Life has changed for the Maasai cattle
herders in Tanzania, changed in ways they've never seen. Even the weather
seems to be different, with droughts more intense than ever.
A great deal has changed over the years
for the Maasai cattle herders in Tanzania. Boxed in by game parks that
ban their animals from grazing, some herders have settled down to cultivate
fields. Houses are beginning to sprout tin roofs, and cars are not an uncommon
sight. Even the weather seems to be different, with droughts more intense
than ever.
Now, those erratic weather patterns have triggered a food crisis affecting millions of people across East Africa. The crisis has gnawed its way into Ololosokwan, a Maasai village near Tanzania's northern border, where people are selling their prized, but emaciated animals for a fraction of their former value and using the slim earnings to buy sacks of corn to feed their families for a few days more.
The drought has killed about 4,000 of the villagers' cattle, completely wiping out the small herds of some families.
"The way we are going is so dangerous," said Kirando Lukeine, who sold three of his animals recently but managed to earn only enough to buy one week's worth of food. A year ago, one cow would have brought 15 sacks of corn. Today, that same cow will buy only one sack.
"Look at our faces," Lukeine added. "We are old, not young, and we don't remember a drought like this."
Born on the Serengeti
Maasai men gathered one day recently in Ololosokwan to talk with Oxfam staffers about what their lives used to be like and how the unpredictable weather has taken a toll on their families and herds.
"Rain was regular and the droughts were not as severe," said Lukeine. "The population was small and there was a lot of pasture. Most of us were born in the Serengeti, but we were shifted here and no longer have access to all that pasture."
The Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania was once the traditional home of the Maasai. It is named for their word "siringet" -- a wide open space. In 1959, the British claimed the land as a wildlife preserve, evicting the Maasai from the Serengeti and resettling them to the east in a conservation area that is home to one of Africa's top tourist attractions -- the Ngorongoro volcanic crater. A second eviction came in 1974, when they were forced from their homes along the crater floor.
A steadily increasing population coupled with shrinking pastureland has eroded the wealth of the Maasai for whom cattle, goats, and sheep are like money in the bank. According to National Geographic, Maasai living in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 1960 each had about 26 head of livestock. Today, the number has fallen to just five.
"We're bitter that our land was taken from us," said Lukeine. "In a time like now, there is grass in the Serengeti, but if we take our animals there we would be arrested."
If Tate Rotiken was President
Tate Rotiken knows exactly how he would resolve these land issues if he had the power to do so.
"If I was the president, the first thing I would do is give these people access to their original land because these people were displaced," he said. "Secondly, I'd make sure that the revenue that comes from wildlife and tourism comes back here."
A man named Ephrem agreed.
"People would own land," he said. "Land division has been between the national parks, the game control areas, and the farmers. Why don't the herders have land? This is a problem that the herders are facing."
For Lukeine, the solution lies in finding a way to speak out.
"Only a few people were consulted over the evictions. Even now we are not involved in any political processes that affect life in Tanzania," he said.
"The policies are formulated there (in Dar es Salaam) and they're enforced here. It's important that people are involved in the policies that affect them."
Harsh Conditions Hit All
But those political solutions won't come soon enough to ease the challenges villagers now face as the harsh conditions take their toll on all living things around Ololosokwan.
"All the animals have struggled," said Rotiken. "Even the hippos are affected because the river has dried up and the gazelles are dying."
Milk has disappeared from the local diet, forcing people to change their eating habits. That in turn has caused health problems such as diarrhea, particularly among children, Rotiken added.
"Our traditional foods are not there," said Osukumba Makko. "There used to be wild fruits but nothing is there. People used to take blood from their animals, but they are too thin."
The drought has been so severe that methods of coping villagers have used in the past no longer work.
"Traditionally when there has been a drought, the community comes and sits together to see who has been the most affected and to give them something," said a villager named Sesophio. He described how a more fortunate villager might offer a cow to a neighboring family for a while so they would have some milk to drink. Other times, herders with a lot of livestock might each give one animal to a family in need to replenish their herd.
"This time, everyone has been affected so we can't do that," said Sesophio.
"People have been equalized by this drought," added Osukumba Makko. "People haven't died, but if this continues, people will."
Oxfam's Response
To help address the food crisis in Tanzania, Oxfam has distributed seeds to 19,548 households as well as food to 122,305 people in the Shinyanga and Ngorongoro districts. We are providing school meals to an additional 86,970 children.
To improve the welfare of the animals so critical to the survival of herders in the region, we are starting an emergency veterinary service for 300,000 animals in Ngorongoro.
--Reported by Jane Beesley