Paper short abstract:

In post-war Sierra Leone, improved rural-urban connectivity has streamlined market access and stimulated an intensification of hunting activities. We explore the interplay between market forces, technological advancements, and changing hunting practices in the Sierra Leonean context.

Paper long abstract:

In Sierra Leone, the hunting and trapping of wild animals are activities that have played a key role in rural life for generations. As important forms of pest control, they have long complemented agricultural activities and provided rural dwellers with an additional source of protein and vital nutrition. Increasingly, however, rural-urban connectivity achieved in the post-war period has streamlined market access to enable hunters to supply urban markets more quickly and readily using motorcycle taxi transport. We observe a shift as more and more hunters transition to market-oriented, profit-driven activities. Trappers and hunters report making greater use of materials produced outside of the community, making hunting easier and faster. Wider access to mobile phones has also enabled hunters to arrange sales with distant customers located in urban centres even prior to leaving the village. As both physical and digital isolation has reduced, bushmeat has thus increasingly become a commodity sold for profit, leading to an intensification of hunting activities. Interestingly, in this context, some younger hunters report giving lower importance to the performance of pre-hunting rituals as they increasingly engage in hunting activities to earn ‘fast money’. In this talk, we aim to provide a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between market forces, technological advancements, and hunting practices, shedding light on the broader implications of these transformations in the Sierra Leonean context. This ethnographic account highlights the need for thinking in new ways about changing multi-species livelihoods in different socioeconomic contexts.