Commercialization and Marketing of Women's Indigenous Knowledge Products: A Case Study of Maasai Body Ornamental Products in Arusha, Tanzania
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study casts light on constraints and potentials of Maasai indigenousknowledge and body ornament production skills. Synergy between indigenousand Western knowledge is appreciated in literature. Study findings show thatMaasai women produce indigenous body ornamental products with amplebusiness opportunities. However, there have been little commercialization andmarketing initiatives for these products. Marketing information is limited andpenetration into the market is shallow. Regression results reveal that a domesticmarket is important for generating income for Maasai women. Nonetheless,switching to export/tourist markets has a high potential for additional earnings.Productivity, market participation, income, and employment are undermined bylow education levels and specialization in production, inter alia.
Article Details
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Further distribution of the work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published work's title, journal citation, and DOI (digital object identifier).
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- The work does not infringe any copyright; violate any other right of any third parties; contain any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter; or make any improper invasion of the privacy of any person. The author(s) agrees to indemnify and hold harmless The Pennsylvania State University against any claim or proceeding undertaken on any of the aforementioned grounds.
References
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). 2001. Employing Indigenous Australians: Indigenous Employment Strategy Framework for Industry. Barton, Australian Capital Territory: ACCI.
Baker, M. J., and M. Saren. 2010. Marketing Theory (2nd ed). London: Sage.
Barnhardt, R., and A. O. Kawagley. 2005. "Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Alaska Native Ways of Knowing." Anthropology and Education Quarterly 36(1): 8-23.
Barnhardt, R. 2008. "Creating a Place for Indigenous Knowledge in Education." Place-based Education in the Global Age: Local Diversity. Edited by D.A. Gruenewald and G. A. Smith, 113-133. New York: Psychology Press.
Bates, P. 2009. "Learning and Inuit Knowledge in Nunavat." In Learning and Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today: 95-105. Edited by P. Bates, M. Chiba, S. Kube, and D. Nakashima. Paris:
UNESCO.
Binder, D.A. 1983. "On the Variances of Asymptotically Normal Estimators from Complex Surveys." International Statistical Review 51: 279-292.
Booms, B. H., and M. J. Bitner. 1981. "Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for Service Firms." In Marketing of Services. Edited by J. H. Donnelly and W. R. George. Chicago: American Marketing Association.
Börjeson, L., D. L. Hodgson, and P. Z. Yanda. 2008. "Northeast Tanzania's Disappearing Rangelands: Historical Perspectives on Recent Land Use Change." International Journal of African Historical
Studies 41(3): 523–56.
Briggs, J. 2005. "The Use of Indigenous Knowledge in Development: Problems and Challenges." Progress in Development Studies 5(2): 99–114.
Coast, E. 2002. "Maasai Socio-economic Conditions: Cross-border Comparison." Human Ecology 30(1): 79-105.
Crockett, S., V. L. Smith, and B. J. Wilson. 2005. "Exchange and Specialization as a Discovery Process." The Economic Journal 119 (539): 162–1188.
Fill, C., and B. Jamieson. 2011. Marketing Communications. Edinburg Business School Teaching Module. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University.
Foucault, M. 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books.
Gata, N. 1993. Revaluating Indigenous Knowledge. IPM Implementation Workshop for East/Central/Southern Africa. Workshop Proceedings. Harare, Zimbabwe.
Gledhill, J. 2004. "Neoliberalism." In A Companion to the Anthropology of Politics. Edited by David Nugent and Joan Vincent. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gough, Kathleen. 1968. "Anthropology and Imperialism." Monthly Review. Seleccionnes en Castellano 19(11): 12–27.
Hodgson, D. L. 1997. "Embodying the Contradictions of Modernity: Gender and Spirit Possession among Maasai in Tanzania." In Gendered Encounters: Challenging Cultural Boundaries and Social
Hierarchies in Africa. Edited by Maria Grosz-Ngate and Omari Kokole. New York: Routledge.
Hodgson, D. L. 2005. The Church of Women: Gendered Encounters Between Maasai and Missionaries. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Hodgson, D. L. 2011. Being Maasai, Becoming Indigenous, Postcolonial Politics in a Neoliberal World. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
Harding, S. 1998. "Women, Science, and Society." Science 281: 1599-1600.
Harvey, D. 2005. A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ingold, T. 2001. "From the Transmission of Representations to the Education of Attention." In The Debated Mind: Evolutionary Psychology Versus Ethnography 113-153. Edited by H. Whitehouse.
Berg, Oxford.
Jupp, E. 2007. "Participation, Local Knowledge and Empowerment: Researching Public Space with Young People." Environmental and Planning A 39: 2832-2844.
Kala, C. P. 2002. "Indigenous Knowledge of Bhotiya Tribal Community on Wool Dyeing and its Present Status in the Garhwal Himalaya, India." Current Science 83(7): 814-817.
Kantai, P. 2007. "In the Grip of the Vampire State: Maasai Land Struggles in Kenyan Politics." Journal of Eastern African Studies 1(1): 107-122.
Kanstrup-Jensen, A. 2006. Indigenous Education and Knowledge: A De-Legitimised Concept in the Education for All. Aalborg: Institut for Historie, Internationale Studier og Samfundsforhold, Aalborg Universitet.
Kotler, P. and A. Gary. 1994. Principles of Marketing. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice- Hall.
Kotler, P. 2000. Marketing Management: The Millennium Edition. Prentice-Hall of India: New Delhi.
Maasai Association. 2015. Maasai Association.
http://www.maasaiassociation.org/mcc/women.group.html. (Downloaded in February 2016).
MacCarthy, E. J. 1960. Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
Magni, G. 2016. Indigenous Knowledge and Implications for the Sustainable Development Agenda. Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Futures for All. Paper commissioned for the
Global Education Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO.
Marika, R., Y. Yunupingu, R. Marika-Mununggiritj, and S. Muller. 2009. "Leaching the Poison – The Importance of Process and Partnership in Working with Yolngu." Journal of Rural Studies 25(4):
-413.
Nathan, G., and D. Holt. 1980. "The Effect of Survey Design on Regression Analysis." Journal of the Royal Statistical Society B 43: 377-386.
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2006. Integrated Labour Force Survey 2006. National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP).
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 2014. Integrated Labour Force Survey 2014. Tanzania Statistical Master Plan (TSMP). International Labour Organisation (ILO). United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF). Government of Tanzania (TZA).
Ngoitiko, M. 2008. "The Pastoral Council of Tanzania: Empowerment for Tanzania's Maasai." Gatekeeper (August)137e.
Onah, J. O., and P. U. Allison. 2007. "Marketing and Entrepreneurial Development." The Academy of Marketing Journal 1(1): 122-130.
Posey, D. A., and G. Dutfield. 1996. "Beyond Intellectual Property Rights: Toward Traditional Resource Rights for Indigenous and Local Communities." Ottawa, Canada: The International Development
Research Centre.
Ribot, J. C., and N. L. Peluso. 2003. "The Theory of Access." Rural Sociology 68(2).
Shah, B. V., M. M. Holt, and R. E Folsom. 1977. "Inference About Regression Models from Sample Survey Data." Bulletin of the International Statistical Institute 47: 43-57.
Stavenhagen, R. 2015. "Indigenous Peoples' Rights to Education." European Journal of Education 50(3): 254-257.
Stiglitz J. E. 1975. "The Theory of Screening, Education, and the Distribution of Income." The American Economic Review 65(3): 283-300.
Talle, A. 1987. "Women as Heads of Houses: The Organization of Production and the Role of Women among the Pastoral Maasai in Kenya." Ethnos 52(1–2): 50–80.
Talle, A. 1990. "Ways of Milk and Meat among the Maasai: Gender Identity and Food Resources in a Pastoral Economy." In From Water to World-Making: African Models and Arid Lands. Edited by
Gı´sli Pa´lsson. Uppsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies.
Wise, M. S. 2006. "Performance Consequences of Brand Equity Management. Evidence from Organizations in the Value Chain." Journal of Product and Brand Management 12(4): 220-236.