Suffering Grass : Subsistence and Society of Waso Borana

This study is concerned with a Cushitic pastoral people, the Waso Borana, who live in the dry lands of northern Kenya. It is organized according to two major themes. The first concerns primarily the conditions for animal husbandry in the area, its organization and consequences for social structure. Both male and female perspectives are accounted for. The second theme concerns local effects of two major changes: a) the integration of the Borana community into the independent Kenyan political and economic structure; and b) a severe cut in the primary subsistence resources (livestock, pastures and labour) which followed the secessionist so-called shifta war during the 1960s. The basic aim of the study is to draw attention to the extent to which the integration into a wider political and economic context has changed the opportunity structure of various sections of the society in a way that has led to a more marked internal social stratification. One expression of this development process is the fact that also the ability to withstand the hazards of animal husbandry have become unequally distributed. Any attempt to distinguish between groups which might be termed more or less traditional or to establish regional boundaries within the Waso society as a whole would be artificial and would prevent a proper understanding of the dynamics of social life and the processes of change affecting it.