“For more than 40 years, across the Kingdom, one of the main tasks for Saudi women in villages was to look after the animals while they were grazing. She would go out with her sheep and cattle early in the morning and would not be back before sunset,” Saudi literary man Ali Maghawi recalled.
He explained that the women used to take their herds out to places with green grass during sunny days and bring them back at sunset, singing famous traditional melodies to their animals. Now these songs are most likely sang in Hindi, as the job has been turned over to foreigners. However, according to Maghawi, a number of Saudi women who love shepherding continue the job, having their livestock graze in special enclosures.
Maghawi brought to mind the job Saudi shepherdesses did to feed their families, like milking cows, sheep and goats, and making cheese and ghee. The women were very successful in this business before it vanished as the country developed.
In addition, the women also brought fodder from the mountains and operated a waterwheel during the night to water the farms. Moreover, they brought water from the wells for house use and for their animals. “This chore was not confined to poor families: Even the daughters of the tribal chiefs performed the job,” Maghawi said.
Former director of the directorate general of water Mubarak Al-Mutlaqah said that shepherding was the first occupation for Saudi women in bygone days. “This job disappeared gradually with society turning into an urban one and women joining other professions,” he said. He, however, also noted that some women were still looking after their livestock in special barns.
According to Al-Mutlaqah, women shepherding has disappeared for many reasons, including families fearing the unknown with respect to their daughters, girls’ education and women getting other jobs. For countrywomen investing in poultry farms, he said licenses for this type of investments were halted because of the little return and the difficulty of the job. On the other hand, he admitted that there was no regulation that prevented women from investing in poultry.
Meanwhile, businesswoman Nurah Al-Rafie called for opening the door for women to work in cattle raising and fattening. She said the Saudi women had proven themselves in various jobs and would certainly be successful if they were allowed to work in livestock breeding. “Saudi women do not lack the experience, the know-how or the financial resources to invest in cattle breeding,” she added.
Umm Saeed Al-Bushra, a Saudi woman who breeds animals, said she had 30 sheep, which she and her daughters were looking after. “We use them for meat, milk and to earn some money,” she said.
Al-Bushra noted that women in remote villages were still breeding cattle and said this was a lucrative field for women.