Papers by Peter D. Little
Pastoral Livestock Marketing in Eastern Africa, 2006
Social Science Research Network, Mar 1, 2008
Skip to Main Content. Wiley Online Library will be disrupted 5 Nov from 10-12 GMT for monthly mai... more Skip to Main Content. Wiley Online Library will be disrupted 5 Nov from 10-12 GMT for monthly maintenance. ...
Human Organization, Sep 1, 1987
RTI International. P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194. Tel: 919-541-6000; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.rti.org, Nov 30, 2003
Peter D. Little illustrates how an anthropological perspective can deepen understandings of customary and global markets; diéerent types of money; diversiêed livelihoods of the poor; gendered and racialized labor; climate change and other global issues. By questioning common dichotomies, such as ..., 2024
Peter D. Little illustrates how an anthropological perspective can deepen understandings of custo... more Peter D. Little illustrates how an anthropological perspective can deepen understandings of customary and global markets; diéerent types of money; diversiêed livelihoods of the poor; gendered and racialized
labor; climate change and other global issues. By questioning common dichotomies, such as the informal versus formal sectors and customary versus modern institutions, the book uncovers those hidden connections,
power relations, and economic actors and processes that underpin real economies throughout the world.
Much has changed in Somalia and Somali East Africa since the publication of Somalia: Economy with... more Much has changed in Somalia and Somali East Africa since the publication of Somalia: Economy without state almost two decades ago (Little, 2003). Despite a dizzying pace of transition in certain economic sectors, especially in telecommunications and digital finance, there are certain processes and pursuits, such as pastoralism and migration, that have remained stubbornly consistent. The collection of essays in this book, Trade Makes States, reflects this kind of unstable equilibrium between economy and 'state' in the region by treading across familiar and enduring themes, such as trade and trust, as well as new subjects, such as the roles of infrastructure and taxation in state building.
The Journal of Peasant Studies, Jan 10, 2022
During 2014 to 2019, the export of cattle from Ethiopia, the African country with the largest cat... more During 2014 to 2019, the export of cattle from Ethiopia, the African country with the largest cattle population, declined more than 95 percent after achieving impressive gains from 2001 to 2013. The cattle export trade depends almost solely on the pastoral lowlands, especially those of the Borana pastoralist in southern Ethiopia, and on an informal, exploitive credit system based on a complex system of deferred payments. The article asks: How did the deferred payment system for exported cattle from Ethiopia contribute to the collapse of the trade since 2014? It argues that this risky and regressive form of informal credit where debt is passed down the market chain to Borana traders and pastoralists helps to explain the export collapse. It is shown that unlike trade in other livestock species, this pattern of credit and payment defaults are especially associated with cattle export trade, which in turn is dependent on a pastoralist production system increasingly constrained by land enclosures and settlements. By examining how counter flows of capital, credit, and debt in the export market chain disadvantage pastoralist traders and producers, the article helps to explain how a once booming trade was undermined by its own contradictory processes and unequal relationships.
Drawing upon recent anthropological research on livestock trade and traders in southern Ethiopia ... more Drawing upon recent anthropological research on livestock trade and traders in southern Ethiopia and a review of different policy papers and reports, this chapter suggests three main reasons for Ethiopia’s failure to recognize pastoral economies because of the government’s fetishized attachment to economic transformation and growth. These are: (1) pastoralism counters modernist visions of Ethiopia’s economy and society; (2) strong political and economic interests dictate the opening of pastoral lands to expropriation and investment, thereby undermining pastoralism and silencing its contributions to the economy; and (3) mobile populations, such as pastoralists, are viewed as political and administrative problems for the Ethiopian state.
African Affairs, 2021
In 2016, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) announced plans to re-launch the Somali shilling... more In 2016, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) announced plans to re-launch the Somali shilling (SoSh), which had its last official printing before the state collapsed in 1991. The article takes this pivotal moment to address the following three questions: (i) Why has the stateless SoSh persisted? (ii) Why is Somalia considering re-introducing an official currency at this point? (iii) What do Somalia’s monetary experiences tell us about relationships among ordinary citizens, elites, and the state in Africa? The article offers an explanation based on a theory of social trust to account for the persistence of the SoSh. Unlike other studies that mainly emphasize a risk aversion attribute to explain the reliance on the trusted and familiar under conditions of precarity, this approach shows how trust can be scaled to explain important macro-level phenomena, such as export trade and nationalism. It proposes that the Somalia story is relevant to other African cases where public trust, st...
Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2015
In this article, we address cross-border trade from the perspectives of state institutions and th... more In this article, we address cross-border trade from the perspectives of state institutions and their agents, on the one hand, and private merchants and pastoralists, on the other. It will be shown that at times their agendas strongly conflict, but in other situations workable accommodations and policy interpretations are found even while acknowledging the illegality of the actions. Because of the extensive border zones in the Horn with few custom posts and banking facilities, the state often has no recourse but to turn a “blind eye” to cross-border trade. Throughout the paper, it is shown how vastly different border policies and international relationships among neighboring countries (i.e. Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia) in the region challenge generalizations about informality and cross-border trade. In the conclusion we assess recent attempts by government authorities to coerce the trade into formal channels, but with minimal success.
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2021
This epilogue summarizes key challenges in the critical study of contract farming (CF) that are h... more This epilogue summarizes key challenges in the critical study of contract farming (CF) that are highlighted in this special issue, and it utilizes our co-edited volume Living under contract as the platform to ask what has been learned and what questions remain nearly three decades after the book's publication. It discusses the political and historical moment of the late 1980s when our CF project was started and the neo-liberal roots of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) were firmly implanted, especially in Africa-the regional focus of our book. We argue that this neoliberal turn continues to shape many topics addressed in this special issue, including the role of the state, labour and land (and ecology) relations, and the vertical integration of CF within global values chains. The epilogue concludes with a plea for more systematic comparisons and "big picture" analyses that highlight how space, local agrarian formations and classes, state powers, and materiality (the commodity itself) shape the character and dynamics of CF schemes.
World Development, 2018
The article explores the determinants of different types of land-use disputes and institutional m... more The article explores the determinants of different types of land-use disputes and institutional mechanisms for their settlement in the agro-pastoral and pastoral areas of Borana and Guji zones, southern Ethiopia. The analysis uses both household survey and qualitative interview data to answer the following questions: (1) what are the effects of spatial location on types of land use disputes experienced by households; (2) what types of boundary/border disputes are experienced by pastoralists within and between different ethnic groups; (3) what are the principal social and economic determinants of land use disputes; and (4) what factors determine the level of satisfaction by different parties in dispute settlement? We show that despite widespread land use changes in the area and the emergence of private enclosures on communal grazing lands, disputes around administrative borders trump all other determinants of conflict. We also find significant spatial and scale differences in the incidence of conflict, and that different types of conflict are taken to different conflict resolution institutions. Along these lines we also demonstrate that overall conflict and dissatisfaction with conflict resolution outcomes are more pronounced among the more mobile, livestock-dependent segment of the population than other groups. Finally, the article highlights the importance of understanding political and historical factors related to land rights and disputes as necessary for proposed land tenure programs in the area.
Social Science Research Network, Jun 1, 2001
This article addresses processes of livelihood diversification among pastoralists in the rangelan... more This article addresses processes of livelihood diversification among pastoralists in the rangelands of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The objectives of the article are threefold: (1) to suggest a theoretical framework for addressing income diversification among pastoralists with reference to current literature and databases; (2) to present a case study on pastoral income diversification based on preliminary field research in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia; and (3) to summarize current understandings of pastoral diversification while pointing to additional empirical research needs. By showing how comparative analyses in the region have been constrained by theoretical and data deficiencies, the article explores ways in which income diversification differs by what are termed conditional, opportunity, and local response variables. Climate, distance to market towns, gender, wealth, and education are attributes covered by these variables and discussed in the article. The conceptualization and case study provide useful bases for conducting comparative research on pastoral diversification in East Africa specifically, and in sub-Saharan Africa generally.
Revue Scientifique et Technique de l'OIE, 2020
Informal trade in livestock and livestock products is of special concern because of the risk of s... more Informal trade in livestock and livestock products is of special concern because of the risk of spreading animal and human diseases. At the same time, informal trade can contribute to people's livelihoods and food security, especially in lowand middle-income countries. Informal trade may involve legal or illegal products. It may be domestic (or internal) or involve neighbouring countries; it may take place within a region or between distant countries. Entrepôt trade (or 're-exports') is a significant form of informal trade in livestock products. Pastoral mobility often entails movement across boundaries for trade and much of this is also informal. There are important economic, social, political, and environmental drivers for informal trade which make it difficult to eliminate. Informal livestock trade may be largely ignored by the authorities, implicitly encouraged, made less attractive, forcibly suppressed, or actively engaged with, in an attempt to mitigate its risks and enhance its benefits. To identify the optimal management approach, it is crucial to understand the importance and characteristics of informal trade, its benefits and risks, and the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of different strategies to address it. The authors describe a case study from East Africa to explore some of the issues raised by informal trade.
African Studies Review, 2019
This article examines an environmental experiment in northern Kenya that went badly amiss. Focusi... more This article examines an environmental experiment in northern Kenya that went badly amiss. Focusing on the introduction of an invasive plant, prosopis juliflora, it explores wider issues of scientific hegemony, political identity, and land conflicts. Two legal cases pitting a small pastoralist community against the Kenyan state are discussed, which reveal a new but generally unsuccessful strategy by indigenous groups of utilizing courts to address injustices. The research draws on ethnographic, archival, and visual materials collected over a thirty-five-year period to demonstrate the violence and impoverishment that can be associated with technical interventions aimed at "greening" the environment. Résumé: Cet article examine une expérience environnementale dans le nord du Kenya qui a mal tourné. Axé sur l'introduction d'une plante envahissante, prosopis juliflora, il explore des questions plus larges d'hégémonie scientifique, d'identité politique et de conflits fonciers. Deux affaires juridiques opposant une petite
Development and Change, Jul 1, 2008
Understanding and alleviating poverty in Africa continues to receive considerable attention from ... more Understanding and alleviating poverty in Africa continues to receive considerable attention from a range of diverse actors, including politicians, international celebrities, academics, activists and practitioners. Despite the onslaught of interest, there is surprisingly little agreement on what constitutes poverty in rural Africa, how it should be assessed, and what should be done to alleviate it. Based on data from an interdisciplinary study of pastoralism in northern Kenya, this article examines issues of poverty among one of the continent's most vulnerable groups, pastoralists, and challenges the application of such orthodox proxies as incomes/expenditures, geographic remoteness, and market integration. It argues that current poverty debates 'homogenize' the concept of 'pastoralist' by failing to acknowledge the diverse livelihoods and wealth differentiation that fall under the term. The article concludes that what is not needed is another development label (stereotype) that equates pastoralism with poverty, thereby empowering outside interests to transform rather than strengthen pastoral livelihoods.
The Journal of Development Studies, 2018
This paper examines changing patterns of land rights and use in Borana and Guji zones, southern E... more This paper examines changing patterns of land rights and use in Borana and Guji zones, southern Ethiopia. It seeks to understand how heterogeneous groups of pastoralists and agropastoralists gain access to land under varied institutional configurations. We find different means of exclusion are pursued, including private enclosures that rely on customary institutions, government administration, and/or hybrid combinations to enforce claims. We also find that some herders may be making claims to farm plots with the goal of securing access to land rather than planting crops. By assessing how different situations and socioeconomic factors affect land claims, the paper deepens understanding of motivations for plot acquisition by pastoralists and challenges the common dichotomy between customary and formal administrative rules and institutions.
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Papers by Peter D. Little
labor; climate change and other global issues. By questioning common dichotomies, such as the informal versus formal sectors and customary versus modern institutions, the book uncovers those hidden connections,
power relations, and economic actors and processes that underpin real economies throughout the world.
labor; climate change and other global issues. By questioning common dichotomies, such as the informal versus formal sectors and customary versus modern institutions, the book uncovers those hidden connections,
power relations, and economic actors and processes that underpin real economies throughout the world.
anthropological perspective can deepen understandings of
customary and global markets; different types of money; livelihoods of the poor; gendered and racialized labor; climate change and other global issues. By questioning common dichotomies, such as the informal
versus formal sectors and customary versus modern institutions, the book uncovers those hidden connections, power relations, and economic actors and processes that underpin real economies throughout the world.