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Herding by Mobile Phone: Technology, Social Networks and the “Transformation” of Pastoral Herding in East Africa

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Abstract

Over the last decade, the number of people who rely on mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa has grown rapidly. The ubiquity of mobile phones in rural livestock communities is thought to “transform” or “revolutionize” the way different social groups interact as they manage social, political and environmental challenges to their livelihood strategies. This research among pastoralists in Kenya examines the political, economic, ecological and socio-spatial contexts in which mobile phones are used and places these contexts within pre-existing resource struggles in order to understand the prevalence of mobile phone use among pastoralists. Results indicate that, while the use of mobile phones for herding is widespread, the extent and efficacy of information sharing is strongly influenced by pre-existing social struggles to gain access to prohibited grazing locations.

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Notes

  1. A 1 minute call to someone on the same network or a text message is as low as 1 shilling (approx 0.01 US$) (Safaricom 2011).

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Maatany Ntimama for his assistance with data collection, and Megan Cole for assistance with data entry. Kayla Yurco, Jenny Cooper, Meghan Cornwall and Antoinette WinklerPrins provided helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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Butt, B. Herding by Mobile Phone: Technology, Social Networks and the “Transformation” of Pastoral Herding in East Africa. Hum Ecol 43, 1–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-014-9710-4

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