Maasai give up nomadic lifestyle due to climate change. Turkana people have always held traditional dances daily. But as time moves by, they seem to focus more on other activities. Immediately they end their morning dance, each one moves to their respective lands for cultivation. Most of them carry pangas, spades, and mattocks.
The tribe’s leaders also don’t understand what’s happening. But they talk of it as a shock in a lifetime period. In one village, a man named Ekitowou Lokale use to spends most of his time in the Pokot and Turkana plains, feeding his cattle. But now, you will find the man weeding. He has already planted maize crops that suspects to be ready by February 2022.
For the next six or more months, Ekitowou will work out of his normal daily routines. He will have to stay away from nomadic lives and try the other lack. As he spoke to africannews, he had this to say:
“Due to drought in our traditional grazelands, we went to encroach on a neighboring village. They chased us in a gunfire exchange where we lost all the cattle and all my friends were killed by the bullets.”
He stayed confused for some days, then decided to go back to his home village. He was perplexed to find that some of his neighbors were on the track of farming. Furthermore, he decided to join friends and family in crop farming because of climate change. The short rain experienced in the area can only support some crops, but not the grass for feeding animals,
Next to Lokale, Napem Erusenyat is also doing the same thing, weeding. Girls, as per the Maasai nomadic lifestyle, are to look after young ones of a goat and domestic birds. But now, Napem’s daughter is scaring away birds from their maize and sorghum farms.
The mother explains how in recent days they have experienced the worst unpredictable rainy seasons. It’s difficult to tell when it will fall. Even climate experts give them the wrong predictions. Napem also complained on how they went to a neighboring village for herding their cattle, but the residents chased them away. For sure the grazing land was very small, although it was fertile. When they appeared back in their village, the chairman called for an abrupt meeting. He gave direction on which crop to start planting. Sorghum and maize were their priorities.
Ekitowou on the other hand talks of how his daughter will grow up in a different lifestyle. Se will have to know crop farming over their obvious nomadic life. Ekitowou gives his biography, growing as a young courageous boy, taking care of a herd of cattle. He was born in Kajiado country and raised in the plains between Oldonyo Sabuk and Maasai mara. The area has a land of almost 300km covered by Savannah grassland. The man looks at life and says he is among the last Maasai residents to live a nomad life.
He narrates the story while having an interview with Africannews “In a year, I could go in a complete circle. I would pass through Makindu, through Voi, Namanga into Tanzania, to Olonkito, Orendenge, all-round and back home. That time it would have rained here again and the circle would begin. I don’t think our children will know that nomadic tradition. It is over,”
A humanitarian organization, Mercy Corps has always been of help to vulnerable communities. The chief at Mercy Corps, Hussein Noor complains about the worst climatic change the Maasai have ever experienced. He believes this could serve as the end of African pastoralist life. The organization has taken community grievances to the government to come in and help them.
They are working towards protecting some grazing plains to keep the nomadic lifestyle alive. When a person has a pastoralism mindset, it’s very difficult to shift to crop farming. It will take time. Noor believes nomadic life has helped Africa maintain its heritage. Countries are earning much foreign exchange through that. Hence the wealthy organization, including the government, should do something to rescue the Maasai.
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