The social, economic and cultural dimensions of bushmeat in Yaounde, Cameroon
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Urban bushmeat demand may now account for the majority of wild meat consumed in Central Africa, posing environmental, health, and economic dilemmas. The bushmeat trade represents a complex and dynamic interaction of cultural, political, socio-economic, and status-seeking behaviors that I investigate in this dissertation through interdisciplinary inquiries framed in political ecology, social capital theory, and grounded theory. The study took place in a major Central African city: Yaoundé, Cameroon. A census of profiles and sourcing relationships between Yaoundé's 211 bushmeat-selling restaurants, street stalls and hotels, 13 open bushmeat markets, and rural bushmeat source points revealed a decentralized trade, with the exception of a centralized primary market. Yaoundé's thriving open bushmeat markets circulated ca. 660 - 1320 tons of bushmeat per year, generating ca. US$ 4.4 - 8.8M annual gross revenues. Restaurant, street stall and hotel bushmeat sales accounted for US$ 1.8M annual gross revenues. Primary market sales data for 4112 purchases over 12 months documented over 24 taxa sold in the primary market, including rodents (31% of carcass sales), ungulates (17%), primates (13%), scaly anteaters (12%), and reptiles (11%). While women were the primary sellers at low-priced, high volume street stalls and bar-restaurants, men were associated with the sale of high-priced, endangered species at restaurants and hotels, reflecting distinct gendered approaches to the trade. Ethnography in the primary market revealed that more-educated traders and sellers are relegated to the trade but would prefer other work, while less educated marketers with ethnic ties to forest zones found bushmeat trading an appealing option. Participant observation and interviews with 211 consumers revealed that eating bushmeat in Yaoundé appears to reaffirm cultural and kin connections for people originating in forest zones; buffer food security needs for lower economic classes; and meet luxury and social status seeking desires for high economic-status consumers of endangered species. Combined, these results reveal possibilities for reshaping a regulated trade that would incorporate the suite of livelihood and socio-cultural needs currently met through consuming and selling bushmeat in urban Central Africa.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Randolph, Shannon Gray |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Anthropology. |
| Primary advisor | Jones, James Holland |
| Thesis advisor | Jones, James Holland |
| Thesis advisor | Curran, Lisa Marie, 1961- |
| Thesis advisor | Durham, William H |
| Advisor | Curran, Lisa Marie, 1961- |
| Advisor | Durham, William H |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Shannon Gray Randolph. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Anthropology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Shannon Gray Randolph
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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