bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Minor Modifications Make Major Differences in Remote Deepwater-Brine Displacement Operations
Authors: Darring Michael T. , Shucart John K. , Claiborne Earl B. , Parks R. D. , Pillow Doug
Published: April 2006

Brine displacements were one of several areas of focus in a continuous process to optimize completion methodology in Amerada Hess's Ceiba project wells, located in deepwater offshore Equatorial Guinea. The time between making up the cleaning string and laying it down, after displacement and filtration operations are completed, can exceed two days and cost U.S. $500,000. It is imperative that wellbore-cleaning operations are performed efficiently and correctly the first time. Amerada Hess and its brine suppliers, working together in a joint task force, have taken specific steps to minimize the time required for displacement and filtration operations.
Mathematical Modeling of Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage
Authors: Akin Serhat
Published: April 2006

A mathematical model for gravity drainage in heavy-oil reservoirs and tar sands during steam injection in linear geometry is proposed. The mathematical model is based on the experimental observations that the steam-zone shape is an inverted triangle with the vertex fixed at the bottom production well. Both temperature and asphaltene content dependence on the viscosity of the drained heavy oil are considered. The developed model has been validated with experimental data presented in the literature. The heavy-oil production rate conforms well to previously published data covering a wide range of heavy oils and sands for gravity drainage.
Granular-Polymer-Gel Treatment Successful in the Daqing Oilfield
Authors: Liu He , Han Hongxue , Li Zhuling , Wang Bo
Published: April 2006

Reservoirs in the Daqing oil field are complex-fluvial, lacustrine, and delta-deposited heterogeneous pay zones with mixed porosities and various permeabilities ranging from several md to 1,200 md. Both vertical and horizontal heterogeneities are abundant. Conformance control for such reservoirs is difficult but of great importance. Recently, we used a method that employs injection of preformed gel particles to adjust the flow distribution of injected water.

This paper presents the technique that was used for the first time in a typical region in the Daqing oil field. The particles used in this project were preformed crosslinking granular polymer gels. Granule diameters were 1.5, 3, and 5 mm, which were bigger than particles used in other oil fields in China. Before actual treatment, numerical simulation was used to predict the pressure change during the process of treatment, the amount of polymer gel to be used, and the quantity of water to be injected. In actual treatment, the total injection was 3100 m3, which was injected in three plugs: pretreatment, main-plug injection, and seal-plug injection. The application proved successful. Economically improved oil production and reduced water cut were observed.
2,000,000-lbf Landing-String Developments: Novel Slipless Technology Extends the Deepwater Operating Envelope
Authors: Simpson Burnie , Payne Michael L. , Jellison Michael J. , Adams Burt A.
Published: April 2006

The initial impetus for developing 2,000,000-lbf landing strings was the fact that failures in the field were being experienced with loads less than equipment ratings. This paper pertains to the technological development of a completely integrated landing system that provides the ability to extend the deepwater drilling and completion envelope. This system comprises an elevator, slipless spider, and landing string—all specifically designed to land heavy-casing strings in deepwater wells and thus overcome the load limitations of conventional equipment. All stages of evolution are analyzed, including research, development, design, verification testing, manufacturing, prooftesting, running, handling, and actual case histories detailing field use. Actual verification-testing loads were over 5,200,000 lbf, and proof-testing loads were 3,000,000 lbf. Unique manufacturing challenges and solutions associated with the production of ultrathick wall landing strings, with 2,000,000 lbf at super-premium-yield ratings1 (90% remaining body wall), a represented in detail.
Evaluation of Cement Systems for Oil and Gas-Well Zonal Isolation in a Full-Scale Annular Geometry
Authors: Boukhelifa L. , Moroni N. , James S. G. , Le Roy-Delage S. , Thiercelin M. J. , Lemaire G.
Published: April 2006

Loss of zonal isolation in a wellbore can be caused by mechanical failure of the cement or by development of a microannulus. However, behavior of the sealant is driven by specific boundary conditions such as rock properties. Large-scale laboratory testing of the cement sheath in an annular geometry and a confined situation was performed to simulate various downhole stress conditions and evaluate the behavior of several sealants. Failure modes of the cement sheath were determined as a function of cement mechanical properties, loading parameters, and boundary conditions. Results were used to validate an analytical model that predicts cement-sheath failure.
Steady-State Flow Behavior of CO2 Foam
Authors: Kim J. S. , Dong Y. , Rossen W. R.
Published: April 2006

Foams can improve oil recovery by reducing gas mobility and the effects of reservoir heterogeneity. Numerous studies report that foam flow in porous media comprises two regimes. In the "high-quality regime," pressure gradient is nearly independent of gas superficial velocity. In the "low-quality regime," pressure gradient is nearly independent of liquid superficial velocity. Previous published data from CO2 foam studies lie either in the high- or low-quality regime, but no single study shows both regimes. Delineating the two foam-flow regimes is essential to modeling and predicting the behavior of CO2 foam in petroleum applications.

Experiments were performed with a sandpack and fired Berea and Boise sandstone cores at a backpressure of 1500 or 2000 psig, above and below the critical temperature of CO2. The data from the sandpack, Berea, and Boise sandstone experiments at room temperature do not show the two conventional foam-flow regimes. Instead, these experiments find a third regime evidently related to the low-quality regime. This same behavior was observed in the sandpack above the critical temperature of CO2. In this new regime, pressure gradient decreases with increasing liquid superficial velocity at constant gas superficial velocity. The Boise sandstone experiment above the critical temperature of CO2 did find the two conventional foam-flow regimes, however. No single experimental factor appears to explain the difference in results.

Earlier theoretical work of Hirasaki and Lawson and de Vries and Wit can partially explain the flow regime seen in our study. A model combining a bundle-of-tubes approach with the effective-viscosity function of Hirasaki and Lawson predicts the behavior in this new regime.
Improved MMP Correlations for CO2 Floods Using Analytical Gasflooding Theory
Authors: Yuan H. , Johns R. T. , Egwuenu A. M. , Dindoruk B.
Published: April 2006

Local displacement efficiency from CO2 gas injection is highly dependent on the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP). Correlations are sometimes used to estimate the MMP where the injected fluid may or may not contain impurities such as methane. These correlations, however, are based on a limited set of experimental data and, as such, are not widely applicable. They also do not account accurately for the more complex condensing/vaporizing (CV) displacement process.

This paper presents new MMP correlations for the displacement of multicomponent oil by CO2 and impure CO2. The approach is to use recently developed analytical theory for MMP calculations from equations of state (EOSs) to generate MMP correlations for displacements by pure and impure CO2.1–8 The advantage of this approach is that MMPs for a wide range of temperatures and reservoir fluids can be calculated quickly and accurately without introducing uncertainties associated with slimtube MMPs and other numerical methods. The improved MMP correlations are based solely on the reservoir temperature, the molecular weight of C7+, and the percentage of intermediates (C2–C6)in the oil. The MMPs from the improved correlations are compared to currently used correlations and 41 experimentally measured MMPs. Correlations are also developed for impure-CO2 floods, in which the injection stream may contain up to 40% methane. The new correlations are more accurate for a wider range of conditions than the currently used correlations.
Measurement of Three-Phase Relative Permeability With IFT Variation
Authors: Cinar Yildiray , Orr Franklin M.
Published: April 2006

In this paper, we present results of an experimental investigation of the effects of variations in interfacial tension (IFT) on three-phase relative permeability. We report results that demonstrate the effect of low IFT between two of three phases on the three-phase relative permeabilities.

To create three-phase systems in which IFT can be controlled systematically, we used a quaternary liquid system composed of hexadecane (C16), n-butanol (NBA), water (H2O), and isopropanol (IPA). Measured equilibrium phase compositions and IFTs are reported. The reported phase behavior of the quaternary system shows that the H2O-rich phase should represent the "gas" phase, the NBA-rich phase should represent the "oil" phase, and the C16-rich phase should represent the "aqueous" phase. Therefore, we used oil-wet Teflon (PTFE) bead packs to simulate the fluid flow in a water-wet oil reservoir. We determined phase saturations and three-phase relative permeabilities from recovery and pressure-drop data using an extension of the combined Welge/Johnson-Bossler-Naumann (JBN) method to three-phase flow. Measured three-phase relative permeabilities are reported.

The experimental results indicate that the wetting-phase relative permeability was not affected by IFT variation, whereas the other two-phase relative permeabilities were clearly affected. As IFT decreases, the oil and gas phases become more mobile at the same phase saturations. For gas/oil IFTs in the range of 0.03 to 2.3 mN/m, we observed an approximately 10-fold increase in the oil and gas relative permeabilities against an approximately 100-fold decrease in the IFT.
Productivity of Selectively Perforated Horizontal Wells
Authors: Yildiz Turhan
Published: April 2006

This paper investigates the effect of selective perforating on horizontal-well performance. Theoretical investigation is based on a general 3D analytical model that was published previously. For a given perforation design, the changes in flow rate, pseudosteady-state productivity, and cumulative production can be computed using the solution. The investigation shows that the ratio of total-perforated length to the drilled-well length is the most dominant parameter controlling the long-term performance of the selectively perforated horizontal wells. The other important parameters are the degree of formation and perforating damage.

We additionally examined the effect of the so-called "oriented perforating" on the horizontal-well performance in isotropic and anisotropic formations. Our research shows that accurately oriented perforating could significantly improve the well productivity in anisotropic formations.
Incorporating Uncertainties in Well-Count Optimization With Experimental Design for the Deepwater Agbami Field
Authors: Narahara G. M. , Spokes J. J. , Brennan D. D. , Maxwell G. , Bast M.
Published: April 2006

This paper describes a methodology for incorporating uncertainties in the optimization of well count for the deepwater Agbami field development. The lack of substantial reservoir-description data is common in many deepwater discoveries. Therefore, the development plan must be optimized and proven to be robust for a wide range of uncertainties. In the Agbami project, the design of experiments, or experimental design (ED) technique, was incorporated to optimize the well count across a wide range of subsurface uncertainties.

The lack of substantial reservoir-description data is common for many deepwater discoveries. In the Agbami project, the uncertainty in oil in place was significant (greater than a factor of 2). This uncertainty was captured in a range of earth (geologic) models. Additional uncertainty variables, including permeability, fault seals, and injection conformance, were studied concurrently. Multiple well-count development plans (high, mid, and low) were developed and used as a variable in ED. The ED technique allowed multiple well counts to be tested quickly against multiple geologic models. With the net present value (NPV) calculated for each case, not only was the well count for the overall highest NPV determined, but discrete testing of each geologic model determined the optimum well count for each model. The process allowed for testing the robustness of any well count vs. any uncertainty (or set of uncertainties).

A method was demonstrated quantifying the difference between perfect and imperfect knowledge of the reservoir description (geologic model) as it pertains to well locations.
Semen and Sperm Reference Ranges for Men 45 Years of Age and Older
Authors: Hellstrom Wayne J. G. , Overstreet James W. , Sikka Suresh C. , Denne Jonathan , Ahuja Sanjeev , Hoover Amy M. , Sides Gregory D. , Cordell William H. , Harrison L. Mark , Whitaker J. Steven
Published: April 2006

ABSTRACT: The most widely used reference values for human semen and sperm variables were developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help assess the fertility status of men interested in reproduction (typically a younger population). In this retrospective analysis, data from a large population of men aged 45 years or older were analyzed to derive semen and sperm reference ranges for an older population. Baseline semen samples were obtained from 1174 men with no or mild erectile dysfunction (ED) during the screening phase of two clinical trials evaluating the effects of a drug on human spermatogenesis. The median values and 95% reference ranges for 4 measured semen and sperm parameters (semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility, and sperm morphology) and 1 derived parameter (total sperm count) were calculated for the population and by age quartile. These references ranges were compared to established WHO reference values. Associations between the semen and sperm parameters and smoking status, alcohol use, and serum hormone concentrations were also analyzed. The mean age was 52.9 years (range: 45–80). Median semen volume, sperm motility, and sperm morphology parameters declined significantly with age. Only 46% of study subjects had baseline values for semen and sperm parameters that met or surpassed all the WHO reference values. This is the first study to statistically derive semen reference ranges from a large population of men aged 45 years or older. The observation that less than half the men in this study met all 4 WHO reference values for measured semen and sperm parameters underscores the need for age‐specific reference ranges.
Cattle and inequality: herd size differences and pastoral production among the Fulani of northeastern Senegal
Authors: Sutter John W.
Published: April 2006

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There is a growing body of research that addresses issues of income distribution and the mechanisms of inequality in rural farming communities in Africa (see, for example, Hill, 1972; Matlon, 1981; Kitching, 1980; Sutter, 1981; Watts, 1983). Unfortunately a recognition of the importance of economic inequality in African societies dependent on animal husbandry has lagged behind. Much of the research on pastoral systems of production of the past several decades has been carried out by anthropologists whose work, to the extent that it addresses issues of economic heterogeneity at all, has emphasised the types of ‘levelling’ and ‘adaptive’ mechanisms common to pastoral systems. Recurrent issues of focus have been the ideology of equality which tends to predominate in pastoral societies, the limited development of political hierarchies, the limitations on herd size imposed by family labour and ecology, the wide-spread transfer of assets at critical moments in the life cycle, and the apparent similarities in consumption levels of different households (see, for example, Barth, 1961; Goldschmidt, 1971; Dahl, 1979a; Schneider, 1979).
The socio-ecology of firewood and charcoal on the Freetown peninsula
Authors: Cline-Cole R. Akindele
Published: April 2006

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In a country which in the last 200 years has undergone continuous and often momentous political, economic and social changes, few things are capable of conveying as strong an impression of stability and changelessness as wood fuel (charcoal and firewood) consumption and production; and nowhere is this more striking than on the Freetown or Western Area (formerly Colony) peninsula. In this region, which has always accounted for the major share of national electricity, kerosene and cooking gas (LPG) consumption, not only is current percentage household firewood consumption only fractionally lower than in the nineteenth century but a much higher proportion of households consume charcoal now than at any time in the last two centuries (Cline-Cole, 1984a). Today firewood and charcoal combined supply a minimum of 80 per cent of total peninsula energy demand for both domestic and non-household uses (Davidson, 1985). Freetown's firewood consumption also represents some 10 per cent of the national total (Atlanta, 1979).
Photography in Sierra Leone, 1850–1918
Authors: Viditz-Ward Vera
Published: April 2006

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In recent years scholars have shown considerable interest in the early use of photography by non-Western peoples. Research on nineteenth-century Indian, Japanese and Chinese photography has revealed a rich synthesis of European and Asian imagery. These early photographs show how non-Western peoples created new forms of artistic expression by adapting European technology and visual idioms for their own purposes. Because of the long history of contact between Sierra Leoneans and Europeans, Freetown seemed a logical starting point for similar photographic research in West Africa. The information presented here is based on ten years of searching for nineteenth-century photographs made by Sierra Leonean photographers. To locate these pictures, I have visited Freetonians and viewed their family portraits and photograph albums, interviewed contemporary photographers throughout Sierra Leone, and researched in the various colonial archives in England to locate photographs preserved from the period of colonial rule. I have discovered that a community of African photographers has worked in the city of Freetown since the very invention of photography. The article reviews the first phase of this unique photographic tradition, 1850–1918, and focuses on several of the African photographers who worked in Freetown during this period.
The world in creolisation
Authors: Hannerz Ulf
Published: April 2006

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From the time when I first became entangled with the Third World, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I have been fascinated by those contemporary ways of life and thought which keep growing out of the interplay between imported and indigenous cultures. They are the cultures on display in market places, shanty towns, beer halls, night clubs, missionary book stores, railway waiting rooms, boarding schools, newspapers and television stations. Nigeria, the country I have been most closely in touch with in an on-and-off way for some time, because of its large size, perhaps, offers particular scope for such cultural development, with several very large cities and hundreds if not thousands of small and middle-size towns. It has a lively if rather erratic press, a popular music scene dominated at different times by such genres as highlife, juju and Afro-beat, about as many universities as breweries (approximately one to every state in the federal republic), dozens of authors published at home and abroad, schoolhouses in just about every village, and an enormous fleet of interurban taxicabs which with great speed can convey you practically from anywhere to anywhere, at some risk to your life.
Nature as myth, symbol and action: notes towards a historical understanding of development and conservation in Kenyan Maasailand
Authors: Knowles Joan N. , Collet D. P.
Published: April 2006

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History is often presented as a unilineal process whereby events follow on from each other in a causal sequence: A gives rise to B which in turn leads to C. While this structural form is extremely compelling as explanation, it has limitations when applied to the colonial encounter. The differences between the beliefs and practices of the people involved in this encounter, and the consequent variety in perceived significances of individual events, make it almost impossible to construct a unified history. The diversity of perceptions in historical events has been recognised and is most clearly seen in those historical accounts of the colonial encounter written from the perspective of the ‘other’ (Sahlins, 1981; 1985). However, these analyses, by focusing on events, still maintain the structural framework of conventional history.
The pastor and thebabalawo: the interaction of religions in nineteenth-century Yorubaland
Authors: Peel J. D. Y.
Published: April 2006

1. The Priority of the Encounter

The system of divination called Ifa is among the most elaborate of African systems of divination and occupies a unique position in what is often called ‘Yoruba traditional religion’. That it is inappropriatesimplyto regard it as part of Yoruba traditional religion indicates the nature of our problem. For its saliency in Yoruba religion, as that has been conceived by commentators both Yoruba and non-Yoruba since the early nineteenth century, has precisely been because of its capacity to ‘ride’ social change, to detach itself from much of what Muslims and Christians call paganism, and to impose itself on the respectful attention of the modern educated.
Islamic protest under semi-industrial capitalism: 'Yan Tatsine explained
Authors: Lubeck Paul M.
Published: April 2006

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Since 1980, with considerable regularity during the dry season which propels the rural poor into the urban centres of northern Nigeria, religious riots have erupted in or adjacent to five cities: Kano (1980), Kaduna (1982), Bulum-Ketu near Maiduguri (1982), Jimeta near Yola (1984) and Gombe (1985). In each instance the conflict was remarkably similar. When confronted by the state authorities, an Islamic sect, the 'Yan Tatsine, unleashed an armed insurrection against the Nigerian security forces and those outside the sect, resulting in widespread destruction, in thousands of deaths and in millions of naira of property losses. Indeed, if one were to search for a historical equivalent in Nigerian history, only the communal riots of 1966 surpass the destruction wrought by the 'Yan Tatsine insurrections of the eighties. The account appearing inWest Africa, describing the Gombe outbreak, provides a typical press analysis of the insurrection:

Fighting began early on Friday, April 29 when a detachment of police moved in to arrest suspected members of a maitatsine type religious sect in the Pantami ward of Gombe. The suspected leader of the religious group is a man named Yusufu Adamu. That was when all hell broke loose. Within hours, some streets had been littered with corpses many of them caught in the cross fire between fanatics and the law enforcement agents. [West Africa, 6 May 1985: 876]

For the following analysis it is noteworthy that the correspondent describes the sect as a ‘maitatsine type’, that the insurrection erupted only when the police attempted to arrest an alleged leader and that the members of the dissident sect are labelled ‘fanatics’ without any supporting evidence.
Kikuyu women and the Harry Thuku disturbances: some uniformities of female militancy
Authors: Wipper Audrey
Published: April 2006

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African men, like men everywhere, have dominated the public sphere, holding the vast majority of official positions of power and authority. In pre-colonial African societies women were formally subordinate to male authority and male dominance was buttressed by an ideology of male superiority and a status system where women showed deference to men. But formal systems, ideologies and codes of etiquette are not realities. In some societies women wielded considerable influence and authority, so much in fact that these systems have been characterised as dual-sex political systems with each sex managing its own affairs (Okonjo, 1976). Women were not so much involved in hierarchical orders of relationships as in complementary, mutually dependent relationships.
Ritual healing and political acquiescence: the case of the Zionist Churches in southern Africa
Authors: Schoffeleers Matthew
Published: April 2006

Zionist Churches, especially those emphasising healing, exhibit a strikingly acquiescent attitude towards South African State politicies. This article examines the evidence as well as the explanations that have been put forward by social scientists and theologians. The particular focus of the article, however, is on medical systems as mechanisms of social control, a perspective that in this context has tended to be overlooked.
The isusu: an institution for capital formation among the Ngwa Igbo; its origin and development to 1951
Authors: Nwabughuogu Anthony I.
Published: April 2006

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Two contrasted viewpoints are adopted by scholars towards indigenous credit institutions in underdeveloped societies. The first holds that such institutions cannot play any significant role in capital formation in those societies. Thus Firth (1964: 15–34) doubts ‘if such credit associations can contribute substantially to capital formation to promote economic growth significantly’. The second viewpoint is held by those who accept the important contributions of these institutions in the process of development but understate their functions and value in the process of development. Geertz (1962: 241–63) belongs to this group. After analysing indigenous credit institutions in Asia and Africa, he asserts that they can serve as a kind of ‘middle rung’ in economic development. He sees them as an ‘educational mechanism in terms of which peasants learn to be traders not merely in the narrow occupational sense, but in the broad cultural sense’. These conclusions seem to have influenced other scholars studying credit institutions in Africa. For instance, in his study of credit associations among the Afikpo Igbo, S. Ottenberg (1968: 237–52) adopts much of Geertz's stance.
The Mozambican National Resistance Movement (RENAMO): a study in the destruction of an African country
Authors: Hall Margaret
Published: April 2006

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RENAMO is a shadowy movement and ill-understood, save for its well-established genesis as a military artefact of the Rhodesians, then its transition in 1980 to South African patronage. Lacking all the features we have come to associate with successful insurgencies in Africa, such as a charismatic leadership or easily identifiable ideology, it has failed to develop a political identity commensurate with its military strength. It has no clearly defined regional base, relies on widespread forced recruitment, and behaves with notorious brutality towards the civilian population. Yet it operates throughout the length and breadth of Mozambique, and holds the state in virtual paralysis. Since it lacks rear bases and therefore depends upon local provisioning, it must be able to obtain compliance over large areas of rural Mozambique. That also implies effective organisation.
Reform and repression under the Free French: economic and political transformation in the Côte d'Ivoire, 1942–45
Authors: Lawler Nancy
Published: April 2006

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Few dispute the proposition that the Second World War marked the beginning of the end of colonialism in Africa. The thesis developed by Hodgkin (1956), Crowder (1968, 1978) and Schachter-Morgenthau (1964)—that coalitions of African veterans, disgruntled planters, peasants and chiefs gave rise to anti-colonialist, nationalist political movements in the immediate post-war era—has not been seriously challenged. The general acceptance of this view has resulted in a neglect of the history of the colonies during the war years themselves. While there is now a growing interest in this subject, most studies of the independence movements begin with the emergence, in 1946, of recognisable political parties in British and French Africa. They take as starting points such visible events as the Brazzaville Conference, the 1946 French Constitution, the launching of the Convention Peoples Party in Ghana, or the founding of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africaine (RDA) in Bamako. What is needed now are thorough case studies of the specific policies and practices of the imperial powers during the Second World War and a consideration of the extent to which they acted as internal catalysts in the struggle for independence. This article, which is offered as a contribution to that end, looks at one chapter in the war experience of the Cote d'Ivoire.
The book famine: a selective directory for book and journal assistance to universities in Africa
Authors: Priestley Carol
Published: April 2006

Since 1985, when the International African Institute took the initiative of organising a one-day seminar entitled ‘The Book Famine in Africa’, awareness has grown of the difficulties African scholars face through lack of access to recently published books and journals. Scarcity of locally published material in specialised educational fields means that imported books are—and will remain for some time—the only way in which library collections can be sustained and developed. In countries experiencing economic decline and a shortage of foreign exchange, the role of international donors in tertiary-level library development becomes critical. It has not always been possible, however, for institutions to know whom to approach for assistance.
Twins, incest and mediators: the structure of four Zulu folk tales
Authors: Hammond-Tooke W. D.
Published: April 2006

This article attempts to apply Levi-Straussian methods of myth analysis to four Zulu folk tales recorded by Callaway in the 1860s and published, with a number of other stories and fragments, with parallel English and Zulu texts. The folk tales were selected on the grounds that they all dealt with relationships within the family, and appeared to be making, at least subjectively, serious statements on matters of significance.

Although they differed greatly in plot, character and locale, it transpired on analysis that all four stories contained the same deep structure. More particularly, all involved the interaction of sets of male and female twins, and all ended on the positive note of marriage. More strikingly, in each case there was a crucial episode in which sour milk was offered by the male twin to his sister, who, in each case, refused it. Also central to all the stories was the intervention of an ambiguous animal, bird or monster.

It is suggested that the clue to the interpretation of this set of folk tales lies in the importance of sour milk, in all Nguni societies, as a symbol of kinship: it may be drunk only together with kin. Refusal to drink is therefore a denial of kinship (and a statement of availability for marriage). The possible meaning behind the surface structure of the tales is discussed as an attempt to reconcile the incompatibility between the (universal) drive towards incest (why else the rigid taboos?) and Nguni preoccupation with avoiding it, as expressed in the wide-ranging elaboration of Nguni exogamy rules.
Gender and housing: the case of domestic service in Lusaka, Zambia
Authors: Hansen Karen Tranberg
Published: April 2006

Lusaka is a city originally designed and built for European residents, to meet European needs and comforts. In the colonial period the African residents were either domestic servants living within European households’ compounds or were other contracted wage-labourers who were confined to the areas of south-western Lusaka specifically allocated to them. Europeans preferred male domestic help; women and children living at close quarters were thought to be potentially disruptive and were therefore discouraged from moving into the towns. A gender division between town and country was created; so too were cultural assumptions about gender, housing and employment, assumptions still widely held today.

Pressure to find waged employment in Zambia has increased, and as a result the population of Lusaka is growing rapidly and shelter is in increasingly short supply. The article argues that domestic employment is still the largest single segment of the urban wage-labouring population. The historically constructed cultural assumptions about gender and housing have led to differential access to housing for men and women. Now that more and more women are seeking waged employment, the article uses their relation to domestic employment as an instance through which to explore the wider position of women in Zambia, and to initiate, it is hoped, some gender awareness in Zambian housing policy.
Le Gbe est une langue unique
Authors: Capo Hounkpatin C.
Published: April 2006

Introduction

II se fait sur le terrain un consensus autour du terme Gbe pour désigner l'ensemble des parlers plus ou moins intelligibles dont le territoire s'étend en gros du fleuve Amugán (connu dans les documents en langues étrangères comme Volta) à l'ouest, au fleuve Wógbó (connu dans les documents en langues étrangères comme Ouémé et Weme) à l'est, puis de l'Océan Atlantique au sud jusqu'en dessous de la latitude 9° nord (cf Capo 1980a). Ce continuum dialectal, mieux connu comme Ewe depuis les importants travaux de Westermann (en particulier Westermann 1930), est maintenant divisé en cinq sections (caractérisées par des innovations précises), à savoir les dialectes Vhe, les dialectes Gen, les dialectes Ajá, les dialectes Fon et les dialectes Phla-Pherá (cf Capo 1980b). En fait, aux expressions comme ‘continuum dialectal’, ‘complexe linguistique’, ‘groupe de parlers’ Gbe, je voudrais proposer qu'on préfère la désignation de ‘la langue Gbe’. Le but de cette étude est done de mettre en lumière certains critères qui permettent d'identifier une langue, et de montrer ainsi que l'option pour ‘la langue Gbe’ n'est pas arbitraire.
Migration and development in Western Kenya, 1971–82: a retrospective analysis of primary school leavers
Authors: Gould W. T. S.
Published: April 2006

Development in Kenya in the 1970s: Issues and Some Trends

The early years of the 1970s saw two important milestones for the political economy and historiography of Kenya. The ILO report of 1972 was a major critique of Kenya's development efforts since independence that identified growing problems of poverty and inequality which were the result of policies that in many other respects achieved desirable objectives (International Labour Office, 1972). The ILO diagnosis and proposals had some direct influence on government policies, notably in the Third and Fourth Development Plans, for 1974–78 and 1979–83 respectively, and several but by no means all or even the majority of the proposals were acted upon, e.g. in policies towards agriculture (Clayton, 1978). Equally important, however, was its indirect effect on creating a climate of opinion that emphasized a ‘basic needs’ approach (Ghaiet al., 1979) and ‘redistribution through growth’ (Cheneryet al., 1974) and brought the attention of the public, the government and of scholars to the problems of rural and urban poverty in Kenya at a time when they seemed to be growing alarmingly.
Gender and the structuring of reality in Temne divination: an interactive study
Authors: Shaw Rosalind
Published: April 2006

An-Yina Musa's Diagnosis

In June 1978, following a series of arguments in her marital home, a young Temne woman called Isatu travelled from her home in Makeni (a town which is the capital of Sierra Leone's Northern Province) to the village of Petbana Masimbo three miles away in order to consult a diviner about the cause. The diviner she consulted was Pa Koroma, a well-patronized Muslim diviner who was also her father's brother. Pa Koroma happened to be conducting a session of the dramatic and relatively expensive α η-yina Musa mediumship method of divination, which is commissioned by a wealthy client but which more minor clients such as Isatu can also participate in. He put a female medium, completely covered by a protective white cloth and gazing into a white bowl of water containing Islamic medicine (mǝ-nαsi), into a trance in which she was able to communicate with αη-yina Musa, the fearful ‘Muslim’ spirit of divination. Around Pa Koroma's central parlour, in which the divination took place, were seated members of the village, some of whom had come to ask questions, others simply to watch and, where appropriate, to interject comments on what was being said. The medium, an elderly woman called Mami Yeno, was a sister-in-law of Pa Koroma from Makaper, a village about two miles from Petbana. Each person who had come to ask about a problem addressed their question to Pa Koroma, who repeated it to Mami Yeno. Mami Yeno then silently conveyed the question to αη-yina Musa and, after a pause, returned the reply to Pa Koroma, the latter repeating and often elaborating upon her utterances to the audience.
Archaeological evidence and conventional explanations of southern Bantu settlement patterns
Authors: Huffman Thomas N.
Published: April 2006

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The settlements of Bantu-speaking people in Southern Africa vary widely in size and distribution, ranging from the dispersed homesteads of the Nguni to the large towns of the Tswana. These two extremes have interested Africanists since the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Europeans first encountered the Thlaping at Dithakong near present-day Kuruman. Today the contrast between Tswana and Nguni settlements are most often attributed to differences in social stratification, cultural preference or environmental conditions.

These conventional explanations provide a focus for considering the meaning of settlement patterns among the southern Bantu. I first develop a model of political and settlement hierarchies to isolate the essential differences between Nguni and Tswana communities, and then I present archaeological evidence that calls into question the conventional explanations.
Social institutions and access to resources
Authors: Berry Sara
Published: April 2006

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For over a decade African economies have been plagued by recurrent food shortages, economic decline and growing disparities between the living standards of rich and poor. To a large extent food shortages and rural impoverishment may be attributed to external shocks—world recession, oil price shocks, deteriorating terms of trade and mounting debt service obligations—compounded in the 1970s and early 1980s by drought and war. In addition government policies have exacerbated the effects of adverse environmental and world market trends, aggravating rather than alleviating food shortages and depressing rural output and incomes.
Domesticating personal violence: witchcraft, courts and confessions in Cameroon
Authors: Geschiere Peter , Fisiy Cyprian
Published: April 2006

In many parts of Africa, discourses on witchcraft and sorcery seem to follow a mod-ernisation process of their own. There are striking regional variations in the ways in which these discourses are articulated with State formation and the emergence of new modes of accumulation. A common denominator remains, however, the close connection between witchcraft and aggression from within the ‘house’. In many respects, witchcraft is still the dark side of kinship, even in modern settings.

It is against this background that this article explores the implications of a new type of witchcraft trial in the Eastern Province of Cameroon. Since 1980 State courts have started to convict ‘witches’ mainly on the basis of the expertise of the witch-doctors. This seems to be accompanied by the emergence of a ‘modern’ type of witch-doctor, more intent on punishing than on healing, who try to recruit their clients in very aggressive ways. In other parts of Cameroon the articulation of local witchcraft beliefs and State authority seems to follow different trajectories.
Context, form and poetic expression in Igede funeral dirges
Authors: Ogede Ode S.
Published: April 2006

This article discusses the context, form and structure of the Igede dirge. Although a minority tribe in Nigeria's Benue State who are little known in anthropological and literary studies, the Igede have a tradition of oral expression that is as vibrant as that of any of Africa's larger language groups. The article thus aims to enlarge our understanding of the corpus of Africa's traditional literature through one of its neglected aspects—the dirges of one of the minority tribes. As a storehouse of Igede beliefs, practices and wisdom the dirge leads us into a world of spirits, a dreadful world of ancestors fearfully conjured up as a universe of monstrous, malignant forces before whom man is a vulnerable being, constantly constrained to plead for protection. But there is genuine creativity in Igede dirges which compares favourably with those found among other peoples of the world.
The changing value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya
Authors: Price Neil
Published: April 2006

Within demography, high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa was considered until recently to reflect a demand for children firmly rooted in indigenous social institutions, which were resistant to external forces of change. On the basis of findings from recent Demographic and Health Surveys, Caldwell et al. (1992) suggest that many of the institutional supports for high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa—such as lineage-based descent systems, polygyny, bridewealth, extended kinship structures, child fostering, and communal land tenure—are being eroded. This article considers changes in the value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya, and the extent to which the social institutions which have traditionally supported high fertility have persisted. Fieldwork undertaken in two ethnically homogenous communities, one rural and one peri-urban, reveals significant variation in the fertility motives and value of children in the two communities. In the rural community many of the indigenous social supports for high fertility, although modified, cohere. In the context of economic insecurity and lack of access to land (especially for women without sons), manipulation of customary kinship and marriage practices (supported by the persistence of many indigenous religious beliefs and ideologies about fertility) has become strategically important for realising fertility desires. There is, however, unmet demand for modern contraception, due largely to lack of access to and the poor quality of family planning services. In contrast, in the peri-urban community, where access to family planning services is relatively good, there has been effective legitimation of fertility regulation and the use of modern contraception is widespread. There is markedly less economic insecurity: wage labour opportunities are available, and some women have successfully challenged male control over land. Consequently, there is reduced demand for children, although a number of the indigenous cultural supports for high : fertility retain residual importance.
Agrarian change in Kusasi, north-east Ghana
Authors: Webber Paul
Published: April 2006

This article examines the nature of agrarian change in the Kusasi area of north-east Ghana. In focusing upon the dynamic of population growth the study has relevance to the recently rejoined discussion concerning the relationship between population growth and agricultural change. The context in which population growth is proceeding in Kusasi is presented as significantly different from that of other parts of tropical Africa where population growth has been recognised as the dynamic bringing about more productive and sustainable systems. In Kusasi's peripheral and subsistence-oriented economy population growth has led to increased pressure on the biological resources of the region. The permanent compound farming system of the area is now increasingly unable to provide sufficient subsistence for household needs, and, although expansion of farmland into areas recently freed from onchocerciasis is taking place, this is interpreted as merely a temporary respite in the interrelated processes of continuing environmental degradation and declining productivity under the prevailing agricultural system. The article raises the question of how, in the absence of progressive change brought about by population growth, development for regions like Kusasi is to be envisaged. Current programmes of agricultural development are considered in the context of past initiatives.
Is there a distinct African sexuality? A critical response to Caldwell
Authors: Ahlberg Beth Maina
Published: April 2006

In the current HIV debate there are diverse opinions about the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the reasons for it. Caldwell and his colleagues, for example, argue that the whole of Africa has a distinct sexuality which is inherently permissive. They claim moreover that no religious moral value is attached to sexual activity, and Christianity has thus not succeeded in changing matters. They find in this failure the reason for the failure of the fertility control programme in sub-Saharan Africa, and they argue that HIV/AIDS control efforts will fail similarly unless the fear it generates forces Africans to adopt the Eurasian model, with its religious, moral value.

The article re-examines Caldwellet al.'sconceptualisation of the role of moral value in social change. Without considering the internal expressions, mechanisms and social contexts within and through which moral value is maintained and changed, they assume that Christian moral values could lead to a change in sexual behaviour from permissive (as they see it) African sexuality to the Eurasian model. In making such an assumption they ignore the ethical and behavioural contradictions generally inherent in moral systems. Moreover they pay little attention to the process of change in Western societies, where Christian morality has lost a great deal of its control over behaviour. But even if we assume that internal contradictions and processes of change do not exist, the christianisation process in Africa fundamentally transformed local customs in ways that delinked their role in regulating behaviour, including sexual behaviour.

For discussions and decisions on options and strategies for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, identifying the nature and impact of that transformation is essential.