Takanori Oishi
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, African Studies, Faculty Member
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, African Studies, Africa, Ethnobotany, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and 10 moreHunters, Fishers and Gatherers' Archaeology, Hunter-Gatherers (Anthropology), Fishing, Ecological Anthropology, Food Sovereignty, Bhutan, Social Identity, Conflict Resolution, Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, and Economics of food securityedit
Although viewed as low-power income product, trade in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in rural communities represent a major source of income for local residents who depend on them for revenue and subsistence. This study is based on... more
Although viewed as low-power income product, trade in Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in rural communities represent a major source of income for local residents who depend on them for revenue and subsistence. This study is based on monitoring and quantitative recording of each NTFP gathering by villagers. The results revealed that the main products collected include: Irvingia gabonensis, Aframomum spp., Pentaclethra macrophylla; Ricinodendron heudelotii, and Afrostyrax lepidophyllus. The main stakeholders in NTFPs value chain were identified as: collectors, local traders, semi-distributors, intermediaries, and wholesalers (Nigerian and Malian Settled in the village). The prices of these NTFPs fluctuate between 0.09-0.67 USD per kilogram (kg) at village level. However, these products are generally resold between 0.67-4.44 USD per kg in urban market. The commercialization of NTFPs is less beneficial to rural collectors compared to the other stakeholders involved, whereas they are the main contributors of NTFPs value chain. The main reason for this are the poor organization of collectors, low access to market information, low power in price negotiation, lack of storage and drying facilities, ambient poverty in rural areas as well as the high purchasing power of wholesalers who intervene in the value chain. The strengthening of the capacities for local population on drying, conservation and processing techniques; pricing; the principle of group sale of NTFPs; the creation and empowerment of collectors organization; their networking with buyers; the development of market information systems; and an enabling environment that facilitates market access to local collectors will improve the profitability of NTFP value chain in the area.
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As climate change risks enlarge, the environment is an ever more important framework to consider when discussing global sustainability. In Africa, following the leadership of national and trans-national economic communities, considerable... more
As climate change risks enlarge, the environment is an ever more important framework to consider when discussing global sustainability. In Africa, following the leadership of national and trans-national economic communities, considerable effort is being made to establish regulations and legal frameworks on environmental resource use, based on international conventions and laws. Such initiatives are often undertaken within a top-down initiative of 'participatory' and 'community-based' approaches, despite these concepts originally suggesting bottom-up tactics. However, such idealistic approaches have been translated and introduced to regional and local contexts without sufficient consideration for the unique local and social conditions. This then tends to be received in the local context as enforcement, or an obligation, which may be cause for local conflicts. It is therefore critical that gaps between global environmental policy initiatives and their actualised efforts on the ground are identified. Taking examples from the tropical forest zone of southeastern Cameroon, I will report on how environmental and rural development policies are impacting rural livelihoods, the social welfare of the local residents, and the forest landscape. I will then attempt to demonstrate micro-level governance challenges from perspectives identified within the local society. Finally, while acknowledging the limitations as an outsider, I will discuss what kind of research and practice can contribute to the positive co-governance of natural resources between diverse actors, referring to the potential creation of a citizen science platform in Africa.
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Emoticons are getting more popular as the new communication channel to express feelings in online communication. Although familiarity to emoticons depends on cultures, how exposure matters in emotion recognition from emoticon is still... more
Emoticons are getting more popular as the new communication channel to express feelings in online communication. Although familiarity to emoticons depends on cultures, how exposure matters in emotion recognition from emoticon is still open. To address this issue, we conducted a cross-cultural experimental study among Cameroon and Tanzania (hunter-gatherers, swidden farmers, pastoralists, and city dwellers) wherein people rarely experience emoticons and Japan wherein emoticons are popular. Emotional emoticons (e.g., ☺) as well as pictures of real faces were presented on a tablet device. The stimuli expressed a sad, neutral, or happy feeling. The participants rated the emotion of stimulus on a Sad–Happy Scale. We found that the emotion rating for the real faces was slightly different but similar among three cultural groups, which supported the “dialect” view of emotion recognition. Contrarily, while Japanese people were also sensitive to the emotion of emoticons, Cameroonian and Tanzanian people hardly read emotion from emoticons. These results suggested that the exposure to emoticons would shape the sensitivity to emotion recognition of emoticons, that is, ☺ does not necessarily look smiling to everyone.
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L’ethno-ichtyologie est une branche de l’ethnobiologie qui s’intéresse aux relations entre les humains et les poissons, ce qui inclut les savoirs naturalistes locaux sur les ressources aquatiques, les modalités d’acquisition et leur... more
L’ethno-ichtyologie est une branche de l’ethnobiologie qui s’intéresse aux relations entre les humains et les poissons, ce qui inclut les savoirs naturalistes locaux sur les ressources aquatiques, les modalités d’acquisition et leur utilisation. Compte tenu de la crise actuelle du commerce de viande de brousse, les acteurs de la conservation et du développement s’intéressent de plus en plus aux ressources aquatiques du Bassin du Congo mais peinent à prendre la mesure du contexte social des activités traditionnelles de pêche et de la valeur culturelle que les peuples forestiers leur attribuent. Cet article vise à présenter certains aspects de l’ethno-ichtyologie des Bakwele, peuple d’agriculteurs sur brûlis du sud-est du Cameroun. L’accent est porté sur le savoir naturaliste et les usages médicinaux que les Bakwele font de l’ichtyofaune, afin de mieux rendre compte des interactions écologiques et socioculturelles qui constituent la base de leur art de la pêche.
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Congo Basin is covered with tropical rainforest. In addition to permanent waters, there appears small “lakes” or water pools inside forest caused by seasonal flooding. To understand the possible roles of local waters on people’s... more
Congo Basin is covered with tropical rainforest. In addition to permanent waters, there appears small “lakes” or water pools inside forest caused by seasonal flooding. To understand the possible roles of local waters on people’s subsistence, a study was carried out among Bakuele, a Bantu speaking people of Dja basin, Cameroon. People use the waters variously and perception on waters seems to reflect its variety. Fishing is an activity practiced throughout a year. Spatiotemporal change of water level provides various occasions of fishing. Sexual division is observed in fishing methods. Men fish in mainstreams and women and children fish in small “lakes” and small water courses by simple method of bailing. Catch by Women seems smaller than men per effort, but they never fail to get fish. It is suggested that women’s fishing in temporal waters can contribute to household level food security.
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ミニ・アフリカ，カメルーンの熱帯雨林は，市場経済化，開発と自然保護，先住民運動などの急速な変化に揺れている．変わりゆく暮らしのなかで，農耕民と狩猟採集民の境界はいかに維持されているのか．伝統と変容が交錯するなかでの民族間の境界の駆け引きを，歴史的な視点から描き出し，自然／生業／社会の相互作用に迫る．
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This paper describes and analyses how the Baka hunter-gatherer of southeastern Cameroon perceive and take care of their dogs in their daily life both in forest and in settlement. Ethnographical data (naming, ownership, hunting and other... more
This paper describes and analyses how the Baka hunter-gatherer of southeastern Cameroon perceive and take care of their dogs in their daily life both in forest and in settlement. Ethnographical data (naming, ownership, hunting and other uses, diet, and ethnopharmacological knowledge) have been collected by authors between 2015 and 2017 from Baka hunter-gatherers based on participatory observation, ethnobotanical survey and interviews. People’s relation to dog were also investigated among adjacent Bantu farmers and city dwellers for comparison.
Whereas there are female dog owners in small number, majority of dog owners are male among the Baka. Baka hunters use a variety of “dog medicine (ma mbolo)” to control their dog’s ability of physical performance and emotional status, for example to become jɛnɛ (aggressive and courageous against game animals). When dog is small, owner try to establish dog's emotional attachment to himself/ herself using behavioral techniques. Baka’s relation to dog seem dichotomous between forest and village environment: whereas people treat dogs as partner of hunting and gathering in forest, people tend to treat dogs violently as food thieves at settlement. From developmental view, Baka dog owners are training their dogs so that they can co-live better in the both environments.
Whereas there are female dog owners in small number, majority of dog owners are male among the Baka. Baka hunters use a variety of “dog medicine (ma mbolo)” to control their dog’s ability of physical performance and emotional status, for example to become jɛnɛ (aggressive and courageous against game animals). When dog is small, owner try to establish dog's emotional attachment to himself/ herself using behavioral techniques. Baka’s relation to dog seem dichotomous between forest and village environment: whereas people treat dogs as partner of hunting and gathering in forest, people tend to treat dogs violently as food thieves at settlement. From developmental view, Baka dog owners are training their dogs so that they can co-live better in the both environments.