Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda

Abstract This paper describes risk-pooling friendships and other social networks among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda. Social networks are of critical importance for risk management in an environment marked by volatility and uncertainty. Risk management or risk pooling mainly takes the form of “st...

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Autor principal:	Padmini Iyer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SpringerOpen 2021
Materias:	Resilience Stock friendships Informal social protection Livestock transfers NGOs Animal culture SF1-1100
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f30afd31e2b64786976c0d0e559176aa
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f30afd31e2b64786976c0d0e559176aa2021-11-28T12:05:51ZFriendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda10.1186/s13570-020-00182-12041-7136https://doaj.org/article/f30afd31e2b64786976c0d0e559176aa2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-020-00182-1https://doaj.org/toc/2041-7136Abstract This paper describes risk-pooling friendships and other social networks among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda. Social networks are of critical importance for risk management in an environment marked by volatility and uncertainty. Risk management or risk pooling mainly takes the form of “stock friendships”: an informal insurance system in which men established mutually beneficial partnerships with unrelated or related individuals through livestock transfers in the form of gifts or loans. Friends accepted the obligation to assist each other during need, ranging from the time of marriage to times of distress. Anthropologists and economists claim that social networks are critical for recouping short-term losses such as food shortage, as well as for ensuring long-term sustainability through the building of social capital and rebuilding of herds. To this end, I present ethnographic data on friendship, kinship, and other networks among male and female pastoralists in Karamoja. Using qualitative and quantitative data on these relationships and norms of livestock transfers and other mutual aid, I show the enduring importance of social networks in the life of Karamoja’s pastoralists today. I also demonstrate how exchange networks were utilized by participants during a drought. On this basis, I argue that appreciating historical and traditional mechanisms of resilience among pastoralists is vital for designing community-based risk management projects. I discuss how traditional safety net systems have been used successfully by NGOs to assist pastoralists in the wake of disaster, and how the same can be done by harnessing risk-pooling friendships in Karamoja.Padmini IyerSpringerOpenarticleResilienceStock friendshipsInformal social protectionLivestock transfersNGOsAnimal cultureSF1-1100ENPastoralism, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Resilience Stock friendships Informal social protection Livestock transfers NGOs Animal culture SF1-1100
spellingShingle	Resilience Stock friendships Informal social protection Livestock transfers NGOs Animal culture SF1-1100 Padmini Iyer Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
description	Abstract This paper describes risk-pooling friendships and other social networks among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda. Social networks are of critical importance for risk management in an environment marked by volatility and uncertainty. Risk management or risk pooling mainly takes the form of “stock friendships”: an informal insurance system in which men established mutually beneficial partnerships with unrelated or related individuals through livestock transfers in the form of gifts or loans. Friends accepted the obligation to assist each other during need, ranging from the time of marriage to times of distress. Anthropologists and economists claim that social networks are critical for recouping short-term losses such as food shortage, as well as for ensuring long-term sustainability through the building of social capital and rebuilding of herds. To this end, I present ethnographic data on friendship, kinship, and other networks among male and female pastoralists in Karamoja. Using qualitative and quantitative data on these relationships and norms of livestock transfers and other mutual aid, I show the enduring importance of social networks in the life of Karamoja’s pastoralists today. I also demonstrate how exchange networks were utilized by participants during a drought. On this basis, I argue that appreciating historical and traditional mechanisms of resilience among pastoralists is vital for designing community-based risk management projects. I discuss how traditional safety net systems have been used successfully by NGOs to assist pastoralists in the wake of disaster, and how the same can be done by harnessing risk-pooling friendships in Karamoja.
format	article
author	Padmini Iyer
author_facet	Padmini Iyer
author_sort	Padmini Iyer
title	Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
title_short	Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
title_full	Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
title_fullStr	Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
title_full_unstemmed	Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda
title_sort	friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in karamoja, uganda
publisher	SpringerOpen
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f30afd31e2b64786976c0d0e559176aa
work_keys_str_mv	AT padminiiyer friendshipkinshipandsocialriskmanagementstrategiesamongpastoralistsinkaramojauganda
_version_	1718408234057859072

Friendship, kinship and social risk management strategies among pastoralists in Karamoja, Uganda

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