East African Pastoralism in Transition: Maasai, Boran, and Rendille Cases

Fratkin, Elliot

doi:10.2307/525591

Cited by 200 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 32 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

138

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With so many centers where nonlocal resources are infiltrating the region, there has been a substantial shift in the settlement ecology and nature of interactions between people living in the region. Presently, many pastoralists use the villages as child-rearing centers while males who are able to shepherd animals move from pasture to pasture, returning home occasionally to sell animals or resupply their families (de Vries et al 2006;Fratkin 2001;Schlee 1991;Sun 2005). Conflicts over resource patches have also developed.…”

Section: Late Holocene 2500-200 Years Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lakeside View: Sociocultural Responses to Changing Water Levels of Lake Turkana, Kenya

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Throughout the Holocene, Lake Turkana has been subject to drastic changes in lake levels and the subsistence strategies people employ to survive in this hot and arid region. In this paper, we reconstruct the position of the lake during the Holocene within a paleoclimatic context. Atmospheric forcing mechanisms are discussed in order to contextualize the broader landscape changes occurring in eastern Africa over the last 12,000 years. The Holocene is divided into five primary phases according to changes in the strand-plain evolution, paleoclimate, and human subsistence strategies practiced within the basin. Early Holocene fishing settlements occurred adjacent to high and relatively stable lake levels. A period of high-magnitude oscillations in lake levels Afr Archaeol Rev (2015) ensued after 9,000 years BP and human settlements appear to have been located close to the margins of the lake. Aridification and a final regression in lake levels ensued after 5,000 years BP and human communities were generalized pastoralists-fishers-foragers. During the Late Holocene, lake levels may have dropped below their present position and subsistence strategies appear to have been flexible and occasionally specialized on animal pastoralism. Modern missionary and government outposts have encouraged the construction of permanent settlements in the region, which are heavily dependent on outside resources for their survival. Changes in the physical and cultural environments of the Lake Turkana region have been closely correlated, and understanding the relationship between the two variables remains a vital component of archaeological research.Résumé Tout l'Holocène, le lac Turkana a été soumis à des changements drastiques dans l'altitude des lacs et les stratégies de subsistance des gens utilisent pour survivre dans cette région chaude et aride. Dans cet article, nous reconstruisons la position du lac au cours de l'Holocène dans un contexte paléoclimatique. Mécanismes de forçage atmosphériques sont discutées afin de contextualiser les changements de paysage plus larges qui se produisent en Afrique orientale au cours des 12.000 dernières années. L'Holocène est divisé en cinq phases principales en fonction des changements dans l'évolution altitude du lac, paléoclimats et les stratégies de subsistance humains pratiqués dans le bassin. Premiers établissements de pêche de l'Holocène ont eu lieu à proximité d'altitude d'eau élevés et relativement stables. Une période d'oscillations de grande amplitude dans l'altitude du lac s'ensuit après 9000 années BP et les établissements humains semblent avoir été situé à proximité des marges sur le lac. Aridification et une régression finale du altitude des lacs s'ensuit après 5000 années BP et les communautés humaines sont généralisées éleveurs-pêcheurs-cueilleurs. Au cours de l'Holocène tardif, les altitudes des lacs pourraient avoir chuté en dessous de leur position actuelle et les stratégies de subsistance semblent avoir fait preuve de souplesse et de temps en temps spécialisé sur le pas...

show abstract

Section: Late Holocene 2500-200 Years Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lakeside View: Sociocultural Responses to Changing Water Levels of Lake Turkana, Kenya

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[4][5][6] The region is also experiencing high rates of land-use change, making it a crucial and informative area to examine the effects of land-use change on zoonotic disease ecology. [7][8][9] At a more local scale, relationships between land-use change and disease ecology have been suggested for a wide array of host-pathogen systems. [10][11][12][13][14] The "dilution effect" hypothesis, for example, suggests that the net effect of higher species diversity will be a reduction in disease risk at local scales 15 ; therefore, conserved areas, which often host higher levels of biodiversity, may have reduced risk for human disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Land Use on Plague (Yersinia pestis) Activity in Rodents in Tanzania

McCauley

Salkeld

Young

et al. 2015

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Understanding the effects of land-use change on zoonotic disease risk is a pressing global health concern. Here, we compare prevalence of Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, in rodents across two land-use types-agricultural and conserved-in northern Tanzania. Estimated abundance of seropositive rodents nearly doubled in agricultural sites compared with conserved sites. This relationship between land-use type and abundance of seropositive rodents is likely mediated by changes in rodent and flea community composition, particularly via an increase in the abundance of the commensal species, Mastomys natalensis, in agricultural habitats. There was mixed support for rodent species diversity negatively impacting Y. pestis seroprevalence. Together, these results suggest that land-use change could affect the risk of local transmission of plague, and raise critical questions about transmission dynamics at the interface of conserved and agricultural habitats. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding disease ecology in the context of rapidly proceeding landscape change.

show abstract

“…Pastoralist livelihood systems are inherently mobile (Bruijn & Dijk, 2003) but until recently most of this migration has been rural-rural. This study focuses on the Maasai, an East African pastoralist population undergoing the same general process of diversification of rural livelihoods that is taking place across sub-Saharan Africa (Bryceson, 1999;Coast, 2002;Ellis, 2000;Iliya and Swindell, 1997;Fratkin, 2001). A recent, but very rapidly growing, rural-urban migration stream for paid employment has been identified (Homewood, Coast & Thompson, 2005;May & McCabe, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local understandings of, and responses to, HIV: Rural–urban migrants in Tanzania

Coast

2006

Social Science & Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Migration is an important process of change for rural populations in developing countries. Migration is a primary cause of behaviour change -by their very act of migrating, migrants are different from those who do not migrate. The focus of the current study is male rural-urban migration in Tanzania and its interaction with sexual behaviour.The analysis presents results from a comparison with individual-level analyses of two populations, one (composed of recent rural-urban migrants) in an urban area and one in a rural area. Detailed migration histories (n=96 rural-urban migrants) and in-depth interviews (n=96 rural-urban migrants, n=51 rural residents) form the basis of the study. Three key research questions are addressed: How does the sexual behaviour of migrants differ from that of rural residents? How do HIV knowledge levels vary between rural-urban migrants and rural residents? What factors are associated with either intentions of behaviour change or reported behaviour? The results are counter-intuitive: rural-urban migrants -both married and unmarried -are not having sex in town. Despite limited understanding of the nature of HIV, the migrant population studied here regulates its behaviour in a way that reflects local understandings of the disease. This finding it important, not least because it challenges the view that HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is largely transmitted to rural areas by return migrants. Maasai rural-urban migrants in Tanzania -both married and unmarried -are not having sex in town. The policy and service provision implications of the results are explored.Abstract word count: 241

show abstract

East African Pastoralism in Transition: Maasai, Boran, and Rendille Cases

Cited by 200 publications

References 32 publications

Lakeside View: Sociocultural Responses to Changing Water Levels of Lake Turkana, Kenya

Lakeside View: Sociocultural Responses to Changing Water Levels of Lake Turkana, Kenya

Effects of Land Use on Plague (Yersinia pestis) Activity in Rodents in Tanzania

Local understandings of, and responses to, HIV: Rural–urban migrants in Tanzania

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About