Reproductive Success and Economic Status among the Datoga – Semi-Sedentary Pastoralists of Northern Tanzania

Abstract

The research conducted among the Datoga, traditional pastoralists of Northern Tanzania, allows us to demonstrate fundamental differences in the scale of reproductive success and the level of parental contribution to posterity among the men and women. The competition within the gender pool is more substantially manifested among the men. About 20,7% of men under 40 remain unmarried. Subsequently, the reproductive success among men displays a greater variation than that among women. It is the economic competence that features as the leading factor in the reproductive success among the Datoga men, and the parental contribution of men is determined by economic factors as well. At the same time, physical and mental health is the defining factor in nuptiality; hence the exclusion of men with expressed defects from the reproduction process. Contrary to some theories, polygyny does not negatively infl uence the fertility level among the women. Neither the marriage rank of a woman (the number of other wives) nor the age difference among the spouses is credibly refl ected in the number of children that the woman may have. The leading factor defi ning women’s reproductive success in these conditions is likely to be the survival rate of children which in many ways depends on the welfare of the family.