Blessing Nonye Onyima

Focusing on cattle nomads in Ibarapa, south-west Nigeria, the study examines cattle economic activities, ecological variables, and migratory patterns in relation to their influence on access to health care among medically under-served nomadic population. In sub-Saharan Africa, pastoralists such as cattle nomads dwell in marginal band communities, highly volatile and unsecured environments, often beyond the reach of modern health care systems. Limited ethnographic studies exist on cattle nomads' access to health care, health hazards associated with practice of pastoral economy and adaptive strategies employed by nomads against cattle-economy-oriented health risks. The present study employs ecological approaches and location theory to explain the nexus between pastoral economy, environment and health care access using ethnographic methods. The study demonstrates the role ecological complexities play in limiting health care access, other than the over flogged political-economic explanations of inequitable health care among nomads living in the outer periphery of modern health care system.