Somali nomads sought wage labour while riverine farmers avoided it

Evidence

Paradoxically, it was (and still is) precisely those clansmen of the nomadic areas who were least disposed to work on the land, because of their traditional contempt for cultivation, who were most anxious to obtain salaried employment. By contrast, the southern cultivating peoples, could, at this time certainly, satisfy most of their modest wants from the produce of their own fields and livestock without engaging in salaried employment except in time of scarcity and famine. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 270 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

There were, however, a few Somali askaris mainly from the north. Later the Italians drew heavily upon their Somali subjects to staff their police and military units, the qualities of the northern nomadic Somali, in particular, being frequently eulogized in Italian reports during the fascist period as the outstanding representatives of this ‘race of warriors’. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 767 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Somali nomads sought salaried work while cultivators shunned it; Nomads showed eagerness for salaried work despite despising cultivation. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 270; The Italians recruited northern Somali nomads as their favored ‘warrior’ soldiers — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 767

Related

• Somali nomads sought salaried work while cultivators shunned it (similarity 0.95)
• Nomads showed eagerness for salaried work despite despising cultivation. (similarity 0.90)
• The Italians recruited northern Somali nomads as their favored ‘warrior’ soldiers (similarity 0.88)
• Generous contracts failed to overcome cultivators’ reluctance to leave home for wage work. (similarity 0.86)
• Harsh climate forces Somali pastoral nomads to move constantly for water and pasture (similarity 0.80)
• Nomadism dominates Somali livelihood because the environment is harsh and arid (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Nomads showed eagerness for salaried work despite despising cultivation. #corroborates (0.75) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 270
• The Italians recruited northern Somali nomads as their favored ‘warrior’ soldiers #complicates (0.60) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 767