Mobile Phones and Socio-economic Transformation Among Fulani Pastoralists in Northern Benin

The mobile phone has spread recently in rural Benin as one of the new technologies most widely adopted by Fulani pastoralists, who have generally been regarded as hostile to novelty. This article analyses the logic and forms of appropriation of mobile phones in connection with the socio-economic tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nomadic peoples 2017-01, Vol.21 (1), p.111-135
Main Authors: Djohy, Georges, Edja, Honorat, Schareika, Nikolaus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to information
Analysis
Appropriation
Benin
Cellular telephones
Communication
Culture
Development policy
Economic aspects
Economic change
Economic development
Economic factors
Households
Innovations
Livestock
Mali
Market prices
Mobile Phone
Pastoral Development
Pastoral societies
Peer-Reviewed Papers
Rural areas
Socio-Economic Change
Telephone communications
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Summary:The mobile phone has spread recently in rural Benin as one of the new technologies most widely adopted by Fulani pastoralists, who have generally been regarded as hostile to novelty. This article analyses the logic and forms of appropriation of mobile phones in connection with the socio-economic transformation that accompany it. An ethnographic approach was used, involving individual interviews with participant observation in various settings where mobile phones are used by Fulani pastoralists to meet challenges they face in their daily lives. It appears from the study that the mobile phone, while bringing significant changes in the livelihood strategies of pastoralists, especially in terms of social connectedness, has at the moment limited economic impacts due to various factors including accessibility and ease of use. With regard to the mass adoption of mobile phones by pastoralists, we argue that socio-economic continuity and change are to be regarded not as opposites but as interconnected realities, and this needs to be taken into account to improve development policies in connection with pastoral communities.
ISSN:0822-7942
1752-2366
DOI:10.3197/np.2017.210106