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Bones for Sale: 'Development', environment and food security in East Africa

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  • Mathew Forstater

Abstract

Maasai pastoralism has been characterized historically by highly developed herd and rangeland management techniques and social and cultural institutions at the intra- and inter-community levels that have provided security against shocks such as drought, crop failure and epidemic disease. Key to pastoral production was that herd management and milk production were the domain of the individual domestic units--the household or the homestead--while rights to pasture and water resources were communal so as to guarantee access to both dry and wet season grazing. It is this combination of individual and communal resources and inter- and intra-community relations that enabled pastoralism to thrive for millennia. It will be argued that the failure of colonial and neocolonial 'development' policies to recognize these key features of Maasai pastoralism has been at the root of both the crisis of land degradation and the undermining of Maasai and East African food security.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathew Forstater, 2002. "Bones for Sale: 'Development', environment and food security in East Africa," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 47-67.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:14:y:2002:i:1:p:47-67
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250120102769
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    Cited by:

    1. Tim K. Loos & Manfred Zeller, 2014. "Milk sales and dietary diversity among the Maasai," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(S1), pages 77-90, November.

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