Vol. 5 · No. 1 · 2001 · pp. 65-88 (24)

Environmental Knowledge and Pastoral Migration among the Wo?Îaa?e of south-eastern Niger

Nikolaus Schareika

Introduction

The present paper describes and analyses environmental knowledge among Wodaa?e acttle raisers of West Africa with respect to their organisation of herd management. The Wodaa?e pastoral system focuses mainly on raising Zebu cattle (na'i bodeeji) and has two primary aims: first, to guarantee and increase herd reproduction; second, to bring the herd with minimal loss in weight and size through the dry season when fodder is in short supply. For the Wodaa?e, herd growth is not so much the outcome of a naturally given fecundity, but rather of proper animal nutrition. Of all measures that a cattle raiser may take to further his herd's prosperity,Wodaa?e consider the good nourishment of the animals as most important. To be taken seriously as a herder, a man has to regularly provide for the best seasonally available fodder, to avoid all influences that could reduce an animal's food intake, and to look out for anything that could stimulate its grazing activity. This orientation of pastoral labour is due to the Wodaa?e's economic specialisation: whereas other groups of pastoral Fulani reduce their cultivating staples (Bierschenk 1997: 209) - Wodaa?e herders concentrate on improving the physical condition of their cattle in order to optimise herd reproduction. By doing this the Wodaa?e can sell more animals to obtain money for buying their staple food: millet.