From household to region: the marketing/production interface

Abstract

Academic interest in African pastoralism increased considerably in the 1970s and early 1980s. Studies in this time period emphasized, inter alia, ecology and subsistence production, political economy, farmer/pastoralists interaction, resource allocation and livestock marketing. Another trend which was emphasized but is still mainly at the conceptual stages is that of analyzing pastoral production systems from a regional perspective. Fundamental to this position is the premise that pastoral systems are components of a larger spatial economy; that is, a subsector of a regional economy. This paradigm advocates a better understanding of the linkages between the pastoral sector and other sectors of the regional economy. This dissertation analyzes the Il Chamus pastoral economy (Kenya) using the methods of regional analysis. The central thesis is that recent socio-economic changes in the Il Chamus pastoral economy are related to broader transformations at the regional level, particularly regarding the Baringo regional grain market. The di'sintegration of the regional market favors a more diversified pastoral production system, one that incorporates significantly more grain production. However, it is only when social relations at the production level are understood that one can assess how these regional changes are manifested at the neighborhood and homestead levels. It is suggested that pre-existing social 'relations based on livestock ownership have allowed mainly the wealthier Il Chamus to benefit from the economic diversification of the past fifteen years.

It is argued in this study that regional analysis as it has been used by economic anthropologists must be modified in the African context to account for the importance of production and its social relations. The dissertation proposes a "bottom up" or micro production approach to regional analysis. Such a perspective allows one to understand the causes and processes involved with the II Chamus transformation from pastoralism to agro-pastoralism.