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- Convenors:
-
Nikolaus Schareika
(Georg August University)
Georges Djohy (University of Parakou (UP), Benin)
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- Stream:
- Social Anthropology
- Location:
- Appleton Tower, Lecture Theatre 2
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 12 June, -, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
The panel revisits the question of Fulbe pastoralists facing change through the perspective of this conference's theme: connections and disruptions. It builds on the observation that Fulbe pastoralists have moved away from former "exit" strategies and are building multiple connections with society.
Long Abstract:
In 1999, a major contribution to the anthropological study of Fulbe (Fulani) pastoralists in West Africa asked if they had become "pastoralists under pressure". In 2019, twenty years later, it seems stunningly appropriate to revisit the question of Fulbe pastoralists facing change through the perspective of this conference's theme: connections and disruptions. Fulbe pastoralists, often seen as trying to avoid social and political participation through reserve and nomadic movement, have turned away from this "exit" strategy and built multiple connections with society. Getting children into school and higher education, getting milk and cattle into new markets, and getting one's people into government, business and other positions of influence have become key strategies for Fulbe pastoralists to respond to exclusion from resources as well as from social participation. The adaptation of technological innovations (including technologies of communication) has become a critical aspect of these strengthened connections between pastoral Fulbe and society. However, as the Fulbe have established new connections to the wider world, they have also experienced major disruptions within their communities and in their relationship with society. The growing divide between wealthy herd owners and stockless herders, violent herder-farmer conflicts, hostility against Fulbe based on prejudice, or parts of the young generation turning towards crime are some examples.
We are inviting contributions that elucidate such connections and disruptions between Fulbe pastoral groups and the wider West African society. Proposals should present relevant empirical data and ideally frame it as an updating contribution to the anthropological scholarship on Fulbe societies.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 12 June, 2019, -Florian Köhler (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology)
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the issues of connections and disruptions using ethnographic data from long-term research carried out in a group of Fulbe Wodaabe in Niger. Some of the defining parameters are changing pastoral conditions, urban migration and growing insecurity.
Paper long abstract:
The Wodaabe in the Zinder province of Niger have long been characterized by a flexible strategy rather than a clear position with regard to the question of integration and withdrawal. Historic accounts from the pre-colonial area to our days show instances of state evasion, but also examples of collaboration and even close connections to state authorities. Today, rural urban migration has led to new forms of mobility and to new patterns of translocal connectedness. At the same time, new territorializing strategies have emerged in the rural realm in order to get access to the resources of aid and development. These trends have entailed social stratification, with the emergence of urban communitites and rural proto-settlements and their new patterns and opportunities for gaining social prestige and influence. They thus have a significant impact on the questions of cultural continuity and social disruptions. The paper argues that despite all the sometimes dramatic change that this implies, there is continuity in the broad pattern of adapting highly flexibly to challenging conditions. Today, however, the limits of these adapting strategies often have to be stretched to the impossible due to new security threats that have dramatically affected the region over the past years.
Adam Higazi (University of Amsterdam)
Paper short abstract:
This paper draws on anthropological fieldwork in nomadic camps and agro-pastoral communities in central & northern Nigeria. It looks at the social organisation of Fulani groups and pastoralism as a mode of production and way of life in Nigeria, including the problem of farmer-herder conflicts.
Paper long abstract:
This paper draws on anthropological fieldwork carried out by the author in pastoralist communities in Nigeria, in nomadic camps and agro-pastoral compounds. The paper has three main parts. The first analyses the current situation of pastoralism as a mode of production and way of life in central and northern Nigeria. It looks at pastoralists' access to land and water and land tenure (or the lack of), pastoral mobility and transhumance, herding practices, the ownership of cattle, and the livestock trade. Nigeria's National Livestock Transformation Plan and the politics of pastoralism and land is outlined. The second part looks at the social organisation and kinship structures of selected Fulbe groups and families - based on fieldwork in northern Nigeria within Jahun clans and Wodaabe, Ude'en and other groups. Drawing on the author's research in other parts of West Africa, the paper makes regional comparisons and considers wider connections and disruptions in the kinship ties of Fulbe groups, mobility of livestock, and the pressures and constraints on pastoral mobility. Some of the disruptions are caused by civil insecurity, in which the Fulbe are victims and participants. The third part of the paper analyses violent conflicts between herders and farmers in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria, and related forms of insecurity, including 'rural banditry'. This includes perspectives from farming communities. Reflecting on the panel theme, the conclusion asks how effective or otherwise Fulbe pastoralists in Nigeria have been in connecting to wider society and politics to address the many challenges they face.
Dangana Aje (Benue State University)
Paper short abstract:
The study unraveled the overlapping connections and disruption borne by Fulani herders and farmers due to constraints on grazing and farming land. Disruptions and connection touches on grazing patterns, land access, livelihoods, water access, farmers-herders conflict and altering family relations
Paper long abstract:
This study digresses from the dominant narratives advanced by scholars and observers which examined the direct multifaceted impacts of Large-scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) which have become a commonplace in Africa—particularly Nigeria—in the wake of the 2007/2008 global financial, food and fuel crisis. In this light, the study interrogated the indirect fallouts of the phenomenon of large-scale land acquisitions by foreign agribusiness firms in the agrarian region of North-central Nigeria. While the dominant narrative advanced in extant literature are fixated on the direct fallout of such capitalist land commodification and expropriation, this study examined the indirect effects of the phenomenon in orchestrating connections and disruptions among socio-economic groups such as smallholder farmers and transhumant herders in north-central Nigeria. The establishment of the over 10,000 hectares Olam Integrated Rice Farm by the Singaporean firm Olam International in Rukubi-Ondorie communities heralded a disconnection of historical smallholder rice farmers from their farmlands, which in turn occasioned their emigration to farm on grazing paths seasonally utilized by transhumant herders leading to violent connections farmers-herders conflicts. Concomitantly, the dispossession and displacement orchestrated by this land appropriation further brings about disruption of livelihoods and water access for vulnerable households. Drawing on data collected through qualitative methodology and instruments, this study unraveled the inherent connections and disruptions to both farmers and herders caused by establishment of commercial farms on economically strategic spaces. Findings from the study reveals an intertwined and overlapping connections and disruptions to grazing patterns, land access, livelihoods, water access, and intra-family relations.
Ifeanyi Onwuzuruigbo (University of Ibadan)
Paper short abstract:
One of the prominent disruptions West African pastoralists have encountered in their bid to connect to the wider world is cattle rustling. This paper captures the ways in which ungoverned forests provide conducive atmosphere and safe havens for cattle rustling and rustler
Paper long abstract:
Pastoral societies in West Africa experience disruptions in their communities and their relationship with the society as they strive to connect with the wider world and respond to waves of social change. One of the major disruptions they have encountered is the upswing in cattle banditry in the region. This paper explores the upsurge in cattle banditry in northern Nigeria. Drawing on orthodox epistemologies of cattle rustling in Africa, extant studies have attributed cattle rustling to culture and tradition, environmental scarcity, state failure and proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Much as they help us to make sense of cattle rustling in West African, these explanations, which are often presented as 'one-size-fits-all', do not pay attention to contexts and particularities. As a result, certain factors which are unique and as such critical to explaining and understanding cattle banditry in particular societies have been ignored. In this regard, what is largely and sadly missing in the case of Nigeria are studies that frontally engage the connection between ungoverned forests and cattle rustling, despite the prodigious and undeniable evidence linking the former to the latter. Just how forests have over time transformed to ungoverned spaces of cattle rustling, until recently, remained largely subdued and unexplored in the discourse of Nigeria's security debacle and emerging conflict and criminological literature. This is the research gap the paper aspires to fill. Essentially, it captures the ways in which Nigeria's ungoverned forests provide conducive atmosphere for cattle rustling and safe havens for cattle bandits.
Dougoukolo Ba-Konaré (INALCO)
Paper short abstract:
This paper takes a look at narratives used by the media, researchers, politicians and various field actorr when dealing with Fula and issues pertaining to them. These narratives shape the involvement of Fula in violent conflict.
Paper long abstract:
The modern African state of Mali is depicted as a successor state of the Ancient Empire of Mali. Since 2012, a lasting political, social, and security crisis has been rocking the country. Non-state armed groups, fundamental Islamist fighters, have been wreaking havoc in a state that was long praised for its tradition of intermingling of peoples, its religious tolerance, and its democratic efforts. The international community has gone to Mali's bedside, with a special United Nations mission- the MINUSMA- and the French Serval operation. More structured plans for military security such as G5 Sahel, and French operation Barkhane have followed. Nevertheless, violent conflicts in Mali have not subsided. Various strategic narratives are being employed to mobilize support for Mali, its stability, and its strategic capabilities. These narratives have not prevented the rise of community-centered strategies for survival. Fula, the largest West African ethnicity, have been associated to various narratives in the fight against terrorism. As such, Fula civilians have been victimized by various parties, among which the national army, and non-state armed groups serving as proxies for various agendas. This work aims to study narratives employed in Mali by various actors in the field to justify their actions and strategies. Herein, with a look at history and insider insights, we focus on reactions from Fula communities that are currently experiencing a revolution because of these strategies, and how they are using narratives of their own, based on their sense of common identity, to respond. Subjective appropriations fuel peacebuilding and warmongering.
Jónína Einarsdóttir (University of Iceland) Hamadou Boiro (University of Iceland/INEP)
Paper short abstract:
Repatriation as a measure to fight child trafficking is examined with Bissau-Guinean Quran school boys in Senegal as a case in point. After capture in Senegal, by NGO workers, the boys experience mixed reception in the home village and most return.
Paper long abstract:
The repatriation of Quran school boys from Guinea-Bissau asking for alms on behalf of their teachers, the marabouts, begins with their 'capture.' After being either 'captured' or having oneself 'captured' for a free ride home ahead of the intensive labor period, the boys are transferred to a transit center, first in Senegal and then in Guinea-Bissau. The aim is to explore repatriation as an anti-trafficking measure. Data is based on series of fieldworks in the period 2009-2017 with particular focus on the marabouts, boys, parents, villagers and NGO staff.
The parents find the handover ceremony of their sons in Guinea-Bissau humiliating. Under a threat of imprisonment, the father has to sign a paper that confirms that his son will stay in the village. Those boys who had themselves 'captured' to help their parents and marabout are well received while the others are stigmatized and met with mistrust and rejection at family and community level. Despite threats taking the fathers to court, most boys return to Senegal. Some continue with their Quran studies others find some 'trade' or recruit peers at home to ask for alms in Senegal. Through the circulation of boys, the NGOs workers keep their transit centers busy while some marabouts and parents take advantage of the repatriation annually as free transport ahead of the harvest time. The NGOs, equipped with the Palermo Protocol and funds from the international community, are on the defense. The marabouts, the religious leaders, equipped with symbolic capital, are the masters of the game.