Different lifestyles of rural societies

1. Hunters and Gatherers
• This is a group of people whose life is characterised
mainly by the hunting of wild animals and gathering of wild
fruits, vegetables, tubers and insects.
• This type of traditional rural society is probably the one
whose culture is still as it was many years ago compared
to other societies.
• A good example of Hunters and Gatherers is the San or
Basarwa community found in Southern Africa.
• In Botswana, Basarwa live in the remotest parts of the
country in the Kalahari desert while in Namibia they are
found mainly in the Namib Desert which is the extension of
the Kalahari Desert.

2. Basarwa in Hunting Expedition

3. Women Gathering Fruits

4. Hunters and Gatherers cont.
• Basarwa, who are sometimes called Khoesan-speakers live in
small groups of about 20 to 50 people.
• They also build small huts made of sticks covered with grass.
These small temporary huts are known as "mesasana".
• As indicated earlier on, Basarwa stay in one place for a short
time and then move on to another place in search of wild fruits,
vegetables and animals.
• They are a nomadic society. This is one of the main reasons
why Basarwa build temporary shelters or simple huts.

5. Division of Labour amongst
Hunters and Gatherers
• This is a very common concept especially in topics dealing
with production.
• Division of labour refers to the breaking down of the
production process into a number of separate operations,
each being carried out by one person, or a group of people.
• This system involves dividing people into a number of
occupation or jobs in which they specialise or are good at.
• It is very important to realise that in a company which
practices division of labour workers concentrate on one or
two production tasks only, depending on their skills, interests
and natural abilities, or the needs of the company.

6. Division of Labour amongst
Hunters and Gatherers cont.
 In modern world that we live in today things have greatly changed as
people are trained to do certain jobs.
 One's job is as such determined by her or his qualifications. For
instance, for one to become a teacher or a nurse he or she has to
undergo relevant training suitable for such profession.
 In modern societies, division of labour is not done along gender lines.
Women can be trained to do jobs that were traditionally seen as a
man’s, such as, engineering related courses.
 Men can also be trained as teachers, nurses and other jobs that were
traditionally seen as feminine.

7. How Basarwa Communities
use Division of Labour
 Basarwa divide their work or activities according to gender or sex.
 Men have their own duties among clan members while women too have their duties
which are different from those done by men.
 In this society work is based on the mastery of craft. One could learn some skills over
time without necessarily undergoing any formal training.
 Among Hunters and Gatherers, men's main duties include hunting of wild animals.
 They use strings made of plants or sinew, a tough tissue uniting muscle to bones of
animals to snare and catch small animals like mongooses and birds.
 Men also use long hooked sticks to pull spring-hares from their holes.
 Bows and poisoned arrows together with spears are used in the hunting of bigger
animals like wildebeest, eland and giraffe. Below a Mosarwa man shows the use of a
bow and arrow.

8. How Basarwa Communities use
Division of Labour Cont.
 On the other hand women mainly collect wild food.
 They go out on a daily routine in small groups wearing skin
blankets and carrying digging sticks and string nets.
 They collect wild fruits, vegetables, tubers, caterpillars,
young birds in their nests and small dead animals when they
find them.
 The food collected is then carried home wrapped in blankets
or put in the carrying nets.
 The work for both men and women starts in the mornings
and ends either in the afternoon or evening.

9. How Basarwa Communities
use Division of Labour Cont.
 The boys and girls among the Hunters and Gathers
communities also have different chores to do.
 Boys in these societies start to accompany their fathers and
uncles during hunting expeditions at a very early age.
 This was done so as to help them acquire the necessary
survival skills.
 They are also taught how to defend themselves in case of
attack by wild animals.
 In addition they are taught how to be good trackers for them
to be good hunters and they are given special training for
them to be good medicine men.

10. How Basarwa Communities
use Division of Labour Cont.
 The girls, on the other hand are taught gathering skills
by the female members of their community.
 They are also taught how to take good care of their
young siblings from an early age.
 The girls were to accompany their mothers and aunts
on gathering missions so as to learn the good edible
berries, insects and roots that had to he collected from
non-edible ones.

11. Use and ownership of land by
Hunter-Gatherers
 Among traditional rural societies land is one of the most important natural
resources because their lives are centred around it.
 It is on land where food is produced. We can therefore, define land in the above
context as the earth's surface including all the natural resources in or on it,
including water.
 Studies done have revealed that Hunter-Gatherer communities depend entirely on
their natural environment which provides them with plants and animals.
 As such nobody "owns" land because the natural environment is regarded as a
community resource that is open to everyone. It appears that the type of life-style
of Hunters and Gatherers makes it very difficult for anyone to claim ownership of
land.
 Learner, remember that the Hunter-Gatherers live a nomadic type of life as they
never settle in one place for a long period. They just build temporary shelters which
they destroy when moving on to another place rich in animals and wild fruits.

12. Use and ownership of land by
Hunter-Gatherers
 Although we have noted that Hunters and Gatherers do not
own land, each clan has a hunting ground which it guards.
 A clan is made up of between twenty (20) and fifty(50)
people. The clan which arrives first in a hunting ground
claims its ownership or temporary control while they are still
occupying it.
 Once the clan decides to move to another ground or place it
loses the ownership and control of that hunting ground.
 In short Hunters and Gatherers own land for long compared
to other traditional rural societies which shall be discussed
later in this lesson.

13. Cultural activities of Hunters
and Gatherers
 Hunters and Gatherers are usually led by the elders who are regarded as having wisdom needed by
the community.
 As indicated earlier, each group has the rights to use all natural resources such as plants and animals
in the area in which it lives and would not enter the hunting grounds of neighbouring groups to hunt or
collect wild fruits without first obtaining the group’s permission.
 Hunters and Gatherers are a very religious group who believe in a God who created the earth,
animals, plants and other objects.
 They also believe that their God is the creator of life and death and whenever something goes wrong,
this shows that this God is not happy.
 When there are long droughts, failure in hunting, sickness or death, the people know that they must
perform certain rituals to appease their God.
 This, they do by building a big fire, which is a task to be done by women who then clap their hands
singing while men dance.
 The clapping and dancing enable the men who dance to gain great powers from the supernatural
beings, hence, correcting the unfavourable situation or condition.

14. Basarwa women singing and
clapping hands around a fire
while the men dance.

15. Cultural activities of Hunters
and Gatherers Cont.
 Among some groups there is worship of natural objects such as the moon and
the sun.
 Dances and ceremonies are held to honour full moon.
 It is suspected that these people honour the moon and the sun mainly
because they cannot understand how these objects function.
 They also worship them because they show the greatness of the creator
who happens to be their God.
 This religion was very common in the past amongst the Basarwa.
 However, it is slowly fading probably because they can now interact with other
people, thus adopt other peoples religions and cultural beliefs.

16. Cultural activities of Hunters
and Gatherers Cont.
 Conflicts have never been common among the Hunters and
Gatherers because they own little or no property to engage
in a conflict over.
 Their simple life-style makes it difficult to accumulate a lot of
property.
 They are nomadic. Once property is acquired it would be
very difficult for them to carry it as they walk to different
places which favour their living at that particular time.
 This indirectly helps them because they live happily with
minimal conflicts.

17. Basarwa rock paintings
 Most of the rock paintings and engravings found in most
parts of Southern and East Africa are believed to have been
painted by the late Stone Age people.
 Basarwa are well known for their artistic skills.
 A lot of their paintings have been found on stones, hills and
caves both in Botswana and Namibia.
 Some of the most popular of Basarwa art paintings, which
are ritually highly valued by the community, are found in the
Tsodilo Hills, Cwihaba Caves, Gubatsha Hills, Chobe
National Park and other historical sites.

18. Basarwa rock painting at the
Tsodilo hills.
 Basarwa art or paintings reflect how they made a living and their religion.
 Through their paintings they show animals that they hunted for food such as
kudu, antelope and others.
 They also show large animals such as eland and giraffe that they believed to
bring rain.
 Some Historians like Thomas Tlou have argued that Basarwa paintings
communicate a number of things that include religion, life experiences, the
magical powers some Basarwa possess, control they have over weather and
health and many other factors.
 There are more cultural activities which have not been discussed in this
lesson. Can you look for more historic books and read about them?

19. Basarwa rock painting at the
Tsodilo hills.

20. Technology practiced by
Hunters and Gatherers
 Technology can be defined as the tools and machinery
of a society and the skills to make and use them.
 Therefore, here we are going to discuss the tools and
machinery which were used by the Hunters and
Gatherers.
 The tools used by Hunters and Gatherers are made of
stones, bones and wood or sticks.
 One can therefore, say locally made tools are used as
simple technology that is suitable for them.

21. Technology practiced by
Hunters and Gatherers Cont.
 For instance, during hunting. Basarwa men use bows and
poisoned arrows to kill big animals. This is the technology suitable
to them.
 They crawl close to the animals such as wildebeests and giraffes
and then shoot them with light arrows smeared with poison made
from beetles and plant roots.
 This shows that they are skilled medicine men and they used their
knowledge of medicine, together with their bows and arrows to
hunt.
 Basarwa are respected by other groups for this skill. Did you know
this already, or is it something new to you?
 Women use sticks and bones to dig tubers and plant roots which
form part of their diets.

22. Technology practiced by
Hunters and Gatherers Cont

23. environment
Source of food
 Hunters and Gatherers' lives are centred around the
local environment.
 The local environment is their source of both the food
as well as hunting grounds.
 Women also gather wild fruits, vegetables, tubers and
insects from their local environment to supplement
game meat.

24. Source of Traditional medicine
 The local environment is also a source of traditional medicine.
 They rarely visit clinics and hospitals not only because they are far from them
but because in some areas they do not exist.
 Under such conditions, Hunters and Gatherers depend entirely on their local
environment to serve as their "clinics" and "hospitals".
 When they fall ill, injured or attacked by wild animals like snakes, lions and
others, the medicine which is used to heal the wounds or snake bites is
obtained from the local environment.
 Therefore, the local environment is a life saviour when they are in danger.
 This practice of relying solely on their local environment is slowly dying away
as these days some of the people of this society do visit clinics and hospitals
when they are sick.

25. Source of shelter
 The local environment also provides shelter for Hunters
and Gatherers.
 They build temporary shelters or huts from branches of
trees and grass obtained from the local environment.
 When they move to another place they never carry
with them the materials which was used in the building
of huts.
 They use new ones when they arrive at their next
destination.

26. Source of energy and clothing
 The local environment is also a source of energy. Firewood is the only source
of energy for cooking their food and providing warmth.
 Hunters and Gatherers do not have warm modem clothes worn by other
societies nowadays. They Just use animal skins to make clothes which barely
cover their body.
 As such, firewood is very important to them because they make fire which
keeps them warm. This firewood is also obtained from their local environment.
 Have you ever thought about how firewood can be a very important
commodity to some people? Just make a small research in your village or
your place of origin and find out the number of families which use firewood to
cook and warm water.
 You will find that there are a lot of people, probably you also use it. This is an
indication that some people may not survive without firewood and this is the
case with Hunters and Gatherers.

27. Nomadic Pastoralists
 This is one type of traditional rural society whose life is mainly characterised by the
rearing of animals such as cattle, goats and sheep.
 Because of their entire dependence on these animals Nomadic Pastoralists are never
stationed in one place unlike the settled farmers or agriculturalists.
 They spend most of their time herding their animals to places with better pastures and
enough water. Examples of Nomadic Pastoralists are the Masai in Tanzania and Kenya
and the Fulani in Nigeria, Senegal and parts of the Cameroun highlands.
 Nomadic Pastoralists rarely eat meat from their animals. Sometimes they eat goat or
sheep meat (mutton) only to supplement their diet.
 Among some groups blood is taken from veins in the necks of live cattle, especially by
herdsmen, and is mixed with the milk to make a delicious healthy diet.
 Cattle are mainly reared for milk which in some cases is sold to buy household items.

28. Land use and ownership among
Nomadic Pastoralists
 Land is a very important natural resource among Nomadic Pastoralists.
 Although they are mainly pastoral farmers, in some cases women cultivate
land and as such become more stationery compared to men who herd
livestock to places of greener pastures and water.
 Land is owned by members of the tribe not individuals, and as such every
member has traditional rights to use it.
 This enables every member of the tribe to use it as freely as they wish.
 Nomadic Pastoralists have very little negative impact on the environment.
They are not stationed in one place and as such give land time to recover
during their absence.
 However, with some developments such as the Creation of National Parks,
eradication of some animal diseases and creating borders, the lives of
Nomadic

29. Land use and ownership
among Nomadic Pastoralists
Cont.
 Pastoralists keep changing and they have negative impact on the land. For example their
herds increased rapidly because of the eradication of diseases like rinderpest which
used to kill large numbers of their livestock.
 With such large numbers of livestock Nomadic Pastoralists cause great harm to their
environment due to overgrazing.
 These farmers have become more stationed in one place unlike before due to boarders.
Before marking of boarders the farmers used to migrate to far places and go back after
the grazing land had recovered.
 With the creation of borders their migratory way of life became very limited.
 Today as we speak, quite a number of Nomadic pastoralists are either more stationed in
one place like the Agriculturalists or only migrate shorter distances unlike before.
 This tends to cause damage to their land which was never the case in the past.

30. Division of labour among
Nomadic Pastoralists
 I hope you still remember how we defined division of labour? Anyway, if you don't
remember here is a short reminder. We said it refers to the breaking down of the
production process into a number of separate operations.
 In a Nomadic Pastoralist society, division of labour, learner is commonly based on
gender or sex.
 Men mainly herd livestock and are in most cases on the move in search of greener
pastures and water.
 They also build kraals to protect their livestock from dangerous animals like lions.
 On the other hand women gather food and medicine from the natural vegetation.
 Women also make shelter and clothing from animal skins for the family. On rare
occasions women cultivate land and plant crops. This is done nowadays as their life style
has been changed by new developments.

31. Technology
 Nomadic Pastoralists use very simple tools like iron spears, sticks, machetes and
cutlasses.
 Spears are mainly used to kill predators like lions which eat their livestock while
machetes are used to cut trees used in the building of kraals.
 Cutlasses, which are short swords are sometimes used together with spears to kill
animals which endanger their lives and that of their animals such as lions.
 These tools are sometimes used when they get attacked or raided by other tribes which
want to take their riches especially livestock and grazing grounds.
 Sticks on the other hand are used by women to dig traditional medicine and some edible
tubers from underground.
 In short one can argue that Nomadic Pastoralists use simple technology. Their level of
technology is suitable to them because they are fewer in number and as such there is no
need to use more advanced technology to increase food production.

32. Cultural activities
 One known fact about Nomadic Pastoralists is that they value children and as such a boy shows his
maturity by marrying a young lady who can bear him children.
 These children, especially boys help in providing labour to the family by looking after livestock.
 Nomadic Pastoralists also use traditional medicine a lot. Before they can settle in a new area it is first
strengthened through traditional medicine so that it can be much safer.
 When they are grieved or happy they use songs and dance to show it and are very skilful dancers.
Their ceremonies are characterised by dances, clapping of hands and singing.
 Learner, these are some of the cultural practices of the Nomadic Pastoralist society. Please go and
research further about this society if there is something you would like to know about and hasn't been
covered here. A number of scholars have written broadly about this group of people including Robert
Plummer who wrote the IGCSE Development Studies Series Books.

33. Dependence on the local
environment
 Like Hunters and Gatherers, Nomadic Pastoralists depend entirely on their local environment.
 The environment provides pastures for the much valued livestock. As discussed earlier, livestock is
used to provide milk and blood which supplement their diet. Livestock is also used to pay bride-price
during marriage.
 The local environment also provides the Nomadic Pastoralists with grass and branches used to make
shelter or temporary huts as shown in the illustration below;
 In some instances Nomadic Pastoralists cultivate land. Although land cultivation is rarely done, when
done it contributes to the livelihood of these people.
 The last type of traditional rural societies we will discuss in this lesson is the Agricultural Communities,
which are sometimes called Agriculturalists or Settled Farmers.

34. Agricultural Communities
 As time went on some Nomadic farmers changed to settled agricultural life. The majority of farmers in Botswana are
mainly Settled Farmers.
 They practice what is known as the three (3) site system of the lands (masimo), cattle post (moraka) and village (legae).
 During the rainy season members of the communities leave their villages for the lands to cultivate the land and grow
crops.
 After harvesting they go back to their villages. The males, especially boys live in the cattle post.
 It is important to note that the lifestyle of these communities is stationery or sedentary. The same piece of land is grown
from year to year at subsistence level.
 It is only some groups like the Bemba of Zambia who would let the soil recover when they had moved to plough on a
different piece of land and come back to such land after a few years.
 Among Settled Farmers or Agricultural Communities mixed fanning is common. This means that they rear animals such
as cattle, goats and sheep and at the same time earn their living through land cultivation and crop production.
 None of the two, animal rearing and crop production is more important than the other, they complement each other.

35. Division of Labour
 Although both men and women do common activities there are some which are strictly
for men while others are done mainly by women.
 Men specialise in iron-smelting, hunting and pottery making while women cook and care
for the sick and children.
 Women also carry out arable farming work compared to men who just do it so as to help
women.
 Men also look after cattle which they sometimes use to plough, and then leave other
farm chores for women.
 Men also hunt, attend political meetings at the Kgotla and take part in wars.
 These examples, learner, are considered here to show that division of labour is done
according to gender or sex among Agricultural Communities.
 Another very important thing worth discussing about the agriculturalist society is their
land use and ownership.

36. Use and ownership of land
 Land in Botswana is mainly owned communally (by the
community).
 Every member of the community has the right to use land.
 The chief or tribal leader used to allocate land and to ensure that
land is not destroyed.
 This responsibility is now in the hands of the District Land Boards.
Under communal ownership no one can sell land because it
belongs to the community not an individual.
 Land under this arrangement can be passed on to children as
inheritance by their parents.
 Technology also plays a crucial part in the agriculturalist
community.

37. Technology
 Although their tools are more advanced than those of
Hunters and Gatherers they are still simple.
 This means that the type of technology used by this
group of traditional rural societies is simple.
 The tools which are used include hoes which are used
to plough and weed fields, axes for clearing the land in
preparation for cultivation and spears used during
hunting.

38. Cultural activities
 Some groups of Agricultural Communities practice initiation
ceremonies such as bogwera and bojale. For instance, Bakgatla in
Mochudi and surrounding areas practice initiation.
 Initiation ceremonies are usually performed after puberty as the
practice is seen as a transitional period from childhood to adulthood.
 The initiates are usually led by somebody from the royal kraal who
may not necessarily be an heir.
 As long as he or she is of the royal family, the individual can be the
leader together with other village elders.
 After initiation the graduate is considered old enough to marry and her
or his decisions are respected by other people including clan
members.

39. Bogwera Picture: Courtesy of the Department of Info. and Broadcasting, Gaborone.

40. Gaborone.
Bojale Picture: Courtesy of the Department of Info.
and Broadcasting, Gaborone

41. Chieftaincy among the
Agricultural Communities.
 Chieftaincy is very much respected in agricultural communities and
the chieftaincy lineage is hereditary.
 This means that it is passed from the father on to the eldest son.
 If the chief has no son to succeed him, his immediate brother will
ascend to the throne.
 The trend is however, changing as nowadays daughters born to
chiefs can also ascend to the throne in event of their father's
death.
 This Chieftainship trend is very common not only amongst
agricultural communities but also a majority of ethnic groups both
in Botswana and in other countries.

42. Marriage
 Marriage in this community is respected and regarded as an
institution which ensures procreation.
 Lobola or bogadi is paid by the groom as a token of
appreciation to the parents of the lady to be married and it is
paid strictly by cattle especially young heifers.
 It is important, however, to note that paying of bogadi is not
done by all members of this community.
 Some ethnic groups like Bangwato traditionally do not pay
lobola.

43. Dependence on the
Environment
 The lives of the Agricultural Communities is dependent
entirely on the local environment for their livelihood.
 They cultivate land to produce food to cater for the ever
increasing population.
 Their livestock also graze communally on the local
environment.
 The traditional huts are built using mud, grass and poles
obtained from the local environment. In short, we can just
point out that Communities are dependent on the local
environment.

44. Cultural activities