Market Economy and Pastoral Mode of Consumption: The Case of the Samburu Household Economy in North Central Kenya in the Mid-1990s

Abstract

This study examines the housekeeping strategies in Samburu households in North Central Kenya during the mid-1990s to clarify their pastoral mode of consumption. This mode, prominent in Samburu society at the time, is a combination of subsistence and market economies. The study analysed housekeeping strategy data from 1995 to 1996 for a rich and a poor household (Household A and Household B, respectively). This study found that both households spent most of their income on purchasing livestock and adopted the strategy of using cash to prevent the loss of livestock. In Household A, in keeping with Samburu culture’s interest in food, the market was constantly used for food consumption. However, in Household B, market food consumption was sporadic and susceptible to rainfall fluctuations. Whereas Household A adopted a housekeeping expansion strategy, Household B’s strategy included bank deposits and commerce activities. In summary, the Samburu housekeeping strategy prioritised frugality, and the strategy of investment in livestock while curbing cash spending was socially appreciated.

Thus, the Samburu household economy during the mid-1990s emphasised livestock based on the eternally delayed-return system. This pastoral mode of consumption is said to have ceased complete dependence on the market economy at the time.