Investigating the relationships between formal schooling and ethnoveterinary knowledge in Eluwai village, Tanzania

This dissertation investigates the current status and attitudes toward traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicines in a Maasai community in rural Tanzania, and the relationships between ethnoveterinary knowledge and formal education. It concludes that ethnoveterinary medicine still plays an important role in primary livestock health care in the village of Eluwai, and that formal schooling appears to have a negative impact on young people's ethnoveterinary knowledge. It also finds that a culturally sensitive education can have a positive impact on young peoples' attitudes toward traditional knowledge and practises such as ethnoveterinary medicine, suggesting that intercultural education may be a valuable tool in biocultural conservation. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of practical and contextual experience for learning about ethnoveterinary medicine. The cover photograph shows a young Maasai laiyon herding animals near his boma in Eluwai Village, Tanzania.