Circular Reasoning With Chickens

There are many kinds of domesticated animals in Mali. Sheep. Goats. Horses. Dogs. Cats. Cows... and Chickens. There are chickens running throughout the villages of Mali, but for some reason its impossible to find chicken eggs. This has been a source of frustration for me as I enjoy eggs and they are one of the better sources of protein available, but I have to bring them in from my market town... 17 km away, because you literally can't find chicken eggs in village. You'd have more luck searching for a needle in a haystack.

I decided to ask a few questions to figure out why this is. After all, there are chickens all over the place... They have to come from somewhere. I decided to interview my language tutor. He usually has pretty succinct answers to my questions.

Q1: Why doesn't anyone in village sell eggs?
A1: People can't find the eggs. The chickens run all over and we don't know where they lay. Plus, most people want to eat chicken meat, not the eggs.

Q2: Why do people let the chickens go wherever they want?
A2: They have to look for food (i.e. trash).

Q3: Couldn't people make simple pens for the chickens? That way they could sell eggs for people who want them and fatten them up faster?
A3: Sure. But then people would have to feed the chickens.

Q4: Why don't people what to feed their chickens?
A4: They eat the trash.

Conclusion: People can't find eggs because the chickens aren't penned up. They aren't penned up because they are looking for food. They are looking for food because people don't feed them. Because people don't feed/coop up their chickens they can't find the eggs.

My point to this story is that when I point out something to people here that I think could be done better they will acknowledge that making a change would offer an opportunity... but it would mean doing things differently than they've been done in the past... and that is not going to happen. At first I was tempted to think that this proved a stereotype of the ignorance and stubbornness of people living in rural villages, but then I realized it proved a different stereotype... It proved that people everywhere are unwilling to change a situation that they have become comfortable with.