Meat, Fish, and Poultry Labor
Hunting Scene in Precolonial Africa, Courtesy of The New York Public Library
Precolonial African Butchering Scene, 1730s, Courtesy of the New York Public Library
In terms of the social relations of production, we know that in the majority of West and Central African societies, men hunted and fished and had responsibility over larger domesticated animals such as cows, ox, goats, and sheep. Women had responsibility over smaller domesticated animals particularly those that produced eggs like fowl. When it came to acquiring animal and fish protein a distance from home, men also cleaned and preserved their catch. However when the same occurred close to one’s kitchen, women did the same work on small animals and almost always when it came to fish. The available images and sources indicate that men served as butchers of large domesticated animals such as cows, ox , and goats and women butchered smaller domesticated animals such as hens and pheasants and as mentioned, fish.
