cracked earth: climate change and the maasai
The Maasai are vulnerable to land encroachment by protected park lands, agriculture and urban sprawl. While increased rainfall is good news for the pastures, it also means increased farming – on dwindling pockets of arable land, says Dr. Moses ole Neselle of PINGOs Forum (Pastoralists’ Indigenous NGOs Forum), a collective of agencies working on pastoralist issues. Agriculture is the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, and according to a 2002 World Bank report, more than 80 per cent of the country's population relies directly on farming for their livelihoods. This leads to a cycle – amplified by the effects of climate change – that causes the loss of livelihood and culture, and the gradual breakdown of Maasai traditions.
“We have internally displaced people in Tanzania,” Neselle says. “There are people who are being displaced by agriculture. … Poor people are more vulnerable. They have more vulnerabilities and fewer coping strategies. They lose everything and become a very special group, known as dependents. That kind of poverty goes from one generation to the next, because, for example, your kid will offer labour, while my kid will go to school. … They cannot access services like health care – especially for maternal and child health – and education.”
