Goat Raising among the San in the Central Kalahari

In this paper, the goat raising practices among the San are analyzed with particular reference to the technical and socio-economic aspects. Each of the 35 camps of the Kade area had goats. The number of goats in a camp varied considerably, from 8 to 440 goats. The San have techniques to identify she-goats and their kids and young goats to castrate the adult males. Goats are raised not only to be exchanges for shoes, donkeys, radio-sets, or horses, but also to be sold to merchants visiting from outside the area. The goats kept in the corral of a camp do not necessarily all belong to the members of the camp. Some people have their goats consigned to other camps. Such consignment relationships serve to further confirm and strengthen the social relations, between the consignor and the consignee, throughout a large part of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve

PIG FARMING AT KINSHASA IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Pig farming has been gaining attention in recent years in African countries south of the Sahara as a source of urban farmers’ cash income. This study was undertaken to explain what types of pigs are raised, how and where they are raised, and how pork is distributed in Kinshasa of the DRC . The results indicated that six households had begun pig farming in the past 14 years, two of which had nonetheless lost their pigs to disease. All of the pig farmers surveyed raised their animals in pigpens for marketing. Some spent grain from commercial bakeries was also used as a supplemental feed food resource for pigs. This case of using waste is likely to provide useful options when considering the sustainable use of resources in large cities in the African tropics

Road Construction and Handicraft Production in the Xade Area, Botswana

This paper aims to clarify the involvement of people living in the Xade area in roadwork and in the handicraft production. The total amount of wages and craft sales paid in the area approximately 3600 pula, 1200 pula per month, respectively. The laborers are employed without difference in pay exists between the sexes and ethnic groups. The San prefer to manufacture hunting tool kits, and the Kgalagadi purchase skins, from the San to make bags with fasteners. Despite the opportunity for high cash earning from them, there are very few people who continue in either of these jobs. For San people who prefer not to commit themselves to a lifestyle involving long-term methodical work, this is a reflection of the San's preference for a flexible subsistence lifestyle

From Subsistence to Commercial Hunting : Changes of Hunting Activities among the San in Botswana (Natural History of Communication among the Central Kalahari San)

This study aims at exploring the current state of hunting techniques, hunting activities and their transformation process, taking the San society in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. Main focus shall be placed upon how the hunters have been acquiring and maintaining trapping and equestrian hunting techniques and knowledge. Through this consideration, we will discuss the change in roles of hunting in the San society. With the spread of commercialism in the Xade area of Botswana, hunting among the San has changed over the years from a means of food supply to sustain subsistence living to hunting for commercial transactions in dried meat and skins. Each hunter finds his own optimal combination of trapping and equestrian hunting etc. Dried meat and skins from the animals, although still used for the traditional custom of gift-giving and for consumption among the San themselves according to their principle off â equal distributionâ , are being increasingly used for commercial transactions of dried meat and products made from the skins

Dry Farming among the San in the Central Kalahari

In this paper, dry farming among the San is analyzed with the emphasis on farming techniques, methods of land use, agricultural management and the distribution of agricultural products. In 1993, fields were made at 40 locations in Xade extending 20 km from the central settlement. The size of the fields ranged from less than 10 ares to more than 100 ares. The land use includes conbined of cultivation of watermelon, cowpea and maize. There are 10 varieties of cultivated watermelon grown for the fruit, and 3 varieties for the seeds. Due to the distribution system for watermelons among the San, it is impossible for farmers to become rich from a good harvest

Ethnoarchaeology of Introducing Agriculture and Social Continuity among Sedentarised Hunter–Gatherers: The Transition from the Jomon to the Yayoi Period

This study was conducted to elucidate the introduction of agriculture and social continuity from the Jomon to the Yayoi period, from an ethnoarchaeological perspective. The Yayoi period has been divided into two types: a broad spectrum economy that relied on many kinds of resources, such as rice, millet, and nuts, and a selective economy that specialised in rice and wild boar. However, it is not clear how the livelihoods shifted from the Jomon to the Yayoi period. In this study, ethnohistorical materials were examined first. Ethnohistorical reference materials gathered worldwide have revealed three relationships between hunter–gatherers and farmers: coexistence, fusion, and assimilation. Focusing on fusion, this study examined situations of hunting, gathering, and fishing, as inferred from ruins of the Late and Final Jomon period, and assessed their relationships with agriculture using ethnohistorical reference materials of the Early Edo period. There were not many social changes caused by the introduction of field farming; however, the introduction of paddy rice cultivation had different effects on society depending on the level of investment in obtaining water from streams and springs and creating irrigation features