The Settlers' Cattle Complex: The Etiquette of Culling Cattle in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1938

Abstract

This paper examines the 1938 cattle culling and sales in Gutu and Victoria reserves, colonial Zimbabwe. What began as a routine culling very quickly became a crisis of authority for the Native Affairs Department since critics of the Department forced an inquiry into the sales. The criticism and defence of the culling facilitated a debate on state and personal justice, as well as a dialogue about the proper behaviour towards Africans, settlers and animals. The critics of the cullings as well as the colonial officers all believed themselves to be experts in African affairs. Thus what began as a criticism of cattle culling revealed tensions within white society, and in particular the need to refashion boundaries of expertise and authority within the Native Affairs Department. A close examination of the scope and development of the ensuing commission of inquiry reveals the importance of etiquette to the colonial enterprise in colonial Zimbabwe.

Coping with drought: Reflection of communal cattle farmers in Umzingwane district in Zimbabwe

“…Part of the means to contain drought involved destocking, which Catley and Cullis (2012) define as the intentional removal of animals from the range in times of distress before they succumb and become worthless. Shutt (2002) corroborates that by the mid-1930s, the perception of environmental dilapidation grew and this accelerated momentum of destocking campaigns. Culling of cattle severely interfered with the Ndebele tribe’s (dominant in Umzingwane) social economy which is largely anchored on livestock as a symbol of wealth and social status (Mapuva 2015).…”

“…Culling of cattle severely interfered with the Ndebele tribe’s (dominant in Umzingwane) social economy which is largely anchored on livestock as a symbol of wealth and social status (Mapuva 2015). The discussion makes reference to a significant publication in 1926 by Melvin Herskovits that farmers in East Africa displayed a strong cultural fondness for their herds which challenged economic rationality (Shutt 2002). In an effort to enforce coping through destocking, the Rhodesian government enacted the Land Husbandry Act (LHA) of 1951 (Selby 2006) which provided for the establishment of conservation measures in communal areas.…”

Medium-scale commercial farms in Africa: the experience of the ‘native purchase areas’ in Zimbabwe

“…As noted in this recollection, accumulation of cattle was limited by the imposition of carrying capacity limits, and by destocking in the 1930s (Shutt 2002b) and again in the 1950s (Phimister 1988). Another current resident remembered this period: ‘My father had many cattle when he settled here [in 1942], but these were reduced under orders from government to comply with the cattle carrying capacity of his farm.’ Some were evicted for non-compliance in relation to stocking rates and the digging of contour ridges: ‘At that time [1940s], if one did not meet the required standards of farming, you were evicted,’ said another informant.…”