On meeting Ngaiyok Legilisho Kipainoi, many of his long-time
friends would assume he had been out of his native Mairowa pastoral
village for some time and has just returned.
He talks more about the trends of modern societies
and every time he moves from one homestead to another everybody can
tell which way from tracing the trail of dust that his motorcycle kicks
up.
In reality Kipainoi, 35, is already in a world
away from the destitution and social tension that gripped the
north-eastern Tanzania rangelands in 2009 following a devastating
drought.
The past three years or so have seen the worst socio-economic crisis for the Maasai pastoral communities in recent history.
The drought has immensely cost the nation in lost
productivity, but traditional cattle breeders in this area even more
readily compute its toll on their decimated herds of livestock.
Available figures show that Longido District in
Arusha Region suffered a loss of at least 120,000 head of cattle, which
was slightly over half of its total herd of 200,000.
The drought’s impact on the people’s lives and
their livestock is still visible in many villages of Engarenaibor ward
even after recent rains brought back a flush of green on the ground.
But the good news is that, together with the
improved weather conditions, there is a gradual turnaround of the
pastoralists’ way of life.
Real wealth
While they boast of owning
thousands of cattle, only a few dozen have survived and breeders admit
they have now realised that real wealth is not in big herds.
"The days of keeping many heads
of cattle for prestige are gone—thanks to the 2009 drought. It has
taught us a lesson. A lesson to adapt to climate change,” said Kipainoi.
Indeed the lesson has come home
to every pastoralist as they strive for fresh interaction with the
environment. Being able to cope with climate change, however, has not
enabled them to escape from poverty.
But in the way Kipainoi assesses
his fellow villagers, they are actually “graduating from the culture of
keeping livestock for fame to increasing the productivity of their
animals in a well-managed manner.”
For many years, the Maasai
pastoralists had resisted government pressure and persuasion to destock
their herds until the drought forced them to see livestock as a
commodity.
"We have started selling our
animals and we use the proceeds to build decent homes or pay school fees
for our children," said Kipainoi, who has a family of two wives and six
children. All children are attending primary school.
At the onset of the drought
Kipainoi boasted a herd of 480 cattle, but he emerged from the
catastrophe with less than half of his stock.
Vulnerable
"After the drought we realised
that our local Zebu breed can withstand adverse weather conditions and
are well adapted to the environment. So, if we are to improve earnings
from livestock, without risking another loss to drought, we must
practise proper animal husbandry,” Kipainoi said as he stood by his new
motorcycle at the construction site of his new home.
Pastoralists are likely to
remain vulnerable to climatic shocks if the right strategies and
appropriate structures are not put in place to end overexploitation of
natural pastures and water resources.
According to Kipainoi,
pastoralists in this district have started selective breeding in order
to build up a productive stock that is also resilient to climatic
changes.
"This involves selling cattle
that are weak and cross-breeding a new stock from animals that display
strong characteristics of high productivity and resilience. For example,
preferred animals are those that feed selectively on the range, can
trek long distances and are resistant to local diseases,” he said.
On going experiments concentrate
on cross-breeding exotic races with local Zebu and Borana cattle and
popularisation of the Gabra goat breed.
"Our plan is to ensure that
calving takes place at the start of the short rainy season when fresh
pastures enable cows to yield more milk. In that way calves stay healthy
enough to survive their first dry spell and then benefit from the long
rains before the long dry season sets in,” Kipainoi said.
Restrictions
Meanwhile, village elders,
locally known as Laigwanani , in Engarenaibor ward have set restrictions
on communal grazing areas reserved for a specific time of the year,
known as ronjo, said Ngaya Samria, an elder of Sinoniki village.
Samria, who lost 202 heads of
cattle to the drought and now remains with 68, said the restrictions for
management of pastureland are based on seasons.
"The elders are responsible for
general utilisation of natural resources and serve as the local
authority that determines the carrying capacity of range areas,” he
said.
According to Samria, the Morani
(young Maasai warriors) scout around for suitable rangeland but the
final decision on land usage is taken by the elders. Individual
households (manyatta) take care of their immediate surroundings where
they keep milk cows and goats.
Over 6,000 thousands pastoralists were affected by the drought in the six districts.
Mr Samria said the 2009 drought has changed the pastoralists’ perception and way of life.
"It has also forced or rather
challenged them re-think about their future and a need for them re
think about their future and a need for them to adopt scenarios
planning.
That is to say they have to plan
for when the rains are good and at the same time plan for a situation
when the rains are bad or poor", he said.
(Published by Courtney Morgan)
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