CATTLEFRONTIERS

For more information you can visit our website: cattlefrontiers.eu/steven-van-w...

We are very happy to announce our new online lecture series 'Livestock Histories: Regional and Global Perspectives'. The first lecture will be next week, where Steven Van Wolputte will be talking about cattle, microbes and veterinarians as entangled life forms in the history of Northern Namibia.

Another picture: A "Cowbell" advertisement in Poto-Poto (Brazzaville)- a testimony to the hyper competitive milk market in Africa since the 1950s. (Photo by Louise Barré.)

Brazzaville, Summer 2025: The ruins of "Tannaf" (Société de Tannerie de l'Afrique Équatoriale française), a tannery held by M. Guelfman in 1957 with no trace of lasting success. The company gave its name to a whole area in Brazzaville close to river Djoué. (Photo by team member Louise Barré.)

Team member Zarah Cleve just spent two weeks in Rwanda. One important stop on her trip was the King's Palace in Nyanza, where a small herd of Inyambo cattle, descended from the king's herd, can be found. These cows are known for their horns and played an important role in royal ceremonies.

Je me sens très honoré de pouvoir présenter mes recherches sur l'élevage bovin, demain à Antananarivo, dans un colloque inédit sur l'histoire économique de Madagascar.

We have a new blog post up on our website where team member Paulo Matos talks about his recent fieldwork in Angola: cattlefrontiers.eu/paulo-matos-...

Tomorrow, Samuël Coghe, PI of the CATTLEFRONTIERS project will be talking about cattle breeding in colonial and early postcolonial Madagascar at the History of Medicine, Science & Anthropocene Research Colloquium at the University of Zürich.

Conversations on positionality of the researcher, power relations in the field, and learning about different methodologies made this a very interesting week.
A huge thank you to the whole team who realised this spring school!

In April, one of our PhD students, Elene Vernaeve, participated in a spring school on fieldwork, organised by the Conflict & Development department of Ghent University. It was a week were PhD students with different academic backgrounds discussed and reflect on the complexities of fieldwork.

And of course Paulo also spent some time in the Angola National Archives in Luanda. (3/3)

While driving from Humpata to Lubango, Paulo was suddenly faced by a herd crossing the road, led by a young herder who was probably eight or nine years old. (2/3)

Cattlefrontiers team member Paulo Matos just spent a month in Angola doing fieldwork. His project examines the Portuguese colonial policies towards pastoralist populations in Angola and Mozambique. This picture was taken in the surroundings of Humbe, in a kraal of a Nkumbi individual. (1/3)

We are happy to announce that @samuelcoghe.bsky.social will be presenting the CATTLEFRONTIERS ERC project at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Durham on 17 March durham.ac.uk/research/ins... @emilywebz.bsky.social

(Post)Colonial Cattle Frontiers This project explores the transformations in cattle production in Southern and Central Africa during the colonial and early postcolonial period.

We will use this account for updates on our research and events. For more information on the project you can also check out our website: cattlefrontiers.eu

Welcome to the CATTLEFRONTIERS Bluesky account! This project explores how European colonialism, global capitalism and multiple forms of local agency transformed cattle economies in Southern and Central Africa during the colonial and early postcolonial period.