Document Actions
Defining pastoral wealth groups
Q: How is it possible to define different wealth groups in a pastoral setting, when there is so much sharing of assets and resources between different types of household?
A: While it is true that there is a great deal of mutual assistance and cooperation between households in pastoral societies, the household remains the basic (or smallest) unit at which assets and resources are managed. Livestock, for example, are generally owned by an individual household head and not by the community. He (or occasionally she) is responsible for managing his/her animals, deciding which animals to sell and when, and whether and how to arrange gifts and loans of livestock. In practice, once the concept of the wealth group is properly explained, pastoralists generally have little difficulty in preparing a wealth breakdown for their community.
