Paper short abstract:

An ethnography of microbial intimacies on a Beninese poultry farm in the context of economic scarcity and social ecologies of food production. How are immunity and intimacies forged as hens and technicians live together with microbes in the context of food production and livelihood in West Africa?

Paper long abstract:

What life matters in the situated socioeconomics of food production? How are the politics of public health and profitability negotiated? What kinds of microbial affiliations are forged—intentionally or incidentally—as a result?

I present the results of a brief ethnography and microbiology study of a poultry farm in Benin, West Africa. Located on the outskirts of the country's urban hub, the farm is a large, well-managed egg production enterprise, and employs around 15 technicians. The Director attributes his farm's success, in part, to the training he gives his technicians. As with any industrial farm, the health of the hens is closely observed. Biosecurity measures are employed, and health is managed with vaccinations, vitamins, and high quality, expensive feeds. In comparison, the technicians residing on the farm's boundary live in unhygienic conditions and struggle to manage their health and nutrition on meagre wages. Increasing production costs combined with decreasing product value result in cost-saving measures targeted at technicians' protective clothing. Thus, the hens and technicians are in continuous and intimate contact with each other's habitats and microbial companions.

The hens are seemingly valued more than the technicians, although neglecting the health of the latter risks the health of the former, creating porous boundaries that microbes—including drug-resistant pathogens—continuously cross. However, both hens and technicians appear healthy and strong. Drawing upon concepts of pathological life (Hinchliffe et al 2017), I examine immunity and intimacy as hens and technicians live together with microbes in social ecologies of food production and livelihood in West Africa.