Biodiversity & Ecology

Journal of the Division Biodiversity, Evolution and Ecology of Plants , Institute for Plant Science and Microbiology, University of Hamburg.

Research Article Open Access

Partly subsistent household economies and modern consumerism in the Namibian Kavango: Assets, income, expenditure and socio-economic stratification

Michael PrÃ¶pper*, Thomas Falk, Stephanie Domptail, Laura Marlene GroÃŸe & Benjamin Kowalski

Article first published online: 31 December 2013

DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00290

*Corresponding author contact: michael.proepper@uni-hamburg.de

<< Volume 5

Biodiversity & Ecology (Biodivers. Ecol.)

Special Volume: Environmental Assessments in the Okavango Region,
edited by Jens Oldeland, Cynthia Erb, Manfred Finckh & Norbert JÃ¼rgens

Volume 5, pages 379â€“391, Dec 13

PDF (1.7 MB)

Keywords: Commodification; consumerism; household inventories; modernity; Namibia; Okavango; social stratification; socio-economic baseline survey

English

Abstract: The Okavango Basin encompasses a wide range of ecosystems and, corresponding to its extension across Angola, Botswana and Namibia, a multitude of communities with diverse socio-economic co: Households in the rural and urban Kavango region of Namibia experience the effects of rapid global economic change, mostly indicated by the emergence of new markets for consumer goods, the replacement of traditional barter with cash economies, and the parallel and subsequent incentives of myriad new consumer items. Overall this process of increasing consumerism transforms the aspirations and economic strategies of formerly subsistent famers. Presenting ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative data on household incomes, expenses and assets, we will illustrate this process for the central Kavango. We will especially discuss the implications of clearly visible economic stratification for communities and the natural resource base.

Portuguese

Título: As economias domÃ©sticas parciamente subsistentes e o consumismo moderno no Kavango namibiano: ativos, renda, despesas e estratificaÃ§Ã£o sÃ³cio-econÃ´mica

Palavras-chave: consumismo; estoques domÃ©sticos; estratificaÃ§Ã£o social; estudo de base sÃ³cio-econÃ´mico; mercantilizaÃ§Ã£o; modernidade; NamÃbia; Okavango

Resumo: As famÃlias da regiÃ£o rural e urbana de Kavango na NamÃbia experimentam os efeitos da rÃ¡pida mudanÃ§a econÃ´mica global, sobretudo indicada pelo surgimento de novos mercados para os bens de consumo, a substituiÃ§Ã£o da tradicional troca de bens e serviÃ§os por economias de dinheiro e pelos incentivos paralelos e subseqÃ¼entes de inumerÃ¡veis novos itens de consumo. Em geral, este processo de crescente consumismo transforma as aspiraÃ§Ãµes e estratÃ©gias econÃ´micas de antigos agricultores de subsistencia. Apresentando dados etnogrÃ¡ficos, qualitativos e quantitativos sobre os rendimentos, despesas e ativos familiares, vamos ilustrar esse processo para o Kavango central. Vamos especialmente discutir as implicaÃ§Ãµes da estratificaÃ§Ã£o econÃ´mica, claramente visÃvel, para as comunidades e os recursos naturais.

Suggested citation:
PrÃ¶pper, M., Falk, T., Domptail, S., GroÃŸe, L. M., Kowalski, B. (2013): Partly subsistent household economies and modern consumerism in the Namibian Kavango: Assets, income, expenditure and socio-economic stratification. – In: Oldeland, J., Erb, C., Finckh, M., JÃ¼rgens, N. [Eds.]: Environmental Assessments in the Okavango Region. – Biodiversity & Ecology 5: 379â€“391. DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00290.