Indigenous pastoral knowledge represents less than three per cent of literature on our environment. Yet, this knowledge has been passed down for 5,000 years enabling pastoralists to drive 25 per cent of Kenya’s national economic production.
Basele Galgesa the Director of Programs & Partnership at the Pastoralist Peoples Initiative–a pastoralist-focused non-profit– that is spearheading the construction of Africa’s first pastoralist cultural center that will document this life-sustaining traditional knowledge has shared the following repository wisdom with Farmbiz:
- 1. Traditional rangeland management
”Among the Sambureu, if a herder decided to graze in sites designated as dry season pasture lands, the community’s elders would camp at his house and expect a cow to be slaughtered for them daily,” Basele explained.
This meant herders only grazed on sealed-off areas with surface runoff water and shallow wells that had pastured during and a few months after rains—areas with underground water where pasture could grow even during the dry season were left exclusively for dry season grazing.
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- 2. Khoob
This traditional scouting and reconnaissance practice involved sending Morans to check the availability and quantity of pasture and water before deciding if to move animals and how many to move with.
This dying ‘art’ enabled pastoralists to avoid overgrazing, wild animal attacks, pests and diseases, and communal conflicts as scouts would report back on all these before any mass livestock movement.
This allowed herders to strategically transverse counties and countries with minimal conflicts. The Samburu for example move between Laikipia, Samburu, Marsabit, and Isiolo while the Rendille cut across Samburu, Marsabit, Isiolo, and even reach as far as Baringo and West Pokot. The Turkana meanwhile cross Kenya into Uganda while the Borana and Gabra graze in both Kenya and Ethiopia while the Somali enter Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
Various communities and herders move in different directions in search of pasture and water that can cater to whatever number of livestock they have, This is crucial in protecting and ‘healing’ the environment and for climate change adaptation.
- 3. Maal
Practiced among the Rendille, this was a form of herd segregation where a herder donated some of his livestock to a family in another region. This avoided overgrazing and lack of labor to maintain livestock.
“All male offsprings of the donated livestock would be permanently transferred to the new family while the females would always belong to the lender,” explained Basele.
The lender could not forcefully take them back unless they experienced a disaster such as a drought that killed their livestock.
Basele further informs that this was a useful livestock insurance tool. “The two families would be as far apart as Samburu to Isiolo or as far out as Baringo and West Pokot. If a drought, tick attack, lumpy skin disease spread, or livestock raids hit the lender he would request for the livestock back. Beyond fostering good communal bonds, maal, enabled communities to more efficiently spread out their risk, and bounce back from the impact of climate-related shocks.”
The livestock could still be lent to a third family but still with the caveat that all female offspring belong to the first owner.
- 4. Family wildlife totems
Among many pastoralists, each family picked its wild animal totem. “If our family totem was a lion and my sister married into a family whose totem was an elephant, the elephant became an inlaw. More than just marrying two families, this built a deep connection to and bound communities with the wildlife they interacted with,” Basele elaborated.
This has been fingered as one of the key reasons why pastoralists do not hunt or derive much economic value from wildlife products, rather viewing them as part of their large extended family.
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- 5. Traditional weather forecasting
Done by traditional weather forecasters among the Borana, Turkana, Samburu, and Rendille this predicted significant long-term climatic events such as severe droughts and floods. They are also used to detect the potential oncoming spread of diseases in both livestock and humans.
Called Ooz among the Borana, goat intestines are draped over a dome-shaped container called manu for the elders to read.
They look out for streaks on stomach linings to forecast various diseases and blood vessel patterns on various digestive organs are interpreted to predict upcoming droughts or floods.
As climate change has disrupted the accuracy of modern weather forecasting methods, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and Childfund Kenya are working with pastoralist communities to blend this traditional method of forecasting weather with modern weather forecasts.
NDMA and its partners conduct goat innard reading ceremonies with pastoralist communities before every one of Kenya’s three major weather seasons.
“From the results we have documented, these traditional goat intestine readings have a predictive accuracy of over 90 per cent”, said Maurice Lokwalima, Programs Co-ordinator Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.
In the Rendille, this predicted weather was passed on to the elder’s council who called the community around the Naabo– a sacred gathering place– and informed them on whether they’d be heading for higher ground to avoid floods or sending out Morans to scout for rangelands with pasture in the event of an oncoming drought. This information further determined when and where to move, and whether to offtake, breed, or sell their livestock.
The Pastoralist Peoples Initiative is constructing Africa’s first pastoralist cultural center to document, honor, and safeguard such pastoralist practices and wisdom. Rendile elders in Log-Logo, Marsabit County, have donated 50 acres of the community’s land for the center’s construction. It will host a cultural exhibition center that will research, document, and record written and oral pastoralist knowledge from the pastoralist community’s older herdsmen and weather forecasters.
From the 23rd to the 25th of August, the centre will host a three-day Rendille Food and Cultural Festival. This will celebrate the pastoralist community’s rich traditions and host a conversation between community elders and policymakers on the meshing of modern and indigenous pastoralist knowledge on rangeland management and weather forecasting.
Contacts: 0702 624224/ 0114089580
pastoralistpeoplesinitiative@gmail.com
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