Livestock Exchange Dynamics in Nomadic Pastoralist Herd Demography: A Case Study among the Ngisonyoka Turkana Herders of South Turkana, Kenya

Daniel H. de Vries, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Paul W. Leslie, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
J.T. McCabe, University of Colorado at Boulder

This paper examines the importance of livestock exchanges in the herd demography of nomadic herders. Nomadic pastoralist demography and health is intimately intertwined with the population structure of their livestock. Despite attention given to social relations in the pastoral literature, the link between social networks and herd demography has been relatively unexplored. Generally, social exchanges are regarded as relatively unimportant contribution of herd size, relevant only when the need for rebuilding arises after major losses. This paper challenges this assumption through a rare case study among the Ngisonyoka Turkana nomadic herders in northwestern Kenya. The reproductive histories of the female cattle, camels, and goats and sheep of thirteen herders were collected and analyzed (n=1252). The results suggest that livestock exchanges and social networks are crucial to livestock population regulation. Researchers and policymakers are urged to make efforts to support indigenous networks that sustain nomadic pastoralism in arid regions.