DOCTORAL THESIS Do ‘chickens dream only of grain’? Uncovering the social role of poultry in Ethiopia Ramasawmy, Melanie Award date: 2017 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 05. Oct. 2021 Do ‘chickens dream only of grain’? Uncovering the social role of poultry in Ethiopia. By Melanie R Ramasawmy BA, BSc, MSc A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Life Sciences University of Roehampton 2017 i Abstract The Amharic proverb ‘Chickens dream only of grain’ could easily describe our own lack of imagination when thinking about poultry. In the sectors of agriculture and development, there is growing recognition of how chickens could be used in poverty alleviation, as a source of income and protein, and a means of gender empowerment. However, interventions do not always achieve their goals, due to a lack of understanding of the local context in which chickens will be consumed. In Ethiopia, chickens have an ongoing role not just as economic tools, but in relationships between people and with the religious and spiritual realm. During a period of fieldwork of one year in the Amhara region, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia, I explored the roles that chickens play in the household and wider society. The association between poultry and women, reflected in both practice and language, is changing in peri-urban areas, where production is commercialised, bringing into question the feasibility of improved poultry breeds as a means of empowerment of women. Beyond their economic use, the slaughter of chickens plays an important role in mediating relationships with the spirits that populate the landscape in Amhara. The consumption of chickens reinforces relationships within a household, social networks, and ultimately as a form of building nationality. The types of chickens chosen for these forms of consumption demonstrates strong preferences, and may explain the resistance to improved chicken breeds that have been introduced since the 1950s. The practices around chickens also give some insight into some of the ways in which Amhara society is changing. ii Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iii List of figures and illustrations v Abbreviations vi Notes on pronunciation vii Glossary ix Introduction 1 Into the field 25 Extensive 65 House 107 Spirits 142 Food 180 Intensive 216 Conclusion 251 Appendices Ethical Approval 272 Consent form – English, Amharic 273 Predator photos 277 Bibliography Notes on bibliography 279 Bibliography 279 iii Acknowledgements “Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone” – GB Stern There are many people, too many to name individually here, who contributed their time, expertise and support to this thesis. I would like to thank you all, in the UK and Ethiopia, or wherever you may find yourselves now. በጣም : በጣም : አመሰግናለሁ ። I would like to give my special thanks to - My supervisors Garry Marvin and Nadine Beckmann, for giving me the opportunity to do this PhD. Your support and guidance thoughout this process has been invaluable. I could not have completed this thesis without our many discussions, and your feedback and suggestions on my many drafts. I am grateful too that you encouraged my development as an academic, to teach, participate in workshops, and dabble in graphic anthropology. This dissertation would not have been possible without the project, Scientific and Cultural Perspective on Human-Chicken Interactions, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I’d like to thank the team from the project for their insights from across the disciplines, and their enthusiasm for all things chicken. My patient teacher of Amharic – Suzanna Ebeyan (and my fellow students for hours of laughter and encouragement) Dr Rob Christley for planting the seed of this project, and his team for their contributions. Alemayheu Amare and Tadiose Habte, who helped me get started, and made sure I was always in good hands. Abraham and Hiwot, without whom the fieldwork would have been impossible. Individuals and organisations who shared information, advice, and field trips - Dr Guday Emrie, Addis Ababa University Dr Getnet Assefa, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research The Amhara Regional State Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development The Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute The Amhara Culture, Tourism and Parks Development Bureau The Merawi Woreda office, and Agricultural Extension offices of the region And all the others who provided insights via meetings in the field, skype and email The people of Bahir Dar and Mecha woreda, especially the people of ‘Anestenya Wenz’, for patiently answering this ferenji’s many questions, countless cups of coffee, and sharing your experiences and knoweldge. My friends in Ethiopia, who welcomed me into their homes and lives – Sofia, Besrat, Negist, Zewodu, T’iruye and Kalkidan. iv My fellow ferenjis for the time we have spent learning and eating together - Kasah, Saori, Su Wen, Elaine and Lesley; and all the other students, volunteers and researchers who welcomed me into their communities. To my fellow ‘chicken people’, and PhD-sufferers for support and advice, interesting discissions, hour long tea breaks, and knowing when to call time to pack it in and go to the pub. Special thanks for Eva and Sunny, for the many hours spent together staring at our laptop screens and drinking tea. The ‘Maidstone Massive’ – I know none of you will read this, so I’m going to take this opportunity to say that I’m lucky to share pizza and ‘omw’ with such inspiring women. All my friends are due both thanks and apologies for their support during this PhD, but in particular I’d like to thank JT and Habs for making me smile, Jess and Nik for hugs and great advice, Helen and Camilla for our adventures, and Zeebs for pretty much everything (including, but not limited to: driving me everywhere, letting me eat your popcorn, and proof reading this thesis). Finally, to my family, who have been a constant source of support. I am thankful to both my parents for encouraging me to challenge myself, for your patience, and for knowing when I need tea. To Dan, for being my tech guru, and to Raj, for being kind with your turn to ask: ‘Have you finished your thesis yet?’ Thanks to you all, the answer is, ‘Yes I have’. v List of figures and illustrations 1 Density of poultry in Ethiopia 27 2 Map of field site 34 3 Initial interview guide 53 4 Interview guide, follow up – marketing and use of chickens 56 5 Market survey 58 6 Plumage colours 69 7 [Illustrations] The morning 74 8 Chicken shelters 77 9 Comparing symptoms of fingal and common diseases recorded in 80-1 poultry 10 Plant species used for the treatment of chickens 88 11 [Illustrations] Chickens to market 99 12 Field sketch of modern house style 111 13 [Illustrations] Chickens in the house 128 14 Fumigation with tunjit 136 15 Field sketch of coffee ceremony materials 186 16 Easter meal of doro wot 196 17 Cuts of chicken 198 18 Inside a small-scale intensive poultry farm 219 19 Sign ‘Best chicken feed available’ 246 20 [Illustrations] Chickens in the environment 256 vi Abbreviations ACSA Amhara Credit and Savings Institute CSA Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia EA Extension Agent EIAR Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research EPRDF Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front ILRI International Livestock Research Institute ND Newcastle Disease PA Peasants Association vii Notes on Pronunciation Amharic is written using the syllabary of Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, sometimes also referred to as Classical Ethiopic. I have adopted for the most part, the transcription system used by Appleyard1. There are 27 consonants, most of which have the same sound as in English: b, p, d, j, t, m, n, f, w, s (as in ‘sing’), z, y, g (as in ‘go’), k, l (as in ‘light’), r, and v (only occurs in words borrowed from English) Some special letters represent sounds similar to English: č – ‘ch’ as in ‘church’ š – ‘sh’ as in ‘shoe’ ž – ‘s’ as ‘leisure’ ñ – as in ‘news, or the Spanish mañana Glottalised, or explosive consonants are represented with an apostrophe. The more common representations of the explosive k is ‘q’, and of the explosive s is ‘ts’, so I have used these instead throughout the text. t’ – explosive t q – explosive k p’ – explosive p č’ – explosive č, like the first ‘ch’ in ‘church’ ts – explosive s Double consonants are not represented in the syllabary, only in spoken Amharic. Thus where necessary I have indicated these with double letters, indicating a need to clearly pronounce both letters. There are seven orders of vowel sounds: 1st order ä like the first ‘a’ in ‘again’, but may be changed by surrounding consonants 2nd order u like the ‘oo’ in ‘moon’ 3rd order i like the ‘ee’ in ‘feet’ 4th order a like the ‘a’ in ‘father’ 5th order e like the vowel in ‘gate’ or ‘way’, but without the final ‘y’ sound 6th order ï a short and changeable sound, like the ‘e’ in ‘wounded’ 7th order o like vowel in ‘shore’ or ‘war’ 1 Appleyard, D (2013) Colloquial Amharic: the complete course for beginners.