Tanzania: Hope for Maasai cattle farmers
23 Jan 2012
By Desta Laiser
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Peter Ngoyo, 29, and his wife, Saralika Pesai, along with their children, live an area often affected by drought. Not having enough water means that Peter and his twin boys often leave home, to ensure their cattle have adequate grass and enough water.
Photo by Adda Amos Ngoya
©2012 World Vision International |
Isaac and his twin brother Emmanuel leave home for days at a time, following the cattle.
Even though they are only in Grade 1, they walk with their herd on a quest. The cattle, the family’s prized possession, need to have enough water to drink and enough grass to eat to survive.
The twins accompany their father. They cannot stop until the herd is adequately fed.
In recent years, the journey to find enough grass and sufficient water has led the boys on longer and longer journeys.
The boys’ mother, Saralika Pesai, explains that a prolonged drought continues to affect the community. Now, she says, the dry season occurs three or even four times a year.
Saralika and her family are Maasai, a semi-nomadic people used to travelling with the seasons to ensure their cattle have adequate grass and enough water. However, due to the prolonged drought, the men are now forced to walk much greater lengths as compared to several years ago.
Climatic change in recent years is causing a lot of damage in this northern Tanzanian community. About 80 per cent of the population relies on cattle herding to earn an income.
Cattle, in Maasai culture, are very important.
William Lika Mitalah, an elderly Maasai man who lives in the community, explains that the availability of green pastures increases the supply of milk. He says if there is enough milk, the children will be able to get a high amount of nutrients. Furthermore, William states that green pastures increase the weight of the cows and the returns are high when the animals are sold.
“Children are less valued as compared to cattle, because cattle are regarded as more worthy,” admits William.
As a result, the twins often miss school to look after the cattle. When they look for water and grass with their father, they may be away from home for up to two weeks.
Yet, there are signs of hope.
Saralika is excited about two projects World Vision is implementing in her community that will help with natural resource management and disaster risk reduction.
The projects are digging shallow wells to help the people and the cattle get enough water.
Rehema Kimwaga, a World Vision Tanzania project facilitator, says the area might look dry but is full of water.
“Studies have revealed that the water table is as close as seven metres to access clean water,” Rehema explains.
World Vision is now in the implementation stages of drilling 10 shallow wells, providing water pumps and facilitating training on irrigation farming and how to maintain the wells. The goal is to improve access to water for both families and livestock. “Underground water would be harvested and tapped into the farming projects while setting aside special places for cows to have water,” Rehema says.
World Vision staff are also providing trainings on seed production, selection, crop diversity and better farming technology that maintains soil moisture.
The project’s goal is to contribute towards improved well-being of children through food secured families.
This way, families like Saralika’s will have enough support and boys like Isaac and Emmanuel can remain in school.
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