WUNRN
Women News Network
September
14, 2009
"The
recurrence of droughts in East Africa is a natural calamity that is delivering
a serious blow to the region. Scientists blame the massive clearance of forests
as well as the emission of carbon gasses into the atmosphere as a cause of the
droughts.
Women in particular face the challenge of fetching the scarce water for the household’s use. In some cases they are forced to walk for over ten kilometers in search of water. When droughts worsen and springs dry up, some are forced to return home empty-handed. . ."
Africa Climate
Change - Risks & Challenges for Maasai Women of Kenya
Ebby Nanzala Wamatsi – Women News
Network – WNN
Kajiado, Kenya: The Maasai are
struggling with frequent water shortages which are threatening their way of
life. But one women’s
group is taking action.
Day in and day out from the months of March
through to June, grey and white clouds float across the blue skies above
Kajiado, southern Kenya. But each passing day, the rain they promise frequently
fails to show up.
“There’s been practically no rain in the
region,” says David Kirrinkai, the assistant chief of Oliteyani, a sub-location
of Ngong Hills in Kajiado. “We just receive a few showers, with no means of
tapping it for storage.”
The lack of rain has had serious implications
for the environmental region as both people and animals are suffering. The
Maasai people have to share the land with all kinds of wildlife here. And when
water is short in supply, incidents of conflict arise.
The Maasai have lived and coped here for
centuries, but the new weather patterns are threatening their way of life. In
recent decades, seasonal patterns have become unpredictable and rainfall levels
have become lower.
As traditional cattle herders, the Maasai
have found themselves leaving their homes for months at a time in search of
pastures and water for their animals. In most cases this means vulnerable
women, children and the elderly are left behind to fend for themselves in the
villages.
Maasai herders dressed in their bright red
shuka cloaks, have now become a common feature on the outskirts of the capital,
Nairobi, as they search for pastures. Others are dropping out of their pastoral
lifestyle altogether and moving to the cities in search of employment.
“The devastation can be too much to bear,”
says James Lekurra, a Maasai elder who lost his entire herd to the drought.
“Three decades ago, the rains used to come regularly and we had little stress.
But now the atmosphere has changed. We are no longer sure that the rains will
come as we expect.”
The recurrence of droughts in East Africa is
a natural calamity that is delivering a serious blow to the region. Scientists
blame the massive clearance of forests as well as the emission of carbon gasses
into the atmosphere as a cause of the droughts.
Women in particular face the challenge of
fetching the scarce water for the household’s use. In some cases they are
forced to walk for over ten kilometers in search of water. When droughts worsen
and springs dry up, some are forced to return home empty-handed.
Maasai women and children,
Nevertheless, in the face of the crisis, some
Maasai people have devised measures to lessen the impact of the droughts. The
women of Kajiado, for instance, have taken the lead by constructing cement
water tanks for their households. They collect rain water from their iron-sheet
roofed houses and store it in the tanks.
The project is being spearheaded by the
United Nations Environment Programme and the Regional Land Management Unit of
the World Agro-forestry Centre. The organisations are providing equipment and
training for the women.
To date, over 200 tanks have been constructed
under the initiative. The women are also involved in digging mini reservoirs or
‘earth-pans’ to collect run-off water from sloping land. This in turn is used
for irrigation purposes to water their crop and vegetable fields.
The women of Kajiado have also begun a
tree-planting project to encourage the Maasai to adopt a more settled communal
way of life as arable farmers. It makes it compulsory for every household to
plant at least a hundred trees.
“It’s time to determine our own destiny. I am
anticipating cooler weather. We are fed up with scorching temperatures and
spending entire days searching for water,” says Luise Mwoiko, chair of the
Mataanobo Women’s Group.
The women’s initiative cooperates to
construct water tanks from one homestead to another. And they are proud of
their work, as Mwoiko makes clear. “We never bother our men to climb up the
tanks and make the final touches. We do it ourselves,” says Mwoiko as she adds
that the women’s husbands assist financially in the projects.
Another member, Jerusha Lasoi, said their
projects will ensure that the Maasai will no longer require food aid from
outside their community. Pointing to her secure reservoir of water, a milk cow
and thriving business in vegetable sales, Lasoi felt confident in their future.
There is however debate as to whether the
Maasai should still keep large herds of livestock in the face of scarce
pastures and water. Agnes Kiner who leads another women’s group thinks not,
saying, “It would be wise for the Maasai community to abandon the system of
keeping unmanageable herds of livestock and proposing instead to keep one or
two dairy cows and goats.”
Such a move would attract stiff resistance
from most traditionalist Maasai tribesman as Kirrinkai attests: “Nature is
dictating us. There is no water or pastures. People are getting land title
deeds. No one is willing to let grazing take place in his territory due to
scarce resources”. These factors are driving the Maasai from their culture, he
adds, and Kirrinkai wants to see more rain-water harvesting and more trees
planted to help to mitigate the droughts.
Proposals and debates about the best approach
to soften the impact of the drought will likely rage on for some time. But for
many Maasai people now, the challenge appears to be a question of striking a
balance between coping with a changing climate and retaining traditional norms
and values.
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