Farming, marketing, and changes in the authority of elders among pastoral Rendille and Ariaal.

Abstract

Pastoral cultures of East Africa include certain institutions that meet requirements for labor organization and control over resources. Institutions that have been adapted to multi-species pastoralism in arid or semi-arid environments include: a patriarchical and gerontocratic control over resources that permits polygyny; an age-system that both dictates work roles and legitimizes control over resources; and marriage practices that permit elder males to control the labor of unmarried junior males. All of these institutions and ideals are interrelated, reinforcing each other and perpetuating the social and ideological order of society. When the economy changes, however, institutions may also change or perhaps become less useful for organizing society. Such is the case for Rendille and Ariaal of northern Kenya who now farm and are more involved in the market economy than their pastoral kin. The result is greater economic opportunity for young men of the warrior age grade, while ways for elders to maintain their authority continue to exist.