Abstract
This paper examines the activities of the Samburu trader who mediates between the market economy and the subsistence economy of this area. The trading activity of a Samburu trader for two years was analyzed. The result indicates that the trader ordinarily repeats a purchase and a sale at quite short intervals. Rich local knowledge on the climate, prices, and ethnic cultures is indispensable to his trades. The trader integrates the activities as a trader with activities as a herder. For example, he purchases at a drier period when the price falls. After fattening the for some period at his homestead, he sells the at a wetter period when the pri ce rises. He makes his fortune by livestock -rolling speculation. The trader makes a profit on the mutual conversion of and cash, as an investor. With the profit, he aims to reproduce the herd, the ultimate core of his social ambition. Therefore, activities of the Samburu traders should not be regarded as an immature commerce, but rather as a unique combination of commerce and subsistence pastoralism.
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