Cultural Complexities: Animal Welfare in Diverse African Contexts

The discussion about Animal welfare in Africa as any where else is directly related to cultural, social, religious, political and economic factors, but in Africa its much more complicated due to the multiplicity in people’s beliefs and understanding of what is meant by ‘welfare’ . We found a lot of differences on the regions, tribes and sometimes “among practitioners themselves.”

This multiplicity cultural, and diversity of species of animals puts us before a scenario with a unique challenge to discuss animal welfare in Africa.

Another aspect that is evident in this region is the lack of resources and the lack of knowledge that make it even bigger the challenge of animal welfare in Africa, Thus, current protocols on good animal welfare most of the time are not suitable for African conditions.

In accordance with Masiga and Munyua (2005), many Africans depend on livestock for food, income and other socio-economic benefits. Thus we find a strong relationship between livestock and their owner which makes the reality of animal welfare even more complex.

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Qekwana et all (2019) brings an exemple of same communities where cattle are commonly given names may be kept longer than is economically justified because owners consider them as part of the household. furthermore they shows us that it's not uncommon on those communities have a different perspective of the welfare of the animals because welfare of animals is often linked to the wealth of their owners.

But this reality has changed a lot on the African continent with the improvement of farming systems, now we see a weaker relation between farmers and their animals, we believe that this is due “the high number of animals, their rapid turnover, and an economic mind set to livestock rearing”.

Another positive aspect that we use to fin in the African culture which contributed for the valuation of animal rights and animal welfare in Africa, use to be the African religions, where animals are sacred and are offered to gods and ancestors.

From the traditional slaughter practitioners in Africa, animals are sacred, they used a a concept known as ‘one life for another’, where if you shed an animal's blood, the animal’s life becomes a substitution for a human life. Therefore the responsibility of slaughtering an animal is given to an adult or a well-respected member of the community. This is a good example of the foresight that African cultures used to have concerning the well-being of the animals, choosing responsible and skilled people during the slaughter to minimise unnecessary pain and suffering on the animal.

In many tribes and clans in Africa we see that the use and recognise certain animals as totems, guardian spirits and helpers. Qekwana et all (2019) gives the exemple of the Bataung tribe, in South Africa, where no one on the tribe or clan is not allowed to kill or eat a lion or eat rabbits. Another good exemple is found among the Shona people, in Zimbabwe, who consider lions as mediums of Shona ancestors, the guardian of the land.

So we see different perceptions of the animals welfare in different regions, culture and customs. Results of the regions/cultura influences which are disappearing due different phenomena and have impact positively on the animal rights and animal welfare. Due same religious traditions in most of the African countries animal rights and animal welfare are taken in consideration naturally.

Concerning the awareness of animal welfare in Africa seems like the challenges is increasing due the lack of knowledge for effective modern industrial agriculture. Good progress are being seen in South Africa and Zimbabwe, through the education of the citizen concerning animal welfare. Which has been accomplished thanks the work of non-governmental organisations (NGO).

In this same pathway, another pertinent factor is the economic. The African continent is historically marked for poverty. According to Qekwana et all (2019) unemployment and ongoing climate change continue to be a hindrance in addressing animal welfare problems in Africa. The biggest challenges still related to the transport and treatment of sick animals which are most of the time inaccessible. Thereat people are obligated to use alternative that aren't welfare friendly. Let's take a deeper look on the influence religions, and other aspects of the African cultures that are related to the animal rights and welfare, or at least cause same influence on it.

Peterson, characterised the religion and the culture as the fundamental “characteristics of ‘Africanhood’, maybe due the fact these being called “the organic markers of African morality,”. HORSTHEMKE (2017) by bringing us the discussion about Animals and African Ethics, make it clear, even though African religions “do not belong to the major “families” of religions such as those that originated in the Near East or to the so-called Eastern religions.” They are marked by “small-scale communities and societies and are imbued with values like communalism (communal social organization and ownership; application of the communal spirit to life and work), a fundamental concern with the common good, harmony, and the interrelatedness of all life.

What makes them completely friendly to the animal rights and animal welfare. From the question asked by the Zimbabwean academic Nisbert Taringa’s — “How environmental is African traditional religion?” He's answer show as that “African traditional religion, and Shona religion in particular, is generally regarded to be intrinsically [animal- and] environmentally friendly”. He argue that - environmentalism wasn't brought to Africa by the colonialism or the “Christianity and Western ideas”.

For HORSTHEMKE (2017) even though Taringa defend the ideia of African culture environmentally friendly those values have not been established primary for environmental propose, and on the other hand, is true that we see attitudes that are environmentally healthy but there are others atitudes that are harmful to the environment and are not mentioned. HORSTHEMKE (2017) justify that “the ecological attitude of traditional African religion is more based on fear or respect of ancestral spirits than on respect for nature itself”.

She is rightly by saying that the land isn't just houses of the ancestors, is also the house of thousand of animals rivers, and trees. One big problem that she expose on those African system is related to traditional leaders and their families who often demand privileged access to these resources. Unfortunately arguments like that sound discriminative by same African scholars. According to HORSTHEMKE (2017) we found a misconception about the role of the African traditions to promote the wellbeing of the animals, because its mostly a romantic perception she quote Taringa (2006):

not all animals, plant life and water sources are sacred. This means that not all aspects of nature play a pivotal and vital role in [Africans’] beliefs about salvation. . . . In terms of environmental conservation . . . the least revered species are more prone to destruction than those [believed to be] imbued with spirits. The loophole lies in the fact that people are free to plunder and destroy and to hunt, disable, and kill members of these unrevered species without fear of sanction or reprisal.