Cattle raiding and household demography among the Kuria of Tanzania

Among the agro-pastoralist Kuria people inhabiting the Tarime District lowlands of northern Tanzania, many young men are engaged in cattle raiding, which constitutes a primary means of generating cash income. Data from a sample of sixty-four Kuria cattle raiders reveal that three-quarters of them grew up in natal households having more sons than daughters, strongly suggesting that it is the need for the sons of a household to acquire their own bridewealth cattle by means other than through sisters' marriages that constitutes the strongest predictor of which young men will opt to become cattle raiders.