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| Notes to Chapter seven. 1) As Riesman observes:- "When we speak of 'subsistence' or a 'mode of subsistence', we unknowingly project onto our subjects the idea that survival is the dominant concern of their lives. This is a mistake. People's dominant concern is to live a life of dignity and meaning. While the Fulbe could perfectly well survive tilling the soil like anybody else, they are not anybody else and do not want to be." (1987, p.8) And see Richards (1986) 2) One day I learnt that Coto Timbi had purchased a bearing cow. This puzzled me. In many pastoral societies, to sell a heifer or a bearing cow is selling capital and, like the sale of seed rice, is often a desperate measure in times of stress and hardship. Why was the cow sold then? I asked. "Why, or how can you keep a cow in your warri so it can bear calves, if you have no money to feed your own children? If there are no males, you have to sell the cows", he explained. Coto Timbi sold this cow on. Had he been wealthier he may well have placed this cow in his own warri, but he too needed the money. Hunting Technical Services (1979) provide the following breakdown of over 20,000 "trade cattle", (presumably cattle from Guinea), which passed through the Kamikwie Livestock Inspection Post, Bombali District, during the three years 1974-76. Bulls- 32% Steers- 32% Cows- 35% Heifers- <1% Calves- <1% (Hunting Technical Services 1979, p.95) The ratio of male cattle to female cattle is almost 2:1. The figures seem to suggest that cows are retained in the herd much longer than the males, and it is probable that many are culled in the local area and not traded. Kamara (1981) also provides data on "cattle take offs". The information was gathered from surveys carried out in Sinkunia (Koinadugu District) and Mashebra (Bombali District). I assume that the figures on the numbers of cattle sold relate to a time period, (possibly over one year?) but this is not specified.
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| 3) Dupire (1962b) shows that dairy products are the basis of WoDaaBe exchange for the acquisition of grain. And
Stenning notes:-"The pastoral Fulani family is a herdowning and milk selling enterprise" (1966, p.100)
Cattle sales in these societies were irregular; often "emergency measures" to meet unexpected financial
needs. (See Sutter 1982, p.39) 4) A livestock development officer at Musaia Livestock Station told me that the results of a survey at Gbindi cattle market had suggested that "market trends" rather than seasonal variation, affected livestock prices. He also observed that there were marked spasmodic fluctuations in the number of cattle brought to market. Hunting Technical Services suggest that wide fluctuations in price do not occur between market days, and that traders are prepared to hold stocks of livestock for some weeks until they get an "acceptable price". (Hunting Technical Services 1979, p.94) My own data supports this observation. (See below) Away from the markets on the international border, the seasonal price variations may be more apparent. A herd-owner explained to me that from April to September the price for cattle was "small", from October to January cattle "had price", and from January to March (i.e. the height of the dry season) demand was low because the cattle were not in good condition. Gwynne-Jones et al. concurs, although here too, non seasonal factors affect the sale of cattle. The authors provide a brief outline of a Fula warri. They note that the Fula herd-owner sells cattle for a number of reasons: he has too many cattle in his herd; he needs money to buy essential items for himself, his wives or children; he needs money to send one of his sons to Kono to dig diamonds; money is needed to help a member of his clan to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. (1978, p.96-7) 5) See Sutter (1982) which provides data on household budgets of Fulani nomads in Niger. He demonstrates how Fulani commercial strategies "grow out of, and act upon, a pastoral economy in transition from subsistence oriented pastoralism to a more market oriented pastoralism." (p.26) 6) On the concept of "strangers" see Skinner (1963) and Shack and Skinner eds. (1979; especially the paper by Leighton, p.85-103) 7) See Stenning (1958) and Riesman (1977) who demonstrate the importance of the "social relationship" between the human and cattle populations. 8) Among many pastoral Fulani groups there are several forms of reciprocal livestock exchanges beyond the immediate rights and obligations of the herd owner and his dependants. See Dupire (1962a, p.342-45 and 1970), Scott and Gormley (1980), White (1984,p.7ff.) and Legge (forthcoming). 9) cf. Riesman who observes:- "it is important to point out that each thing and each domestic animal belongs to someone, to a single person. To think that a cow...could be the property of more than one person at a time would be as perplexing for a Fulani as to learn that the cow does not belong to anyone." (1977: 38) |
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| 10) Frantz observes of the Fulani in northern Nigeria:-"Another significant change in animal husbandry has
been the spread of individual ownership. Among all groups who own cattle, the title of ownership is seldom held
by units larger than the extended family. However, the holding of titles is often not identical with the rights
to dispose of cattle. Whereas title to cattle usually rests with individuals, purchases, sales and gifts are undertaken
only with the advice and consent of kinsmen and friends. The freedom to dispose of stock may be greatest where
the herd size is also the largest." (1975, p.343) And see Blench (1985, p.7ff) 11) I once asked a young cattle trader to explain how Futa traders had been able to establish their herds. He answered by way of a lyrical contrast between the Futa and the Kebu. His explanation, which follows immediately, indicates one of the fundamental ways in which ownership of cattle has changed. "You see, the Futa, like Alhaji Boie, when they first came from Guinea, they didn't have cattle. They did a bit of trading. And when they had collected a bit of money, put it away. And when they had enough money for a cow they bought one, and left it in a warri. They buy and leave, buy and leave, buy and leave. The Kebu, like Alhaji Selo, well his grandfather had cows. When he died, his children took them. And when they died their children took them. And so the seed goes. They will not part with their cows until God decides to finish them.". 12) Kamara concurs:-" [cattle] farmers did not buy young calves to start or replace their old cattle. Cattle were sold purely for beef purposes." (1981, p.176) 13) Banton's data suggests that the involvement of "traditional" pastoralists in trade may be long-established in some areas of Sierra Leone. He notes:- "In Mateboi there is a relatively large settlement of pastoral Fula who raise cattle on the grasslands. They send their young men to Kabala and Kamakwie to buy cattle and to take cattle to Freetown for sale." (1957, p.54) 14) It has been estimated that approximately only 40% of the cattle marketed in Sierra Leone for consumption came from the national herd, (thought to number around 330,000 in 1979). The other 60%, an estimated 35,000 cattle, enter Sierra Leone from Guinea. (Hunting Technical Services 1979 p.25) Fula pastoralists, arbitrarily divided by a political boundary, continue to operate extensively in both countries. Little written information is available on livestock production in Guinea. However, the major cattle markets which lie in the border of the two countries, not only facilitate the marketing of Guinean cattle in Sierra Leone, they also make available to Guinean traders a wide range of manufactured consumer goods, otherwise unavailable in that country. This appears to have been the situation for the past twenty years. In 1966 the District Officer writes:- "From observation it appears that Sierra Leoneans offer for sale more manufactured goods while their Guinean counter-parts bring more agricultural products. Trade between the two countries reaches its highest peak during and around the dry season and the Mohamedan Festivals eg. Ramadan..." The District Officer then provides a long list of goods exchanged. Goods offered by Sierra Leoneans include; cotton goods, men and women's dresses, umbrellas, enamel |
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| wares, buckets and pots, sugar, milk, soap, Blue (washing blue), onions and salt, coolers, matches and cigarettes.
Goods offered by Guineans include; cattle, sheep and goats, cigarettes and matches, grained groundnuts, calabashes,
rice and millet, sewing machines, bicycles, gold dust and trinkets. The District Officer notes:- "both barter and money are used as media of exchange...The prices of certain commodities are partly fixed in money and in addition, direct barter satisfies the other part. While it is a common feature in these markets for rice and palm oil to be directly exchanged, it can also be observed that a Guinean seller may accept both money and a bag of salt. This is a common practice on both sides." (Document 22. "Re.Sierra Leone-Guinea trade". Undated memo from District Officer Koinadugu to Provincial Secretary, Northern Province, Makeni. File A13/2 Sierra Leone-Guinea Cattle Trade Relations. Located at Kabala District Office.) Cattle traders based in Koinadugu District are in a doubly fortunate position in that these international markets fall within Sierra Leone's major cattle rearing area. Koinadugu District is estimated to carry in excess of 150,000 cattle, which represents more than 45% of the national total. Whilst smaller operators, such as Coto Timbi, may be limited to the purchase of cattle from local internal markets, wealthier traders characteristically trade in cattle drawn from Guinean and Sierra Leonean herds. They frequently also trade in manufactured items. Gbindi Market, which is held on a Sunday, is the most important cattle market in Koinadugu District. It is approximately thirty miles north of Kabala, and lies five miles south of the international border. Records show that over 18,000 cattle, nearly 9000 sheep and 5000 goats were traded at this market during 1978. (Hunting Technical Services 1979 p.94) 15) Gwynne-Jones et al. 1978 note:- "The most convenient time of the year for selling...cattle is November-December before the cattle 'hungry-season'. When he is ready to sell, Alimu [the herd-owner] notifies the cattle trader with whom he usually deals and a price is fixed. After payment, the dealer sends his 'cow-catcher' to collect the cattle which Alimu has sold and drives them to the trader's warri for sale". (p.97, emphasis added) cf. Hill who notes that among the Dagomba and Wa cattle rearers in north-west Ghana:- "Individual rearers tried to avoid having any kind of regular relationship with a trader, there having been a general belief that you get a better price from a stranger". (1970, p.113) 16) Many wealthy cattle-traders trade in a wide range of commodities and in the past there was a close trading association between Fula and Lebanese merchants. During the mid-1950's, an outbreak of bovine pleuro-pneumonia, which forced the colonial authorities to quarantine many grazing areas, appears to have disrupted this relationship:- "We have had several requests about lifting the restrictions especially in Sulima Chiefdom because it is affecting trade with French Guinea. The people most concerned about this are the Lebanese traders in Kabala who depend to a very large extent on the cattle traders bringing in cattle from Guinea. The animals are sold and the money is used to purchase cotton goods which the traders in turn sell in French Guinea so that they could buy some more cattle to complete the cycle. The restriction order in Sulima has therefore broken the cycle and this I understand is |
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| causing some hardship on the Lebanese traders in Kabala". (Doc 380-1. Memo from Veterinary Officer Koinadugu,
to Director of Veterinary Services, Teko. Dated 23 July 1957. File A/11 "Control of cattle diseases",
located at Kabala District Office. 17) Dorjahn (1962) suggests that Fula traders were a significant factor in "interregional trade" during the 1950's. He observes that Fula cattle traders moved southwards through Sierra Leone, driving small herds of cattle from town to town. 18) Cohen notes:-"the (train) journey to Ibadan takes two to three days and the few cattle who show signs of sickness in the meantime are slaughtered and sold at intervening stations, where local butchers are always waiting for such opportunities". (1975, p.9) 19) These figures refer to a trip from Kabala to Monrovia. I was told that on shorter runs, as many as twenty one cattle could be carried. I believe this to be unusual. 20) There was a large demand for "beef" in Kabala. However, during the time of my research, local butchers, many of whom also traded in cattle, complained that there was little profit to be gained from supplying the local populace. Meat inspection records show that in 1978, 1033 cattle were slaughtered in Kabala. (Hunting Technical Services 1970 p.111 and see Table 7:1.) By 1983, the number had dwindled considerably. During my stay beef was only available in the market place infrequently. This was not due to a drop in local demand; simply that beef prices were higher at the larger markets elsewhere. Furthermore, my informants observed that since the completion of the Makeni-Fadugu road less cattle were driven into Kabala, whereas the number of fully laden cattle-trucks which passed through the town continued to increase. (see above) 21) cf. Gwynne-Jones et al. which notes:-"In fact much of the transborder trade is in smuggled goods. In the Fula language there is a special word for the men who cross the border between Sierra Leone and Guinea. They are called luminobo which means "those who cross" (p.197) I was told that between six and ten "trips" from Sierra Leone reached Monrovia every day. (Hunting Technical Services estimate that 9000 cattle were exported into Liberia during 1978. (1979,6)) There, the cattle were slaughtered and weighed, and the traders paid in dollars per pound weight at differential rates for steak and "meat and bone". (In Sierra Leone, I think that it was more common for cattle to be sold by liveweight.) The currency was changed near the border through currency traders. I understood that a great deal of the profit derived from the comparative rates of exchange between the two countries, the "strong" Liberian Dollar, linked to the United States Dollar, and the "weaker" Leone. Not surprisingly, there is much currency smuggling, and Liberian coins were even brought into Sierra Leone to be melted down and re-fashioned into jewellery. 22) The practice of deferred credit is both old and well-established. Dorjahn and Fyfe (1962) have shown that the ability to trade safely on credit is linked to a "landlord-stranger" relationship; customary rules which have, for centuries, guided the relationship between host and visitor. (p.394) They note:-"Many Muslim traders, chiefly Fula and Mandinka from the remote interior, came regularly to Freetown to trade in the nineteenth century. Rather than have European or Creole landlords, they went to countrymen of their own who were settled there permanently for the purpose. |
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| These Muslim landlords took full charge of their strangers while they were in Freetown, guided them through the
intricacies of Europeanised city life, and arranged their trade. For this they took extortionate commissions..."
(ibid,p.396) Similarly in the Rio Pongas area, trade conducted between the coastal traders and Fula caravans in the 1790's, frequently involved "the practice of giving a trader merchandise on credit." (Mousser, 1973, p.50) And see Hopkins 1973, (p.70-1) See Cohen (1975) for a detailed discussion on the role of credit in a Nigerian cattle market. 23) In this respect, "cowboys" have much in common with "lorryboys"; apprentice drivers, who are responsible for loading and unloading. And see Jordan 1978. |
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Table 7:1., showing the official numbers of cattle slaughtered in Kabala for 1952-3, 1959-60, 1967 and January
1971.
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| Source: The table was compiled from "Health Inspectors Animals Inspection Return Forms", File VD/KOI/1/45, located at Veterinary Office, Kabala. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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