Abstract
The trend of pastoral sedentarization in Africa presents new economic opportunities to women through the sale of dairy products, agricultural produce, and labor. This study of Rendille of northern Kenya shows a variety of economic strategies pursued by women in nomadic pastoral, settled agro-pastoral, and town communities. Results of household budgets and interviews with married women indicate that urban centers attract both wealthier Rendille women selling milk and poorer women engaged in wage-labor and petty commodity trade; time allocation data shows that women living in towns work as strenuously as those in pastoral communities, while men in towns work less than in pastoral communities and less than women in both communities; and anthropometric data of women and children suggest that increases in women's income may have a beneficial effect on the nutrition and well-being of their children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Campbell, D. (1984). Responses to drought among farmers and herders in southern Kajiado District, Kenya.Human Ecology 12(1): 35–64.
Clark, G. (1987). Separation between trading and home for Asante women in Kumasi central market, Ghana. In Wilk, R. R. (ed.),The Household Economy: Reconsidering the Domestic Mode of Production. Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 91–118.
Clay, J. W. (1988). The case of Hararghe: The testimony of refugees in Somalis. In Clay, J. W., Steingraber, S., and Niggli, P. (eds.),The Spoils of Famine. Cultural Survival, Cambridge, MA, pp. 157–199.
Dahl, G. (1987). Women in pastoral production: Some theoretical notes on roles and resources.Ethnos 52(1–2): 246–279.
Ensminger, J. E. (1987). Economic and political differentiation among Galole Orma women.Ethnos 52(1–2): 28–49.
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. (1989a). Two lives for the Ariaal.Natural History 98(5): 39–49.
Fratkin, E. (1989b). 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 Northern Kenya. Westview Press, Boulder.
Fratkin, E. (1992). Drought and development in Marsabit District.Disasters 16(2): 119–130.
Fratkin, E., and Roth, E. A. (1990). Drought and economic differentiation among Ariaal pastoralists of Kenya.Human Ecology 18(4): 385–402.
Galaty, J. G. (1992). “This Land is Yours”: Social and economic factors in the privatization, subdivision and sale of Maasai ranches.Nomadic Peoples 30: 26–40.
Galaty, J. G., and Bonte, P. (1991). The current realities of African pastoralists. In Galaty, J. G., and Bonte, P. (eds.),Herders, Warriors, and Traders: Pastoralism in Africa. Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 267–292.
Grandin, B. E. (1988). Wealth and pastoral dairy production: A case study from Maasailand.Human Ecology 16(1): 1–21.
Guyer, J. I. (1980). Household Budgets and Women's Incomes. Working Paper No. 28, African Studies Center, Boston University.
Hames, R. (1992). Time allocation. In Smith, E. A., and Winterhalder, B. (eds.),Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior. Aldine de Gruyter, New York, pp. 203–235.
Herren, U. J. (1990). The Commercial Sale of Camel Milk from Pastoral Herds in the Mogadishu Hinterland, Somalia. ODI Pastoral Development Network Paper 30a, Overseas Development Institute, London.
Hilarie, K. (1986). Uncounted labor: Women as food producers in an East African pastoral community. In Moses, Y. T. (ed.),Proceedings-African Agricultural Development Conference: Technology, Ecology, and Society. May 28–June 1, 1985, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, pp. 62–66.
Hill, A. G. (1985).Population, Health, and Nutrition in the Sahel. Routledge Chapman, London.
Hjort, A. (1990). Town-based pastoralism in eastern Africa. In Baker, J. (ed.),Small Town Africa: Studies in Rural-Urban Interaction. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, pp. 143–160.
Hogg, R. (1985). The politics of drought: The pauperization of Isiolo Boran.Disasters 9(1): 39–43.
IDA (1991).Gender Relations of Pastoral/Agropastoral Production: A Bibliography with Annotations. Institute for Development Anthropology, Binghamton, NY.
Little, P. D. (1994). Maidens and milk markets: The sociology of dairy marketing in southern Somalia. In Fratkin, E., Galvin, K., and Roth, E. A. (eds.),African Pastoralist Systems. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder.
McCabe, J. T. (1987). Drought and recovery: Livestock dynamics among the Ngisonyoka Turkana of Kenya.Human Ecology 15(4): 371–385.
Michael, B. J. (1987). Milk production and sales by the Hawazma (Baggara) of Sudan: Implications for gender roles.Research in Economic Anthropology 9: 105–141.
Mullings, L. (1976). Women and economic change in Africa. In Hafkin, N. J., and Bay, E. G. (eds.),Women in Africa: Studies in Social and Economic Change. Stanford University Press, Stanford, pp. 239–264.
Nathan, M. A., Fratkin, E., and Roth, E. A. (in press). Sedentism and child health among Rendille pastoralists of Northern Kenya.Social Science and Medicine.
Oxby, C. (1981). Group ranches in Africa.Overseas Development Institute Review 2: 44–56.
Oxby, C. (1987). Women unveiled: Class and gender among Kel Ferwan Twareg.Ethnos 52(1–2): 119–136.
Roth, E. A. (1990). Modeling Rendille household herd composition.Human Ecology 18(4): 441–455.
Roth, E. A. (1991). Education, tradition, and household labor among Rendille pastoralists of N. Kenya.Human Organization 50: 136–141.
Roth, E. A., and Fratkin, E. (1990). Rendille herd composition and settlement patterns.Nomadic Peoples 28: 83–92.
Salil, M. A. (1985). Pastoralists in town: Some Recent Trends in Pastoralism in the North West of Omdurman District. ODI Pastoral Development Network Paper 20b, Overseas Development Institute, London.
Shepherd, A. (1988). Case studies of famine: Sudan. In Curtis, D., Hubbard, M., and Shepherd, A. (eds.)Preventing Famine: Policies and Prospects for Africa. Routledge, London, pp. 28–72.
Sperling, L. (1987). The Labor Organization of Samburu Pastoralism. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, McGill University.
Talle, A. (1988).Women at a Loss: Changes in Maasai Pastoralism and Their Effects on Gender Relations. University of Stockholm, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm.
Talle, A. (1990). Ways of milk and meat among the Maasai: Gender identity and food resources in a pastoral economy. In Palsson, G. (ed.),From Water to World-Making: African Models and Arid Lands. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
Waters-Bayer, A. (1985). Modernizing milk production in Nigeria: Who benefits?Ceres 19(5): 34–39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fratkin, E., Smith, K. Women's changing economic roles with pastoral sedentarization: Varying strategies in alternate Rendille communities. Hum Ecol 23, 433–454 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01190131
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01190131