Abstract
Since the 1970s, the study of gender relations and labor and resource use in different production systems has become an important subject of inquiry. While there has been recent interest in gender and livestock issues in pastoral societies, most of the work on gender and agriculture to date has focused primarily upon the role of women in crop production, to the virtual exclusion of the contributions women, children, and the elderly make to the livestock component of the farming system. The topic of gender (broadly defined to include age and sex criteria) and livestock management was addressed at a session at the 1992 Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association entitled, “Gender and Livestock in African Production Systems,” the contributions to which form the basis of the present volume. Topics presented in the papers include: a conceptual framework for investigation of gender and livestock production and disease control, responsibility for productive tasks, livestock ownership and rights to livestock products, and impacts of and responses to change. Nearly all papers in the volume argue explicitly or implicitly for the need to include gender considerations in the planning of livestock development programs, thereby rendering the collection of interest to both scientits and policymakers.
Article PDF
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Behnke, R., and Kervin, C. (1983). FSR and the attempt to understand the goals and motivations of farmers.Culture and Agriculture 19: 9–16.
Boserup, E. (1970).Women's Role in Economic Development. St Martin's Press, New York.
Collinson, M. (1989). Forward. In Feldstein, H. S., and Poats, S. V. (eds.),Working Together. Gender Analysis in Agriculture. Volume 1: Case Studies. Kumarian Press, West Hartford, pp. xiii-xiv.
Dahl, G. (1987). Women in pastoral production. Some theoretical notes on roles and resources.Ethnos 52: i-ii, 246–279.
Draper, P. (1975). Kung women: Contrasts in sexual egalitarianism in the foraging and sedentary contexts. In Reiter, R. (ed.),Toward an Anthropology of Women. Monthly Review Press, New York, pp. 77–109.
Durrenberger, E. P. (ed.) (1984).Chayanov, Peasants, and Economic Anthropology. Academic Press, New York.
Ellis, F. (1988).Peasant Economics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ensminger, J. (1987). Economic and political differentiation among Galole Orma women.Ethnos 52: i-ii, 28–49.
Etienne, M., and Leacock, E. B. (1980).Women and Colonization. Praeger, New York.
Feldstein, H. S., and Poats, S. V. (eds.) (1989).Working Together. Gender Analysis in Agriculture. Volume 1: Case Studies. Kumarian Press, West Hartford.
Feldstein, H. S., Flora, C. B., and Poats, S. V. (1989). The Gender Variable in Agricultural Research. IDRC Manuscript Report IDRC-MR225e, Women in Development Unit, IDRC, Ottawa.
Frankenberger, T. (1985).Adding a Food Consumption Perspective to Farming Systems Research. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
Freidl, E. (1975).Women and Men: An Anthropologist's View. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Gladwin, C. H., and McMillan, D. (1989). Is a turnaround in Africa possible without helping African women farm?Economic Development and Cultural Change 37(2): 345–369.
Guyer, J. I. (1986). Intra-houshold processes and farming systems research: Perspectives from anthropology. In Moock, J. L. (ed.),Understanding Africa's Rural Housholds and Farming Systems. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, pp. 92–104.
Huss-Ashmore, R. (1989). Perspectives on the African food crisis. In Huss-Ashmore, R., and Katz, S. H. (eds.),African Food Systems in Crisis. Part One: Microperspectives. Gordon and Breach, New York, pp. 3–42.
Jokwar, F., and Horowitz, M. M. (eds.) (1991). Gender Relations of Pastoral and Agropastoral Production. A Bibliography with Annotations. Working Paper No. 79, Institute for Development Anthropology, Binghampton, New York.
Low, A. R. C. (1986).Agricultural Development in Southern Africa: Farm Houshold Theory and the Food Crisis. James Currey, London.
Martin, K., and Voorhies, B. (1975).The Female of the Species. Columbia University Press, New York.
Mellor, J. W., Delgado, C. L., and Blackie, M. J. (eds.) (1987).Accelerating Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Food Policy Research Institute, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Minge-Kalman, W. (1977). On the theory and measurement of domestic labor intensity.American Ethnologist 4: 273–284.
Moock, J. L. (ed.) (1986).Understanding Africa's Rural Households and Farming Systems. Westview Press, Boulder.
Morgen, S. (ed.) (1989).Gender and Anthropology. Critical Reviews for Research and Teaching. American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
Nielsen, J. McC. (ed.) (1990).Feminist Research Methods. Exemplary Readings in the Social Sciences. Westview Press, Boulder.
Oboler, R. S. (1985).Women, Power, and Economic Change: The Nandi of Kenya. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
Okali, C. and Sumberg, J. E. (1986). Sheep and goats, men and women: Household relations and small ruminent production in southwest Nigeria. In Moock, J. L. (ed.),Understanding Africa's Rural Households and Farming Systems. Westview Press, Boulder, pp. 166–181.
Peters, P. (1986). Household management in Botswana: Cattle crops, and wage labor. In Moock, J. L. (ed.),Understanding Africa's Rural Households and Farming Systems. Westview Press, Boulder, Co, pp. 133–154.
Poats, S. V. (1991).The Role of Gender in Agricultural Development Issues in Agriculture No. 3, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, Washington, D.C.
Poats, S. V., Schmink, M., and Spring, A. (eds.) (1988).Gender Issues in Farming Systems Research and Extension. Westview Special Studies in Agriculture Science and Policy, Westview Press, Boulder.
Reiter, R. R. (1975).Toward an Anthropology of Women. Monthly Review Press, New York.
Rosaldo, M. Z., and Lamphere, L. (eds.) (1974).Women, Culture, and Society. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Sachs, C. E. (1983).The Invisible Farmers. Women in Agricultural Production. Rowman and Allanheld, Totowa, NJ.
Sacks, K. (1979).Sisters and Wives: The Past and Future of Sexual Equality. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.
Sahlins, M. (1972).Stone Age Economics. Aldine, Chicago.
Sanday, P. (1981).Female Power and Male Dominance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Spear, T. T. (1978).The Kaya Complex: A History of the Mijikenda Peoples of the Kenya Coast to 1900. Kenya Literature Bureau, Nairobi.
Spring, A. (1986). Men and women smallholder participants in a stall feeder livestock program in Malawi.Human Organization 45: 154–162.
Talle, A. (1987). Women as heads of houses: The organization of production and the role of women among pastoral Maasai of Kenya.Ethnos 52: i-ii, 50–80.
Tannenbaum, N. (1984). Chayanov and economic anthropology. In Durrenberger, E. P. (ed.),Chayanov, Peasants, and Economic Anthropology. Academic Press, New York, pp. 27–38.
Thorner, D., Kerblay, B., and Smith, R. E. F. (1966).Chayanov on the Theory of Peasant Economy. Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.
Walshe, M. J., Grindle, J., Nell, A., and Bachmann, M. (1991). Dairy Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Study of Issues and Options. World Bank Technical Paper No. 135, African Technical Department Series, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Waters-Bayer, A. (1986). Modernizing milk production in Nigeria: Who benefits?Ceres 113(19): 34–39.
Weil, G. (1992). Caught in the crisis: women in the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. In Kahne, H., and Giele, J. Z. (eds.),Women's Work and Women's Lives. The Continuing Struggle Worldwide. Westview Press, Boulder.
Winrock International (1992).Assessment of Animal Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Winrock International, Morrillton, AK.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Curry, J. Gender and livestock in African production systems: An introduction. Hum Ecol 24, 149–160 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169124
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169124