportunities in Northern Kenya. S t o c k h o l m Studies in Social A n t h r o p o l o g y Vol. 7. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. H o g g , R. 1982 Destitution and D e v e l o p m e n t : The Turkana of N o r t h w e s t Kenya. Disasters 6(3): 1 6 4 - 1 6 8 . H o g g , R. 1985 T h e Politics of Drought: The Pauperization of Isiolo Boran. Disasters 9(1): 3 9 - 4 3 . Horowitz, M . M., and P. D. Little 1987 African Pastoralism a n d Poverty: S o m e Implications for Drought and Famine. In M . H. Glantz (ed.), Drought and Hunger in Africa, pp. 5 9 - 8 2 . C a m b r i d g e University Press. Jacobs, A. H. 1965 The Traditional Political Organization of the Pastoral Masai. Ph.D. dissertation, O x f o r d University. Lewis, I. M. 1961/1 Pastoral Democracy (A Study of Pastoralism and Politics Among the Northern Somali of the Horn of Africa). London: O x f o r d University Press. Little, P. D. 1983 Livestock-Grain C o n n e c t i o n in Northern K e n y a . Rural Africana 15-16: 91-108. Little, P. D. 1985a A b s e n t e e Herd O w n e r s and Part-time Pastoralists: The Political E c o n o m y of R e s o u r c e Use in N o r t h e r n Kenya. Human Ecology 13(2): 1 3 6 - 5 1 . Little, P. D. 1985b Social D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n and Pastoralist Sedentarization in N . Kenya. Africa 55(3): 2 4 3 - 2 6 1 . Little, P. D. 1987 D o m e s t i c Production and Regional Markets in N o r t h e r n Kenya. American Ethnologist 14(2): 2 9 5 - 3 0 8 .

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Little, P. D. 1987 Women as Ol Paiyian (elder): The Status of Widows Among the Il Charnus (Njemps) of Kenya. Ethnos 52(1-2): 81-102. Little, P. D. 1992 Traders, Brokers, and Market "Crisis" in Southern Somalia. Africa 62(1): 94-124. McCabe, J. T. 1983 Land Use Among the Pastoral Turkana. Rural Africana 15-16: 109-126. McCabe, J. T. 1985 Livestock Management Among the Turkana: A Social and Ecological Analysis of Herding in an East African Pastoral Population. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton. McCabe, J. T. 1987 Inter-household Variation in Livestock Production in South Turkana District, Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 8: 277-293. McCabe, J. T. 1987 Drought and Recovery: Livestock Dynamics Among the Ngisonyoka Turkana of Kenya. Human Ecology 15(4): 371-385. Nicolaisen, J. 1963 Ecology and Culture of the Pastoral Tuareg. The National Museum of Copenhagen, Ethnografisk Raekke Vol. 9. O'Leary, M. F. 1985 The Economics ofPastoralism in Northern Kenya: The Rendille and the Gabra. IPAL Technical Report F-3. Nairobi: UNESCO. Rigby, P. 1969 Cattle and Kinship Among the Gogo. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Roth, E. A. 1990 Modeling Rendille Household Herd Composition. Human Ecology 18(4): 441-455. Sahlins, M. D. 1972 Stone Age Economics. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton Press. Sato, S. 1980 Pastoral Movements and the Subsistence Unit of the Rendille of Northern Kenya. Senri Ethnological Studies 6. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Spencer, P. 1965 The Samburu: A Study of Gerontocracy in a Nomadic Tribe. Berkeley: University of California Press. Spencer, P. 1973 Nomads in Alliance. London: Oxford University Press. Sperling, L. 1985 Labor Recruitment Among East African Herders. Labor, Capital, and Society 18(1): 68-86. Sperling, L. 1987a Wage Employment Among Samburu Pastoralists of Northcentral Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 9: 167-190. Sperling, L. 1987b Food Acquisition During the African Drought of 1983/84: A Study of Kenyan Herders. Disasters 11(4): 263-272. Spooner, B. 1971 Towards a Generative Model of Nomadism. Anthropological Quarterly 44(3): 198-210. Spooner, B. 1973 The Cultural Ecology of Pastoral Nomads. Addison-Wesley Module in Anthropology No. 45. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Stenning, D. 1959 Savanna Nomads: A Study of the WoDaabe Pastoral Fulani of Western Bornu Province, Northern Region, Nigeria. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sutter, J. W. 1987 Cattle and Inequality: Herd Size Differences and Pastoral Production Among the Fulani of Northeastern Senegal. Africa 57(2): 196-218. Swift, J. 1984 Pastoral Development in Central Niger: Report of the Niger Range and Livestock Project. Niamey: Niger Ministère du Développement Rural and USAID. Talle, A. 1987 Women as Heads of Houses: The Organization of Production and the Role of Women Among Pastoral Maasai in Kenya. Ethnos 52(1-2): 50-80. Torry, W. 1973 Subsistence Ecology among the Gabra. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University. Torry, W. 1977 Labour Requirements Among the Gabra. In ILCA (ed.), East African Pastoraiism: Anthropological Perspectives and Development Needs, pp. 159169. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa.

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Weinpahl, J. 1984 W o m e n ' s Roles in Livestock Production Among the Turkana of Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 6: 193-215. Western, D. 1982 The Environment and Ecology of Pastoralists in Arid Savannas. Development and Change 13: 183-211.

6 Diet, Nutrition, and the Pastoral Strategy Kathleen A. Galzrin, D. Lm/ne Coppock, Paul W. Leslie The resource-cxploitation strategy of African pastoralists has been the subject of speculation and debate since Herskovits (1926) proclaimed his cattlc-complex hypothesis (Schneider 1984). Today there is general agreement that pastoralists attempt to maintain large herds of livestock or to maximize livestock numbers, but there are different disciplinary interpretations about the rationale and implications of this aspect of the pastoral strategy. Anthropological analyses such as this one tend to emphasize the prestige values and subsistence values of large herds; numerous livestock are needed to assure status and power within the pastoral community and to provide an adequate supply of food to the pastoral population (Coppock 1992a; Galvin 1992; Jahnke 1982). However, some calculations show that African livestock production on a per capita basis is usually low and highly variable. These figures are interpreted to suggest that few existing pastoral populations have enough livestock to assure an adequate and continuous food supply at all times (Dahl a n d H j o r t 1976; Fratkin 1991; Galvin 1992). Similar sorts of calculations have been used to demonstrate that the pastoralist exploitation strategy is particularly inefficient and therefore requires more livestock for subsistence than a more "rational" strategy would require (Brown 1971; Prins 1992; Semple 1971). Economic perspectives focus on the nonnutritional utility of large livestock herds, recognizing the investment value of livestock both as perceived wealth and as potentially liquidatable assets. A point of interest among economists involves the pricing and land-tenure policies or conditions that pastoralists use in deciding whether to sell livestock or to increase their investment portfolio via herd expansion (Ariza-Nino and Shapiro 1984; Doran et al. 1979; Evangelou 1984; Jarvis 1986; Schneider 1957, 1984). Ecologists and those concerned about land degradation often suggest that large herds of pastoral livestock are environmentally destructive (Lamprey 1983; Stiles 1983). However, keeping large herds of adult animals, rather than producing and selling younger animals, may be interpreted as a viable ecological strategy. Biomass maintenance strategies are said to characterize mature

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or stable ecological systems, w h e r e a s maximization of production tends to occur in early successional ecosystems or in those recovering f r o m disturbance (Margalef 1968; O d u m 1969). A n o t h e r ecological-economic interpretation of the pastoral strategy emphasizes the value of large herds as a means of risk avoidance (Swift 1977; 1982). This is particularly important in unstable or nonequilibrial systems in w h i c h livestock populations are controlled largely by externally generated stresses like droughts rather than by cybernetic or steady-state feedbacks (Ellis and Swift 1988; Sandford 1983). A recent analysis of the pastoral strategy based on nutritional considerations as well as herding patterns suggests that the goal is actually to maintain a large and g r o w i n g h u m a n population for personal, political, and territorial motives. Livestock herds must be correspondingly large to support the subsistence and cultural needs of a large (at least relative to livestock biomass) and growing h u m a n population (Galvin 1992). D e s p i t e d i f f e r i n g d i s c i p l i n a r y e m p h a s e s , all of these p e r s p e c t i v e s r e c o g n i z e , explicitly or implicitly, the f u n d a m e n t a l s u b s i s t e n c e role of large livestock herds, w h e r e c o m m e r c i a l o f f t a k e is limited or absent. E a c h p e r s p e c t i v e also sees i n v e s t m e n t v a l u e in large livestock herds a l t h o u g h i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s vary about the p r i m a r y m o t i v e for the i n v e s t m e n t (i.e., w h e t h e r for social prestige, risk a v o i d a n c e or s o m e o t h e r strategic p u r p o s e ) . T h u s , there s e e m s to be s o m e c o n s e n s u s that there are m u l t i p l e v a l u e s in the m a i n t e n a n c e of large livestock h e r d s for pastoralists. H o w e v e r , longt e r m or l a r g e - s c a l e c h a n g e s in e c o n o m i c , e c o l o g i c a l , or social c o n d i t i o n s m a y lead to c h a n g e s in the p a s t o r a l strategy, such as t r a d e - o f f s b e t w e e n b i o m a s s and i n v e s t m e n t v e r s u s p r o d u c t i o n and sales. H o w do such c h a n g e s i n f l u e n c e the u n d e r l y i n g s u b s i s t e n c e role of livestock in pastoral s o c i e t i e s a n d the diet a n d nutritional status of pastoral p e o p l e ? C o n v e r s e l y , w h a t can w e s u r m i s e a b o u t the pastoral strategy and p o p u l a t i o n w e l f a r e f r o m c h a n g e s in diet a n d nutritional status? Nutritional status is measured by the sum of the quality of food procurement activities and dietary intake levels, mediated by disease. It reflects these factors, integrated over some extended time period, and is a n o n s p e c i f i c indicator of nutritional state (Haas and Pelletier 1989). Nutritional status is most often assessed through the evaluation of dietary intake and/or growth, body size, and composition (Huss-Ashmore and Johnston 1985). Diet composition and food consumption tell us about the subsistence strategy, food p r e f e r ences, and food availability of a particular h u m a n group, whereas anthropometric measures of growth, b o d y size, and b o d y composition reflect h o w well the subsistence strategy works. Diet and nutrition can be interpreted as an index of population welfare or well-being (Huss-Ashmore and Curry 1989). Thus, variations in diet composition, diet intake, and b o d y size a n d composition over time or space m a y reveal something about h o w subsistence activities respond to changing e c o n o m i c or ecological conditions.

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A Conceptual Framework It is proposed here that diet and nutrition reflect tactics used and decisions made by pastoralists in support of the overall pastoral strategy. Livestock are an important source of food, providing milk, meat, and blood, with some seasonal variation based on the type of livestock species exploited and the duration and/or severity of the season. Nonpastoral foods such as cereals are consumed when pastoral foods are in short supply. Because the core of the diet is often formed by livestock products, the diet is high in protein. However, diets are also low in energy because of low total consumption of foods. Nutritional status is generally low because of the low concentration of energy in the diet. H o w might this traditional diet and resultant nutritional status vary across environments and in response to changes in economic developmental status? First, the ecological aspects. In this chapter, variation in pastoral diets and nutritional status across environmental conditions is evaluated. We address the question: What aspects of diet composition and nutritional status change across environments? Second, dietary and nutritional responses to changes in economic conditions or developmental status are explored. If a goal of pastoral development is to decrease herd size and to increase production and offtake, it might be expected that this sort of change would move pastoralists away from their strategy of investment in livestock toward greater production and consumption, thereby changing diet and nutritional status. By the same reasoning, economic disruption, rather than progressive development, might also lead to changes in diet and nutrition if the fundamental strategy is altered. Diet and nutritional data from East African Turkana and Borana pastoralists are used to examine this conceptual framework in conjunction with contrasts among other pastoral societies (Maasai, Ariaal, and Rendille). 1 The pastoral groups discussed in this chapter occupy different environments and are involved in market economies to various degrees (Map 6.1).

Environment and Economy Among Pastoralists The Borana and Turkana ecosystems may be near the two environmental extremes for pastoralism in arid and semiarid regions of East Africa. Turkana is quite dry and Borana is relatively mesic. Turkana territory is located in the Gregory Rift Valley of northern Kenya, where elevations range from 550 m to over 1000 m on the mountain peaks (Table 6.1). Temperatures are hot: Mean annual ambient temperature is about 30°C, with little seasonal variation; diurnal temperatures may range between 19°C and 43°C. Rainfall averages between 150 and 600 m m but is spatially and temporally unpredictable. A weak bimodal rainfall pattern causes a pulse of plant production from April to June. The growing season usually lasts from sixty to ninety days in most years,

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M a p 6.1

Locations of Several East African Pastoral Populations

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Table 6.1 Ecosystem Characteristics of the Turkana and Bo rana Regions

Rainfall (mm) Elevations (m) Temperatures (°C) Annual range Diurnal range

Turkana

Borana

150-600 500-1000

500-900 1000-1600

28-32 19-24

—

19-43

Sources: Turkana data are from Coughenour et al. (1985) and Little and Johnson (1985). Borana data are from Bille (1983) and Holden et al. (1991).

leaving a nine- to ten-month dry season with little or n o plant growth unless the short rains occur in S e p t e m b e r - N o v e m b e r . Regional vegetation consists of annual grasses, d w a r f shrubs, shrubs, and trees. Vegetation types include bushland, savanna, and dwarf shrub grassland interspersed with m a n y riparian woodlands dominated by Acacia trees. In contrast to the Turkana ecosystem, that of Borana is more mesic and productive. The Borana live on the southern Ethiopian Plateau b e t w e e n an elevation of 1000 and 1600 m. Rainfall averages between 500 and 900 m m . Sixty percent of the rains fall f r o m March to m i d - M a y , and the remainder usually fall between October and N o v e m b e r (Bille 1983). This bimodal distribution of rainfall is important in stretching out the growing season, w h i c h is about one and a half to two times as long as in Turkana ( m e a n — 1 3 2 days; r a n g e — 1 1 3 to 151 days) (Cossins and Upton 1988). This region supports savanna, woodland, and bush thicket, with varying a m o u n t s of perennial grasses. Unlike Turkana, Borana can get cold, with ambient temperatures ranging f r o m 19°C to 24°C. The two pastoral ecosystems are different in climate, growing season, livestock composition, livestock density, and human density (Table 6.2). T h e N g i s o n y o k a Turkana occupy an area of approximately 9,000 km 2 , w h i c h supports a low population density of 1.3 persons per km 2 . T h e Borana territory supports a population density almost six times as great. Livestock densities (in terms of tropical livestock units [TLUs]/km 2 ) are five times greater in Borana than in Turkana. H o w e v e r , though the Borana are more productive than the Turkana and support b e t w e e n five and six times as m a n y livestock and people, it is noteworthy that the livestock-to-human ratio is very similar (Turkana 3.5 T L U s per person, Borana 3.2). These ratios are similar to that for the whole of the southern Maasai region of Kenya, 3.7 T L U s (Bekure et al. 1991), but m u c h lower than those in the Maasai group ranches, 13.4 T L U s / p e r s o n (Bekure et al. 1991). 2 However, it appears that the Borana population is growing rapidly, at approximately 2.5 percent per annum (B. Lindtjarn, unpublished data, cited in C o p p o c k [1993] and in Coppock et al. [1993]). The Borana probably have

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Table 6.2 Human and Livestock Densities for Turkana and Borana

Area (km 2 ) Humans/km 2 Cattle/km 2 Small stock/km 2 Camels/km 2 TLU/km 2 TLU/person

Turkana

Borana

9,000 1.3 1.4 11.3 1.3 4.4 3.5

15,475 7.3 20.9 6.6 0.2 21.7 3.2

Sources: Turkana data are from Coughenour et al. (1985) and Ecosystems Ltd. (1983). Borana data are from Milligan (1983) and Upton (1986). Note: One tropical livestock unit (TLU) = 1 cow; 1 camel = 1.25 TLUs; 1 goat or sheep = 0.125 TLU (from F AO 1967).

few e c o n o m i c opportunities in urban areas, so their livestock-to-human ratio m a y decline more in the future. 3 T h e economies of both the T u r k a n a and Dorana are based on the exploitation of domestic livestock ( B e h n k e 1990; Cossins and Upton 1987, 1988; Ellis et al. 1987; Galvin 1992). H e r d s of camels, cattle, and small ruminants are raised for h o m e consumption in Turkana, with little commercial marketing of livestock. Sometimes in the late dry season and in years of p o o r rainfall, livestock are sold to offset shortfalls in subsistence production. W h e n rainfall is low, the n u m b e r s of livestock sold tend to increase, and most of the m o n e y obtained in the sale is used for the purchase of food. This pattern m a y be m o d i f i e d depending on the condition of the pastoral e c o n o m y at the time of a particular drought or dry period ( B e h n k e 1990; Ellis e t a l . 1987; Galvin 1985). Surplus livestock products, principally milk, are sold b y pastoral households living close to settlements in the wet season, when production is high but prices are low. Trade in small stock (sheep and goats) is more prevalent in T u r k a n a than trade of cattle; annual offtake rates for small ruminants in the 1980s ranged between 1 percent and 4 percent (Behnke 1990). T u r k a n a camels are seldom sold outside the district. Cattle trade is risky because of the potential of livestock raiding and other losses en route to market (principally to Nairobi) and the unpredictable nature of pricing. W h e n cattle are sold, the Turkana prefer selling adult steers. W h e n adult males are not available to sell, animals are bartered within the pastoral c o m m u n i t y and b e t w e e n pastoralists and traders. A pastoralist m a y e x c h a n g e a two-year-old bull for three male goats with another pastoralist, then sell the goats for cash. Immature camels or donkeys can also be traded for goats. At the end of the dry season, pastoralists m a y barter animals to a trader for food. The trader then sells those livestock

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during the rainy season, when food is plentiful and herders are looking for breeding and milking stock. Despite these diverse exchange patterns, participation in the market economy through livestock marketing is small, and wage labor is virtually nonexistent for the Turkana (Ellis et al. 1987). In contrast, the Borana appear to be diversifying their formerly subsistence-dominated economy by marketing livestock and livestock products (Cossins and Upton 1987). Livestock form the basis of the Borana economy, but marketing plays a greater role than among the Turkana. Subsistence production (primarily milk) still provides the major portion of household foodstuffs, but livestock marketing is vitally important to household economics. Borana livestock sales are dominated by mature male cattle, but sales of small stock are on the increase in recent years. The Borana have begun keeping more sheep and goats in response to increasing market opportunities and household need. In the past, small stock were utilized mainly during dry periods; when cattle production declined, offtake from small stock increased (Belete Dessalegn 1985; Cossins and Upton 1987). It has been estimated that nearly 40 percent of the proceeds obtained through the sale of Borana livestock is expended on food, with 17 percent spent on grain and the remainder on tea, coffee, sugar, and other foodstuffs. The other 60 percent of this income is allocated to the purchase of livestock and household items, especially clothing, which accounts for approximately 75 percent of the income spent on nonfood items (Negussie Tiiahun 1984). Although we do not have systematic data for the Turkana, we estimate that most of the proceeds from the sale of livestock in Turkana go to purchase foodstuffs, primarily maizemeal (K. A. Galvin, personal observation). 4 Cultivation is increasing in the mesic areas close to Borana urban centers. Approximately 1.4 percent of the land area was cultivated in 1986, and although this is a small percentage of the total area, the area under cultivation appears to have increased during the 1980s (Cossins and Upton 1988). Poorer pastoralists seem to make up the majority of new farmers who live near villages on the edge of the pastoral areas (D. L. Coppock, personal observation). Cultivation seems to be increasing in Turkana, too, but its viability and profitability is unknown (P. W. Leslie, personal observation). In summary, both the Turkana and Borana still operate in largely pastoral economies. However, there are signs that the Borana, and to a lesser extent the Turkana, are increasing crop production, and the Borana are increasing the holdings and sales of small ruminants. Both groups sell livestock, principally older male animals in the dry season, when terms of trade are poor. Whereas the Borana occupy a mesic ecosystem with some market interactions, the Turkana inhabit a very dry environment with very few marketing opportunities. In southern Kenya some Maasai groups live in an environment that is intermediate in rainfall (300-600 mm) but much advanced in marketing opportunities, in part because of their proximity to Nairobi.

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Like the Borana, the M a a s a i have a production system based on cattle, although small stock are important for slaughter and sales. A s the human population in Maasailand has increased, livestock sales and the purchase of grain have increased, but milk production for home consumption still dominates the production strategy. Nevertheless, livestock marketing and w a g e labor both contribute significant cash flows to Maasai households. Household cash income ($560 to $1,242 per household per year in 1 9 8 1 - 1 9 8 3 , based on an exchange rate of 15 Ksh/$) is derived principally f r o m livestock sales (76 percent) and w a g e labor (8 percent) w h e r e a s sales of milk, cattle hides, goat skins, h o m e - b r e w e d beer, and other miscellaneous transactions account for 16 percent of cash income (Bekure et al. 1991). Greater participation in the national market e c o n o m y and considerably more disposable cash put the M a a s a i in a position to use their income for consumption; they could consume a m o r e diverse and nutritious diet than the Borana ( w h o have a cash income of $45 to $382 per household per year in 1987, based on an exchange rate of 2.05 birr Eth/$ [Holden and C o p p o c k 1992]) or the Turkana. In fact, though, food purchases account for only 36 percent of Maasai expenditures, and most of this is spent on maizemeal rather than the m o r e exotic products available near Nairobi. Instead of using their considerable cash income for food and nutrition or other forms of consumption most cash (40 percent) is reinvested in their livestock through the purchase of veterinary drugs, equipment, or additional animals. Borana cash income is lower than that of the Maasai, and allocation of income differs (approximately 40 percent for food, 45 percent for household items, mostly clothing, and 15 percent for livestock expenditures). The Turkana, with very little cash income, spend the majority of that cash for food. These examples s h o w that as pastoral income increases, the proportion spent for food appears to decline, and the proportion reinvested in livestock m a y increase. H o w m u c h proximity to markets (or lack thereof) accounts for this pattern is u n k n o w n .

Environmental and Economic Effects on Pastoral Diets and Nutrition Diet

Composition

Pastoral diets change seasonally and interannually with changing climatic and socioeconomic circumstances. Figure 6.1 shows m e a n annual and seasonal diet composition for Turkana and Borana pastoralists. In a 1982 dietary study it w a s shown that Turkana pastoralists subsist primarily f r o m their livestock; milk provided 62 percent of annual dietary energy, 89 percent in the wet season and 30 percent in the dry season (Galvin 1992). In two later surveys of Turkana diets (the wet seasons of 1989 a n d 1990), not surprisingly, milk was the most important food a m o n g w o m e n (91 percent in 1989, 9 4 percent in 1990). 5 H o w e v e r , other foods (cereals, blood, and meat) were m u c h more important

100

80

60

§

40

è 20

Annual

Annual

II

100

80

60

|

£

40

•

20

• •

Wet Dry TURKANA F i g u r e 6.1

Milk Cereals Other

Wet Diy BORANA

P c r c c n t C o n t r i b u t i o n of F o o d s in the Diets of T u r k a n a a n d B o r a n a , (a) A n n u a l l y a n d (b) S e a s o n a l l y

Turkana dietary data were derived from a measured diet intake study in 1982. Diet data were obtained from 28 individuals whose diets were repeatedly measured one day for four seasons (over 12 months). A total of 103 days of diet intake data were collected (Galvin 1985). Data on Borana diets were collected in a 24-hour diet-recall study and through retrospective interviews in 1988. Twenty-nine households comprising 136 individuals were visited once to assess the relative contribution of different foods in the diet of household members in the present season (through 24-hour recall) and each of the previous four seasons (covering 12 months) through interviews.

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in 1989 than in 1990, w h e n blood w a s a distant second to milk in importance. B y the 1990 early dry season, diet comprised only 65 percent milk for Turkana w o m e n . Cereals m a d e up 15 percent, and the remaining 20 percent of the diet was c o m p o s e d of meat (10 percent), blood (7 percent), and tea and wild foods (3 percent). Milk is also the preferred food of Borana pastoralists (Figure 6.1). W e see both great seasonal variability in the diet and perhaps a trend in diet composition as the Borana b e c o m e more involved in market interactions through the 1980s. Early in the decade (1982) milk contributed 55 percent of diet energy intake, w h e r e a s cereals provided 33 percent of dietary energy. The remainder was m a d e up of meat, blood, sugar, and other items (Cossins and Upton 1988). During the drought year of 1 9 8 4 - 1 9 8 5 , milk m a d e up only 19 percent of the dietary energy in the long dry season but 54 percent in the wet season, and following the rains (short dry season) milk provided 32 percent of caloric intake. Cereals contributed 73 percent, 27 percent, and 61 percent in the long dry season, the wet season, and the short dry season, respectively (Donaldson 1986). These figures show a m a j o r replacement of livestock products by market-purchased cereals w h e n compared to the 1982 data. This substitution could have been strictly drought-related. However, in 1987 diets of w o m e n in periurban settings were c o m p o s e d mainly of cereals (92 percent of dietary energy) during the cool dry season (September), indicating that milk was being sold in local markets (Holden et al. 1991). 6 This dietary trend indicates that grain consumption w a s c o m m o n l y high in the 1980s and was probably exacerbated b y drought and proximity to market. This trend m a y also signify a change in the Borana pastoral strategy to incorporate more market interactions, limited adoption of cultivation, and other changes resulting f r o m population and ecological causes as well as f r o m greater market access (Holden and C o p p o c k 1992; I L C A 1990). Nestcl (1985, 1986) reported annual diets of K e n y a n Maasai (women and children) at one group ranch to consist of 64 percent milk, 16 percent grains, and 20 percent other food, w h e r e a s at another group ranch diets consisted of 31 percent milk, 34 percent grains, and 45 percent other foods. 7 However, at both group ranches milk m a d e the largest contribution to total dietary energy in the wet season. Conversely, cereals were the main contributors to the diet in the dry season for these two K e n y a n Maasai groups. The diet of the Maasai of the N g o r o n g o r o Conservation Area in Tanzania has also been estimated. Cereals m a d e u p most of the dietary energy in the dry season of 1981 (Arhem et al. 1981; H o m e w o o d et al. 1987; H o m e w o o d and Rogers 1991). Other pastoralists also rely on milk as the dietary staple whenever possible. Fratkin (1991) estimated that 66 percent of total Ariaal per capita caloric consumption w a s derived (in 1985) f r o m milk, whereas cereals provided 11 percent of total energy. For the pastoral Rendille, milk m a y have provided up to 75 percent of dietary energy, in the early 1980s (Field and Simpkin 1985).

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123

Intake

Measured diet-intake studies have been conducted only a m o n g the Maasai and the Turkana, and estimates of caloric intake were similar but low in the t w o populations (Galvin 1992; Nestel 1986). Turkana energy intake was 1,340 kcal per person per day, whereas for Maasai w o m e n and children, caloric intake was 1,080 kcal per day (mean intake for Turkana w o m e n and children only w a s 1,009 kcal/day), reflecting in part the high proportion of y o u n g people in each population (Galvin 1985, 1992; Nestel 1985). 8 Maasai caloric intake was lower in the wet season (832 kcal/person/day) than in the dry season (1,248 kcal/person/day), revealing a Maasai cultural preference for milk w h e n it is abundant. Opposite seasonal patterns exist for the Turkana, w h o s e dry-season intake w a s 1,308 kcal/person/day (979 kcal excluding men), w h e r e a s the wet-season energy intake was 1,434 kcal/person/day (1,103 excluding men). The wet-season difference between Turkana and Maasai energy intake Shows the Turkana subsistence-oriented economy to be dependent on a diversity of livestock for milk, especially camels, w h o are prolific milk producers (Galvin 1985). Milk for Maasai consumption is derived only f r o m cattle. In summary, these data demonstrate the fluctuating diet composition of East African pastoralists, depending on season, year, and location. Diets remain very simple and center around milk as the staple w h e n e v e r possible. The intra- and interannual changes in diet composition seem to occur in contexts where economic change is slight, as in Turkana, and where the change in diet is linked more to economics, as a m o n g the Borana and Maasai. Energy intake is low across environments and regardless of the state of e c o n o m i c development. Nutritional

Status

Although Turkana and Borana ecosystems, pastoral population levels, and livestock populations differ, levels of nutrition are similar in these two p o p u lations (Table 6.3). Anthropometric measures show no differences in weight, mid-upper-arm circumference (UAC), or triceps skinfolds (TSF) in m e n , but there is a significant difference in height, with Turkana m e n being taller than Borana. 9 M e n ' s body m a s s indices (BMI) were not different. T u r k a n a and Borana women, however, showed significant differences in height, U A C , and B M I . The difference in mid-upper-arm circumference m a y be caused b y the different work patterns of w o m e n in these two populations. T u r k a n a w o m e n water livestock and m a y do heavier work than do Borana w o m e n (Little et al. 1983, but also see C o p p o c k 1992b). H o w e v e r , the difference in w o m e n ' s B M I is likely associated with the fact that the Borana are, on average, shorter a n d heavier than the Turkana. In an attempt to define adult nutritional state with m e a s u r e s of weight a n d height, James et al. (1988) specified levels of chronic energy deficiency based

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Tabic 6.3 Anthropometric Measurements and Body Mass Index (BMI) Scores for Turkana and Borana Adults n Females Turkana Borana T-value p Males Turkana Borana T-value p

HT

WT

UAC

TSF

BMI

42 53

163.3 , 6 . 5 159.1 76.0 3.26" 0.002

46.8 , 6 . 3 47.5 ; 6 . 4 -0.50" 0.618

24.0 »2.4 22.8 78.2 2.28" 0.025

12.6 »5.2 10.9 73.4 1.56" 0.122

17.5 »1.8 18.7 ; i . 9 -3.03" 0.003

40 50

173.9 «8.0 169.9 76.1 2.70" 0.008

56.1 ,7.3 54.7 76.8 0.94" 0.351

24.0 ,1.9 23.4 71.9 1.45" 0.150

5.7 »2.1 4.9 71.4 1.65" 0.104

18.5 »1.5 19.0 ; i . 7 -1.50" 0.138

Note: Population differences were tested for mean height, weight, mid-upper-arm circumference (UAC), and triceps skinfold (TSF) using independent t-tests. Body mass index (BMI) = wt(kg)/ht 2 (m) (Najjar and Rowland 1987).

on D M I scores. According to this scheme, approximately 23 percent of Turkana adults showed B M I of 16.9 or below, indicating chronic or severe energy deficiency. Fifteen percent of Borana adults displayed B M I scores of 16.9 or below. B o d y m a s s index scores of 18.5 or higher, indicating substantial energy reserves, were f o u n d in 35 percent of Turkana adults and 53 percent of the adult Borana sample. The remainder of the Turkana sample (42 percent) and the Borana sample (32 percent) m a y or m a y not have adequate energy reserves (classification m a y only occur after more information is available on physical activities). W h e n compared to B M I references for black Americans, both the Turkana and Borana demonstrated very low B M I scores. All but t w o Turkana w o m e n were at or b e l o w the tenth percentile, and 81 percent were at or below the fifth percentile (18.8) (Najjar and R o w l a n d 1987). Eighty-one percent of the Borana sample of w o m e n were at or b e l o w the fifteenth percentile, and 58 percent were at or b e l o w the fifth percentile. Ninety-three percent of Turkana men had a B M I at or b e l o w the tenth percentile for black American B M I s , and 70 percent were at or b e l o w the fifth percentile (19.3). The sample of Borana m e n s h o w e d that 84 percent had B M I s at or below the 15 percentile, and 62 percent were at or below the fifth percentile. Again using references for black Americans, all T u r k a n a and Borana men, save three, had U A C s at or below the fifth percentile. Ninety percent of Turkana w o m e n were at or b e l o w the twenty-fifth percentile, and 52 percent were at or b e l o w the fifth percentile. Ninety-two percent of the sample of Borana w o m e n showed U A C s at or below the fifteenth percentile, and 70

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percent were at or below the fifth percentile. Triceps skinfold and weight measurements standardized (Z-scores) against the Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (HANES) standards are shown in Figure 6.2 (Najjar and Rowland 1987). Turkana w o m e n ' s triceps skinfolds are about 1.1 standard deviations (Z = -1.06) less than those of U.S. women of the same age; Borana TSFs are 1.3 standard deviations below those of U.S. w o m e n (Z = -1.34). Weights for Turkana and Borana women are 1.4 and 1.2 standard deviations, respectively, below those of U.S. women of the same age (Z = -1.36, Z = -1.22) (Figure 6.2a). Turkana and Borana m e n ' s triceps skinfolds are, on average, 1.1 standard deviations below those of U.S. men of the same age (Z = -1.01, Z = -1.15); weights are, on average, 1.7 standard deviations lower than those of U.S. men (Z = -1.75, Z = 1.65) (Figure 6.2b). Regardless of measures of nutritional status, there are few differences between populations, and both populations show extremely low indicators of nutritional status compared to North American references. Thus, despite major differences in environmental conditions and economic development, the measures of body mass and composition suggest that the nutritional states of these two pastoral populations are similar. 10

Discussion and Conclusions What does this analysis tell us about diet and nutritional status as a fundamental aspect of the pastoral ecological/economic strategy? Is nutritional status a reliable indicator of the well-being of the population? The analysis shows that the Turkana and Borana livestock biomass densities are similar (3.5 TLUs/person in Turkana and 3.2 TLUs/person in Borana, Table 6.2). These figures are also similar to other pastoral regions in Kenya, where TLUs per person range from 3.4 in the northeast section of the country to 3.7 for the whole of the southern Maasai region. These ratios are similar regardless of environment. However, TLU ratios on two Maasai group ranches are very high—(11.3 TLUs/person on one group ranch, 15.9 TLUs/person on another (Nestel 1986). These figures likely reflect a response to market opportunities and perhaps migration out of the Maasai area into neighboring urban centers. Maasai herd offtake ranges between 12 and 22 percent per annum, largely as a result of sales (Bekure et al. 1991). Turkana offtake may be a fraction of this (1 to 4 percent). Estimates of Borana sales offtake range between 9 and 12 percent, with an additional 6 to 8 percent for home consumption and exchange (Negussie Tilahun 1984). Household expenditures for the Maasai show that the largest amount of income goes into livestock reinvestment (Bekure et al. 1991). Likewise, most of Borana income goes back into the purchase of livestock and clothes (Negussie Tilahun 1984). A smaller proportion goes into food purchases, suggesting that pastoralists' diets (fluctuating composition and low

a.

o

Triceps

Weight

Triceps

Weight

Nl

Figure 6.2

Triccps skinfold and weight measurements for (a) women and (b) men compared with the U.S. national health and nutrition survey (NHANES) (Najjar and Rowland 1987).

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energy intake) and nutritional status are not very responsive to environmental or economic differences. Grains are extremely important to the diet as populations increase, but the increase in grain consumption may not be indicative of a change in the overall pastoral strategy. Comparison of the diets of the Turkana, Borana, and Maasai shows a cultural preference for pastoral products. Seasonality affects pastoral production, so those groups who rely on cattle, the Borana and Maasai, must consume grains in the dry seasons, when milk production decreases. The Turkana can consume milk for a greater part of the year because camel milk production is more consistent through the year (Galvin 1985). Year-to-year variation in diets also occurs and can be quite dramatic. The Turkana and Borana data show nutritional status to be similar to one another and below reference norms. Over 50 percent of both populations showed BMIs below adequate levels, and BMIs were also very low when compared with those of black Americans. The marginal nutritional state of pastoralists found here seems to point to several conclusions. Prevailing nutritional status is a product of trade-offs associated with the pastoral subsistence strategy. Pastoralists may be trying to maintain and encourage high human population numbers. They are also trying to keep large herds dominated by reproductive females. Diet and nutrition, at least in these societies, are conservative aspects of the pastoral strategy and do not respond greatly to changes in development, market access, and cash income. Therefore, an observed change in diet that is associated with changes in market access, "modernization," or development should not automatically be interpreted as a response to those changes. Diet and (presumably) nutrition are expected to change somewhat in the absence of such processes. Both seasonal and longer-term fluctuations in diet and nutrition have to be kept in mind when evaluating the impact of change. Based on the cases examined here, it is hard to argue that East African pastoralists are in the process of "modernizing" their production and consumption strategies in ways that are immediately reflected in nutritional status and health. It seems likely that East African pastoralists are trying to maintain their traditional strategy of population persistence and herd maintenance, selling stock only when needed to make up shortages of milk.

Notes Part of this research was conducted during KAG's tenure as a National Science Foundation Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Environmental Biology (BNR8700206). The International Livestock Center for Africa (ILCA) facilitated work by KAG in Ethiopia. Shewangizaw Bekele helped with data collection in Borana. Research on Turkana 1989 and 1990 diets was conducted by P.W. Leslie with support from National Science Foundation grant BNS-8718477. 1. The data on Turkana and Borana nutritional status and Borana diets were

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collected between March and June 1988 as part of a study to assess the nutritional ecology of pastoralists. 2. The Maasai group ranch concept was conceived as a means to transform the Maasai nomadic subsistence economy into a sedentary, commercial economy. Maasai group ranches resulted from the adjudication of Maasai land into "ranches" whose membership was to be permanent and whose livestock would be limited by the local carrying capacity. Maasai acceptance stemmed from farmers' encroachment and a government promise to develop ranch infrastructure (Bekure et al. 1991). 3. The population of Maasai is also growing (3 percent annually) (Bekure et al. 1991; Nestel 1986). However, with their proximity to Nairobi and other urban areas, Maasai may have increased opportunities for human migration out of the Maasai area. By doing this they are able to maintain high livestock-to-human ratios. 4. It is interesting to note that Borana men and women wear purchased cloth, but among Turkana pastoral women, clothes made from animal skins are still the rule, with few exceptions. Turkana men do wear purchased clothes. This cultural difference probably decreases the expense Turkana have for clothing. 5. Qualitative data on Turkana diets were collected in two surveys. The first was in the 1989 wet season (mid-June to mid-July) for 106 women, and the second was in the 1990 wet season for 98 women. In each survey women were asked what foods were of primary and then secondary importance. The proportion of women in each survey who reported particular foods as being of either primary or secondary importance were calculated. In addition, dietary data for 98 Turkana women were collected by the twenty-four-hour-recall method from mid-July to mid-August 1990. Contribution of each food (by percent energy) to the diet was calculated for each woman and then averaged over all women. Paul W. Leslie collected these data with help from Sandra Gray, Michael A. Little, and Lewis Lama. 6. The contribution of the amount of cereal to the diet may have been overestimated, as women's mean daily caloric intake was estimated at 3,664 kcal, an average adult woman's intake unheard of in an African pastoral population and not supported by the nutritional data presented in this paper (see also Galvin 1992). 7. Maasai diet composition and energy intake were assessed by the twenty-fourhour dietary recall method on 127 households (579 people), each of which was visited one day every two months for two years. 8. See note 7 on Maasai diet intake assessment. A measured dietary intake study was used to determine Turkana diets. Diets of twenty-eight people were repeatedly measured one day each of four seasons (twelve months). 9. The upper-arm circumference measurement is used to assess muscle mass and thereby protein stores. Triceps skinfold measurements provide an estimate of the size of the subcutaneous fat deposit, which in turn provides an indirect measure of body fat (Gibson 1990). Body mass index measures the leanness of individuals (Gibson 1990) and in turn provides an indirect assessment of chronic energy deficiency in adults (James et al. 1988). 10. Additional work conducted among the Turkana suggests little systematic difference between nomadic and settled Turkana with regard to body mass or composition (Little et al. 1992). This suggests that even a major change in subsistence strategy has not affected nutritional state, at least for the Turkana.

References Arhem, K., K. Homewood, and A. Rodgers 1981/1 Pastoral Food System. The Ngorongoro Maasai in Tanzania Bureau of Resource Assessment and Land Use

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Planning (BRALUP) Research Paper No. 70. University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ariza-Nino, E., and K. H. Shapiro. 1984 Cattle as Capital, Consumables and Cash: Modelling Age-of-sale Decisions in African Pastoral Production. In J. R. Simpson and P. Evangelou (eds.), Livestock Development in Subsaharan Africa. Constraints, Prospects, Policy, pp. 317-334. Boulder: Westview Press. Behnke, R. H. 1990 Livestock Marketing in Turkana District. Draft report. Overseas Development Institute, London. Bekure, S., P. N. de Leeuw, B. E. Grandin, and P.J.H. Neate (eds). 1991 Maasai Herding. An Analysis of the Livestock Production System of Maasai Pastoralists in Eastern Kajiado District, Kenya. ILCA Systems Study 4. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa. Belete Dessalegn 1985 Smallstock and Camel Research in the Southern Rangelands. Joint Ethiopian Pastoral Systems Study (JEPSS) interim research report. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA). Bille, J. C. 1983 The Climatic Risks to Livestock Production in the Ethiopian Rangelands. Joint Ethiopian Pastoral Systems Study (JEPSS) Research Report No. 4. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA). Brown, L. H. 1971 The Biology of Pastoral Man as a Factor in Conservation. Biological Conservation 3(2): 93-100. Coppock, D. L. 1992a Observations on the Traditional Logic of Pastoral Livestock Marketing in Southern Ethiopia. Current Natural Resources Development Activities in Developing Nations. Proceedings of the International Rangeland Development Symposium, Society for Range Management, pp. 31-42. Coppock, D. L. 1992b Ethiopian Pastoral Development. National Geographic Research and Exploration 8(3): 296-307. Coppock, D. L. 1993 Constraints to Development of Extensive Livestock Systems: Experiences from Southern Ethiopia. In M. Gill, E. Owen, G. E. Pollott, and T.L.J. Lawrence (eds.), Animal Production in Developing Countries. Occasional Publication No. 16, British Society of Animal Production. Coppock, D. L., S. J. Holden, and C. O'Connor 1993 Milk Processing and Periurban Dairy Marketing in Semiarid Ethiopia and Prospects for Development Intervention. Unpublished manuscript. Cossins, N. J., and M. Upton 1987 The Borana Pastoral System of Southern Ethiopia. Agricultural Systems 25: 199-218. Cossins, N. J., and M. Upton 1988 The Impact of Climatic Variation on the Borana Pastoral System. Agricultural Systems 27: 117-135. Coughenour, M. B., J. E. Ellis, D. M. Swift, D. L. Coppock, K. Galvin, J. T. McCabe, and T. C. Hart 1985 Energy Extraction and Use in Nomadic Pastoral Ecosystem. Science 230: 619-625. Dahl, G., and A. Hjort 1976 Having Herds. Pastoral Herd Growth and Household Economy. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology. Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm, Sweden. Donaldson, J. J. 1986 Pastoralism and Drought: A Case Study of the Borana of Southern Ethiopia. Master's thesis. Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, University of Reading, Reading, UK. Doran, M. H., A.R.C. Low, and R. L. Kemp 1979 Cattle as a Store of Wealth in Swaziland: Implications for Livestock Development and Overgrazing in Eastern and Southern Africa. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 61: 41—47. Ecosystems Ltd. 1983. Turkana District Resource Survey. Turkana Rehabilitation Program Draft Final Report. Ministry of Energy and Regional Development. Nairobi: Government of Kenya. Ellis, J. E., K. Galvin, J. T. McCabe, and D. M. Swift 1987 Pastoralism and Drought

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in Turkana District, Kenya. Report to the N o r w e g i a n A g e n c y for International D e v e l o p m e n t ( N O R A D ) , Nairobi. Ellis, J. E., and D. M. S w i f t 1988 Stability of African Pastoral Ecosystems: Alternate Paradigms and Implications for Development. Journal of Range Management 41(6): 4 5 0 - 4 5 9 . E v a n g e l o u , P. 1984 Cattle Marketing E f f i c i e n c y in K e n y a ' s Maasailand. In J. R. S i m p s o n and P. E v a n g e l o u (eds.), Livestock Development in Subsaharan Africa: Constraints, Prospects, Policy, pp. 1 2 3 - 1 4 2 . Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Field, C. R., and S. P. Simpkin 1985 The Importance of Camels to Subsistence Pastoralists in Kenya. Integrated Project in Arid L a n d s ( I P A L ) Technical Report E-7. Nairobi: U N E S C O . F o o d and Agriculture Organization 1967 FAO Production Yearbook. R o m e : F o o d and Agriculture Organization. Fratkin, E. 1991 Surviving Drought and Development: Ariaal Pastoralists of Northern Kenya. Boulder: W e s t v i e w Press. Galvin, K. A. 1985 Food Procurement, Diet and Nutrition of Turkana Pastoralists in an Ecological and Social Context. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of N e w York at B i n g h a m t o n . Galvin, K. A. 1992 Nutritional Ecology of Pastoralists in D r y Tropical A f r i c a . American Journal of Human Biology 4 (2): 2 0 9 - 2 2 1 . Gibson, R. S. 1990 Principles of Nutritional Assessment. N e w York: O x f o r d University Press. Haas, J. D., and D. L. Pelletier 1989 Nutrition and H u m a n Population biology. In M . A. Little and J. D. H a a s (eds.), Human Population Biology: A Transdisciplinary Science, pp. 1 5 2 - 1 7 0 . N e w York: O x f o r d University Press. Ilerskovits, M. J. 1926 T h e Cattle Complex in East Africa. American Anthropologist 28: 2 3 0 - 2 7 2 , 3 6 1 - 3 8 8 , 4 9 4 - 5 2 8 , 6 3 3 - 6 6 4 . Molden, S. J., and D. L. C o p p o c k 1992 Effects of Distance to Market, Season a n d Family Wealth on Pastoral Dairy Marketing in Ethiopia. Journal of Arid Environments 23: 3 2 1 - 3 3 4 . Holden, S. J., D. L. C o p p o c k , and M. A s s e f a 1991 Pastoral Dairy Marketing a n d H o u s e h o l d W e a l t h Interactions and Their Implications for Calves and H u m a n s in Ethiopia. Human Ecology 19 (1): 3 5 - 5 9 . H o m e w o o d , K. M., and W . A. Rodgers 1991 Maasailand Ecology: Pastoralist Development and Wildlife Conservation in Ngorongoro, Tanzania. N e w York: C a m b r i d g e University Press. H o m e w o o d , K., W . A. Rodgers, and K. A r h e m 1987 E c o l o g y of Pastoralism in N g o r o n g o r o Conservation Area, Tanzania. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 108: 4 7 - 7 2 . H u s s - A s h m o r e , R. and J. J. Curry 1989 Diet, Nutrition and Agricultural D e v e l o p ment in Swaziland. 1. Agricultural Ecology and Nutritional Status. Ecology of Food and Nutrition 23: 1 8 9 - 2 0 9 . H u s s - A s h m o r e , R., and F. E. Johnston 1985 Bioanthropological Research in D e v e l o p i n g Countries. Annual Reviews of Anthropology 14: 4 7 5 - 5 2 8 . I L C A 1990 Annual Report and Programme Highlights. International Livestock Centre for A f r i c a , Addis Ababa. Jahnke, H. E. 1982 Livestock Production Systems and Livestock Development in Tropical Africa. Kieler W i s s e n s c h a f t s v e r l a g V a u k , Kiel. James, W.P.T., A. Ferro-Luzzi, and J. C. W a t e r l o w 1988 Definition of C h r o n i c E n e r g y D e f i c i e n c y in Adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42: 9 6 9 981. Jarvis, L. S. 1986 Supply Response in the Cattle Industry: The Argentine Case. Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. Special Report. Division o f

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Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California. L a m p r e y , H. F. 1983 Pastoralism Yesterday a n d T o d a y : T h e O v e r g r a z i n g Problem. In F. Bourliere (ed.), Tropical Savannas: Ecosystems of the World, Vol. 13, pp. 6 4 3 - 6 6 6 . A m s t e r d a m : Elsevier. Little, M.A., K. Galvin, and M. M u g a m b i 1983 Cross-sectional G r o w t h of N o m a d i c T u r k a n a Pastoralists. Human Biology 55(4): 8 1 1 - 8 3 0 . Little, M . A., and B. R. J o h n s o n 1985 W e a t h e r Conditions in South T u r k a n a . A p p e n d i x 1. In R a d a D y s o n - H u d s o n and J. Terrence M c C a b e , South Turkana Nomadism: Coping with an Unpredictably Varying Environment, pp. 2 9 8 - 3 1 4 . N e w Haven, CT: H u m a n Relations Area Files. Little, M . A., P. W. Leslie, and K. L. Campbell 1992 E n e r g y Reserves and Parity of N o m a d i c and Settled Turkana W o m e n . American Journal of Human Biology 4(6): 729-738. M a r g a l e f , R. 1968 Perspectives in Ecological Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Milligan, K. 1983 An Aerial Reconnaissance of Livestock and Human Populations in Relation to Land Use and Ecological Conditions in the SORDU Project Area of Southern Ethiopia. Joint Ethiopian Pastoral Systems Study (JEPSS): Research Report N o . 5. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Center for A f r i c a (ILCA). Najjar, M.F., and M. R o w l a n d 1987 Anthropometric Reference Data and Prevalence of Overweight. Vital and Health Statistics, Series 11-No. 238. Hyattsville, M D : U.S. Department of Health and H u m a n Services. Negussie, Tilahun 1984 Household Economics Study in Borana. Joint Ethiopian Pastoral System Study (JEPSS) Research Report N o . 15b. Addis Ababa: International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA). Nestel, P. 1985 Nutrition ofMaasai Women and Children in Relation to Subsistence Food Production. Ph.D. dissertation. Nutrition Department, University of London. Nestel, P. 1986 A Society in Transition: D e v e l o p m e n t a l and Seasonal Influences on the Nutrition o f M a a s a i W o m e n and Children. Food Nutrition Bulletin 8: 2 - 1 8 . O d u m , E. P. 1969 The Strategy of Ecosystem D e v e l o p m e n t . Science 164: 2 6 2 - 2 7 0 . Prins, H.H.T. 1992 T h e Pastoral Road to Extinction: C o m p e t i t i o n Between W i l d l i f e and Traditional Pastoralism in East Africa. Environmental Conservation 19(2): 117-123. S a n d f o r d , S. 1983 Management of Pastoral Development in the Third World. N e w Y o r k : John Wiley and Sons. Schneider, H. K. 1957 The Subsistence Role of Cattle A m o n g the Pakot in East A f r i c a . American Anthropologist 59: 2 7 8 - 3 0 0 . Schneider, H. K. 1984 Livestock in African Culture and Society: A Historical Perspective. In J. R. Simpson and P. Evangelou (eds.), Livestock Development in Subsaharan Africa: Constraints, Prospects, Policy, p p . 1 8 7 - 2 0 0 , B o u l d e r : W e s t v i e w Press. Semple, A. T. 1971 Grassland Improvement in Africa. Biological Conservation 3: 173-180. Stiles, D . N . 1983 C a m e l P a s t o r a l i s m and D e s e r t i f i c a t i o n in N o r t h e r n K e n y a . Desertification Control 8: 2 - 8 . Swift, J. 1977 Sahelian Pastoralists: Underdevelopment, Desertification, and F a m i n e . Annual Reviews of Anthropology 6: 457—478. Swift, J. 1982 The Future of A f r i c a n Hunter-Gatherer and Pastoral Peoples. Development and Change 13: 1 5 9 - 1 8 1 . U p t o n , M . 1986 Production Policies for Pastoralists: The Borana Case. Agricultural Systems 20: 1 7 - 3 5 .

7 Demographic Systems: Two East African Examples Eric Abella Roth In a 1986 review article on the demography of nomadic peoples, I ironically suggested that we knew more about the population dynamics of pastoral livestock than about the human populations who tended and depended upon them (Roth 1986a). This frustration arose from two sources. First, Dahl and Hjort's (1976) seminal work, Having Herds: Pastoral Herd Growth and Household Economy, successfully simulated the demography of animals in the African mixed-species pastoralist subsistence base (e.g., cattle, camels, sheep, and goats), but no such work existed for pastoralists themselves. Second, this dearth of data was exacerbated by the long-recognized importance of demographic parameters in pastoral societies. Lack of data meant that demographic models of essential pastoral processes such as age-set regulation (Spencer 1978) and household developmental cycles (Stenning 1959) remained just that, models. The only bright side to this situation was that the few works on African pastoralist demography, exemplified by Hill's (1985) studies on Sahelian populations, provided much-needed data and revealed the importance of linking demographic, nutritional, epidemiological, and social systems within African pastoral societies. Since that time demographic field studies on African pastoralists and agropastoralists have proceeded from strikingly different perspectives, including cultural ecology (Leslie et al. 1988), evolutionary ecology (Borgerhoff Mulder 1988; Cronk 1989,1991), and social demography (Roth 1991; Roth and Kurup 1990). The picture emerging from these studies is one of demographic heterogeneity. In short, there is no single, unifying "African pastoralist demographic system." This conclusion is exemplified in Table 7.1, which presents fertility levels, expressed as mean parity levels, for an array of these populations. In addition to recording a wide range of overall variation, these data also reveal differing fertility levels within the same ethnic group, exemplified by the Malian Fulani, and for differing subgroups—e.g., nomadic versus sedentary Baggara and Turkana—sampled from the same general locale. Furthermore, for these last groups the direction of change differs, with nomadic Baggara featuring lower parity levels than their sedentary counterparts, just the opposite of the Turkana case.

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Table 7.1 Mean Parity Levels for Postreproductive Women, Selected African Pastoral and Agropastoral Populations Population Delta Fulani S e n o Fulani Delta T a m a s h e q Goumia Tamasheq Fulani Baggara (nomadic) Baggara (sedentary) Turkana (nomadic) Turkana (sedentary) Rendille Toposa

Country Mali Mali Mali Mali Niger Sudan Sudan Kenya Kenya Kenya Sudan

M e a n Parity 7.1 6.6 6.6 5.2 4.8 4.6 5.5 7.2 5.5 4.8 6.7

Reference Hill 1985 Hill 1985 Hill 1985 Hill 1985 G a n o n 1975 H e n i n 1969 H e n i n 1969 Brainard 1981 Brainard 1981 Roth 1993 Roth 1986b

Finally, all levels recorded in Table 7.1 represent cross-sectional measures of fertility. A s forcefully brought out in Pennington and H a r p e n d i n g ' s (1993) analysis of historic fertility trends for Herero agropastoralists of Botswana, fertility can fluctuate quite widely over time as a result of both social and biological factors. Overall, the variation shown in Table 7.1 is consistent with Campbell and W o o d ' s (1988) analysis of seventy natural fertility populations, w h i c h f o u n d n o pure, h o m o g e n e o u s "hunter-gatherer," "peasant," "tribal horticulturalist," or "pastoralist" demographic regime. A f r i c a n pastoralist mortality regimes also exhibit unexpected variation. For example, in 1980 drought and famine resulted in infant mortality rates of more than 600 per 1,000 for K a r a m o j o n g agropastoralists (Biellik and Henderson 1981), w h e r e a s Hill's (1990) analysis of child mortality trends for Fulani and Kel T a m a s h e q populations in Mali indicated no significant increase during the 1 9 7 4 - 1 9 7 5 drought. In less extreme situations, H i l l ' s (1985) Malian surveys in n o n d r o u g h t p e r i o d s unexpectedly revealed that n o m a d i c Kel T a m a s h e q populations suffered less severe infant and childhood mortality than neighboring B a m b a r a sedentary horticulturalists.

A Framework: Age-sets, Polygyny, and Gerontocracy Such d e m o g r a p h i c disparity points to the need for a particularistic approach to African pastoralist d e m o g r a p h y . Yet some socioecological features are widespread in these populations and can provide an initial f r a m e w o r k with which to examine determinants of fertility and mortality. Included here are age-sets, gerontocracy, and polygyny. Although these are obviously complicated con-

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cepts with differing connotations and implications (for a m o r e complete discussion of age-sets see Fratkin and Smith, Chapter 5, this volume; for contrasting v i e w s and models of polygyny see Flinn and L o w 1986; White and Burton 1988), S p e n c e r ' s (1980) m o d e l of p o l y g y n y as social differentiation in African society can function as a broad heuristic f r a m e w o r k b y w h i c h to compare and contrast traditional African societies. African p o l y g y n y is frequently tempered by age-set rules specifying w h e n marriage m a y be initiated. Similarly, ceremonies associated with age-set formation and transactions surrounding brideprice and marriage are often under the control of older, already married men w h o have m a d e the social transformation f r o m " w a r r i o r s " to "elders." T o q u a n t i f y polygyny and gerontocracy in A f r i c a n societies, S p e n c e r ' s m o d e l uses two simple factors. T h e first is m e a n n u m b e r of w i v e s per married male (m), the second the ratio of the variance to m e a n n u m b e r of wives (d = S/m). T h e former measures gerontocracy, denoted by delay in marriage for y o u n g e r men and consequent delay in related socioeconomic privileges, including establishment of a family and household herds. The latter delineates the distribution of wives a m o n g married men, regarded by Spencer as a measure of social differentiation. Representing different extremes with regard to polygyny patterns are Toposa agropastoralists of southern Sudan and Rendille pastoralists of northe m Kenya, two societies I have had the opportunity to study. Table 7.2 presents distributions of w i v e s per married male for both societies, defined by Spencer as "additional"—that is, in addition to a first wife. Also shown are the sample sizes and derivations o f m and d measures. A s readily seen, Toposa p o l y g y n y levels are extremely high, with 30 percent of all marriages featuring m o r e than two "additional" wives. In contrast, n o Rendille marriage has more than three

Table 7.2 Distribution of Additional Wives and Polygyny Measures Additional W i v e s 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals m d

Toposa

Rendille

407 256 145 70 38 9 6 3 4 2 1

379 64 2

950 1.136 1.821

444 0.153 0.894

— — — — — — — —

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wives. T o assess h o w age-sets, gerontocracy, and polygyny affect, and are differently affected by, demographic parameters within these societies, I e x a m i n e each separately below. M y analysis focuses on h o w delineation of culture-specific patterning of these variables reveals c o m m o n connections between demographic, economic, a n d social systems within distinctive East A f r i c a n pastoral societies.

Toposa Agropastoralists: Polygyny, Gerontocracy, and Gender N u m b e r i n g approximately 50,000, Toposa agropastoralists inhabit the southeastern c o m e r of Sudan, bordered by other Nilo-Hamitic groups derived f r o m a past " K a r i m o j o n g cluster" (Gulliver and Gulliver 1956)—the Jie to the north, the Turkana to the southeast, and the Didinga to the south. Settlements of the Toposa, the only sedentary Nilo-Hamitic group in the Sudan, feature large villages comprising multiple-dwelling compounds. The Toposa have a welldefined sexual division of labor, with m e n ' s activities centering on livestock and w o m e n ' s focusing on millet cultivation. This division is further regulated b y a male age-set system in which older males own herds of cattle and small stock and younger males provide labor for herding. A United Nations C h i l d r e n ' s Fund ( U N I C E F ) survey of eight Toposa villages in 1984 (Roth and K u r u p 1990) resulted in a sample of 1,051 households and a de facto population of 9,451. Analysis of these data indicated high levels of fertility, mortality, and, as evidenced by in Table 7.2, polygyny. As shown in Table 7.3, which presents distributions of additional wives by h u s b a n d s ' age, the pattern of Toposa polygyny is that termed "ascriptive" by A l m a g o r (1978:140), with a m a n ' s n u m b e r of wives largely dependent upon his m e m b e r s h i p in a chronological age-set. In their review of h u m a n mating systems, Flinn and L o w (1986:223) called this pattern—characterized b y the indirect exchange of resource materials (in this case livestock) as brideprice— "resource control polygyny." Both models concur that control of critical resources,

Table 7.3 Distribution of Toposa Additional Wives by Husbands' Age Age Interval 20-29 30-39 40—49 50-59 60+

n Husbands (sample size) 113 298 248 139 152

m Additional Wives 0.150 0.614 1.121 1.683 2.414

s Additional Wives 0.165 0.931 1.297 2.116 3.807

d Additional Wives (d=s/m) 1.107 1.521 1.157 1.257 1.577

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representative of both stored wealth and status, is linked to gerontocracy, with elders accumulating disproportionately large shares of these resources through inheritance and/or exchange. Competition for wives begins early in Toposa society, with child betrothals sealed b y early brideprice payments. Because livestock are controlled b y male elders, w h o build their herds through natural increase and/or brideprice exchange, young m e n must delay marriage, w h e r e a s females marry early. The result is a full seven-year age difference in the singulate m e a n age at marriage (United Nations 1983:225) for m a l e s versus females (males = 27.24, females = 20.19). T w o other significant age differences affect T o p o s a society. T h e first is the trend of increasing spousal age differences with the acquisition of sequentially additional wives, as shown in Table 7.4. A s a result, large polygynous households are headed by m a l e s m u c h older than their j u n i o r wives. This situation is exacerbated b y a large sex-based mortality differential, with logit-based life table analysis (Roth 1989) showing females e n j o y i n g more than a ten-year advantage in life expectancy at birth (eo females = 44.1, eo males = 35.8). The combination of large spousal age differences with higher female life expectancy in a highly p o l y g y n o u s society results in a large n u m b e r of widows. Overall, 12 percent (253/2,039) of all w o m e n are widows, with the age-specific percentage increasing steadily f r o m 3 percent in the 2 0 - 2 9 age range to 100 percent of those aged seventy and above. Because of T o p o s a prohibitions on remarriage, the demographic effect of w i d o w h o o d is undoubtedly a dampening of overall fertility levels. Yet the most p r o f o u n d societal change brought about by w i d o w h o o d is not quantitative but rather qualitative. W i d o w e d senior w i v e s inherit the household duties, privileges, responsibilities, and property of their deceased husbands. Property includes junior wives, w h o are n o w said to be " m a r r i e d " to the senior wife. Such female-husband marriage is recorded for over thirty

Table 7.4 Husband-Wife Age Differences by Wife Order, Toposa Data Wife Order Years Difference

1

2

>2

0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20+

250 408 154 65 67

22 87 117 104 179

7 25 52 66 339

Totals Mean Standard Deviation

944 8.189 6.300

509 17.507 10.265

489 26.431 12.031

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Roth

African societies (Potash 1986). In the present case, fully 9 percent (91/1,059) of households were run by females married to their junior wives, a truly remarkable finding in a patrilineal, patrilocal society. In these cases, a young girl betrothed as a first wife to a powerful man may become after his death a powerful "husband" herself. In this role she makes decisions normally reserved to males concerning livestock matters and marriage arrangements. Such a woman remains in control of a household until the offspring of all junior wives are married. Following this, the original household is terminated, with the senior wife most commonly residing with one of her sons. In this fashion, the developmental cycle (e.g., temporal changes in size and composition of Toposa households) features three distinct stages. These are: 1) formation through marriage; 2) expansion via additional polygynous unions; and 3) dissolution, initiated by the death of the male household head. The last stage is prolonged by female assumption of this role, only to be surrendered after marriage of all co-wives' offspring. Although the close association of male age-sets and polygyny in African pastoral societies focuses attention on the ascribed stages of the male life cycle, the Toposa example serves to remind us that females, and by extension households, also move through distinct stages, replete with changing social status and responsibilities.

Rendille Pastoralists: Polygyny, Population Regulation, and Impartible Inheritance In a 1966 paper presented to the Association of British Zoologists, Mary Douglas, drawing on the seminal ethnographic work of Spencer (1965), cited Rendille pastoralists of northern Kenya as an example of a noncontracepting population regulating its fertility via elaborate cultural practices. Since that time, multiple authors have stressed fertility regulation as an inherent aspect of Rendille culture (cf. Spencer 1973, 1975; Sato 1980; Kreager 1982; Stiles 1983). All argue that the rationale for such behavior centers on the slow reproductive rate of the camel, which is not only the Rendille's primary source of food in the form of milk, blood, and meat but also an essential means of transporting water and households and a signifier of prestige and wealth (cf. Roth and Fratkin 1991). Dependence upon such a reproductively slow animal (for comparisons to cattle and small stock, see Dahl and Hjort 1976; Wilson et al. 1985) is thought to influence Rendille marriage and inheritance patterns, as well as their elaborate age-set formation system. In the first regard, Spencer (1965:293) reports that the slow natural increase of camel populations leads to refusal to split household herds, giving rise to impartible inheritance, with almost all livestock inherited via primogeniture. Similarly, slow camel-herd growth rates translate into difficulties in raising brideprice for additional wives, resulting in

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low levels of polygyny, as revealed in Table 7.2. Such a pattern represents what Flinn and Low (1986:225) term "resource limited" or "ecologically imposed" monogamy, characterized by males' inability to muster sufficient resources for multiple brideprice payments. Sometimes even monogamy must be delayed for poor, latter-born sons. These individuals often migrate to neighboring Samburu and/or Ariaal territory, where their herding labor for distant kin is repaid in the form of livestock, with which they start their own herds (cf. Fratkin 1991). Concern that human population growth will outstrip that of camels is also thought to influence the elaborate Rendille age-set system. Age-set membership rules specify that a youth be initiated and marry with the age-set three removed from that of his father. Because age-sets are formed every fourteen years, a first-born son could be over forty years of age at marriage. The linking of father-son-grandson in this system creates three distinctive, cyclical agelines. One is termed teeria, a prestigious term signifying "first-born" (Beaman 1981:398). Daughters of teeria men, called sepaade, are forbidden to marry until all their brothers wed. Because a first-born sepaade must wait until all her younger brothers marry with their prescribed age-set, she too could be over forty years at marriage. Delaying marriage clearly has the potential to affect fertility and ultimately growth rates. In 1987 and 1990 I undertook household surveys among sedentary Rendille in and near the locale of Korr (Roth 1991). Demographic and livestock data for over four hundred households were collected using a male focus-group approach. Data on father/son age-set membership, birth order, and marriage date were fitted to a historic calendar of age-set events (circumcision, marriage, first birth) previously compiled (Beaman 1981; Sobania 1988) and extending back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Special emphasis was placed on delineating demographic patterns for the daughters of one historical age-line. Results, presented in Table 7.5, revealed differences between sepaade and nonsepaade fertility levels, with the former exhibiting a significantly lower level. The proximate, or mechanical, determinant of this large fertility differential is hinted at by the much lower age-specific fertility levels of sepaade women in the earlier part of the reproductive period (ages 15-29), suggesting advanced age at marriage for sepaade females. This was indeed the case, with sepaade possessing an estimated mean age at marriage of 30.2 years (n = 101, sd = 8.98), compared with 22.2 years (n = 111, sd = 4.9) for their nonsepaade counterparts (t = 8.72, p 0.001), when n = sample size, sd = standard deviation, t = student's value, and p = probability. Moving from the proximate, or "how," to the distal, or "why," aspect of Rendille fertility regulation, a pilot survey of fifty Rendille men and women recorded unanimous denial that the sepaade tradition was in any way linked to population regulation (Roth 1993). Instead, both sexes were united in proclaiming it a response to past periods of raiding and warfare. During these times sepaade herded livestock in distant livestock camps (fora), performing

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Table 7.5 Fertility Histories for Sepaade Versus Non-Sepaade Women Age-Specific Fertility

Non-Sepaade

Sepaade

15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45—49

0.0526 0.1937 0.3368 0.3411 0.1600 0.0821 0.0421

0.0255 0.0566 0.1297 0.1747 0.1652 0.1114 0.0741

Totals

1.2084 X 5 = 6.042

0.7372 X 5 = 3.686

Log Likelihood Chi-square 4.56* 34.61*" 37.11*** 20.71*** 0.03+ 1.74+ 3.75+ 102.51***

+=p>0.05, *=p

5 .

>

« u 3 •o O k «a

4 .

3.

2.

«

.o

E

• o O o 1.

V

3 C

c ia • 2

60

-I— 180

120

—I— 240

—I 300

Acres Figure 11.1

Relationship Between Mean Number of Reproductive Wives per Married Year and Plot Size for Maina Men

Note: The Maina age-set was initiated in the 1930s. Source: Borgerhoff Mulder 1988b.

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In sum, herd m a n a g e m e n t strategies are likely to vary as a function of different time frames, discount rates, and current stock holdings. T h e s e differing strategies may ultimately be s u b s u m e d b y a more general objective, such as ensuring the viability of a herd, and can be tackled mathematically through d y n a m i c p r o g r a m m i n g techniques. In practical terms, however, allocation d i l e m m a s b e c o m e far more tractable w h e n specific and m o r e immediate strategic objectives are recognized. Furthermore, focusing on h o w the immediate strategies of herders vary with wealth could have important implications for applied work, particularly w h e r e new sources of investment are available and where e c o n o m i c differentiation is escalating. Finally, the suggestion that very wealthy herd m a n a g e r s m a y have different objectives than poorer individuals has important implications for fitness differentials (see next section).

The Usefulness of Wealth as an Indicator of Fitness If herd m a n a g e r s are a s s u m e d to follow fitness-maximizing strategies designed by natural selection or cultural evolutionary processes, what can we m a k e of the data showing no effects of differences in livestock ownership on a variety of measures of family w e l f a r e (e.g., Galvin 1992; Grandin 1992)? This is an issue that concerns social scientists, development workers, and evolutionary biologists alike. In this section w e first discuss h o w intrafamilial conflicts (with respect to power, goals, objectives, and currencies) m a y obscure s o m e of the consequences of wealth differentials, then look briefly at some of the largely u n m e a s u r e d effects of wealth differentials between families. Wealth, Fertility,

and Nutritional

Status

A s a consequence of polygyny, m e n with large herds c o m m o n l y have more surviving offspring than do poorer m e n . This link b e t w e e n livestock a n d children is noted in almost every ethnography (e.g., Stenning 1959) and has consistent statistical support (Borgerhoff Mulder 1987a; Cronk 1991). E f f e c t s of livestock wealth on women's fertility are weak (Borgerhoff M u l d e r 1987b; Roth, Chapter 7, this volume). This is surprising, because evidence of birth seasonality a m o n g Turkana (Leslie and Fry 1989) and Datoga ( B o r g e r h o f f Mulder 1992) implies that nutritional and workload factors significantly influence fertility in pastoralist w o m e n , suggesting that w o m e n associated with m e n of wealth should be s o m e w h a t b u f f e r e d f r o m environmental stresses on fertility. Nevertheless, m a r k e d effects of differences in wealth on female c o m p l e t e d fertility have not been found. This absence of effect m a y be attributable to the divergent interests of m e n and w o m e n in the use of livestock (Horowitz and J o w k a r 1992). First, m e n m a y prefer to invest stock in additional wives rather than securing adequate nutritional intake for their current w i f e or wives. Second, because w o m e n

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married to wealthy polygynists must share stock and grain with co-wives, their overall access to livestock products m a y be no greater than that of w o m e n married to poorer m o n o g a m o u s m e n (Borgerhoff M u l d e r 1990); in fact, in many A f r i c a n studies it appears to be lower (Brabin 1984). Third, there is s o m e evidence that wealthy Maasai families take less milk f r o m each of their lactating stock, with the goal of enhancing calf growth and survival (Grandin 1988). Fourth, if wealthier m e n attract more dependents, direct benefits m a y not be experienced b y family m e m b e r s , as appears to be the case a m o n g the Datoga (Daniela Sieff, personal communication). W e a l t h ' s effects on nutritional and health status a m o n g pastoralists are just as poorly understood as its effects on w o m e n ' s fertility. Studies of nutrient intake, anthropometric and biochemical status, and disease prevalence a m o n g African pastoralists generally conclude that pastoral people of all ages are on a low nutritional plane (reviewed b y Galvin 1992; Sellen 1992). H o w e v e r , these studies tell us little about the m e c h a n i s m s by which m e m b e r s of wealthier households might be expected to e n j o y better conditions. Furthermore, the studies are few, and comparisons b e t w e e n them are c o n f o u n d e d b y widely disparate sampling approaches, methodological procedures, a n d analytical techniques (Sellen 1992). Studies designed to determine the influences on intra- and interfamilial differences in health and nutritional status are clearly needed (see Sellen, in preparation). Pastoralists' diets tend to be adequate in protein, but energy is generally limited for adults (Little 1989; Galvin 1992). Significant growth faltering of infants before weaning (Sellen, in preparation) and during adolescence (Galvin 1992) are generally observed. These are probably linked with the low energy density of weaning foods, high rates of infant morbidity, and high activity budgets of adolescents. Insofar as grain contributes to the diet of all pastoralist groups, at least at s o m e times of year, and is purchased through livestock sales, herd size m a y be a useful predictor of energy intake f r o m grain sources. H o w e v e r , any positive effects of herd size m a y be obscured by the same m e c h a n i s m s obscuring relationships with fertility. This appears to be the case, as ecological studies reveal conflicting results with respect to the effects of wealth on nutrition. W h e r e a s Nestel (1986) found higher proportions of Maasai of all ages to be of adequate anthropometric status on "high-potential" (semiarid) than on "low-potential" (arid) group ranches, G a l v i n ' s (1992) cross-population comparisons suggest that nutritional status m a y be independent of overall livestock-human ratios. Within populations, nutritional differences b e t w e e n wealth strata m a y be greatly reduced by the sharing of food b e t w e e n households and by the tendency of the rich to leave more milk for the calves and to be more generous in feeding visitors and poor relatives ( H o m e w o o d and R o d g e r s 1991:226). Turning specifically to disease incidence, it is not clear h o w m e a s u r e s of morbidity might be expected to vary according to wealth a m o n g pastoralists (Brainard 1986), given that material conditions and disease exposure m a y be

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quite constant within a given pastoral population. In some cases, the wealthy are clearly more healthy. Borgerhoff Mulder (1987b) found strong effects of household wealth on the self-reported incidence (weekly assessments) of sickness among mothers and their children among the Kipsigis. In this study, the effects could be linked to greater household food availability. However workloads (e.g., Fratkin 1989) may also be implicated. In addition, visits to health-care facilities and use of Western medicines may be strongly linked to mothers' income control and time constraints, suggesting that health may be an outcome of women's power as well as household livestock holdings (Talle 1988; Horowitz and Jowkar 1992). Wealth and Expenditure

Patterns

Another way of getting at the long-term fitness benefits of wealth is to look at divergent expenditure patterns among families of different wealth. Herd managers deal with numerous demands on the family herd that to varying degrees compete with the simple goal of maintaining long-term herd viability. These include ensuring the production, growth, and survival of calves; meeting the daily consumption needs of a number of dependent nuclear families; selling various animals to raise cash for paying taxes and purchasing grain, veterinary medicincs, clothing, and so forth; allocating various animals for use in marriage payments for the herd manager and his dependents; and offering gifts, loans, and other transfers that might be important to a herd manager's standing in the local community, his lineage, or his clan. Little is known about how herd managers of different wealth standing allocate between these ends. It seems likely, given the commonly reported link between cattle wealth and polygyny, that wealthy men invest disproportionately in additional wives for themselves and their dependents, although proportional allocations have not been directly investigated (Borgerhoff Mulder, in preparation). If this were the case, it would have clear effects on their differential fitness. In addition, the wealthy may exchange more livestock in social and ritual transactions. Our impressions with both Datoga and Kipsigis are that wealthier men not only make significantly greater gifts and loans to other families but also are much more likely to receive gifts from others. Thus, an exceptionally wealthy Eyasi Datoga herd manager who lost over 600 livestock to a Maasai raid purportedly recouped one-third of his losses through dug ghalod (literally "gifts for hunger") within a period of two years. The reported benefits contingent on these highly protracted patterns of reciprocity enjoyed by the wealthy can hardly escape the notice of any ethnographer of pastoralism. Not only from Datoga pastoralists in Eyasi but also from Samburu, Maasai, Rendille, and Nandi migrant workers in urban areas we have often heard anectodally of how long-term debts and expectations shape a herd manager's economic history. What are the fitness consequences

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of such long-term exchange and debt relationships, and to what extent are they subject to the problems of time discounting? Unfortunately, longitudinal studies of the depth necessary to capture these outcomes are not readily available, although future research should aim at this. Finally, as a result of competitive interactions among families (see below), there are likely to be many unmeasured advantages enjoyed by wealthier families that have not been empirically investigated. For example, wealthier families probably 1) get access to better settlement sites, with all the attendant advantages for livestock productivity (Western and Dunne 1979); 2) have access to better water sources, especially if wells need to be dug and maintained frequently; 3) enjoy greater leisure time (Fratkin 1989), at least if economies of scale exist; and 4) enjoy benefits contingent on elevated social status, such as community influence and access to emergency support networks. Insofar as the currencies used in optimality models are assumed to be good indicators of fitness differentials among individuals, we can only conclude this section by pointing out that the relationships between wealth, herd persistence, and reproductive performance require considerable elucidation. At present, behavioral ccologists must simply assume that the objectives of herd management (e.g., persistence, energy intake, and so forth) will translate into economic and social benefits and that the latter will lead to the greater fitness of the herd manager and his family. Our evaluation of the effects of wealth suggest that this is indeed the case for the herd manager, where wealth consistently is associated with polygyny. However, the somewhat ambiguous relationships between wealth and family welfare, nutritional status, and w o m e n ' s fertility are more problematic. Perhaps we are measuring outcomes inappropriately, or perhaps we are measuring the wrong things. With respect to the latter possibility, it seems likely that there are all kinds of social advantages contingent on large herd size, commonly dubbed (in pastoralist ethnographies) the social value of livestock. Incorporating such intangible correlates of wealth and their fitness consequences remains a real challenge facing both behavioral ecologists and pastoralist scholars more generally.

Herd-building Strategies: Some Important Constraints Much of our discussion so far underscores the significance of wealth differentials for pastoralist decisionmaking. Thus, we must examine what we know about the causes of wealth differentials among pastoralists. In behavioral ecological terms, this is equivalent to asking: What are the constraints on absolute herd size, and how do they differ between wealth-holding units? Early analyses, exemplified most recently by Schneider (1979), stressed the egalitarian ethos of East African pastoralists. They characterized pastoralists as having communal rights in land, grazing, and water and as achieving equitable distributions of livestock and livestock products through complex

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systems of kinship exchange, loaning in times of need, pooling of labor between households, and complex systems of ownership resulting in highly overlapping rights in livestock (Salzman 1979; Black 1972). H o w e v e r , this v i e w has c o m e increasingly under attack by abundant new d o c u m e n t a t i o n showing that inequalities exist in the ownership and/or control of livestock both between and within families (Bradburd 1982; Campbell 1984; Fratkin and Roth 1990; Herren 1990; B o r g e r h o f f M u l d e r 1991b). Further, there is m u c h n e w evidence that such differentiation increases under the influence of external market forces, commercialization, and sedentarization (e.g., Talle 1988; Little 1985; Herren 1990). Finally, it is likely that the magnitude of inequalities in absolute livestock holdings at any point in time within a given population are grossly underestimated if census techniques focus primarily on herding households. This is true because 1) younger, semi-independent households are easily overlooked, 2) stockless families are often assimilated as clients into wealthier households, and 3) impoverished families m a y shift subsistence activity and even ethnicity (Sobania 1991; K j a e r b y 1979) and therefore be u n d e r s a m p l e d . Thus, all recent w o r k indicates that in order to identify some of the constraints on h e r d e r s ' m a n a g e m e n t decisions, one must ask h o w inequalities of wealth can arise and to what extent they influence herding decisions. Losses Resulting from Stochastic

Events

Pastoral herds have been aptly characterized as subject to both natural increase and catastrophic loss (Fratkin and Roth 1990), and pastoral society has been deemed concomitantly volatile (Barth 1964; Bradburd 1982). A n y stochastic, or unpredictable, factors causing sudden, random losses of unpredictable magnitude will necessarily produce temporary wealth differences, even if rates of herd growth and herding c o m p e t e n c e are constant a m o n g households. Pastoralists, especially the m a n y living in marginal habitats, are particularly subject to herd losses caused by such external stochastic factors. T h e s e include environmental unpredictability in the f o r m of drought (which has received m u c h attention in the literature), as well as locally inadequate rainfall, flash flooding, storm-chilling of livestock, and disease epidemics (for which little data are available). T h o u g h , almost all ethnographers mention the overriding importance of drought in reducing livestock numbers, few are able to provide figures of losses after periods of low rainfall disaggregated by livestock type, family stock holding, or other indicators of household wealth. Stochastic losses m a y also result f r o m certain unpredictable sociopolitical events over w h i c h individuals have little control but that frequently have been implicated in accounts of e c o n o m i c differentiation. Livestock raiding can result in sudden, complete impoverishment of families (e.g., a m o n g the Somali, see Little, Chapter 9, this volume), as can the erratic enforcement of g o v e r n m e n t levies. The question arises of whether the impact of such losses is itself stochastic with respect to wealth differentials. Are all families equally susceptible? If, for

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example, drought affects the wealth status of poorer families more than richer families (as might be expected whenever animals and people in impoverished circumstances are more vulnerable to death and disease), stochastic factors will exacerbate wealth differences. Conversely, if richer families sufferthe heaviest losses, stochastic events may reduce wealth differences, promoting the egalitarianism often imputed by earlier ethnographers of pastoralists. Are households susceptible to different loss rates dependent on their total livestock holdings? Among the Maasai of Kajiado, proportional losses during the early 1970s drought were not markedly different between herds of different sizes (D. J. Campbell's unpublished data tabulated in Sandford 1982). Other studies, however, do find wealth-related effects. Herren (1990) finds that the animals of poorer Mukogodo households were actually better cared for than those of the larger households, and Sperling (1987) shows that wealthy Samburu households incurred proportionately higher losses than did poorer households during the 1984 drought because their large herds were less well cared for (see also Fratkin and Roth 1990, who found a similar result for livestock losses among the Ariaal). The effccts of wealth on survival and recovery from stochastic livestock losses are complex, however. In the Ariaal case, for example, only the rich families were able to retain sufficient numbers of animals for pastoral subsistence after the drought (Fratkin and Roth 1990; see also Bradburd 1982). In addition, Roth's (1990) analysis of a group of impoverished sedentary Rendille's transition from camel to cattle ownership shows that only the wealthy households could successfully enter into cattle husbandry after the drought. Furthermore, in the camel-keeping zones, only the richer families usually keep camels, the species most resistant to drought. In short, even where stochastic environmental events impact all families equally (or even excessively affect those of the rich), initial wealth differences may be increased. This result may be due to the fact that losses of a given proportion are more likely to put poor families below minimum subsistence levels, leaving poor families less able to recover from such losses in the longer term. Furthermore, as indicated by Bradburd's study, the degree of reliance on the nonlivestock sector will strongly influence the socioeconomic effects of sudden and catastrophic loss. We must conclude that whenever household herds vary in size or composition, the effects of stochastic factors may not be entirely unpredictable. With respect to raiding, we can find no good evidence in the literature that herd size affects either the probability of being raided or the proportional loss due to theft. It is therefore difficult to determine the stochasticity of such patterns. Some evidence from the Eyasi Datoga of Tanzania suggests that large herds of cattle are targeted by raiders, usually Maasai or Sukuma, although in other cases smaller herds may be more attractive. Herd composition may also influence the probability of being raided, as larger livestock are more valuable and can be driven longer once stolen. However, larger families with greater

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labor availability may be able to take their herds to safer areas and deploy more defense. Finally, the magnitude of the negative impact of drought and other external factors on livestock numbers may well be underestimated. Modelers use stochastic loss rates of 10 to 15 percent of all livestock (see Dahl and Hjort's simulations, 1976), yet field studies have found drought loss rates above 50 percent for all types of stock (e.g., Brown 1971; McCabe 1987) and epidemic loss rates averaging more than 55 percent among households (e.g., Bradburd 1982). There are virtually no data on the magnitude of raiding losses. Among the Datoga of Lake Eyasi, Tanzania, average cattle holdings are approximately 66 per household head (range 0-618), yet we were told between April and November 1992 that over 1,300 head of cattle were stolen from just seven households emically classed as "rich." The true impact of other potentially important causes of catastrophic loss have never been evaluated. W c can draw two main conclusions about drought, theft, and epidemics as stochastic factors causing wealth differentiation. First, we suspect that losses resulting from such events are probably only truly random among families of similar wealth, and this has important consequences for developing mathematical models. Second, we propose that the losses due to these factors have generally been underestimated. Competition

over Natural

Resources

The legacy of views on pastoral egalitarianism and the absence of private property have detracted ethnographers' attention away from intrapopulational competition over critical resources. Such competition clearly operates at the level of ethnic groups or local communities (see Fratkin 1986 for the AriaalRendille-Samburu case, Sobania 1991 for Somali clans, Borgerhoff Mulder et al. 1989 and Tomikawa 1979 for the Maasai-Datoga subtribe case) and drives important large-scale processes such as migration, marginalization, settlement, and subsistence-switching. Recent research also suggests that inequalities in access to prime grazing lands (Little 1985), seasonally available forage (Ellis and Swift 1988), use of preferred settlement sites (Western and Dunne 1979; Grandin 1988), and control over key water resources are common among families living in specific locales. Among the Datoga, for example, we have observed considerable conflicts between families of different clans over the use of wells (for livestock watering) and the habitation of seasonal homesteads, conflicts that clearly affect transhumance and herd productivity. The outcomes of these disputes are often influenced by the relatedness and relative wealth of the protagonists, raising the strong possibility of active competitive exclusion of certain families by larger and better-established herders. It seems crucial to recognize that competition among families is at least as important as chance events in causing wealth differentiation. However, to date there is very little information on this topic.

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Differential Access to Labor There has been considerable debate over whether labor supply has direct and appreciable effects on household productivity. Though there may be "elasticity" in some aspects of pastoral labor simply because a good herder can control many grazing animals (Raikes 1981), it is not true that pastoralism requires little labor, nor is it true that the size of herds places no constraints on the efficiency of herd management (as reviewed by Sperling and Galaty 1990). The time demands of pastoral work are both large and diverse (Fratkin and Smith, Chapter 5, this volume; Fratkin 1989; Sieff 1989). Furthermore, multiple herders are needed during migrations and for dry-season herding (Sperling 1985, 1987a; Swift 1977). In addition, it is often advisable to partition herds so that the diverse foraging, watering, husbanding, and defense needs of animals of each species and age category can be better tended (Dahl and Hjort 1976:237). A strong underlying demand for labor is evidenced by emic views about child bearing (Fulani) (Stenning 1959:123-124), ubiquitous use of child labor (reviewed by Galaty and Johnson 1992), reliance on the help of clients from the same or different ethnic groups (Boran) (Dahl 1979, reviewed by Swift 1977), adoption and child fosterage (Herero) (Pennington 1991, reviewed by Shcll-Duncan, Chapter 8, this volume), the formation of intersocietal "bond partnerships" (northern Kenya) (Sobania 1991), slavery (Kel Tamasheq) (Baier and Lovejoy 1977), and even kidnapping of children (Datoga) (Momoye Bashgei Merus, personal communication) among various pastoral peoples. Given these considerations, it is surprising that positive effects of labor supply on herd size and productivity have not yet been demonstrated quantitatively. Sobania (1991) suggests from historical changes in the human and cattle populations of East Turkana that the growth rates of herds may be constrained by lack of labor at various times among the Dasenech, Boran, Rendille, and Samburu. But among present-day Rendille, Roth (1990) found no association between labor supply (as estimated both by crude family size and participation in outside employment activities) and absolute household cattle ownership. Also, Fratkin (1989) found no effect of dependency ratio on work intensities of men and women. Both these findings may in part reflect the fact that labor is expended on many activities, not just food production. They also raise methodological questions concerning the definition of labor, as families with large labor forces are clearly in a better position to diversify activities (see, for example, Little 1985), but these activities may not be strictly classified as pastoral labor. These complex and somewhat contradictory findings preclude firm conclusions about the implications of labor availability, household size, and dependency ratios for herding decisions. Nevertheless, it seems likely that with growing conditions of drought and rangeland depreciation in East Africa, productivity can be enhanced by large labor supplies. For example, when

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families are exploiting new and drier areas, much labor is needed in well-digging and maintenance and for defense; also, more labor is needed, as animals are herded greater distances from settlements (Sperling and Galaty 1990) and dependency on small stock increases (Fratkin 1989). Similarly, our experiences with Datoga suggest that, at least in some years, only cattle-owning households with adequate labor can engage in cultivation (see also Kjaerby 1979). This brief review of the relevant constraints on herd-building strategies suggests that wealth differences can persist despite stochastic events. In fact, wealth differences can even be exacerbated by such events, as well as by competition over natural resources between different households and by differences among households in their access to labor. These factors should be incorporated into dynamic models, insofar as such models attempt to characterize the current state of the household as an influence on decisionmaking.

Conclusion This chapter has barely scraped the surface of issues pertinent to pastoralists that could be brought under systematic behavioral ecological analysis. Other particularly fruitful areas might include the management of common property (e.g., Lane 1991), the importance of reciprocal altruism in risk management (for general models, see Smith and Boyd 1990), and more ecologically based attempts to measure responses to environmental unpredictability (for some useful tools, see Cashdan 1992). In this chapter we focused on behavioral ecological analyses of pastoral production systems, specifically herd-manager decisionmaking. Because such studies are in their infancy, we were not able to present any single example of a complete application of this method to a pastoralist society. We nevertheless felt it would be valuable to identify what kinds of data would be needed to make future studies more precise, quantitative, and ecologically focused before throwing the baby out with the well water. We introduced the central concepts used in behavioral ecological optimality models—namely, currencies, decision rules, and constraints—demonstrating the utility of the method with a summary of Mace and Houston's (1989) model for multiple-species stocking. We then turned to a prospective analysis of how such concepts might be used in the study of pastoralist production systems. We first examined the validity of viewing herd managers as autonomous decisionmakers, drawing attention to the multiple conflicts that can exist among individuals dependent on the same herd. We then discussed herders' objectives. We relied heavily on the recent consensus that herders are primarily concerned with maintaining a viable herd, but we raised questions pertaining to time frames, discount functions, and wealth-dependent strategies that might render such an objective an underdetermined heuristic tool. We then assessed

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the usefulness of wealth as an indicator of fitness, evaluating the somewhat ambivalent data on the effects of wealth on fertility and other measures of family welfare. We identified other possible benefits contingent on wealth that have not as yet been investigated in great detail but would merit further study. Finally, in examining the constraints on herd-building strategies, we reviewed the relevant literature on the apparent wealth-leveling or wealth-differentiating effects of stochastic events, as well as looking briefly at competitive differences among households in terms of access to critical natural resources and labor supply. To conclude, optimality models cannot simultaneously maximize generality, precision, and realism (Levins 1966). The simplification achieved though modeling makes a powerful contribution to anthropological understanding and generates predictions about human behavior (e.g., Smith 1987). In testing ideas about pastoralist decisionmaking, we must continually question models' compromises with reality to ensure that all relevant parameters are being incorporated. As the contributions to this volume demonstrate, the future of pastoralist studies may lie in a successful combination of quantitatively based studies and powerful modeling techniques.

Note We gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Geographic Society (MBM), the Leverhulme Trust, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (DWS) in our pastoralist studies. Also we thank Daniela Sieff, who would have been a valuable coauthor on this chapter but instead provided us with updates from the Lake Eyasi study site.

References Baier, S., and P. Lovejoy 1977 The Tuareg of the Central Sudan: Gradations in servility at the Desert-Edge Niger and Nigeria. In Suzanne Miers and Igor Kopytoff (eds.), Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, pp. 3 9 1 - 4 1 1 . Madison: University o f Wisconsin Press. Barth, F. 1964 Capital, Investment and the Social Structure o f a Pastoral N o m a d Group in South Persia. In R. Firth and B. S. Y a m e y (eds.), Capital, Saving and Credit in Peasant Societies, pp. 6 9 - 8 1 . Chicago: Aldine de Gruyter. Betzig, L., M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Türke 1988 Human Reproductive Behavior: A Darwinian Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Black, J. 1972 Tyranny as a Strategy for Survival in an Egalitarian Society: Lurid Facts Versus an Anthropological Mystique. Man (NS) 7: 6 1 4 - 6 3 4 . Borgerhoff Mulder, M. 1987a On Cultural and Reproductive Success: Kipsigis Evidence. American Anthropologist 89: 6 1 7 - 6 3 4 . Borgerhoff Mulder, M. 1987b Resources and Reproductive Success in Women, with an Example from the Kipsigis. Journal of Zoology 213: 4 8 9 - 5 0 5 .

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B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, M. 1988a. Kipsigis Bridewealth P a y m e n t s . In L.L. Betzig, M . B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, and P. W . Turke (eds.), Human Reproductive Behavior, pp. 6 5 - 8 2 . C a m b r i d g e : C a m b r i d g e University Press. B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, M. 1988b. R e p r o d u c t i v e Success in Three Kipsigis Cohorts. In T. H. Clutton-Brock (ed.), Reproductive Success, pp. 4 1 9 - 4 3 5 , Chicago: University of Chicago Press. B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, M. 1990 Kipsigis W o m e n Prefer W e a l t h y M e n : E v i d e n c e for F e m a l e C h o i c e in H u m a n s . Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 27: 2 5 5 - 2 6 4 . B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, M . 1991 Behavioral Ecology of H u m a n s : Studies of Foraging and R e p r o d u c t i o n . In J. R. Krebs and N . B. D a v i e s (eds), Behavioral Ecology, 3rd Edition, pp. 6 9 - 9 8 . O x f o r d : Blackwell Scientific Publications. B o r g e r h o f f Mulder, M. 1991 Datoga Pastoralists of Tanzania. National Geographic Research and Exploration 72: 1 6 6 - 1 8 7 . B o r g e r h o f f M u l d e r , M. 1992 D e m o g r a p h y of Pastoralists: Preliminary Data on the Datoga of Tanzania. Human Ecology 20: 1 - 2 3 . Borgerhoff Mulder, M. n.d Polygyny: A Life History Allocation Problem. Manuscript. B o y d , R., and P. J. Richerson 1985 Culture and the Evolutionary Process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Brabin, L. 1984 Polygyny: An Indicator of Nutritional Stress in A f r i c a n Agricultural Societies. Africa 54: 3 1 - 4 5 . B r a d b u r d , D. 1982 Volatility of Animal W e a l t h A m o n g Southwest A s i a n Pastoralists. Human Ecology 10: 8 5 - 1 0 6 . Brainard, J. 1986 Differential Mortality in T u r k a n a Agriculturalists and Pastoralists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 70: 5 2 5 - 5 3 6 . B r o w n , L. H. 1971 The Biology of Pastoral Man as a Factor in Conservation. Biological Conservation 3: 9 3 - 1 0 0 . Campbell, D. J. 1984 Response to D r o u g h t A m o n g Farmers and Herders in Southern K a j i a d o District, Kenya. Human Ecology 12 (1): 3 5 - 6 4 . Cronk, L. 1989 L o w S o c i o e c o n o m i c Status and F e m a l e - B i a s e d Parental Investment: The M u k o g o d o Example. American Anthropologist 91: 4 1 4 - 4 2 9 . Cronk, L. 1991 Wealth, Status and R e p r o d u c t i v e Success A m o n g the M u k o g o d o of K e n y a . American Anthropologist 93: 3 4 5 - 3 6 0 . Dahl, G. 1979 Suffering Grass: Subsistence and Society in Waso Borana. Department of A n t h r o p o l o g y , University of Stockholm. Dahl, G., and A. Hjort 1976 Having Herds: Pastoral Growth and Household Economy. Stockholm Studies in Social A n t h r o p o l o g y , N o . 2, Department of Social A n t h r o pology, University of Stockholm. D e Boer, W . F. a n d H. H. Prins 1989 D e c i s i o n s of Cattle H e r d s m e n in B u r k i n a Faso and Optimal Foraging Models. Human Ecology 174: 4 4 5 - 4 6 4 . D y s o n - H u d s o n , N. 1972 The Study of N o m a d s . In W . Irons a n d N. D y s o n - H u d s o n (eds.), Perspectives on Nomadism, pp. 2 - 2 9 . Leiden: E. J. Brill. D y s o n - H u d s o n , R. and N . 1981 N o m a d i c Pastoralism. Annual Review of Anthropology 9: 1 5 - 6 1 . Ellis, J. E., and D. M. S w i f t 1988 Stability of A f r i c a n Pastoralist E c o s y s t e m s : Alternate Paradigms and Implications for D e v e l o p m e n t . Journal of Range Management 41: 4 5 0 - 4 5 9 . Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940 The Nuer. O x f o r d University Press. Fratkin, E. 1986 Stability and Resilience in East A f r i c a n Pastoralism: T h e Rendille and Ariaal o f Northern Kenya. Human Ecology 14(3): 2 6 9 - 2 8 6 . Fratkin, E. 1989 H o u s e h o l d Variation and G e n d e r Inequality in Ariaal Pastoral Production: Results of a Stratified Time-allocation Survey. American Anthropologist 91: 4 3 0 - 4 4 0 . Fratkin, E., and E. A. Roth 1990 D r o u g h t and E c o n o m i c D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n A m o n g

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Ariaal Pastoralists of Kenya. Human Ecology 184: 385-402. Galaty, J. G. and D. L. Johnson 1992 The World of Pastoralism: Herding Systems in Comparative Perspective. New York: Guildford Press. Galvin, K. A. 1992 Nutritional Ecology of Pastoralists in Dry Tropical Africa. American Journal of Human Biology 4: 209-221. Grandin, B. E. 1988 Wealth and Pastoral Dairy Production: A Case Study from Maasailand. Human Ecology 16: 1-21. Grandin, B. E. 1992 Presentation at American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco. Gulliver, P. H. 1963 Social Control in an African Society. New York: New York University Press. Hakansson, T., 1989 Family Structure, Bridewealth, and Environment in Eastern Africa: A Comparative Study of House-property Systems. Ethnology 28: 117134. Harpending, H., and R. Pennington 1990 Herero Households. Human Ecology 18: 417-439. Hawkes, K. 1991 Showing Off: Tests of Another Hypothesis About Men's Foraging Goals. Ethnology and Sociobiology 11: 29-54. Herren, U. J. 1990 Socioeconomic Stratification and Small Stock Production in Mukogudo Division, Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 12: 111-148. Homewood, K. M., and W. A. Rodgers 1991 Maasailand Ecology: Pastoralist Development and Wildlife Conservation in Ngorongoro, Tanzania. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Horowitz, M. M., and F. Jowkar 1992 Pastoral Women and Change in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Institute for Development Anthropology Working Paper No. 91. Binghamton, NY: IDA. Irons, W. 1979a Political Stratification Among Pastoral Nomads. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologie des Societies Pastorales (ed.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 361-374. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Irons, W. 1979b Cultural and Biological Success. In N. A. Chagnon and W. Irons (eds.), Evolutionary Biology and Human Social Behavior: An Anthropological Perspective. North Scituate, MA: Duxbury Press. Kjaerby, F., with W. Baynit 1979 The Development of Agro-pastoralism Among the Barabaig in ITanang District . BRALUP Research Paper, No 56, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Klima, G. 1964 Jural Relations Between the Sexes Among the Barabaig. Africa 34: 9-19. Krebs, J. R., and R. H. McCleery 1984 Optimization in Behavioral Ecology. In J. R. Krebs and N. B. Davies (eds.), Behavioral Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach, pp. 91-121. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. Lane C. 1991 Alienation of Barabaig Pasture Land: Policy Implications for Pastoral Development in Tanzania . Ph.D. dissertation, IDS, University of Sussex. Leslie, P. W., and P. H. Fry 1989 Extreme Seasonality of Births Among Nomadic Turkana Pastoralists. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 79: 103-115. Levins, R. 1966 The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology. American Scientist 54: 421-431. Lewis, I. M. 1962 Marriage and the Family in Northern Somaliland. East African Institute of Social Research, Kamplala, Uganda. Little, P. D. 1985 Social Differentiation and Pastoralist Sedentarization in Northern Kenya. Africa 55: 243-261. Mace, R. 1990 Pastoralist Herd Compositions in Unpredictable Environments: A Comparison of Model Predictions and Data from Camel-Keeping Groups. Agricultural Systems 33: 1-11.

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Mace, R. 1993 Transitions Between Cultivation and Pastoralism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Current Anthropology 34 (4): 363-382. Mace, R., and A. Houston 1989 Pastoralist Strategies for Survival in Unpredictable Environments: A Model of Herd Composition That Maximizes Household Viability. Agricultural Systems 31: 185-204. Mangel, M. and C. W. Clark 1988 Dynamic Modeling in Behavioral Ecology. Princeton: Princeton University Press. McCabe, J. T. 1987 Drought and Recovery: Livestock Dynamics Among the Ngisonyoka Turkana of Kenya. Human Ecology 154: 371-389. Nestel, P. 1986 A Society in Transition: Developmental and Seasonal Influences on the Nutrition of Maasai Women and Children. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 8: 2-14. Oboler, R. S. 1985 Women, Power and Economic Change: The Nandi of Kenya. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pennington, R. 1991 Child Fostering as a Reproductive Strategy Among Southern African Pastoralists. Ethnology and Sociobiology 12: 83-104. Raikes, P. L. 1981 Livestock Development and Policy in East Africa. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala. Rogers, A. R. 1993 Evolution of Time Preference by Natural Selection. American Economic Review, in press. Roth, E. A. 1990 Remodeling Rendille Household Herd Composition. Human Ecology 184: 441^155. Sahlins, M. 1965 On the Sociology of Primitive Exchange. In M. Banton (ed.), Relevance of Models for Social Anthropology, ASA Monographs Number 1, pp. 139-326. London: Tavistock Press. Salzman, P. C. 1979 Inequality and Oppression in Nomadic Society. In Equipe Ecologie et Anthropologic des Societies Pastorales (eds.), Pastoral Production and Society, pp. 1-14. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sanford, S. 1982 Pastoral Strategies and Desertification: Opportunism and Conservatism in Dry Lands. In B. Spooner and H. Mann (eds.), Desertification and Development: Dryland Ecology in Social Perspective, pp. 61-80. London: Academic Press. Schneider, H. K. 1979 Livestock and Equality in East Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Sellen, D. W. 1992 Nutritional Status of African Pastoralists: New Data from the Datoga of Tanzania. Unpublished manuscript, Program in International Nutrition, University of California at Davis. Sellen, D. W. n.d. Determinants of Undernutrition in the Eyasi Datoga. Sellen, D. W., D. F. Sieff, and M. Borgerhoff Mulder 1993 Human Ecology, Subsistence, and Reproduction of Pastoralists in the Lake Eyasi Area of Arusha Region, Tanzania. Tanzania National Research Council, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Sieff, D. F. n.d Women's Time Allocation in the Datoga Pastoralists of Tanzania: A Preliminary Analysis. Manuscript. Department of Anthropology, University of California at Davis. Smith, E. A. and R. Boyd 1990 Risk and Reciprocity: Hunter-Gatherer Socioecology and the Problem of Collective Action. In E. Cashdan (ed.), Risk and Uncertainty in Tribal and Peasant Economies, pp. 167-191. Boulder: Westview Press. Smith, E. A., and B. Winterhalder 1992 Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Smith, E. A. 1987 Optimization in Anthropology: Applications and Critiques. In John Dupre (ed.), The Latest on the Best: Essays in Evolution and Optimality, pp. 201-249. Cambridge: MIT Press.

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Sobania, N. W. 1991 Feasts, Famines and Friends: Nineteenth Century Exchange and Ethnicity in the Eastern Lake Turkana Region. In J. G. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders, pp. 118-142. Boulder: Westview Press. Spencer, P. 1965 The Samburu. London: Routledge and Regan Paul. Sperling, L. 1985 Labour Recruitment Among East African Herders: The Samburu of Kenya. Labour, Capital and Society 181: 68-86. Sperling, L. 1987 Wage Employment Among Samburu Pastoralists of Northcentral Kenya. Research in Economic Anthropology 9: 167-190. Sperling, L. 1987 Food Acquisition During the African Drought of 1983-84: A Study of Kenyan Herders. Disasters 2: 263-272. Sperling, L. and J. G. Galaty 1990 Cattle, Culture and Economy: Dynamics in East African Pastoralism. In J. G. Galaty and D.L. Johnson (eds.), The World of Pastoralism: Herding Systems in Comparative Perspective, pp. 69-98. New York: Guildford Press. Stenning, D. J. 1959 Savannah Nomads; A Study of the Wodaabe Pastoral Fulani of Western Bornu Province, Northern Region, Nigeria. London: Oxford University Press. Stephens, D. W. 1990 Risk and Incomplete Information in Behavioral Ecology. In E. Cashdan (ed.), Risk and Uncertainty in Tribal and Peasant Economies, Boulder: Westview Press. Swift, J. 1977 Sahelian Pastoralists: Underdevelopment, Desertification, and Famine. Annual Reviews of Anthropology 6: 457—478. Talle, A. 1988 Women at a Loss: Changes in Maasai Pastoralism and Their Effects on Gender Relations. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm, Stockholm. Tomikawa, M. 1979 The Migrations and Inter-tribal Relations of the Pastoral Datoga. Senri Ethnological Studies 5: 1-46. Tomikawa, M. 1978 Family and Daily Life: An Ethnography of the Datoga Pastoralists in Mangola 1. Senri Ethnological Studies 1: 1-36. Upton, M. 1986 Production Policies for Pastoralists: The Borana Case. Agricultural Systems 20: 17-35. Western, D. and T. Dunne 1979 Environmental Aspects of Settlement Site Decisions Among Pastoral Maasai. Human Ecology 71: 75-98. Western, D. and V. Finch 1986 Cattle and Pastoralism: Survival and Production in Arid Lands. Human Ecology 141: 77-94.

12 Future Directions in Pastoral Society and Research Eric Abella Roth, Elliot Fratkin, Kathleen A. Galvin The preceding chapters o f this book presented, described, and analyzed diverse systems, both biological and social, embedded in African pastoral societies. One goal was to eradicate old stereotypes o f pastoral peoples and replace those clichés with current field-based data in order to construct new models for interpreting African pastoralism. Though it remains to the reader to evaluate our efforts, a last word concerning the future o f pastoral peoples and the direction of future research falls to us. In our readings and discussions, we are struck by the strong dichotomy between those who suggest that African pastoralists are doomed to extinction like the foraging populations before them and those who argue with equal vigor that pastoralism's inherently adaptive nature will enable it to survive future stresses. Certainly pastoral peoples in Africa have been hammered in recent times by drought, famine, warfare, and poverty—as Galaty and Bonte describe ( 1 9 9 1 : 2 6 9 ) , "drought, degradation and disruption." Problems o f land security, lack o f rural income, and competition with large commercial producers are emphasized in reports o f increasing impoverishment and disempowerment among Africa's pastoralists (cf. Hogg 1986; Horowitz and Little 1987). However, researchers, including McCabe (1990a, 1990b) and Fratkin (1991), emphasize the success o f traditional pastoral strategies in response to recent drought episodes despite rapid social changes in residence, education, and income employment. To paraphrase Chinua Achebe's ( 1 9 6 9 ) classic novel, things need not fall apart for pastoralists; rather, pastoralists must realign and adapt to changing circumstances. Indeed, as demonstrated in Barfield's ( 1 9 9 3 ) comparison o f pastoralists worldwide, pastoralism shows a surprising resilience, owing in no small part to their ability to produce food in otherwise neglected arid lands through livestock breeding. Regardless o f which perspective proves correct in the long run, in the immediate future it appears that pastoralism can only survive in altered and novel forms. Increasing encroachment by larger and more powerful human populations, political units, and'or economies heralds major changes in pastoral societies, as in John Galaty's description o f agricultural conversion o f

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formerly pastoral Maasai lands. Although historical analyses, exemplified b y Sobania and Waller (in this volume) and Little's (1992) examination of II C h a m u s society, reveal that these connections have long been present, the accelerated p a c e of changes, both beneficial and deleterious, will effectively set the agenda for future studies of pastoral society in Africa. That this is already true can be exemplified through consideration of changing basic land relationships for African pastoral populations and their livestock herds. Diverse m o d e r n pressures on traditional nomadic pastoral subsistence systems include the loss of pasture to game preserves and the privatization o f c o m m u n a l land (Galaty, Chapter 10, this volume). All these forces are united in creating or exacerbating resource differentials at varying levels. E x a m p l e s d o c u m e n t e d to date focus on increasing socioeconomic inequalities a m o n g households and b e t w e e n the sexes. In the first regard, Little's (1985) history of socioeconomic differentiation a m o n g the agropastoral II C h a m u s w a s followed by Sutter's (1989) analysis of Fulani wealth differentials based on herd size. Studies d o c u m e n t i n g changing economies and increased integration of pastoralists in the market e c o n o m y reveal a large impact on gender roles, particularly integration of w o m e n into the cash spheres of dairy marketing (see Little, Chapter 9, this volume). Other studies suggest that w o m e n have not entered the market as equal partners to m e n and that, as in agricultural regions, men soon dominate traditionally female economic spheres such as dairy sales if there is m o n e y to be made. Such conclusions are drawn in studies of Fulani or Baggara w o m e n in the m o d e m marketplace (Michael 1987; Water-Bayer 1985, 1989), and of changing Maasai gender relationships that accompany sedentism and land-tenure decisions (Kipuri 1991; Talle 1988, 1990). E c o n o m i c studies such as Fratkin and S m i t h ' s (Chapter 5, this volume) point to inequality and resource differentials a m o n g East African pastoralists. Their findings, as well as other data-rich studies (cf. Grandin 1988; Herren 1991), provide fertile ground for the optimization models favored b y behavioral ecology and described by B o r g e r h o f f Mulder and Sellen in this volume (Chapter 11). Research in evolutionary ecology is accelerating in pastoralist studies, as noted in C r o n k ' s (1991) review and exemplified by DysonH u d s o n ' s (1989) ecological model of Ngisonyoka Turkana residential patterns and De Boer and P r i n ' s (1989) application of optimal foraging modeling to livestock practices of Burkina Faso cattle herders. Most recently, M a c e ( 1 9 8 9 , 1 9 9 0 , 1 9 9 3 ; M a c e and Houston 1989) applied dynamic optimality techniques to model household-level decisionmaking with respect to herd composition and subsistence choices. T h o u g h criticized by s o m e as using reductionist models based on far too few variables (cf. Little 1993), this approach does have at least three strengths. T h e first is the recognition that within previously egalitarian pastoral societies there is n o w a great deal of variation with regard to livestock holdings, production, a n d hence economic strategies. Similarly, the m o d e l s inherently acknowledge outside

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economic influences through inclusion of variables such as livestock-grain exchange rates. Finally, and certainly most important, the models are testable. This last factor means that in the final analysis the validity of these new theoretical models will be assessed by tried and proven fieldwork. Women's studies represent another growing area of pastoralist research, in sharp contrast to earlier periods when women's roles, behavior, and ideology were rarely mentioned in pastoralist ethnography. This gender focus is evident in Gudrun Dahl's (1987) important collection The Realm of Pastoral Women, which included studies by Jean Ensminger, Peter Little, Clare Oxby, Aud Talle, and others, and recent contributions on gender ideology and symbolism, including Corinne Kratz's (1990, 1991; Klummp and Kratz 1993) work on the Okiek forager/pastoralists of Kenya, and Susan Rasmussen's (1991) work on the Tuareg. One crucial factor linking household with gender studies is the ever-increasing articulation of pastoral economies with larger market economies (cf. Ensminger 1992). As exemplified by Little's analysis of women's milk marketing in Somalia (Chapter 9, this volume; also see Little 1992), the integration of local and previously subsistence-based pastoral economies with larger global forces is an important focus for regional studies. A second possible research linkage between household economics and gender is the increasingly important question of which children are selected for schooling. As previously explored on a household level by Roth (1991) for sedentary Rendille, variables influencing which children are removed from the household labor pool for schooling include gender, household wealth, and inheritance patterns. From the micro to the macro level, future studies could fruitfully consider the role in pastoral society of those who receive education relative to their sibs and/or age-set members who do not. Will the latter form a new elite in what were before largely egalitarian societies? Or will their removal from the traditional pastoral economy deny them the opportunity to build herds and leave them as impoverished outsiders? Again, part of the answer to this question will lie in relationships outside pastoral society—e.g., will regional, national, or even global economies provide economic alternatives? Finally, pastoralist researchers are questioning whether these rapid changes are beneficial or deleterious to pastoral peoples. In doing so, they increasingly are incorporating biological perspectives into what have been largely economic assessments of the well-being of pastoral societies. Specifically, biological concepts of adaptation and accommodation can be applied to situations of pastoral change to determine their benefits and costs. To avoid the recent controversy in interpreting adaptation (cf. Caro and Borgerhoff Mulder 1987; Turke 1990), we favor the general usage of the term put forth by Scrimshaw and Young (1989:21), wherein an adapted state is viewed as "a long-term, steady state" that can be achieved with function maintained within an "acceptable" or "preferred" range. In contrast, accommodation is seen (Scrimshaw and Young 1989:22) as changes that may feature equilibria states

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similar to adaptations but that feature significant functional impairment. Accommodations thus reflect a "cost" imposed on the organism in an attempt to ensure survival; adaptations exact no cost. Both definitions are united in recognizing both biological and social adaptations/accommodations. The crux of the matter is how to define, let alone measure, costs? We suggest that one "currency" that can successfully address this question lies in the realm of health, particularly child health. Inquiries into the ramifications for child health and nutrition of changing from subsistence to commercial food production exist for agriculturalists (see Von Braun and Kennedy 1986 for a review of results), yet the few health and nutrition studies of pastoralists are largely confined to adults (cf. Hill 1985; Teitelbaum 1980). That the time is right for such studies on pastoral populations is suggested by two factors. The first is the rapid advance in field-based methodologies for measuring illness as exemplified by Shell-Duncan's pioneering work in this volume (Chapter 8). The second is the widespread transition from nomadism to sedentism among African pastoralists today. Combining sedentism with commercial food production suggests that these populations are at present undergoing not one but two important social transitions. It is our suggestion that measuring the concomitant shifts in child health, nutrition, growth, and development will provide the test of whether such changes represent true adaptations or accommodations. In this regard, the McCabe et al. (1992) investigation of child health in connection with development plans centered on wildlife preservation in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Fratkin and Smith's (in press) analysis of sedentism, market involvement, and changing w o m e n ' s roles among Kenyan Rendille exemplify the approach by incorporating measures of childhood health into their analyses. These new directions in gender studies, economic development, ideology and symbolism, behavioral ecology, and health and nutrition bode well for the future of pastoralist studies. W e also believe that African pastoralism has a long future and expect to see more developments in research. Few other areas of anthropological study enable such rich interdisciplinary collaboration, bringing together archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, economists, biologists, health-care workers, and environmental scientists. Livestock herders have a unique adaptation to the savannas, deserts, and mountains of Africa, and it is to their continuing survival and way of life that we dedicate our research.

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De Boer, W. F. and H.H.T. Prins. 1989 Decisions of Cattle Herdsmen in Burkina Faso and Optimal Foraging Models. Human Ecology 17: 445-464. Dyson-Hudson, Rada 1989 Ecological Influences on Systems of Food Production and Social Organization of South Turkana Pastoralists. In V. Standen and R. Foley (eds.), Comparative Socioecology, pp. 165-193. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific. Ensminger, Jean 1992 Making a Market: The Institutional Transformation of an African Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fratkin, Elliot 1991 Surviving Drought and Development: Ariaal Rendille Pastoralists of Northern Kenya. Boulder: Westview Press. Fratkin, Elliot, and Kevin Smith [In Press] W o m e n ' s Changing Economic Roles with Pastoral Sedentarization: Varying Strategies in Alternate Rendille Communities. Human Ecology. Galaty, John G., and Pierre Bonte 1991 The Current Realities of African Pastoralists. In J. Galaty and P. Bonte (eds.), Herders, Warriors and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 267-292. Boulder: Westview Press. Grandin, Barbara 1988 Wealth and Pastoral Dairy Production: A Case Study from Maasailand. Human Ecology. 16: 1-21. I Icrren, Urs 1991 Socioeconomic Strategies of Pastoral Maasai Households in Mukogudo, Kenya. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bern, Switzerland. Hill, A. G. (ed.) 1985 Population, Health, and Nutrition in the Sahel. London: Routledge Chapman. Hogg, Richard 1986 The New Pastoralism: Poverty and Dependence in Northern Kenya. Africa 56: 319-333. Horowitz, Michael, and Peter Little 1987 African Pastoralism and Poverty: Some Implications for Drought and Famine. In M. Glantz (ed.), Drought and Hunger in Africa: Denying Famine a Future, pp. 59-84. Boulder: Westview Press. Kipuri, Naomi Ole 1991 Age, Gender and Class in the Scramble for Maasailand. Natural Resources 27: 10-17. Klumpp, Donna, and Corinne Kratz 1993 Aesthetics, Expertise, and Ethnicity: Okiek and Maasai Perspectives on Personal Ornament. In Thomas Spear and Richard Waller (eds.), Being Maasai, pp. 195-221. London: James Currey. Kratz, Corinne 1990 Sexual Solidarity and the Secrets of Sight and Sound: Shifting Gender Relations and Their Ceremonial Constitution. American Ethnologist 17: 31-51. Kratz, Corinne 1991 Amusement and Absolution: Transforming Narratives During Confession of Social Debts. American Anthropologist 93(4): 826-851. Little, Peter D. 1985 Absentee Herd-Owners and Part-Time Pastoralists: The Political Economy of Resource Use in Northern Kenya. Human Ecology 13: 131-151. Little, Peter D. 1992 The Elusive Granary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Little, Peter D. 1993 Comment on "Transitions Between Cultivation and Pastoralism in sub-Saharan Africa." Current Anthropology 34: 376-377. Mace, Ruth 1989 Gambling with Goats: Herd Variability in Restocked Pastoralists in Northern Kenya. ODI Pastoral Development Network Paper No. 28A. ODI London. Mace, Ruth 1990 Pastoralist Herd Composition in Unpredictable Environments: A Comparison of Model Predictions and Data from Camel-Keeping Groups. Agricultural Systems 33: 1-11. Mace, Ruth 1993 Transitions Between Cultivation and Pastoralism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Current Anthropology 34: 363-382. Mace, Ruth, and A. I. Houston 1989 Pastoralist Strategies for Survival in Unpredictable Environments: A Model of Herd Composition That Maximizes Household Variability. Agricultural Systems 33: 1 - 1 1 .

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M c C a b e , J. Terrence 1990a Success a n d Failure: The B r e a k d o w n of Traditional Drought C o p i n g Institutions A m o n g the Pastoral Turkana of Kenya. Journal of Asian and African Studies 25: 1 4 6 - 1 6 0 . M c C a b e , J. Terrence 1990b Turkana Pastoralism: A Case Against the T r a g e d y of the C o m m o n s . Human Ecology 18: 1 8 - 3 1 . M c C a b e , J. Terrence, Scott Perkins, and Claire Schofield 1992 Can C o n s e r v a t i o n and D e v e l o p m e n t Be Coupled A m o n g Pastoral Peoples? An E x a m i n a t i o n of the Maasai of the N g o r o n g o r o Conservation Area, Tanzania. Human Organization 51: 3 5 3 - 3 6 6 . Michael, B a r b a r a 1987 Milk Production and Sales by the H a w a z m a (Baggara) of Sudan: Implications for Gender Roles Research in Economic Anthropology 9: 105-141. R a s m u s s e n , Susan J. 1991 Veiled Self, Transparent Meanings: T u a r e g H e a d d r e s s as Social Expression. Ethnology 30(2): 101. Roth, Eric 1991 Education, Tradition a n d H o u s e h o l d Labor A m o n g Rendille P a s t o ralists o f N o r t h e m Kenya. Human Organization 50: 1 3 6 - 1 4 1 . Scrimshaw, N e v i n , and Veron Y o u n g 1989 Adaptation to L o w Protein and E n e r g y Intakes. Human Organization 48: 2 0 - 3 0 . Sutter, John 1987 Cattle and Inequality: Herd Size Differences and Pastoral P r o d u c tion A m o n g the Fulani of Northeastern Senegal. Africa 57: 1 9 6 - 2 1 8 . Talle, A u d 1988 Women at a Loss: Changes in Maasai Pastoralism and Their Effects on Gender Relations. Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropology, N o . 19. Talle, A u d 1990 W a y s of Milk and M e a t A m o n g the Maasai: G e n d e r Identity a n d F o o d R e s o u r c e s in a Pastoral E c o n o m y . In G. Palsson (ed.), From Water to World-Making: African Models and Arid Lands, pp. 7 3 - 9 2 . U p p s a l a : Scandinavian Institute of A f r i c a n Studies. Teitelbaum, J. M. 1980. Nutrition Impacts of Livestock Development Schemes Among Pastoral Peoples. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food a n d Nutrition Service, P A S A A G / P P C 096-1-80. W a s h i n g t o n , D.C.: U S A g e n c y for International D e v e l o p m e n t . Turke, Paul W . 1990 W h i c h H u m a n s B e h a v e Adaptively, and W h y D o e s it M a t t e r ? Ethnology and Sociobiology 11: 3 0 5 - 3 3 9 . Von Braun, J o a c h i m , and Eileen K e n n e d y 1986 Commercialization of Subsistence Agriculture: Income and Nutritional Effects in Developing Countries. W a s h i n g t o n , D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute, Working Papers on C o m m e r cialization of Agriculture and Nutrition, No. 1. W a t e r - B a y e r , Ann 1985 Modernizing Milk Production in Nigeria: W h o B e n e f i t s ? Ceres 19: 3 4 - 3 9 . W a t e r - B a y e r , A n n 1989 Dairying by Settled Fulani Agro-Pastoralists in Central Nigeria: T h e Role of W o m e n and Implications for Dairy D e v e l o p m e n t . Farming Systems and Resource Economics in the Tropics 4.

Index

Adaptation, 231 ; to arid land, 3; biological, 234; cost of, 234; cultural, 3; environmental, 1, 3, 8,48, 56; pastoral, 1; social, 234 Age sets, 6, 135, 136,138, 139, 140, 143 Agriculture, 91 ; early, 20, 33; export, 45; marginal, 185, 188; millet, 92, 94; settled, 18, 47,63 Agropastoralism, 4,6, 75,135, 168 Alcohol, 8 Algeria, 4 Anthropology: biological, 3; cultural, 3; ecological, 1 ; economic, 166; neofunctional paradigm in, 72-75; social, 1 Ariaal peoples, 96-108; emergence of, 55, 56; environmental management among, 75; location of, 98map, 116map Assimilation, 46 Barter, 54,118 Bedouins, 4 Berbers, 4 Births: nonmarital, 7, 158, 158/îg, 159; order, 142 Borana peoples: diet, 120-127; economy, 118; energy deficiencies, 123-125; location, 116map; nutritional status, 120-127 Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique, 205-224,232 Bomu peoples, 4 Botswana, 4, 190 Boundaries: colonial, 59; community, 55,58; crossing, 77; district, 62; ethnic, 8, 35,46; legal, 58; national, 62; sectional, 77, 8 6 n i Bovine pleuropneumonia, 51,60 Breeding rates: camels, 49,94, 138; cattle, 49, 9 5 , 9 9 ; goats, 49 Bridewealth, 9 - 1 0 , 6 2 , 1 3 5 , 1 3 6 , 1 3 7 , 139, 141,142,143 Burial, 2 0 , 2 3 Camels, 4 , 7 8 ; advantages over cattle, 49; in

Ariaal settlements, 96-108; breeding rates, 49, 94,138; dependence on, 6; desertadaptations, 94; grazing requirements, 49; lactation, 94; milk production, 94,123, 127,167, 169, 171, 173, 174, 182nJ; slow reproduction of, 6; for transportation, 99; water retention, 94; as wealth, 138 Cattle, 4, 78; adaptations to environment, 2526; Bos indicus, 25, 26, 35, 36, 95; Bos taurus, 25, 95; breeding rates, 49, 95, 99; convertibility to cash, 95; diseases, 51, 60, 94; domestic, 20, 36; early, 21 fig-, economic role, 4; environmental adaptations, 49; environmental requirements, 3435; as form of wealth, 45, 92; lactation, 95; markets, 49; milk production, 95,169, 171, 173, 174; need for water, 94; origin of, 18; pastoralist attachment to, 70; raids, 84; raising, 4; selective culling, 26; surplus of, 99; trade, 118; vulnerability to drought, 95; as wealth, 113; wild, 18; Zebu, 21 fig, 95 "Cattle complex," 70, 113, 211 Ceramics, 21 Cereals, 122; replacement of livestock products, 122; trade in, 8 Ceremonies, 101; age, 57, 58; use of cattle in, 99 Change: accelerated pace of, 232; economic, 69,74; political, 69, 74; social, 2, 69, 74, 114,231,234 Chayanov's Rule, 9 , 1 0 5 Child fosterage, 3 , 6 , 53,96, 147-163; as adaptive strategy, 7; and adjustment of family size, 149; adoption, 152,162; borrowing, 153-154; and fertility, 148; and health status, 147-163; and nonmarital births, 158-159; patterns, 155-160; rates of, 155160; reasons for, 159-160, 160/oi; for training purposes, 148; variation in, 147

237

238

Index

Circumcision, 57 Class formation, 4 8 Colonialism: ethnicity setting in, 58; and land restriction, 6; pastoralism under, 4 8 , 5 0 ; regional structure in, 59; veterinary policy, 52-53 Commoditization, 8 , 6 3 , 9 3 , 1 6 6 Community: boundaries, 5 5 , 5 8 ; defining, 57; dissolution, 61; emergence, 55; identity, 48; reconstitution, 55; recovery, 61; relocation, 55 Competition, 231; for dry-season reserves, 50; for food, 20; grassland, 32; for markets, 45; in pastoralism, 10; resource, 53, 188; water-point, 50; for wealth, 10 Conflict: gender, 210; grazing area, 51; land, 51, 185, 191-193; pastoral, 50; sibling, 140-141; water, 51 Coppock, D. Layne, 113-127 Crescent Island Causeway site, 31 Cultivation, 33; adoption of, 122; contract labor for, 55; early, 32; growth in, 119; millet, 136; reduction of need for, 35; tenant, 55; as threat to pastoral resources, 51 Currency, 2 0 6 , 2 3 4

stock, 24, 35, 3 6 , 4 7 , 51 -52, 60, 94; parasitic, 25, 51,94-95; prophylaxis, 52; rinderpest, 2 5 , 5 1 , 5 2 , 6 0 , 9 4 ; seasonal, 52; smallpox, 60; trypanosomiasis, 49, 51, 94,95 Divorce, 92, 140, 170 Dongodien site, 23 Donkeys, 7 8 , 9 9 Drought, 1, 2 , 4 7 , 4 8 , 4 9 , 60, 61, 6 9 , 9 3 , 9 4 , 108, 114, 118, 186, 231 ; impact of, 75, 78, 80map\ and mobility, 71 ; mortality rates, 134; recovery, 9-10; reserves, 7 9 , 8 4 ; responses to, 75; Sahelian, 2; survival in, 70; vulnerability of cattle, 95 Dynamic optimality models, 2 0 6 - 2 0 7 , 2 1 0 211,232 East Coast Fever, 51

Development, 69; cycles, 138; economic, 93; impact on pastoralism, 77; interventions, 72; initiatives, 74; loans, 190; political, 6 Diet, 113-127; changes in, 120,127; composition, 114, 120-122; energy levels in, 115; need for fat in, 29, 30; and population welfare, 114, 125; protein content, 115; supplementation, 55 Dinka peoples, 4

Ecology: behavioral, 5 , 9 , 10, 2 0 5 - 2 0 8 , 2 3 2 ; cultural, 5, 9, 133; diversity in, 34; evolutionary, 9-10, 133,232; and pastoral mobility, 72-75 Economic: anthropology, 166; change, 2, 69, 7 4 , 1 1 4 ; decisionmaking, 10; development, 93 ; differentiation, 5, 166; production, 3; specialization, 17; strategies, 21 ; stress, 187; structure, 61 ; welfare, 167 Economy: agricultural, 20; Dorana, 118; colonial, 54; commercial, 128«2; common, 48-49; livestock, 93; market, 9, 86n2, 115, 119, 120, 232, 233; mixed, 91; moral, 9, 108; pastoral, 17,73, 74, 119; political, 1 , 6 , 2 3 1 ; regional, 71, 74; state, 74; subsistence, 9, 105,123, 128n2, 233; trade-oriented, 36; Turkana, 118 Ecosystems: alterations in, 51; Borana, 115120; coexistence with pastoralism, 8; as disease buffer, 52; maximization of production in, 114; Turkana, 115-120 Education, 48, 8 6 n 2 , 9 4 , 148 Elmenteitan site, 24 Enkapune site, 21, 2 3 , 3 0 - 3 1 , 31 tab, 34 Environmental: adaptations, 1, 8 , 4 8 , 5 6 ; adaptations by cattle, 25-26; degradation, 2, 7475; disease control, 51 ; diversity, 48; effect of domestic livestock, 2; fluctuations, 72; instability, 21 ; management, 74; resources, 2; stress, 37 Epidemics, 6-7

Diseases: bovine pleuropneumonia, 51, 60; East Coast fever, 51; epidemic, 60; eradication of, 52-53; foot-and-mouth disease, 94; human, 60; liver fluke, 51; live-

Ethiopia: civil war in, 2; famine in, 2; migration from, 2 3 , 5 0 ; nationalization act, 199; pastoralism in, 4 , 1 8 6 Ethnic: boundaries, 8, 3 5 , 4 6 ; criminality, 58;

Dasenech peoples, 4 , 4 8 , 56 Decisionmaking, 93; economic, 10; factors in, 72, 81, 82, 84; household-level, 232; and nutrition, 115; pastoral, 5, 205-224; variables, 9 , 7 2 Decision rule, 2 0 6 , 2 0 8 - 2 1 0 Demography, 2, 5; agropastoral, 6; animal, 51; human, 5, 7; pastoral, 6; plant, 51; social, 133; subsystems in, 6; systems, 133144 Dependency ratios, 9, 104, 105 Desertification, 74 Destocking, 54

Index

identity, 35,47 Famine, 1, 2, 60, 62; mortality rates, 134; relief, 93, 108 Fertility, 6, 92, 187; biological factors, 134; and child fosterage, 148; control of, 45; and family planning programs, 148-149; levels, 133, 136, 138; regulation, 140; social factors, 134; and widowhood, 137 Fishing, 17, 20, 23, 32, 33, 36, 57,75, 91 Fissioning, 92,148 Food: aid, 9,77, 177-179,182n6; allocation, 149; availability, 114; commercial production, 234; competition for, 20; comsumption, 114; distribution, 178; intake, 150; nonpastoral, 115; preferences, 114; production, 17; purchase of, 118,119, 177, 178; security, 165, 167, 178, 180; supplemental, 149; supply, 3 Foot-and-mouth disease, 94 Fowling, 20 Fratkin, Elliot, 1 -10,91 -108,231 -234 Fulani peoples, 4, 5; fertility levels, 133; labor needs of, 3; mobility of, 71; mortality rates, 134; resource control of, 187 Gabbra peoples, 48 Galaty, John, 185-200,231 Galvin, Kathleen, 1-10, 113-127,231-234 Gender. See also Women: inequalities, 232; roles, 232 Gerontocracy, 135, 136-138 Goats, 4, 20, 78; breeding rates, 49; early, 21, 28IJlg; feeding regime, 94; growth rates, 28fig\ as mainstay of herds, 49; veterinary requirements, 105 Gogo Falls site, Utah, 32 Government: centralized, 48; control of land, 188-189; favoritism by, 45; impact on pastoralism, 48, 69; monopolies, 166, 167; pastoralist lack of trust in, 4 6 , 4 8 Grazing: area conflicts, 51; divisions of land for, 50; land, 34,35, 51; livestock requirements, 49; rights, 58; seasonal, 50 Hausa peoples, 4 Health, 2; care, 148; child, 154, 234; and child fosterage, 148,160-162; maternal, 154; status, 155 Herds. See also Livestock: collective, 99; commercially- oriented, 49; composition of, 49; decimation by epidemic, 7; dependence on, 34; division of, 95; domestic, 36;

239

homeostasis in, 7; management of, 26,49, 50,53,92; mixed, 91, 97, 100; mobility of, 83map\ population disequilibrium, 7; restocking, 61, 62; as risk avoidance, 114; stocking strategies, 9-10 Herero peoples, 4, 134 Horticulture: dryland, 4; early, 30; highland, 4; oasis, 4 Household: adjustment in numbers, 92; autonomous, 4; dependency ratios, 9; destitution, 207; development cycle, 5,138; division of labor, 100-105; domestic tasks, 95-96, 101; establishment of, 135;femaleheaded, 167, 170; food security, 165; inequalities, 232; livestock responsibilities, 95-96,99, 101 ; management, 49; production, 9 2 , 9 3 , 9 9 ; urban, 178; viability, 92 Hunter-gatherers, 17, 23,32, 33,36, 73; relations with pastoralists, 17, 20, 34; social structure, 20 Identity: in child fosterage, 152; common, 56; community, 48; convergence, 56; development, 56; differential, 56; establishing, 57; ethnic, 35,47; formation, 55-59; identification of, 57; markers of, 57; politicized, 58, tribal, 58-59 Infanticide, 140 Inheritance, 93, 137, 138-143, 159 Integrated Project in Arid Lands, 2, 3, 7 Intertropical Convergence Zone, 97 Investment: infrastructural, 198; in land, 45; local, 190; low levels of, 190; value of livestock, 113,114 IPAL. See Integrated Project in Arid Lands Irrigation, 75,198 Islam, 4 Ivory,53-54 Jie peoples, 4 Kababbish peoples, 4 Kadero site, 23 Karimojong peoples, 4; mobility of, 71, 72 Kenya, 6; child fosterage in, 157lab; commercial ranching in, 190; early pastoral sites, 21,22map, 24-30; group representatives act, 199; land use in, 75-84; milk markets in, 181n7;pastoralism in,4, 186 Kenya Land Commission Report (1934), 58 Kikuyu peoples, 58,61 Labor, 96; access to, 93-94; allocation, 91 ;

240

Index

animal requirements, 49; commoditization of, 63; constraints, 55; contracting, 55, 92; control over, 45; cooperative, 97; demands, 9 2 , 9 3 , 152, 153; dependent, 53, 55; differential access to, 223-224; division of, 1 0 0 - 1 0 5 , 1 3 6 - 1 3 8 ; domestic, 3, 147; family, 91, 107; gender issues, 100105, 136-138; and herd size, 92; household, 92; inequalities, 9; intensity, 102, 104, 105; needs, 6 , 7 , 53, 92, 147, 162; organization, 5, 92; patterns, 9; and polygyny, 99; pools, 82; recruitment, 96, 100; resources, 10; scarcity of, 49, 96, 100; wage, 55, 63, 69, 108, 120 Land: allocation, 189; availability, 35; collectivization, 188; commoditization of, 63; communal, 8 , 2 3 2 ; conflict, 51 ; control over, 45; degradation, 6 9 , 7 4 - 7 5 , 113, 188, 231; grabbing, 193-194; grazing, 34, 35, 51 ; individuation, 188; investment in, 45; m a n a g e m e n t , 188; pastoral use, 2; policies, 188; population pressures on, 108; potential, 186; privatization, 8, 185, 188, 189, 197-198, 232; restrictions, 6, 52, 54; rights, 58, 190-198; sales, 196-197; security, 231 ; state control of, 188; tenure, 74, 113, 185-200, 232; titles, 108, 189, 195-196; use, 69-86, 75-84; villagization, 188 Leakey, Louis, 17 Leslie, Paul, 113-127 Libya, 4 Life expectancy, 137 Lineages: continuation of, 45; matrilineal, 93; patrilineal, 97, 99, 138, 141, 150; patrilocal, 138 Little, Peter, 165-181 Livestock: as basis of economy, 75; as capital, 2; commercial, 92; density, 117, 11 Slab', dependence on, 6; differing requirements of, 4 9 , 9 1 , 9 4 , 152; diseases, 24, 3 5 , 3 6 , 4 7 , 5 1 - 5 2 , 5 2 , 9 4 ; diversification, 33; domestic, 2, 3, 17, 21, 2 3 , 2 4 ; environmental adaptations, 48; epidemics, 6; individual ownership, 7 4 , 1 0 8 ; inequalities in holdings, 9; inheritance of, 93; investment value, 113, 114; labor requirements, 49; loaning of, 97; loss through raiding, 36; m a n a g e m e n t , 7; markets, 6 9 , 9 2 , 119; migratory, 32 ; needs, 9 1 , 9 2 - 9 3 ; production, 92; sales, 120; small, 4, 2 0 - 2 1 , 9 1 ; specialization, 9, 3 1 , 9 1 , 1 0 2 , 104, 105; trade, 3, 165; as wealth, 45, 100, 113, 138,

141; wild, 1 8 , 2 5 , 3 2 Maasai Gorge site, 3 0 , 3 I tab

Maasailand, 50, 58, 59, 120; lloikop War, 60; trade in, 53 Maasai peoples, 4 , 4 6 , 4 8 ; caloric intake, 123; colonial images of, 59; diet, 122, 128n7; ecological sensitivity of, 8; energy deficiencies, I28n9; environmental management among, 75; expansionist traditions, 58; expansion of water access, 50; gender relations, 232; group ranching, 8, 117, 125, 128n2; livestock specialization of, 91; location, 116map-, mobility of, 71; outmigration, 128«3; privatization of land, 8; production systems, 120; as refugees, 61, 62; resource control of, 186187 McCabe, J. Terence, 69-86 Mali, 2 , 4 Market(s): access to, 45, 91, 127; beef, 49; commercial, 118; competition for, 45; controls, 54; economy, 9, 86n2, 115, 119, 120, 2 3 2 , 2 3 3 ; increasing, 93; integration, 108, 166; livestock, 92, 119; milk, 8, 55, 165-181; urban, 166, \12tab Marriage: age differentials, 137, 1 3 7 i a i ; a n d age-sets, 139; arranged, 137; bridewealth for, 9-10, 62, 135; delay in, 135, 137, 139; and nonmarital births, 158; patterns, 5; timing, 92 Marshall, Fiona, 17-37 Marxism, 2 M a u Escarpment site, 30 Mauritania, 21 Migration, 6, 187. See also Mobility; drift in, 7 2 , 9 2 ; due to aridity, 23; large-scale, 4 6 ; long-distance, 4; out, 92; for pasturage, 24; pattern variation, 78-79, 8 0 m a p , 85; routes, 86/1Ö; social factors, 81; transhuman, 4 , 7 1 , 72; "tribal road," 85; urban, 9 4 , 1 2 5 Milk, 3; markets, 8, 55, 165-181; powdered, 166, 167, 173,177, 180,181 ¡preferences for, 122, 123; price variations, 169; production, 3 2 , 4 9 , 9 4 , 9 5 , 127; seasonal price variation, 173-175; trade, 8-9; trading costs, 175-177; transport costs, 175177; urban demand for, 167 Millet, 21 Mobility, 5 , 2 1 , 3 7 , 69-86; determinants of, 8 1 / o i ; and ecology, 72-75; and environmental conditions, 71, 72, 84; of herds.

Index

241

8 3 m a p , 148; patterns, 70, 72, 85; and

17-37, 18; and ecological insenstivity, 7;

political events, 7 1 , 7 2 , 7 3 ; seasonal pat-

Elmenteitan division, 23, 30, 31 tab, 32,

terns, 71 ; security-related determinants,

33, 34; environmental diversity in, 48; eth-

84; social factors, 73-74, 84, 85; spatial,

nic boundaries in, 8 , 3 5 , 4 6 ; historical

148; types, 71

perspective, 45-64; interaction with oihers

Modernization, 69, 1 2 7 , 1 4 8 , 190

in, 47; international development efforts

M o n o g a m y , 139, 141

in, 93; land use in, 69-86, 185-200; links

Morocco, 4

to agriculturalists, 8; and livestock dis-

Mortality, 6, 187; child, 134, 150, 162; and

ease, 51-52; mobility in, 8, 69-86;

child fosterage, 149; infant, 134; rates, 136; s e x - b a s e d , 137 Mursi peoples, 4 , 4 8 ; ceremonies of, 58; e n c r o a c h m e n t by, 57

n o m a d i c , 1; North A f r i c a n , 1 8 , 2 0 ; nutrition in, 113-128; organization, 91 -108; political factors, 18; pure, 1; Savanna Pastoral Neolithic division, 23, 24, 30, 31 tab, 33, 34; segregation in, 5; social factors,

Naivasha R a i l w a y Rockshelter site, 23, 31 tab, 32 Nderit site, 2 3 , 2 4 Networks: e x c h a n g e , 53, 54, 5 5 , 6 1 , 63; social, 62, 86n2; support, 53 Ngamuriak site, 2 4 , 1 5 p l , 26, 31 tab; cultivation at, 29; livestock in, 26tab Ngisonyoka peoples, 77-84; mobility of, 78-84 Niger, 4, 190 Nigeria, 4; milk m a r k e t s in, 166, 180; pastoral mobility in, 71 " N o b l e s a v a g e " stereotype, 4 6 , 4 7 , 50

18; South African, 4, 37; specialized, 4, 34; stereotypes of, 46-47, 50, 70, 231; stone tool use, 17, 18, 1 9 m a p , 21, 24, 31, 36, 37; subsistence, 54, 62, 64; subsystems in, 5; threats to resources, 51; trade in, 47; traditional, 7 , 4 6 , 69-70; vs. ranching, 7; W e s t African, 4 Pastoralists: access to markets, 45; assimilation into other groups, 46; cultivating, 50; lack o f trust in g o v e r n m e n t , 4 6 , 4 8 ; martial traditions of, 46; nutrition of, 29-30; relations with hunter-gatherers, 17, 20, 34

North Hon- site, 23

Patronage systems, 4 5

N u e r peoples, 4

Plants: cultivation, 21; domestic, 2 1 , 3 6 ; wild,

Nutrition, 2, 5, 113-127; carbohydrate sour-

20,33

ces, 35; dietary fat, 2 9 , 3 0 ; and diet c o m -

Pokot peoples, 4, 71, 78-79, 81, 82, 84

position, 114; diet supplementation, 55; of

Policies: colonial, 6; land, 113, 188; veteri-

early pastoralists, 29-30; intervention, 148; levels, 123-125; marginal, 127; meas-

nary, 52-53 Political: change, 69, 74; d e v e l o p m e n t , 6;

urement, 114, 155; and population wel-

e c o n o m y , 1 , 6 , 2 3 1 ; events and migration,

fare, 114, 125; subsistence, 8; in Turkana

72; influence, 46; instability, 2; organiza-

peoples, 8

tion, 3; pressures, 35-36; stress, 37; threats, 4

Organization: age, 57; family, 147; household

Polygyny, 9 2 , 9 9 , 1 0 0 , 104, 136-143; age-set

labor, 92; pastoralism, 91-108; political,

rules, 135; differing purposes, 144;

3; segmentary descent, 92; social, 1, 3 3 , 9 2

ecologically-imposed, 143; resource con-

O r o m o peoples, 4

trol, 136, 143 Population, 231; change, 70; density, 117,

Parakuyu peoples, 4

11 Stab, 186; growth, 114, 139, 199; herd

Parasites, 2 5 , 5 1 , 5 2 , 9 4 - 9 5

disequilibrium, 7; m a x i m i z a t i o n , 6; periur-

Pastoralism: archaeological perspectives, 17-

ban, 9; regulation, 6, 138-143; rural, 9;

37; capitalization of, 52; centralization in, 5; changes in, 4 7 - 6 4 ; changing percep-

structure adjustments, 148; welfare, 114, 125

tions of, 4 5 ; climatic factors, 18; coexis-

Pottery, 23, 2 4 , 3 1 ; Akira, 33; early, 20, 23, 3 0

tence with e c o s y s t e m s , 8; collaboration in,

Poverty, 74; and asociality, 53; and cultiva-

9; colonial, 4 7 , 4 8 , 50; competition in, 10;

tion, 208; rural, 196

cooperation in, 9 , 1 0 ; decisionmaking in,

Primogeniture, 138, 140, 142

9 - 1 0 , 2 0 5 - 2 2 4 ; deterioration of, 2; diet in,

Production: agricultural, 24; crop, 119;

113-128; early, 17-37; East African, 4, 8,

e c o n o m i c , 3; food, 17; household, 9 2 , 9 3 ,

242

Index

99; livestock, 1, 5,92; maximization of, 114; milk, 32,49, 94,95, 120, 127; pastoral, 6, 91-108, 127; specialized, 34; strategies, 120; subsistence, 49,93, 118, 119; variations in, 91 ; women in, 93 Prolonged Drift site, 32,35 Quarantine regulations, 45, 52, 54 Raiding, 35,46, 47, 55, 61, 78, 81, 84, 118, 139 Rainfall, 93, 185; bimodal system, 17, 34, 36, 115, 117; decline in, 187; distribution, 117; failures of, 60; seasonal distribution, 4, 10, 92, 97; variable, 108 Ranches: commercial, 7, 190; group, 8, 117, 125, 128n2,190-198; individual, 190-191; infrastructure, 128 n2 Refugees, 50, 177 Rendille peoples, 4, 6, 35,46, 48, 56; diet, 122; effects oflivestock epidemics on, 67; fertility levels, 138; grazing areas, 50, 58; livestock specialization of, 91 ; location of, 98map, 116map\ marriage patterns, 138-143; polygyny in, 135-136, 138-143; time allocations in labor, 106>Jlg; women's roles, 234 Resources: access to, 53, 207; allocation, 48, 207; animal, 30; competition for, 53, 188, 222-223; control of, 47,58, 136-137, 186187; differential availability, 147, 232; environmental, 2; exploitation of, 48, 84, 113; forage, 72, 77, 81; for herd management, 50; immediate utilization of, 72; labor, 10; maximization of, 49; for recovery, 62; seasonal use, 20; specialized use of, 30; spreading through child fosterage, 147; state ownership, 189; threats to, 51; variable use, 91; water, 77; wild, 20, 36 Rift Valley sites, 2 3 , 3 0 , 3 1 , 3 3 Rights: customary, 199; grazing, 58, 187; land, 58,186,190-198; resource, 186-187 Rinderpest, 51,52, 60,94 Risk avoidance, 114,211 Roth, Eric Abella, 1-10, 133-144,231-234 Samburu peoples, 4, 7 , 3 5 , 4 6 , 4 8 , 56; grazing areas, 58; hairstyles, 57; location of, 98map\ mobility of, 71 Sedentism, 4, 63, 69,93,166, 234 Sellen, Daniel, 205-224,232 Semisedentism, 20,50,99

Settlement patterns, 9-10 Sheep, 4, 20, 78; and cash income, 95; diseases, 51; early, 21, 36; grazing requirements, 49; as mainstay of herds, 49; veterinary requirements, 105 Shell-Duncan, Bettina, 147-163 Slaves, 3, 4, 96 Smith, Kevin, 91 -108,232,233 Smuggling, 54, 55 Sobania, Neal, 45-64,232 Social: activities, 101; adaptation, 234; anthropology, 1; change, 69,74, 114, 231, 234; cohesion, 199, 200; demography, 133; differentiation, 23, 135, 166; dynamics, 93; exchange, 53,91; factors in mobility, 73-74; hierarchies, 30,33; histories, 3; networks, 62,86n2\ organization, 1, 33, 92; prestige, 114; reconstructions, 46; relationships, 53, 54, 55,92; reproduction, 49; status, 138; stratification, 20, 33,48; structure, 61, 92; time, 58 Societies: agricultural, 9; hierarchical, 4; matrilineal, 93; patrilineal, 97, 99, 138, 141, 150; stratification, 3 , 4 , 9 6 Somalia: civil war in, 2, 167, 181; dairy marketing in, 165-181; food aid in, 177; foreign aid programs, 167; migration from, 50; milk trade in, 8-9, 167; pastoralism in, 4, 186 Songhai peoples, 4 Sorghum, 21 South Turkana Ecosystem Project, 2, 3, 74, 75,78 STEP. See South Turkana Ecosystem Project Stereotypes, 70,231 Strategies: disease, 51; economic, 21; grazing, 148; herd management, 51,219-222; land use, 69-86; movement, 20; pastoral, 113127; production, 120; resource-exploitation, 113; subsistence, 17, 18,33,35, 114, 148; survival, 61,170; wealth-dependent, 213-216 Stress: environmental, 37; political, 37; responses to, 60-63 Subsistence, 4 , 9 , 3 1 tab; bases, 33,75; early systems, 21; economies, 8,9, 105, 123, 128n2,233; family, 93; hunting for, 63; modes of, 56; pastoral, 54, 62,64; production,49, 93, 118, 119; regional variations in, 35, 36; strategies, 17, 18, 34, 35, 114, 148; variation in, 36 Sudan, 4,70-71; agropastoralism in, 135, 136-

Index

138; child fosterage in, 157tab\ civil war in, 2; migration from, 23; pastoralism in, 4,186 Swazi peoples, 4 Tanzania: commercial ranching in, 190; early pastoral sites, 22map\ hunting-gathering in, 73-74; leaseholds in, 189; pastoralism in, 4; villagization act, 199 Tatoga peoples, 4 Taxation, 48 Technology: lithic, 21,24; veterinary, 52; Western, 166 Teso peoples, 4 Ticks, 25, 5 1 , 5 2 , 5 3 , 9 4 , 95 Toposa peoples, 4; fertility levels, 136; gerontocracy, 136-138; mortality rates, 136; polygyny in, 135, 136-138 Trade, 35; cattle, 118; in cereal, 8; commodity, 179; gendered, 165, 169; liberalization, 180; livestock, 3, 165; longdistance, 4; milk, 8-9; nomadic, 171-173, 182n4; pastoral, 45,47, 165-181 ; periurban, 171, 174; petty, 170, 179, 180; regulatory legislation, 167; small stock, 118; stock, 54; terms of, 119; urban, 170171; wool, 3 Tragedy of the commons, 7, 50, 188 Transhumance, 4, 71, 187, 210; and water, 50 Trypanosomiasis, 49, 5 1 , 9 4 , 9 5 Tsetse flies, 32, 33, 35, 51, 94; distribution of, 17-18,35 Tswana peoples, 4 Tuareg peoples, 3 , 4 Turkana peoples, 4, 6, 48; caloric intake, 123; child fosterage in, 147-163; diet, 86n2, 120-127; economy, 118; effects of livestock epidemics on, 6-7; energy deficiencies, 123-125; fertility levels, 133; food

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aid for, 77; grazing areas, 58; hairstyles, 57; herd acquisition, 49; location of, 76map, 116map, 151 map; mobility of, 8, 71,86n2, 86«5; nutritional status, 8,120127; political organization, 77; polygyny in, 100 Uganda: mobility in, 72; pastoralism in, 4 United Nations: UNESCO, 2 , 7 ; UNICEF, 136 Urbanization, 166 Villagizition, 199 Wage: availability, 94; employment, 170; labor, 55, 63, 69, 108, 120 Waller, Richard, 45-64,232 Water: access to, 53, 77, 81, 93; competition for, 50; conflict, 51 ; ownership, 185; as primary need, 50; restrictions, 77; and transhumance, 50 Wealth, 9; from cattle, 45, 92; competition for, 10; and diet, 216-219; differentials, 10, 207, 232; effect on fertility, 216-219; indication of fitness, 216-219; and labor contracting, 92; and labor intensity, 104; livestock as, 45, 113, 138, 141;and polygyny, 104; spreading through child fosterage, 147; stored, 137; stratification, 93; variations in, 96, 100, 104, 105, 107 Women: changing roles of, 9; competition for, 137; diets of, 122; and fertility control, 45; household tasks, 101, \01tab, 152; integration into marketplace, 232; livestock responsibilities, 101-102,\01tab, 140; marriage age, 137; in milk markets, 55, 165-181; reproductive potential, 62; role in production, 93; widowhood, 137 Zulu peoples, 4

The Contributors

D. Layne Coppock Department of Range Science Utah State University Logan UT84322-5230 Elliot Fratkin Department of Anthropology and Population Research Institute The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA 16802 John G. Galaty Department of Anthropology McGill University 855 Sherbrooke West Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T7 Kathleen A. Galvin Department of Anthropology and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 Paul W. Leslie Department of Anthropology and Carolina Population Center University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 27516 and the Kenya Medical Research Institute Nairobi, Kenya Peter D. Little Institute for Development Anthropology 99 Collier St., Box 2207 BinghamtonNY 13902-2207 Fiona Marshall Department of Anthropology Washington University St. Louis MO 68130

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246

The

Contributors

J. Terrence McCabe Department of Anthropology Campus Box 233 University of Colorado Boulder CO 80309 Monique Borgerhoff Mulder Department of Anthropology University of California-Davis Davis CA 95616-8522 Eric Abella Roth Department of Anthropology University of Victoria Victoria BC V8W 2Y2 Canada Daniel W. Sellen Department of Anthropology and Program in International Nutrition University of California at Davis Davis CA 95616 Bettina K. Shell-Duncan Population Studies Center University of Michigan 1225 S. University Ave. Ann Arbor MI 48104 Kevin Smith Department of Anthropology The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA 16802 Meal W. Sobania Department of History Hope College Holland MI 49423 Richard Waller Department of History Bucknell University Lewisburg PA 17837

About the Book

In African Pastoralist Systems, world-renowned scholars of African pastoralist societies present overviews of their fields of specialization and in-depth analyses of their research data. The discussions stress the interrelationships among differing social, economic, ecological, and biological aspects of African pastoralism. In the final chapter, the editors synthesize the authors' key themes to reflect on the past, present, and future status of African pastoral systems.

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