Cattle-breeding

A cow is a Fulbe’s most precious possession. It’s a measure of wealth, it’s a member of the family, they dedicate the mergi praise poetry to it, when they return from the seasonal pastures. They will never slaughter their cow, but will just drink its milk. Or rather, curdled milk, which is what milk becomes immediately in the African heat.

However, the Fulbe cattlemen are not the only ones who very rarely slaughter their cattle. Farmers have their own cows, goats and sheep, but they very seldom eat meat, and they mostly eat wild animals. They drink milk very seldom, too: a cow would give just a liter or two a day, and all of the milk goes to the Fulbe herdsmen to pay for their work. Very often, goats, sheep and even cows are not even herded. They wander around the village chewing on whatever they can find: a tuft of grass, a tree branch or even a plastic bag… That’s why fertilizing with manure rarely occurs to anybody: usually, it simply can’t be collected. Also, many Africans have no clue about the fact that nanny goats and sheep can be milked. Cattle is raised for other reasons: for when the time comes to pay a fee for a bride or for a nobleman’s burial.

To support their living with cattle-breeding people need much more land than for farming. When there is too much cattle, it is becomes destructive for the environment. It is believed that the drying of Sahara happened due to people who domesticated animals. That is why, with the growth of the population, nomadic cattle-breeders have no choice but to transform into settled farmers. But even the people for whom this transition took place a long time ago do not forget their shepherds’ past and praise the cow, that they still consider their dearest possession.

Fulbe nomads with their herd.  Nigeria. D. G. Bondarev. 2005		It is not easy to get across a gutter in the capital with a herd.  Mali. The Fulbe. Ye. V. Perehvalskaya. 2006.		Ethiopian cattleherder. Enderta, Gervers M., 2005.
Fresh milk won’t last long in the African heat, that is why milkwomen usually sell clabber. Kankan, Perekhvalskaya E., 2006.		Cattle-pen. Sebekoro, Vydrin V., 1998