title: Farming the battlefield: the meanings of war, cattle and soil in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
abstract: Prior to 1996 and the Congolese wars, exploitative land policies pushed farmers in the eastern highlands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into a vulnerable position, with cattle manure sustaining intensive cultivation. This exposed households to a complete breakdown in mixed farming as cattle became targets of war. This study of villages in South Kivu offers an inside understanding of continuity and change in farming practices in a region where there are no easy solutions, and it assesses how the province lost its present and where farmers look when they glance to the future. For farmers, who hold a broad view of soil fertility, the casualties of war were not only people and cattle but also the land itself, which has enduring scars. Perceiving a rupture in tradition, South Kivu farmers are searching desperately for new livelihoods that are built on education instead of livestock, setting aside old ethnic signifiers to seek a future beyond protracted conflict.
authors: tpaulcox@gmail.com
authors: T Paul
authors: TP
authors: Cox
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D002321:Career Choice; D002417:Cattle; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000208:ethnology; D008016:Life Change Events; D012987:Soil / Q000592:standards*; D014857:Warfare
chemical_list: D012987:Soil