Over half of the world’s pastoral population lives in Africa. Even today, over 22 million Africans depend on some form of pastoral activity for their livelihood including communities like Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, Somali, Boran and Turkana (Refer to Figure 7.9). 

Most of them now live in semi-arid grasslands or arid deserts where rainfed agriculture is difficult and raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep and donkeys. 

They sell milk, meat, animal skin and wool. Some also earn through trade and transport; still others do a variety of odd jobs to supplement their meagre and uncertain earnings from pastoralism. 

Loss of The Grazing Lands

Distribution and Population: The Maasai cattle herders live primarily in East Africa: 300, 000 in southern Kenya and another 150,000 in Tanzania (Refer to Figure 7.10). 

• Shrinking Maasai Grazing Lands: One of the problems of the Maasais is continuous loss of their grazing lands. 
  • Before colonial times, Maasai land stretched over from north Kenya to steppes of northern Tanzania. 
  • But in the late 19th century, European imperial powers scrambled Africa for territorial possessions. 
• Alienation and Confinement: In 1885, Maasailand was cut into half with an international boundary between British Kenya and German Tanganyika. 
  • Subsequently, best grazing lands were gradually taken over for white settlement and Maasai were pushed into a small area in south Kenya and north Tanzania. 
  • The Maasai lost about 60% of their pre-colonial lands and were confined to an arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures. 
• Expanding Cultivation: From the late 19th century, the British colonial government in East Africa also encouraged local peasant communities to expand cultivation which turned pasturelands into cultivated fields. 
  • In pre-colonial times, Maasai pastoralists had dominated their agricultural neighbours both economically and politically but by the end of colonial rule situation had reversed. 
• Establishment of Game Reserves: Large areas of grazing land were also turned into game reserves like Maasai Mara and Samburu National Park in Kenya and Serengeti Park in Tanzania. 
  • Pastoralists were not allowed to enter these reserves. They could neither hunt animals nor graze their herds in these areas. 
  • These reserves were in areas that had traditionally been regular grazing grounds for Maasai herds. 
  • Ex: Serengeti National Park, was created over 14,760 km. of Maasai grazing land. 
• Encroachment on Maasai Grazing Lands: The loss of finest grazing lands and water resources created pressure on the small area of land that the Maasai were confined within. 
• • This ultimately meant a deterioration of the quality of pastures. 
  • Fodder was always in short supply. Feeding the cattle became a persistent problem.

The Borders are Closed

Pastoral Mobility: In the 19th century, African pastoralists could move over from one place to a different area to graze their cattle. 

• • From the late 19th century, the colonial government began imposing various restrictions on their mobility. 
  • Confined to Reserves: Like Maasai, other pastoral groups were also forced to live within confines of special reserves and boundaries of these reserves became limits within which they could now move. 
  • Permit Raj: They were not allowed to move out with their stock without special permits which was again difficult to get without trouble and harassment. 
• Punishment and Economic Exclusion: Those found guilty of disobeying rules were severely punished and were also not allowed to enter markets in white areas. 
• • In many regions, they were prohibited from participating in any form of trade and imposed various restrictions. 
• Threat Perception: White settlers and European colonists saw pastoralists as dangerous and savage – people with whom all contact had to be minimised. 
  • Cutting off all links was, however, never possible, because white colonists had to depend on black labour to bore mines and build roads and towns. 
• Erosion of Livelihood: The new territorial boundaries and restrictions imposed on them adversely affected both their pastoral and trading activities. 

When Pastures Dry

Survival Strategy: Drought affects the lives of pastoralists everywhere. When rains fail and pastures are dry, cattle are likely to starve unless they can be moved to areas where forage is available. 

• Colonial Restrictions and Interventions: But from the colonial period, Maasai were bound down to a fixed area, confined within a reserve, and prohibited from moving in search of pastures. 
  • They were cut off from best grazing lands and forced to live within a semi-arid tract prone to frequent droughts. 
  • Unavailability of continuous fodder led to large numbers of Maasai cattle dying of starvation and disease in these years of drought. 
  • An enquiry in 1930 showed that Maasai in Kenya possessed 720,000 cattle, 820,000 sheep and 171,000 donkeys. 
  • In just two years of severe drought, 1933 and 1934, over half the cattle in Maasai Reserve died.
• Drought led Decline in Livestock: As an area of grazing lands shrank, adverse effects of the droughts increased in intensity. 
  • The frequent bad years led to a steady decline in animal stock of the pastoralists.

Not All were Equally Affected

Unequal Impacts: In Maasailand, not all pastoralists were equally affected by the changes in the colonial period.

• Traditional Maasai Social Structure:  
  • Elders formed ruling groups and met in periodic councils to decide on the affairs of the community and settle disputes. 
  • Warriors consisted of younger people, mainly responsible for protection of the tribe (Refer to Figure 7.11). They defended the community and organised cattle raids. 
• Cattle Raiding was important in a society where cattle were wealthy because it was through raids that power of different pastoral groups was asserted. 
• British Interference: To administer affairs of Maasai, British appointed chiefs of different sub-groups of Maasai, who were made responsible for affairs of tribe. 
• Erosion of Traditional Authority: Britishers imposed various restrictions on raiding and warfare. 
  • Consequently, traditional authority of both elders and warriors was adversely affected. 
  • Chiefs appointed by British had a regular income with which they could buy animals, goods and land, which meant accumulation of wealth. 
  • They even lent money to poor neighbours who needed cash to pay taxes. 
• Emergence of Maasai Elite: Many of them began living in towns, and became involved in trade leaving wives and children to stay back in the villages to look after animals. 
  • These chiefs managed to survive the devastation of war and drought because they had both pastoral and non-pastoral income, and could buy animals when their stock was depleted. 
• Increased Vulnerability: Life of poor pastoralists who depended only on their livestock was different.
  • In times of war and famine, they lost nearly everything and had to go looking for work in towns. 
• New Social Changes in Maasai Society:
  • The traditional difference based on age, between elders and warriors, was disturbed, though it did not break down entirely.
  • A new distinction between the wealthy and poor pastoralists developed.

Conclusion

New laws and new borders under changing political regimes and times affect patterns of pastoralist movement. With increasing restrictions on their mobility, they find it difficult to move in search of pastures. As pasture lands disappear grazing becomes a problem, while pastures that remain deteriorate through continuous overgrazing. Yet, pastoralists do adapt to new times. They change the paths of their annual movement, reduce their cattle numbers, press for rights to enter new areas, exert political pressure on the government for relief, subsidy and other forms of support and demand a right to the management of forests and water resources. Pastoralists are not relics of the past. They have a place in the modern world.