How do Meat Scarcity and Bushmeat Commodification Influence Sharing and Giving among Forest Foragers? A View from the Central African Republic

Abstract

Meat sharing is a societal norm among hunter-gatherer societies that provisions families and supports social networks. Meat is also a valued resource central to traditional barter exchange. Ethnographic research often cites prey scarcity and commodification as two factors reducing traditional meat transactions among indigenous Central African foragers. We present quantitative data based on ethnographic observations of foragers in the Central African Republic that show that neither scarcity nor commodification eliminates sharing. The bushmeat market is associated with changes in village demographic structure that limits the distribution of meat among extended kin. Although cash generated from the sale of forest products reduces the need for inter-ethnic barter, gift giving and exchange maintain these important relationships. Our data show the persistence of traditional meat transactions and identify potential changes in demographic structure as a less obvious outcome of the bushmeat trade that can have extended consequences for forager populations.