MARTOR no. 29 / year 2024
It’s not merely a struggle, the way we live, it’s wonderful, too! The Changing Life and Role of Women Herders in the Last 120 Years in Hungary
DOI: www.doi.org/10.57225/martor.2024.29.12
AUTHORS:
Ibolya Sáfiánné
Shepherdess, Hungarian Women Herders group, Hajdúsámson, Hungary
Márta Sófalviné Tamás
Teacher, local historian, Szentgál, Hungary
Zsófia Osvald
Buffalo herderess, Zalaköveskút, Hungary
Margit Dobó
Traditional dressmaker, Hajdúböszörmény, Hungary
Erzsébet Szalai
Shepherdess, Kunmadaras, Hungary
Eszter Fodor
HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
Margareta Lelea
German Institute for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture (DITSL), Germany
Zsolt Molnár
HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
ORCID: 0000-0001-5454-4714
PAGES: 170-184
KEYWORDS: Pastoralism; women and girls; family; livelihoods; shepherds; extensive livestock production.
ABSTRACT:
Women have always played a significant role in herding in Hungary, although their tasks and recognition have changed substantially over time. Nowadays, the vital role of women is becoming increasingly visible and recognised in Hungary. In this paper, members of the Hungarian Women Herders group and three researchers reviewed the scattered ethnographic, autobiographical and other literature, and conducted interviews with five active and retired women herders as well as with the husbands of three of them, and documented the role of women from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Women have long played a fundamental role in holding the family together, providing food, and raising children. As in the past, women herders take part in milk processing and raising the lambs, but several also herd and even shear. After the 1989 revolution, many herders started herding privately again, and some women who had not been born into farming families chose livestock grazing as a profession. More recently, women in herding families have increasingly been responsible for handling the paperwork required for livestock welfare accountability, marketing and other differentiated needs requiring patience and computer skills. In 2021 the “Hungarian Women Herders” group was established, which currently has over 60 members. The group was founded with the aim of self-help and knowledge sharing, but they also participate in festivals, events and international conferences, and they are in contact with the association of Spanish women herders. Pastoral animal husbandry has not become obsolete in the face of industrial food systems. As its knowledge-intensive practices make use of spatially and temporally variable vegetation, it is becoming recognized as a more ecological alternative. It is necessary to recognize women herders’ important contribution to building a more sustainable common future, as their activities and knowledge are integral to this type of livestock production system. Moving forward, women must be included in initiatives to support pastoralism—whether it is the collection of best practices for other farmers and the coming generations to learn from, or the development of locally-based innovations, rooted in tradition while looking to the future.
HOW TO CITE THE ARTICLE:
Sáfiánné, Ibola, Márta Sófalviné Tamás, Zsófia Osvald, Margit Dobó, Erzsébet Szalai, Eszter Fodor, Margareta Lelea, and Zsolt Molnár. 2024. “It’s not merely a struggle, the way we live, it’s wonderful, too! The Changing Life and Role of Women Herders in the Last 120 Years in Hungary.” Martor 29, 170-84. [DOI: 10.57225/martor.2024.29.12]
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