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I, _- f LIBRARY Michigan State University PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE mm o 7 2003 "UTO as NOV 1 5 2009 MAY 2 2 2011 70311 6/01 c:/ClRC/DateDuo.pGS-p.15 SEASONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING LIVESTOCK HERDING STRATEGIES IN THE TALEK AREA, NAROK DISTRICT, KENYA: A POLITICAL ECOLOGY PERSPECTIVE Bilal Butt A THESIS Submitted to Michigan Sate University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Geography 2002 ABSTRACT SEASONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING LIVESTOCK HERDING STRATEGIES IN THE TALEK AREA, NAROK DISTRICT, KENYA: A POLITICAL ECOLOGY PERSPECTIVE By Bilal Butt This thesis explores the factors that influence the traditional herding practices of pastoralists’ livestock. The study is centered on the Talek area of the Narok district in southwestern Kenya, adjacent to Kenya’s most popular protected conservation area, the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The study incorporates a political ecology framework, which seeks to examine cultural, demographic, economic, and political dimensions of resource use and ecological change, focusing on these issues and their linkages at and across multiple spatial and temporal scales. The study examines both the biophysical and socio-economic factors that affect the traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists. These two separate, but interactive components are discussed within the contexts of both spatial and temporal scales of analysis. The biophysical components that this study examines are the effects of the following factors on seasonal livestock herding activities: (1) the tsetse fly (Glorrina App.) and the transmission of human and animal trypanosomosis (sleeping sickness), (2) resident and migratory wildebeests (Connor/meter taminm) found within the greater Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem, (3) the role of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (lVIMNR) as a biophysical reservoir, and (4) climatic variability. The socio-economic components of this study examine the effects of the following on the seasonal herding activities of Maasai livestock: (1) bush land and the spread/ retreat of tsetse, (2) economic needs and markets, (3) the policies of protection on the MMN R, and (4) dramatic demographic changes. The study provides feedback to the discourses on the political ecology conceptual frameworks, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. © Copyright by BILAL BUTT 2002 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I had never dreamt that one day I would become a researcher. My childhood was spent on the East African savannas and seldom did I think that one day my professional work would lead me back there. Indeed it has, and I have many people to thank for making the journey possible. Most of all, I have benefited from the support of my parents, Iqram and Mumtaz, who have steadfastly watched me come and go between the plains of the Mara, snowy Michigan and the Kentucky bluegrass. Along my adventures, within and outside of academia, I have been indebted to so many people, so many different kind: of people that it becomes impossible to name them all. While undertaking my undergraduate degree at the Department of Geography at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), I was mentored by Dr. David Zurick who first introduced me to the complexities of investigating nature-society problems (and a MSU Geography alumnus). He has continued to provide me with deep insight into some of the issues that are of concern to me and has constantly provided me with constructive criticism. Dr. John McGee (now with the Virginia Geographic Information Network) first introduced me to the advantages of utilizing geographic information sciences technologies as tools for natural resources management and monitoring. My early days at EKU provided me with a concrete base from which this thesis began. Many members of the Department of Geography at Michigan State University have assisted me with my scientific endeavors. Specifically, my advisor, Dr. David Campbell provided me with the guidance, support and supervision that has helped me channel my various thoughts into constructive research agendas. He has been the best advisor that a student could have and continues to encourage my academic and non-academic work. Dr. iv Antoinette WinklerPrins, who served on my committee, has also helped me to formulate my thoughts and ideas. Her open door policy always made me feel welcome and whose constant feedback on revisions of papers have helped make me a better writer —- Asante Sana! Dr. Randy Schaetzl always took in an interest in my studies and whose advice on graduate work helped me to coordinate my graduate activities. I would also like to thank Dr. Bruce Wm. Pigozzi, for standing on my thesis committee and providing valuable feedback to the thesis and for additional critical, yet incredibly insightful feedback. While in Kenya, I gained from the tremendous support of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Erustus Kanga, Head of the Division of Ecological Monitoring — KWS was a constant source of advice and whose friendship is invaluable. Richard Bagine, Deputy Director for Research and Planning at KWS and Martin Mulama, Head of Rhino Monitoring also at KWS provided me with logistical support and affiliation by which I was able to conduct my research. Bernard Ngoru, head research scientist at the Maasai Mara National Reserve - Research Station also provided me with the use of the stations facilities and logistical support in the Mara. Mr. Daniel Sindiyo, Senior Warden of the Maasai Mara National Reserve also provided valuable insight for this study. While at the Maasai Mara National Reserve, I am grateful to Dr. Robert Sapolsky of Standford University, whose short companionship and affection for baboons made me realize the complexities of natural systems. A fellow sufferer of a love-hate relationship with the Mara, let’s hope that one day there will be more love than hate! At the campsite I called home for the duration of my field study period, I was fortunate to have two of the greatest cooks on the East African savanna. Daniel and James were constant companions for months on end and taught me how to catch catfish when food was short, while I taught them how to interpret satellite imagery! This study would not have been possible were it not for the kindness and generosity of N argis and Shiraz Nanji of Best Camping Tours and Safaris, Kenya. They have provided me with accommodation and most meals for the duration of my field study and I am very grateful for this. Special thanks also goes to the various tour drivers of Best Camping Tours that provided me with information on livestock grazing around the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Staying within the Mara, I have indebted to Lars Lindkvist (a fellow geographer) and Tina Frisk, co-managers of Dream Camp Maasai Mara. An eco-tourist venture that has a tremendous vision in supporting the Maasai and that has provided me with logistical support and a quite place to work when camp was over-run by tourists. At the Department of Geography at Michigan State University I have had the privilege of working with numerous faculty. Dr. Joe Messina provided insight into the techniques of GIS analysis and interpretation. Dr. Jay Harman has taken a special interest in my work and continues to assist me in my writings and conceptualization of research problems. Dr. Jeff Andresen at the Climatological Research Office at the Department of Geography, provided me with statistical help on the climatic analysis and guidance on my academic career. Many thanks also go to Dr. Bob Walker whose seminar made me think critically on many aspects of human geography. Dr. Jennifer Olson, socio-economic coordinator of LUCID — East Africa, and the Department of Geography at MSU was helpful in commenting on parts of the thesis and providing me with constructive feedback. Dr. Edward Walker at the Department of Entomology provided me with help on tsetse and was always willing to listen to the findings of the study. Dr. Bryan Pijanowski of the Department of Zoology also gave me sage advice on my graduate career and aspects of this thesis. I am also grateful to Dr. Brent Lofgren at the Great Lakes Ecological Research Laboratory (GLERL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (N OAA) for advice of calculating precipitation anomalies. Current and former graduate students at the Department of Zoology have also helped me with fruitful discussions and impromptu colloquiums where I was able to present my ideas and gain from valuable feedback. Many thanks go to Erin Boydston (now with the United States Geological Survey), Micaela Szykman (now with the Smithsonian Institute), Joe Kolowski, Sofia Wahaj, Jamie Tanner, Heather Watts, and Anne Engh. Many thanks also go to Dr. Kay Holekamp for her support in facilitating this study and for precipitation data. Various agencies of the Government of Kenya deserve appreciative mention. This study was conducted with the permission of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology - Research Permit No. MOEST 13/001 / 31C 85. Many thanks to the Government of Kenya through the Narok District and the District Commissioner and District Agricultural and Livestock Officers. Separately, I would like to thank the Narok County Council for allowing me to conduct research within and around the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Various research scientists and staff at the International Livestock and Research Institute (ILRI) deserve special thanks for data, advice and collegiality. They include research scientists Dr. Robin Reid and Dr. Joseph Maitima. GIS specialist Russ Kruska and technician Fred Atieno all deserve my thanks. I would also like to thank Mohammed Said of the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), in the Netherlands and the Department of Remote Sensing and Resource Surveys (DRSRS), Kenya for advice and data. Fellow graduate students within the Geography department have been a constant source of support, criticism and being technological gurus. Specifically, to members of the Zoo Crew, Laura Lukomski, Tiffiny Rossi, Brian Adams, Andy Huddy, Kin Ma — thanks. Other graduate students that helped me along the way include Scott Drzyzga, Beth Weisenborn, Christina Kulas, Erin Kelley and Paul Delameter. To my fellow Kenyan researchers Edna Wangui and Tom Smucker a special thanks for advice, friendship and support. This research project was cleared under the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) — IRB # 01-222 Cat. l—C. My eternal thanks go to Mzee Ole Sairowa, my Maasai guide, friend and professor without whom this thesis would have never been completed. As Sairowa would say to me many times over the course of my fieldwork, Maa-be. And finally, there are many other people who have shown me the way to where I am today and want you to thank you all very much. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, Mohammed Yakub. A victim of the colonial conquest, he always encouraged me to pursue my dreams and follow through on my education to the fullest. He lived at a great time, in a great country, with great people. I hope that I will have not let him down. Nimeéira/z'lz' Aida/e naflwe, liwa/o ”a lime - I have betrayed a toe against a stone, let it be! TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES xiii LIST OF FIGURES xiv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 An outline of the study ............................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................... 3 Research Question ................................................................... 4 Conceptual Approach ............................................................... 4 Outline of the thesis ................................................................ 13 CHAPTER II: THE PASTORALIST TRANSITION IN E.AFRICA 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. Introduction ........................................................................ 1 5 Pastoral Herding Systems in sub-Saharan Africa ................................ 15 2.2.1. Non-equilibrium systems .................................................... 16 2.2.2. Uncertainty ................................................................... 18 2.2.3 Flexibility ...................................................................... 22 2.2.4 Diversification ................................................................ 23 Pastoral herding Activities in East Africa ........................................ 24 2.3.1. Access to Livestock Markets ................................................ 25 2.3.2. Diversification (Alternatives) .............................................. 26 2.3.2.1. Tourism Alternatives ........................................ 26 2.3.2.2. Agricultural Alternatives .................................... 28 2.3.2.3. Urban Alternatives .......................................... 28 2.3.3. Land Use Conflicts ............................................................ 29 2.3.3.1. Wildlife-Livestock Conflicts ............................ 29 2.3.3.2 Agricultural—Pastoral Conflicts .......................... 33 2.3.3.3. Wildlife-Human Conflicts ............................... 34 2.4. Factors Affecting Traditional Herding Patterns of Maasai pastoralists ............. 34 2.4.1. Biophysical Factors ................................................ 35 2.4.1.1.Tsetse fly........... ....................................... 35 2.4.1.2. Wildebeest ................................................ 37 2.4.1.3. The Park (MMNR) ...................................... 39 2.4.1.4. Climatic Variability ...................................... 41 2.4.1.5. Section Summary ........................................ 42 2.4.2. Socio-Economic Factors ........................................... 43 2.4.2.1. Park Policy ................................................. 43 2.4.2.2. Spread of Bush land/Tsetse Emergence .............. 45 2.4.2.3. Economic Needs and Markets ......................... 47 2.4.2.4. Demographic Change ................................... 50 2.4.2.5. Land Tenure and Traditional Clanship System .......................................... 52 2.4.2.6. Section Summary ......................................... 54 2.5. Similar Studies Conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa ...................................... 55 2.6. The Political Ecology Perspective of This Study ....................................... 56 2.7. Chapter Summary ........................................................................ 57 CHAPTER III: THE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 59 3.2 Research Design ............................................................................ 60 3.3. Data Sources (Methods of Data Collection) ........................................... 60 3.3.1. Primary Data Sources .............................................. 61 3.3.1.1. Field Work Methods .................................... 62 3.3.2. Secondary Data Sources ........................................... 66 3.4. Data Analysis .............................................................................. 67 3.5. Data Interpretation ....................................................................... 68 3.6 Chapter Summary ......................................................................... 68 CHAPTER IV: PRESENTATION OF DATA AND RESULTS 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 70 4.2. Traditional Maasai Pastoralists Herding Strategies .................................... 70 4.3. Baseline Data Results ..................................................................... 72 4.4. The Biophysical Factors .................................................................. 76 4.4.1. Tsetse Effect ........................................................ 77 4.4.2. Wildebeest Effect ................................................... 81 4.4.4. Climatic Variability .................................................. 85 4.4.3. The Role of the Park ............................................... 90 4.4.5. Section Summary .................................................... 92 4.5. The Socio-Economic Factors ............................................................ 93 4.5.1. Bushland and Tsetse ................................................ 95 4.5.2. Park Policy .......................................................... 97 4.5.3. Demographic Changes ............................................. 103 4.5.4. Economic Needs and Markets ................................... 105 4.5.5. Section Summary ................................................... 108 4.6. Synergy: Linking the Biophysical and the Socio-Economic Factor ................. 109 4.7. Chapter Summary ........................................................................ 115 CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 5.1. Introduction .............................................................................. 117 5.2 Comparison to other Studies ............................................................ 117 5.3. Seasonal Livestock Herding as a Political Ecology Perspective ..................... 125 5.4. The Scale Issue in Political Ecology .................................................... 129 5.4.1.1. The Local Scale ......................................... 130 5.4.1.2. The National/Regional Scale. 131 5.4.1.3. The International Scale ................................ 132 5.5. Chapter Summary ........................................................................ 133 CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSIONS 6.1. Discourses on Political Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development ......................................................... 135 6.2. Recommendations for Further Research ............................................... 140 6.3. Concluding Remarks .................................................................... 142 APPENDICES ....................................................................................... 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................. 1 48 Table 1.1. Table 1.2. Table 2.1. Table 3.1. Table 4.1. Table 4.2. Table 4.3. LIST OF TABLES PAGE Towards an Integrated Perspective of the Social and Natural Sciences, After Campbell 1998 ...................................................... 9 The Eight Elements of a Political Ecology Agenda in the 1990’s Adapted from Blaikie, 1994 ....................................................... 12 Elements and Characteristics of the Interactions Between Wildlife and Livestock ............................................................. 31 List of Techniques Used to Collect, Analyze and Interpret Data .............. 61 Traditional herding Strategies of Maasai Pastoralist Livestock ................. 71 Numbers of Maasai and associated Livestock from the Study Area ........... 73 Results from the calendar mapping activities .................................... 94 Figure 1.1. Figure 1.2. Figure 2.1. Figure 2.2. Figure 2.3. Figure 2.4. Figure 2.5. Figure 2.6. Figure 4.1. Figure 4.2. Figure 4.3. Figure 4.4. LIST OF FIGURES Images in this thesis are presented in color PAGE Map of the Study Area showing the Talek Area, of the Narok District Kenya, adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve ............... 2 Explanation of the Causes of Soil Erosion ‘The Chain of Explanation’ — From Blaikie 1994 ................................................ 10 Observed Rainfall Anomalies for Three African Regions - From Hulme et a1. 2001 .......................................................... 17 Annual Precipitation Deviations from the Grand Mean of 786.6 mm For the Narok District, Kenya: 1914—2001 ....................................... 21 The Insect (T setse Fly — Glowing 5p.) Which Causes Trypanosomiasis (Sleeping Sickness) ............................................. 36 Wet Season Serengeti Migratory Wildebeest Population Estimates ............................................................................ 39 Average Monthly Precipitation for the N arok District, Kenya: 1 914-2001 ........................................................................... 42 Population Pyramid for the Narok District, Kenya 1994 ....................... 51 The Predominant cattle (B05 indicm) that is kept by the Maasai ................ 74 Maasai herdsman injecting a young cow against trypanosomiasis ............. 79 Three-year Moving Precipitation Average and the Grand Mean for the Narok District, Kenya: 1914-2001 ................................................ 86 Map of the Average Annual Precipitation for the Narok District And Surrounding Areas ............................................................ 88 Figure 4.5. Figure 4.6. Figure 4.7. Figure 4.8. Figure 5.1. Figure 5.2. Changing Boundaries of the Maasai Mara National Reserve .................. 99 Illegal cattle grazing activities inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve ............................................................................. 101 A Braid of Time for the Narok District, Kenya (Following Campbell 1998: 290) ................................................ 110 The Interactive ‘Synergistic’ Effects of the Socio-Economic and Biophysical Components of the Traditional Livestock Herding Systems of Maasai Pastoralists ........................................ 111 Wheat Farming in the Wetter Regions of the Narok District ................ 120 The Kite Framework for Environment and Development - From Campbell and Olson 1991a ............................................. 127 CHAPTER I Introduction 1.1. An Outline of the Study This thesis explores the factors that influence traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek area of the Narok district, Kenya. The study incorporates a political ecology framework, which seeks to examine cultural, demographic, economic, and political dimensions of resource use and ecological change, focusing on these issues and their linkages at and across multiple spatial and temporal scales. The study is the product of a four-month long field investigation in the Talek area of the Narok district, located immediately north of Kenya’s most frequented protected conservation area, the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) -— see Figure 1.1. The study examines both the biophysical and socio-economic factors that affect seasonal livestock herding activities of Maasai pastoralists. These two separate but interactive components are discussed within the contexts of spatial and temporal scales of analysis. The biophysical components that the study examines are the effects of the following on the traditional seasonal livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists: (1) the tsetse fly (Glam-via 5p.) and the transmission of human and animal trypanosomosis1 (sleeping sickness), (2) resident and migratory white bearded wildebeests (Connor/meter taurinur) found within the greater Mara—Serengeti Ecosystem, (3) the role of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) as biophysical reservoir, and (4) climatic variability. ‘ Following on the nomenclature that has been recommended by the Standardized Nomenclature of Parasitic Disease (SNOPAD), this thesis incorporates the use of the term Trypanosomosis (plural Trypanosomoses) over the use of the term Trypanosomiasis — See Bourn et al. 2001: 1 Figure 1.1. Narok District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya 7' ‘3! “7153: :‘- '.‘ \l A ‘ r x Maasai Mara . ' National Reserve , t» 1‘ Legend ‘ Lakes Elevation (m) E} 001 . 1000 ‘Narok .1'200 [:1 1001 - 1200 GMMNR .2014!” [:j1201-1400 C3! promo“ j:! 40‘ '800 14m » 2000 Dem 030 I 2000—3000 I: 0ver30mm k— - Ocean 1:. 1 tr "a" "is - .. 1,. . ‘14" The socio-economic components of this study examine the effects of the following on the traditional seasonal herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists’ livestock: (1) bush land and the spread/ retreat of tsetse, (2) economic need and markets, (3) the policies of the MMNR, and (4) dramatic demographic changes. The effects between and among these factors on the traditional livestock herding strategies to produce contemporary strategies are discussed in detail and the results of the study are then contextualized across the local, national/ regional and international scales. The study also comments on the recent re-workings of conservation geographies, socially constructed natural landscapes and integrated conservation and development projects. In the following sections, I will discuss the statement of the problem, conceptual framework, research question and an outline of the remainder of the thesis. 1.2. Statement of the Problem Within the political ecology, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development literatures there is a movement towards recognizing the role of politics and power relations in the modification of natural areas to produce socio-environmental problems (Campbell and Olson 1991a,b, Campbell 1998, Escobar 1996, 1998, Zimmerer 2000). There has also been an increasing awareness of the linking of biophysical and socio-economic factors that affect the distribution of, and access to, environmental resources around the world (Campbell 1998, Turner, B. 1997). Within sub-Saharan Africa, the ethnography of pastoralist populations has been well documented. With the exception of West African pastoralists, there has been little research on the factors that affect the herding patterns of pastoralist populations, particularly in East Africa. In this particular study, I examine how the synergistic effects of the biophysical and socio-economic factors have affected the traditional Maasai livestock herding strategies to produce contemporary strategies In areas where pastoralists live in close proximity to abundant wildlife resources, such as East Africa, understanding these biophysical and socio-economic factors is important in order to: (1) determine possible sustainable development interventions, and (2) protect the integrity of conservation areas such as National Parks and Reserves. Hence, an investigation is needed into understanding the key factors that influence the movements of pastoralists livestock 1.3. Research Question The central problem that this thesis addresses is to determine the factors that influence the traditional seasonal livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Narok district, Kenya. Specifically the study examines these factors in an area of the Narok district that is adjacent to the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR), which forms the northern extension of the Greater Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem (N orton-Griffiths and Sinclair, 1979 and Sinclair and Arcese 1995). 1.4. Conceptual Approach The conceptual approach that this study utilizes is incorporated within the political ecology paradigm as described by Blaikie and Brookfield 1987, Blaikie 1994, Campbell and Olson 1991a,b, Campbell 1998, Bryant 1992, 1997, 1998, Bryant and Bailey 1997, Bassett 1987, Bassett and Zueli 2000, Peet and Watts 1996, Zimmerer 2000, among others. The political ecology framework is formed within the context of an ecologically rooted science and a socially constructed political economy. In this section of the thesis I outline the evolution of cultural ecology into political ecology and then examine the key elements that constitute a political ecology framework. George Perkins Marsh authored some of the earliest studies on environmental change by human modification (1864). Since then, there have various schools of thought that have attempted to transform the central tenets, themes and perspectives of the interactions between humans and the natural environment into relevant paradigms. Sauer attempted to distinguish between the natural and the cultural landscapes and the processes that act to change those landscapes. The geographer Carl Sauer (1963) argued that the real task for geographers was to determine how the natural landscape was transformed at the hands of humans. Sauer wrote “culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape the result. . .. the natural landscape is of course of fundamental importance, for it supplies the materials out of which the cultural landscape is formed. The shaping force, however, lies in the culture itself” (Sauer 1963: 343, quoted in Mitchell 2000: 27). Beginning in 1978, Porter began to suggest that a formal connection between the term ‘ecology’ and the human/ social/ cultural sciences, when he suggested ‘Geography as Human Ecology’. Porter suggested that human ecology might be the answer to finding the ways in which geographers have sought to study the set of relationships among people and the environment. Porter describes human ecology as the study of “the mutual relations of people and environment” (Porter 1978: 15) (emphasis mine). Since then human / cultural ecology tradition has spawned into the political ecology framework suggesting that “how the environment and environmental change are perceived, and related to different aspects of human development, influences the nature and extent of such (environmental) change” (Bryant 1992: 28). Hence, political ecology studies are placed within the broader contexts of third-world studies and overlap with studies of peasants, power analysis and conservation. The most comprehensive linking of nature and society issues was undertaken by Blaikie and Brookfield titled ‘Land Degradation and Sodegl’in 1987. In this book, Blaikie and Brookfield conceptualize a ‘regional political ecology’ as a framework for investigating the complex interactions that exist while trying to understand the linkages between: (1) the interactive effects of social and physical change on landscapes, (2) scales in time and space, (3) and the contradictions between social and environmental change. Land Degradation and S 061991 has emphasized a ‘problem’ or ‘conflict’ whose basis has been expressed through the land. In their description of the approach to a ‘regional political ecology’ the authors describe the incorporation of the term ‘regional’ in context. They assert “the adjective ‘regionaf is important because it is necessary to take account of environmental variability and the spatial variations in the resilience and sensitivity of the land, as different demands are put on the land through time. The word ‘negiona/ also implies the incorporation of environmental considerations into theories of regional growth and decline” (Blaikie and Brookfield 1987: 17). Relatively recent studies that have utilized the political ecology have dropped the term ‘regional’ from use. Political ecology may then be defined as combing the concerns of a ‘broadly defined political economy’ and ecology (Blaikie and Brookfield 1987). Political economy rests on the proposition that certain economic processes are not in isolation from social and political processes. Within the context of this study, political economy is used to determine the non- place based political and economic developments that affect the distribution of, and access to, environmental resources (Blaikie 1985). The central elements of politics and how they affect the economics of a political economy are structured here both within a spatial and temporal context. Politics, translated as the role of power, represented by the state, in socio- environmental modification is also discussed as part of this thesis. Between the late 1980’s and mid 1990’s there was a shift from those who had utilized cultural ecology as a base for examining the interactions between nature and society issues to a political ecology approach. This shift was promoted by concerns that cultural ecology did not take into account the political economy of the regions that were being studied, and as a result failed to examine the differing power relations and different scales of analysis that were expressed as part of Land Degradation and .S’oa'egr. The political ecology framework has two sets of epistemologies as observed by Zimmerer (1996). The first is that political ecology has used ecological concepts to understand the environmental impacts that human populations have on the natural environment, and second that the activities of human populations on the natural environment are a product of their political economy lifestyles. This suggests that the political economy perspective is rooted in the social relations of production and exchange of the societal group. Zimmerer (1996) also suggests that the political ecology framework follow a series of procedures that could be conveniently labeled as ‘progressive contextualization’ as was suggested by the anthropologist, Andrew Vayda. Progressive contextualization is the idea that “these procedures involve focusing on significant human activities or people- environment interactions and then explaining these interactions by placing them within wider or denser contexts” (V ayda 1983: 265). Turner, B. (1989), refined these contexts, to incorporate concepts such as the sustainable development of the biosphere. Revisiting the definition of political ecology, we must explicitly examine the notion of ‘ecology’. In 1994, Zirnmerer published “Human Geography and the ‘New Ecology’: The Prospect and Promise of Integration”, in the Anna/r oft/1e Arrociation of American Geographers. In it, he applied the concept of the “new ecology‘” as a reorientation that occurred in the biological sciences and applied it to the social sciences. According to Zimmerer, “the new ecology accents disequilibria, instability, and even chaotic fluctuations in biophysical environments, both natural and human impacted” (Zimmerer 1994: 108). Zimmerer suggests that the biophysical attributes of environmental change were of special interest to cultural ecologists because they had not inspired human geography’s interpretation of the biophysical environment. The ‘new ecology’ was seen as a way to stimulate the emergence of ‘ecology’ in a biological sense, into the human-environment debates. The ‘new ecology’ also countered the orthodox ideals of general systems theory that faded away in the 1990’s. The new ecology represented a way to incorporate the modified definitions of ecology, by ecologists, to the combination of human and environment problems that cultural / political ecologists sought to investigate. Campbell (1998) provides an integrated perspective towards the concerns of ‘ecology’ to both the biological and social sciences. Campbell argues that both political ecology and landscape ecology (N aveh 1991, Wiens 1992) draw on the traditions of research in the social and ecological sciences, but have differing base principles (landscape ecology 2 The term ‘new ecology’ may also be substituted for terms such as dynamic ecology, and the ecology of chaos, which are more widely used in the biological sciences. relying on biophysical systems, and political ecology relying on societal systems). This is represented in Table 1.1. Table 1.1. Towards an Integrated Perspective (after Campbell 1998: 236) BIOPHYSICAL INTEGRATED SOCIETAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVES SYSTEMS Vegetation Demographics Fauna LAND APE POLITICAL Culture Climate EQQLQGY EQQLQQY Economy Water Politics Soils / Geology History In 1994 Blaikie produced, as part of a symposium, “Political Ecology: An Evolving View on Nature and Society in the 1990’s” two formulations that help us to understand a political ecology framework (Blaikie 1994). The first was to deconstruct political ecology and examine its central elements. The descriptions and explanations of the eight elements of Blaikie’s political ecology are contained in Table 1.2. Second, Blaikie constructed a ‘chain of explanation’, which was seen as a way to visualize the processes of change on an entity. The chain of explanation was also viewed as a possible way to operationalize political ecology frameworks in the field (see Figure 1.2). The chain of explanation is an explanatory device which links levels, scales and spaces in a political ecology investigation. The starting point for the chain of explanation is the observed environmental change and the processes of change such as land degradation or marine pollution. The next stage is to recognize these changes, usually through their economic implications such as declining crop yields, or the increased morbidity of livestock. Blaikie (1994) suggests that establishing the link between physical changes in environmental processes and realization of the economic effects is a challenging one, but is central to the political ecology framework. The next stage allows us to examine the environmental processes and the land use practices that are present at that site, such as Sheer s 9""! eves-on Bush/weed encroach- M PM cropyields Increased ”2.1”” SYMPTOMS '“°‘ "Y AT A of le ‘°" specmc PlACE intreosed Yield The iorepgn _. z variability r— deb' com 2 . Instill-event 9 > renew-n9 l— Oa! pnces —- g i it... Over 2 8 MW 9W LLJ '°""’""""9 T 95 c at... .0. many trees l-J D lAND-USERS. RESOURCES. SKlls ASSETS, WWW. Common 8- Ofluc .0! laws TECHNOLOS: plum Ponbrdmwefi w D'OPG'Y u; ‘ , a Ab-I-ry to wear or S i 2 .2 enforce r—i strong y— m . w dc lows goverment if ’— D-smbuoion ’ Abilmes 0‘ a d “g.” b j—. pdmmistroton— 0&1 land E F3 0 THE NATURE Gavernmeo' WWIO‘ a T533: J ' " °"" AGRARIAN iO'efl'y 8- -_ SOCIETY W Gender 5 division — Figure 1.2. Explanation of Causes of Soil Erosion “The Chain of Explanation” (Blaikie 1994: 14) 10 overstocking of livestock in a pasture, or felling too many trees on a forested mountain slope. Once these have been identified and accounted for, we can begin to understand the access to, and control of, the natural resources, explaining how they are used and how the patterns of resource use are socially structured at the individual and household level. These explanations are then scaled up towards the national scale by reviewing the role of the State in environmental management under its jurisdiction. Such components may include laws on conservation or land tenure, or the state’s ability to enforce laws. Finally, at the international level, global discourses on environment and the international economy ultimately form the ending point for the chain of explanation (Blaikie 1994). Blaikie recognizes that the chain of explanation is just one way in which political ecology can be used as a framework for investigating environmental change processes influenced by human societies at multiple scales. Similar frameworks have been developed by Campbell and Olson (1991a), Turner, B. (1997), and Zimmerer and Young (1998). The chain of explanation is not exempt from criticism and the question of “how factors become causes” is asked (Peet and Watts 1993: 239). The Kite framework on the other hand provides a heuristic perspective in understanding some of these contributory factors of socio-environmental problems. “The objective of the Kite is to reveal and explain this complexity of socio- environmental interaction and to promote such an understanding in order to facilitate policy formulation. The Kite Framework provides a structure to guide the design of research questions and to guide the analysis of alternative policy scenarios” (Campbell and Olson 1991: 28). 11 Table 1.2. The eight elements of a political ecology agenda in the 1990’s, after Blaikie 1994: 6-10 Element Component 1. Political Ecology utilizes the epistemologies of its parent disciplines (from both the natural and social sciences 2. The interactions between environment and society are put into a historical context and locally specific ecologies 3. Investigations imply a number of different levels of scale and analysis 4. A critical analysis of international policy regarding the global environment 5. Political ecology focuses on the micro-level because: a. the immediate users of environmental resources are the first link in the explanatory model of political ecology b. how decisions about resource use and management are actually made is one of the keys to understanding, particularly by the policy maker 6. The state and its representative institutions are central to political ecology 7. Conflict and contestation over the environment 8. A specific form of these contestations has been between knowledge systems about the environment, particularly between exogenous (Western) and indigenous knowledge 1.4. Outline of the thesis In Chapter II, I present a detailed literature review that highlights the major themes and issues under consideration in pastoral herding systems across the African continent. These include, diversification, uncertainty, flexibility and disequilibria models of range ecology. Narrowing the scale, I then present information from the existing literature that describes the historical and contemporary components of pastoral herding strategies in East Africa such as access to livestock markets and tourism strategies that have evolved as part of pastoralists’ diversification modes. Additionally, this section examines pastoralists’ loss of land by increased state- sponsored cultivation, biodiversity conservation, and land adjudication processes. I also discuss land use conflicts that are initiated by one (or many) of the coincidence of these factors. Specifically, I examine wildlife-livestock conflicts, agricultural-pastoral conflicts, and wildlife-human conflicts. These issues are examined within the broader contexts of the problems facing pastoralists across East Africa and are not limited to the Maasai. The next section of Chapter II begins to specifically examine the factors affecting change in Maasai traditional pastoral herding systems across Kenya, by providing examples from both Kajiado and Narok districts. These factors are similar to socio-economic and biophysical factors that this study incorporates, however while these factors are similar, there are differences between areas of Maasai homogeneity, partly brought on by different governmental and non-governmental policies. Chapter III presents the methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation. The methods employed in this study have been supported by existing literature from previous field study examples (from Kenya and rural areas around the world). The methods of data 13 collection are derived from rapid rural appraisals. Secondary data sources include governmental, non-governmental, and academic literatures. Chapter IV examines the results of the study. In this chapter, I maintain the breaks of separation between the socio—economic and biophysical factors and the various sections contained within these sub-headings. In this section, I also analyze the results of the study by dissolving the barriers between the socio—economic and biophysical elements. Next, I examine the synergistic effects between two. Chapter V discusses the results of this study in comparison to other studies in sub- Saharan Africa. Specifically, this study is compared and contrasted against similar research in West Africa and other parts of East Africa. I also contextualize the results of my study within the national, regional and international scales. Chapter VI, the concluding chapter, suggests feedback from the study to the political ecology, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development discourses that this study has found. The penultimate section provides my recommendations for further research within the Mara ecosystem and on factors affecting seasonal herding patterns for pastoralists’ livestock in general. This final chapter and the thesis are then wrapped up by offering some concluding remarks. I suggest that the situation for both wildlife and livestock is critical and carefully thought out development initiative within the Mara ecosystem is needed. 14 CHAPTER II Review of Related Literature on Pastoral Environments 2.1. Introduction This literature review provides a synthesis of the past and present state of knowledge about the influences of various socio—economic and biophysical factors on seasonal traditional livestock herding strategies the in Talek area, which borders immediately north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR). This chapter provides a basis for understanding the complexities of these various factors. These complexities are both within each of the individual factors and interactively. I have attempted to provide a simplification of some of the major issues faced in one small portion of a larger land area in which pastoralists and wildlife reside. The complexities discussed in this chapter are re-inforced throughout the remainder of this thesis, illustrating how an integrative assessment of the effects of both socio-economic and biophysical factors have led to changes in the natural resource base. 2.2 Pastoral herding in sub-Saharan Africa Pastoralists are people who obtain most of their income from maintaining domestic livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys in arid and semi—arid lands around the world. Pastoralism is the term used to describe their systems of livelihood through various land use and economic systems (Sandford 1983). Pastoralist populations that inhabit the arid and semi-arid lands of sub-Saharan Africa number between 20—25 million inhabitants and keep an estimated 377 million cattle, sheep and goats (Scoones 1995, Sommer 1998, Bourn and Blench 1999, Sandford 1983). The arid and semi—arid lands of sub- Saharan Africa receive low amounts of annual precipitation, normally between 500-800 mm annually, and have a mean monthly temperature of above 18° Celsius (Campbell and Migot- 15 Adholla 1981, Bourn and Blench 1999). These regions also experience a great deal of fluctuation in annual rainfall. Figure 2.1. illustrates observed annual rainfall anomalies for three African regions. Behnke (1992, 1994), Behnke, et a1. (1993), and Sandford (1995), summarize the recent ecological thought on pastoral development as having three main concerns. These are that: (1) arid and semi-arid grazing ecosystems are not at equilibrium and external factors such as drought determine livestock numbers and vegetation status, (2) the productivity of sub-Saharan African range lands is heterogeneous in space and variable over time, and (3) sub-Saharan African pastoral production systems are influenced by a range of differentiated livelihood objectives. Within sub—Saharan Africa, pastoralists’ activities can be described as diverse, flexible, uncertain and the physical environments in which they reside correspond to a state of non-equilibrium. 2. 2. 1 Non-equilibrium Systems Tropical grazing ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa face a high degree of variability in climatic conditions, where precipitation is highly seasonal, inter-annual and has experienced recurrent drought. These variations in climate affect vegetation and the resource utilization patterns among pastoralists. Therefore it is difficult to predict the levels of production that pastoral herding systems yield overtime. These systems are categorized as non-equilibrium systems (Ellis 1995). Recent thought on range management and ecology has highlighted a paradigm shift from the convention mainstream views of nature tending towards equilibrium to non- equilibrium systems (Scoones 1995). Behnke and Kerven (1994) define equilibrium grazing systems as being “characterized by relatively high levels of climatic stability, resulting in constant levels of primary production. Equilibrium grazing systems seek to balance contrary 16 processes by adjusting the destructive power of animals, and hence the number, to match the recuperative power of the plants, thereby sustaining a stable and profitable equilibrium.” (2)- - .jl I I“ I ij . ‘ : ii 1 . .5 C3 IIIrIII I )5 O IUIITYI .h 0 Annual Rainfall Anomaly (96) O .3 O rrmrru ‘ Southeast Africa _80 I. n n L A n n a A A I n 1880 1920 1960 2000 2040 2080 Ybar A I I L I l I Figure 2.1. Observed annual rainfall anomalies for three African regions, 1900-1998, and model-sirnulated anomalies for 2000-2099- From Hulme et al. 2001: 164 Non-equilibrium systems emphasize feedback mechanisms and gradual succession models and usually fall on the drier side of the sub-humid and semi-arid zones. Equilibrium systems are typically found in wetter environments with more predictable patterns of rainfall (Scoones 1995). The isoline of the 30% coefficient of variation of annual rainfall is the 17 practical dividing line between non—equilibrium and equilibrium systems. Sandford (1995) estimates that over half of sub—Saharan Africa’s livestock populations live in non-equilibrium systems at least some of the time. Grazing systems in sub-Saharan Africa are not in equilibrium and livestock and vegetation do not have control over each other. Sandford (1995) notes that external shocks to grazing systems such as war or drought determine livestock numbers and the state of vegetation rather than endogenous processes, such as low calving rates caused by malnutrition. These observations conclude that, “in these non-equilibrium systems, grazing by livestock has only a small effect on the productivity of grasslands” (Sandford 1995: 174). 2. 2. 2 Uncertainty Pastoralists face uncertain futures in the environmental, social, economic and political processes that affect their traditional pastoral systems of production. Cumulatively, the value of livestock products in Africa’s arid and semi-arid lands is estimated to be approximately 35% of the total agricultural GDP (Scoones 1995), therefore pastoral communities in Africa contribute significantly to national economies. Pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa have been subject to various development policies that were intended to “modernize” nation states (Baker 1980, Anderson 1993). The implementation and success of these policies have significantly differed over the past 50 years. These development policies have undermined the traditional management and coping strategies of pastoralists. Kilby (1993) suggests that these development policies have denied pastoral communities access to critical resources and affected the mobility patterns that pastoralists require in maintaining their livestock herds. 18 Various socio-cultural, economic, environmental and political policies have come together interactively across time and through space to deliver land-reducing mechanisms to pastoralists. Examples of these mechanisms include the loss of land for biodiversity conservation (Akama 1998, Western 1994), and post-independence land adjudication policies (Ayuko 1981, Galaty 1981, Meadows and White 1979). As a result pastoralists face uncertainty in their access to property rights as well as rights to environmental resources such as water and herding resources for their livestock. This ultimately affects the ease and terms of sale for livestock products as well as the nature of pastoral social organizations. As the relative sizes and rates of growth of pastoralists populations change there is uncertainty on the political relationships with non-pastoralists and the national government. This uncertainty may affect government instituted development policies within pastoral areas. Since many pastoral populations in sub-Saharan Africa occupy marginal lands between the borders of one or more countries, they are likely to be regarded as threats to the integrity of the state (Sandford 1983). Pastoralists also face uncertainty over their political representation and their ability to leverage development initiatives from the national government. It is also important to note how marginalization has been interpreted in this thesis. The marginalization of pastoralists is based on two cntena. The first suggests that the physical environment in which pastoralists reside is marginal because of the climatic variability and unreliability of precipitation. Pastoralists are also marginalized through their lack of representation on the national political scene and in their ability to leverage various development initiatives from the national government. Finally, there is uncertainty in the climatic variability of the arid and semi-arid lands that pastoralists inhabit. The arid and semi-arid lands of East Africa experience three precipitation seasons within the year. Within a normal year arid and semi-arid lands will 19 experience a short dry season between June and October, while there are two wet seasons. The first wet season, which is also known as the short rains run between November and January, followed by the long rains that lasts from March till May. Climatic variability is a factor of latitude, altitude, the character of the prevailing winds, distance from a sizeable water body, topography and pressure belts (Ojany and Ogendo 1981). Extreme climatic events such as droughtsI and floods are common within arid and semi-arid lands of East Africa. Major recorded drought events have taken place in Kenya during the following years: 1999-2001, 1995, 1992, 1995, 1991-1992, 1988, 1981-1984, 1972- 1974, 1965-1966, 1960-1961, 1952-1955, 1942-1944, 1939, 1933-1934, and 1928 (DMCN 2001, FEWS 2001, IPCC 2001, Ojany and Ogendo 1981). Figure 2.2. illustrates the precipitation deviations from the long-term mean of 786mm for the Narok district between 1914 and 2001. The precipitation anomaly is defined as the deviation of the amount of precipitation falling in a given region over a specified period from the long-term average value for the same region (NASA-GCMD 2002). In addition, I have listed the total monthly precipitation and yearly averages for the Narok district between 1914 and 2001 in Appendix 1. Increased rainfall contributes to an improvement in grazing conditions and assists in the recovery of sick and/ or malnourished livestock herds. Some of the other positive impacts of above average rainfall in arid and semi-arid lands include, higher crop yields in agro-pastoral landscapes, and an improvement in human health measures, as there is greater availability of clean water. The last major flood event in East Africa happened in 1997 because of El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) anomalies which washed away crucial ‘ Drought is defined as an extended interval of abnormally dry weather sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause a serious hydrological imbalance (i.e., crop damage, water supply shortage, etc.) in the affected area (NASA-GCAID 2002). 20 infrastructure such as roads and bridges. The floods resulted in limiting the efficiency of transportation of livestock to market nodes (DMCN 2001). In addition, the occurrence of flooding, where sanitary infrastructure is inadequate, will result in an increased frequency of epidemics and enteric diseases (IPCC 2001). Figure 2.2. Annual Precipitation Deviations from the Grand Mean 01'7866 mm for the Narok District, Kenya: 1914-2001 N O O O O O -200 0 -400 0 Totem ofData: Kenya Meteorological Department and H Jena Rue-ml: Camp Maasai Mam, Kznya Deviauon from the Long-Term Mean of 786.6 mm -600 0 H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H ‘0 ‘0 ‘0 \D 0 \O \D 0 O \O ‘0 ‘0 ‘O O ‘0 ‘O ._a H N N Q» l» i A U‘ Ln 0‘ 0‘ \l \l on on \O ‘O A V.) -§ \9 48 Q \9 A ‘4) A ‘O A VD A \D & ‘0 Years Recurring droughts in East Africa are affecting water resources whereby reservoir storage levels are showing marked sensitivity to variations in runoff and periods of drought. Lakes and major storage facilities such as dams have reached critically low levels affecting water resources points for pastoralists’ livestock (IPCC 2001). However, rainfall events after sustained drought in arid and semi-arid lands of East Africa do not offset the prolonged effects of drought. The sustained effects of droughts in these areas results in high cereal prices, migration of pastoralists in search of water and pasture, high rates of malnutrition and associated health risks of pastoralists’, high livestock mortality and/ or emaciation associated with lower livestock prices, reduced crop yields, or the risk of total failure in agro-pastoral 21 areas, and conflicts or clashes among pastoralists or farmers over limited pasture and water resources (FEWS, 2001, and DMCN 2001). 2. 2. 3 Flexibility Pastoralists maintain levels of flexibility over space and through time to deal with uncertainty and variability of both biophysical and socio-economic elements (Sandford 1983). Variations in the spatial and temporal climatic conditions of rainfall affect livestock production systems through water and herding resources (Holtzman and Kulibaba 1995). Studies have illustrated that decreases in annual precipitation correspond directly to decreases in livestock productivity. This consequently affects the caloric in-take for pastoralists, as livestock struggle to maintain body weight and the incidence of malnutrition and disease rises. (Scoones 1995, Galaty and Bonte 1991). The flexibility of environmental resources is also achieved by means of tenure and access rights. The control of tenure over environmental gradients allows pastoralists to utilize a variety of environmental resources that correspond to land use systems. The control over a variety of land use systems limits the pastoralists’ susceptibility to environmental changes (Scoones 1995). The flexibility of pastoral systems is also achieved through pastoral administration modes. Swift (1995) examines four inter-twined strands of pastoral administration that relate to customary and formal institutions / organizations that are based on (1) kin (who is related to whom), (2) geographic considerations (who lives where), (3) national and local governments, and (4) a hybrid that combines both customary and formal groups and institutions. 22 2. 2. 4 Diversification Pastoralists in sub-Saharan Africa diversify their traditional economic systems and social livelihoods to deal with uncertainty through a variety of modes (Bonte 1981). The development of agro-pastoral systems in sub-Saharan Africa is one example of how pastoralists have diversified. Agro—pastoral systems of production combine animal husbandry activities with crop production and in some cases bee keeping, foraging, hunting and fishing in order to achieve self-sufficiency (Bonte and Galaty 1991). Cropping activities by agro-pastoralists are the most common way for pastoralists to diversify economically (Bayer and Waters-Bayer 1995). Agro-pastoralists involvement in cropping activities may take on a variety of forms; either by buying or renting land and employing farmers to work on it, or by practicing ‘chance cropping’ where drought tolerant cereals are grown and harvesting the grain after the dry or drought period is over. Richer pastoralists are able to settle in towns to manage their affairs and effect political influence, while relatives or hired workers continue to herd the livestock (Hodgson 2000, 2001). Pastoral populations are able to cope with uncertainty by keeping different species of livestock. Sandford (1983) provides the example of how camels, for example, have different needs from cattle in terms of their fodder, water, and mineral resources. This allows pastoralists to change the relative levels of production goals with the availability of water and forage resources (Jacobs 1975). Western (1982) suggests that the possible ways in which pastoralists increase their efficiency in arid and semi-arid lands is through mobility, species diversity (by keeping multiple livestock breeds) and stocking rates. Research on pastoralists’ livestock species diversity has illustrated that possession of “a wide spectrum of livestock and the added diversity means that a greater offtake of vegetation can be achieved that by a single species” 23 (Western 1982b: 199). McKay (1968) has shown that there is an estimated 18-23°/o higher meat production value by adding goats to a semi-arid environment, which is stocked solely by cattle. 2.3 Pastoral herding activities in East Africa Having examined the factors that characterize pastoral systems in sub-Saharan Africa such as uncertainty, flexibility, diversification and physical environments that conform to a state of disequilibria, I now examine some of the specific factors affecting pastoral systems in East Africa. These main factors include; pastoralists access to livestock markets, tourism strategies that have been employed in pastoral lands, climatic variability and disease transmissions between livestock and wildlife. Much of East Africa is characterized as arid and semi-arid land (ASAL), contributing to between 80-90% of the total land surface area in countries such as Tanzania, 40-50% in Kenya and 30-40% in Uganda (Bourn and Blench 1999). The population density in East Africa is estimated to be 100 persons per square kilometer in Uganda, while Kenya and Tanzania have estimated population densities of 50 and 30 persons per square kilometer respectively (Bourn and Blench 1999). Many different pastoral groups are found within East Africa. Maasai pastoralists are found within the border regions between southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Pokoma, Orma and Somali pastoralists are found in the eastern part of Kenya along the border with Somalia. Samburu and Rendille herders are found in the arid regions of northern Kenya along with other pastoral groups such as the Turkana. Finally, the Karamojong pastoralists are found along the western border of Kenya and Uganda (Dyson- Hudson and Dyson-Hudson 1982, Ojany and Ogendo 1981) 24 2. 3. 1 Access to livestock markets One of the main goals of pastoralists is capital accumulation by selling meat and hides or skins, either for subsistence or commercially (Evangelou 1984). livestock are sold at fixed markets within the Narok district and the outskirts of Nairobi, and the proceeds from these sales are used to increase herd numbers by purchasing smaller livestock. For example a herder may sell a large bull at the livestock market for 25,000 Kenya shillings (U SD $312). The money is then used to purchase five smaller calves at 5,000 Kenya shillings (U SD 3562). Herd sizes are maintained in this way. In addition, livestock sales are highly correlated with precipitation, whereby pastoralists are more likely to sell livestock products during and immediately after wetter periods as this is when livestock have recovered from dry and drought periods (Holtzman and Kulibaba 1995). The sale of livestock is also dependent on the size and structure of the livestock herd (Behnke et a]. 1992, Scoones 1995). Commercial livestock sales are often seen as complementary and alternative activities to subsistence livestock sales. Extreme climatic conditions (droughts and floods) and other hardship circumstances, in part, prescribe the circumstances of commercial livestock sales. The degree to which livestock sales are either commercial or subsistence, or both, is a factor of varying socio-economic conditions that the individual household or clan experiences. Access to commercial livestock markets and transportation are crucial to pastoralists’ survival in East Africa. High transportation costs hamper livestock supplies from pastoral areas as markets are located far away, often in the national or provincial capital cities such as Nairobi, Arusha or Kampala. In addition, there is a poor market infrastructure for livestock herds such as holding grounds. The poor infrastructure and high transportation costs faced by the pastoralists’ increases marketing costs (Scoones 1995). Most pastoralists take large 25 marketable livestock herds to formal fixed markets by trekking especially when trek routes facilities exist (Holtzman and Kulibaba 1995, Sandford 1983). Within East Africa, government investments in meat marketing such as abattoirs and cold storage facilities have often failed due to high levels of corruption and large overhead costs along with the highly seasonal supply of livestock from pastoral areas. However, private investment in meat marketing has been responsive to particular local markets such as those by the hotel industry. Scoones (1995) suggests that investment in improving access to markets, by maintaining an efficient road network between pastoral areas will benefit pastoral populations. 2. 3. 2 Diversification In order to offset the limitations faced by inadequate livestock markets and the inefficient access to livestock markets, pastoralists have had a long engagement with alternatives to the traditional forms of capital accumulation. These alternatives include employment in tourism related activities, as well as taking part in small scale and commercial agricultural activities. In addition, pastoralists are taking advantage of formal employment activities in urban areas. 2.3.2.1 Tourism alternatives Pastoral groups, such as the Maasai, Samburu and Turkana, who reside within arid and semi-arid lands, exploit a physical landscape with abundant and diverse floral and faunal resources. The growing numbers of domestic and international tourists who want to view the diversity of floral and faunal species within East Africa have resulted in an increased demand for tourist camps and lodges in these areas (Akama 1998). There are a number of 26 communal and private lands that are located immediately outside the boundaries of protected conservation areas such as national parks, national reserves and game reserves. Pastoral groups have leased out these communal and private lands to tourist enterprises as a way to collect revenue. Pastoralists such as the Maasai in the Narok district, Kenya are also directly employed in tourist enterprises such as camps and lodges where they receive monetary income. This income is usually used to support the members of the family and in some cases may also contribute to the cost of purchasing additional livestock. In Kenya it is estimated that around 70% of the wildlife occupies land outside protected conservation areas and 85% of the wildlife is found within arid and semi-arid lands (Ottichilo at al. 2000). Revenue generation by pastoralists is achieved by collecting rent from tourist establishments and by providing income to local inhabitants in the form of waiters, cooks, maintenance workers and guides. Tourists are also interested in the cultural resources of pastoral groups who provide a market for their traditional wares such as clothing, bracelets and necklaces, spears, and carvings. There have been various initiatives, both by the national and local governments and international development organizations to institute and develop community wildlife tourism schemes (Archabald and Naughton-Treves 2001, Adams and Hulme 2001, Western et al. 1994). The goals and objectives of these projects are to encourage tourism investment, promote sustainable utilization of the ecosystem and to reduce the reliance of pastoralists’ livestock as the sole means of income generation. These programs are also known as Integrated Conservation and Development Programs (ICDP’s). ICDP’s aim to link the conservation of biodiversity within protected areas to social and economic development outside the protected areas (Brandon, Redford and Sanderson 1998, Newmark and Hough 2000). Within East Africa ICDP’s have been implemented around the Amboseli National 27 Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Lewa Downs Conservancy (Bourn and Blench 1999, Berger 1988). 2. 3. 2. 2. Agricultural Alternatives As many pastoral groups in East Africa are within proximity to cultivator tribes and other agriculturally based communities, some pastoral groups transform their livestock oriented economy to incorporate agriculture and agricultural techniques learnt from their neighbors. This form of diversification is common throughout Africa. Within parts of Kenya inhabited by pastoralists such as in the Kajiado district, the Maasai are taking advantage of rainfed agriculture and irrigation projects to diversify their economic bases (Campbell et al. 2001) This change involves increasing sedenterization of the Maasai and is attributed to the lack of a long-term economic stable, which is incurred when all the livestock have been lost as a result of drought, diseases or other environmental stresses (Hodgson 2001). In addition studies conducted in the Kajiado district found that cultivation among the Maasai has been increasing following increased drought frequency and intensified drought events. Cultivation is thereby found to be a way by which the Maasai can diversify to reduce the risks of food shortages (Kimani and Pickard 1998, Campbell et al. 2001). The altered resource base results in land use conflicts that are discussed in greater detail in section 2.3.3. 2. 3. 2. 3 Urban Alternatives While agricultural alternatives are one form of diversifying their economies, members of other pastoral groups have sought employment in urban areas and town centers that secure year-round monetary employment (Western 1982b). Although the degree to which 28 Maasai rely on urban alternatives to diversify their economic bases has not been studied, the relative percentages of Maasai who find monetary employment in urban areas are low. Maasai society is polygamous, thereby allowing wealthy Maasai to invest capital in urban areas, whereby one or many wives manage shops or businesses. Some Maasai are drawn to urban areas acting as cultural liaisons for tourism establishments. The urban alternatives available for the Maasai are limited because of the low literacy rates and a lack of sustained contact between urban areas and the Maasai communities. In many instances, Maasai men are night watchmen in residential areas of the capital city, Nairobi. 2. 3. 3 Land Use Conflicts The and and semi-arid lands of East Africa host a variety of land use conflicts that reflect the competition for and access to land and water resources (Campbell et al. 2001). The three major forms of land use in pastoral regions, wildlife conservation, cultivation, and herding have had on going conflicts since the late 1960’s and they are gradually intensifying as resource scarcity increases. The processes and interactions responsible for these conflicts can be described with respect of the changing social, political, economic and environmental conditions over space and through time. 2. 3. 3. 1. Wildlife-Livestock Conflicts The processes and dynamics of wildlife-livestock conflict in East Africa take two forms. First, the increased coincidence of wildlife and livestock species, particularly in the dry and drought seasons leads to conflicts over water and fodder access (Homewood and Rodgers 1991). Second, the coincidence of these two groups results in the spread of diseases from livestock to wildlife and vice-versa (Bourn and Blench 1999, Grootenhuis 2000). 29 Kenya has an estimated total of 13 million cattle of which 3 million are an improved livestock breed. Within the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya, the total estimated numbers of wildlife stood at 1,262,227 and 10,439,789 livestock in the 1970’s. By the 1990’s these figures had decreased to an estimated total of 846,652 wildlife and 9,344,121 livestock (Bourn and Blench 1999). The interactions of competition and interference between pastoralists’ livestock and wildlife can be characterized by eight elements as illustrated by Prins (2000) — see Table 2.1. In general, the conflicts between pastoralists’ livestock and wildlife species in East Africa increase during the dry and drought seasons when these two groups compete directly with one another for access to scarce water and herding resources. However, Prins (2000) summarizes numerous studies have shown that (1) the losses to pastoralists livestock because of the competition with wildlife are negligible, (2) losses to livestock because of predation are between 1 — 10 %, (3) the losses to livestock because of diseases harbored by wildlife is 10-50% for East Coast Fever (ECF), 30% for foot and mouth disease, and up to 100% for malignant catarrhal fever, (4) the losses to wildlife because of competition with livestock are variable depending on the relative value of the different species, vary from negligible to large, and (5) the losses to wildlife because of diseases harbored by livestock are up to 80%. The conflicts between livestock and wildlife as mentioned previously are also manifested through various disease transmissions. Some of the main diseases found within the pastoral areas of East Africa include Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF). MCF is a viral disease that is seasonally transmitted to livestock by inhalation or ingestion of the virus that is excreted by Wildebeest at the time of birth (Bourn and Blench 1999). The spatial occurrence of MCF is limited to areas where the distributions of cattle and Wildebeest 30 Table 2.1. Elements and Characteristics of the Interactions between Wildlife and Livestock Element Characteristic 1 . Reciprocal direct competition 2. Amensalirm or agymmetric direct competition 3. Apparent competition 4. Competition tbrongb babitat modification 5. Facilitation 6. Facilitation tbrongb babitat modification 7. Diflnre competition 8. Eflectr ofpredator: Where there are negative effects from each other. Mainly between cattle and Wildebeest in East Africa (Homewood and Rodgers 1995) Negative effects of livestock on wildlife and vice-versa e.g. Buffalo competing with Wildebeest for food (Sinclair 1977); or the effect of cattle on impala (Fritz et al. 1996), but conflict only takes place when there is limited resource competition livestock indirectly competing with wildlife because of a viable rinderpest reservoir was maintained in cattle keeping Wildebeest populations low (Sinclair 1977, Prins 1996) Certain species decline in numbers due to habitat modification by other species e.g. giraffe, gerenuk and lesser kudu numbers decline because a decrease in shrub land cover due to increased number of elephants Elephant opening up tall grasses in valleys after which smaller animals graze there such as gazelles Elephants decrease woody cover resulting in an increase in grass cover from which grazing species increase The removal of cattle from an area results in an increase in the populations of several wild ungulates No significant research has been conducted on the effects of predators on livestock numbers in east Africa. However, large predators such as lions prey on larger livestock, while smaller predators such as hyena prey on smaller livestock such as sheep and goats Adapted fiom Prim, H. 2000, ‘Competition between Wildlije and ijrtock ’ in Wildlife Conservation [7} Suctainable U56, ea’r. Print, H. Cmotenbnii, ]. and Dolan, T. Klnwer: 65 -68 31 coincide. The temporal occurrence is limited to the time at which wildebeest calve, which is usually between December and February each year (Grootenhuis 2000). Aboud (1989) has shown that 42% of ranchers within the Narok district have seen an infection from MCF on their livestock. African trypanosomosis (sleeping sickness) is the single most important vector-borne disease affecting people, livestock and crop production in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 50 million people are estimated to be at risk of contracting the disease. Meanwhile, each year, between 250,000 and 300,000 people in 37 countries become new victims. The total affected area, which covers 10 million square kilometers, contains Africa's greatest agricultural potential (WHO 1996). Some of the most rapid and dramatic changes in the biophysical and socio-economic conditions of the east Africa savanna grasslands have been attributed to the spread of trypanosomosis through the tsetse fly (Glon‘inapallidipe, G. morcitanx, and G. fnica). Some wildlife are also considered a reservoir of infection for trypanosomosis. Foot and Mouth Disease (F MD) is a viral disease that is spread by the inhalation or ingestion of the infective material. FMD is harbored in all cloven footed domestic and wild animals, however the African Buffaloes (Syncerm cmfl’r) are the only wild animals maintaining the virus. The disease is spread by direct contact or by calves drinking milk from the infected cows. FMD is spread at any time of the year and under no particular ecological conditions (Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979). The most important cattle disease is rinderpest. Rinderpest is a viral disease caused by close contact and inhalation of the aerosols, or by ingestion of contaminated feed. Rinderpest is devastating to both livestock and wildlife wiping out large numbers at the end of the 1890’s due to rinderpest in imported livestock (Thompson 1968[1855], Bourn and Blench 1999, Homewood and Rodgers 1991). 32 The interactions between livestock and wildlife have an immense cost on pastoral communities with East Africa. Pastoralists aim to ensure that there is a maximum return from livestock; the incidences of wildlife are seen as direct competition to their maximization strategies. 2.3.3.2 Agricultural - Pastoral Conflicts Land use conflicts between agriculturalists and pastoralists have been prompted by an expansion of cultivation into areas that receive higher precipitation. Pastoralists utilize these same areas for grazing and water resources, especially during the dry and drought periods. Some of the types of conflicts that farmers and herders experience include livestock eating crops and the lack of access to water and herding resources, which has been limited by fences put up by cultivator tribes to protect their crops (Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979) As the areas under cultivation begin to increase, it is expected that there will be a greater number of conflicts between pastoralists and agriculturalists. Within parts of the Kajiado and Narok districts, the immigration of non-pastoral groups and the leasing of land by pastoralists to agricultural groups will likely contribute to greater conflicts especially during the dry and drought seasons. In the Kajiado district Campbell et al. (2001) found that the issues over which herder- farmer conflict in 1977 occurred were too few to document. However by 1996, 45% of the respondents stated that cattle had eaten farmers’ crops. Conflicts over access to water and land were reported to be 36% and 32% respectively. 33 2.3.3.3 Wildlife-Human Conflict A published Kenya Wildlife Service (KW S) found that the major form of human- wildlife conflict occurred through the loss of life or injury to human beings by wildlife (KW S 1997). Immediately around the arid and semi-arid lands with large wildlife numbers this is a major cause for concern especially for the Maasai inhabitants of the Kajiado and Narok districts. The KWS policy on the compensation paid is approximately 30,000 Kenya shillings or USD$ 375. This low value is insufficient to pay for hospitalization expenses, or the school costs for the surviving children. In addition the lengthy compensation period adds to the discontent that local inhabitants have towards the KWS and the implementation of Kenya’s wildlife policy. Between 1989 and 1994 an estimated 230 people have been killed by wild animals and injuring 218. The high numbers of humans killed by wild animals and the low compensation rates reflect negatively on the already poor public image that the KW S and the Government of Kenya have (KWS 1997). Within the Narok district Campbell and Migot-Adholla (1979) found that 87% of Maasai respondents found that they have had problems with wildlife in the past. “The most frequent complaint was that buffalo bothered people, followed by predation by lion, hyena and leopard and the spread of disease by wildebeest” (64). The frequent conflicts between wildlife, humans and their livestock and crops add to the growing problems that are faced by pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya. 2. 4 Factors Affecting Traditional Herding Patterns of Maasai pastoralists Having examined the characteristics of pastoral herding systems in sub-Saharan Africa and the main features of the pastoral environment in East Africa, I now examine the factor influencing the traditional seasonal herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in Kenya. 34 To investigate these factors, I examine both the biophysical and socio-economic factors that Maasai pastoralists face. 2. 4. 1 Biophysical factors The biophysical factors influencing the seasonal livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists include the occurrence of tsetse fly, wildebeest, climatic variability and the biological diversity contained within the Maasai Mara National Reserve. A discussion and review of literature related to these components demonstrates the importance that various biophysical elements have on land use patterns and the levels of resource utilization of Maasai pastoralists. 2.4.1.1 Tsetse fly Over a quarter of Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands are infested with Animal Trypanosomosis (Sindiga 1984). A survey of literature that documents the occurrence of tsetse fly in western Narok district that is inhabited by Maasai pastoralists suggests that towards the late nineteenth century, tsetse fly had infested small pockets of the district. These included the southern reaches of the Mara River, the Trans-Mara region, and southwards towards the border with Tanzania (Waller 1990). By the early twentieth century most of what is today Narok district was covered by six different tsetse fly species (A picture of the tsetse fly is shown in Figure 2.3) (Gloyxinafnrczplemir, C. breznpalpic, G. longibennir, C. palbali; G. mynnertoni and C. palliclzper) (Lewis 1934 quoted in Sindiga 1984). Of these six species C. Pallidipe: is the most widespread throughout Kenya and the Narok District (FAO 2002). The spread of tsetse flies from the downstream riverine areas of the Mara River were 35 speculated to be a factor of the increased number of elephants that previously were hunted by the Ndorobo tribe (Sindiga 1984). Figure 2.3. The parasite that causes sleeping sickness is called the trypanosome. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of a tsetse fly of the genus Glorrina Although the spatial extent of tsetse fly expanded in the early 1900’s there was not an epidemic of sleeping sickness, as an epidemic would involve changes in human and livestock ecology, soils, vegetation, and wildlife and the tsetse that infest on them. However, there is general consensus that there has been a significant increase in the amount of bushland and wooded savannas in the twentieth century. The changes in land cover have been attributed to an ecological collapse when human and animal diseases spread through Maasailand in the 1890’s (Sindiga 1987). The rinderpest outbreak of 1891 resulted in the death of up to 90% of the cattle, buffalo, wildebeest and giraffe (W aller 1990, Wilson 1987). The loss of cattle herds led to famine amongst the Maasai that occupied the region resulting in high death rates. New diseases such as smallpox, brought by European colonialists in the early 20th century, exacerbated these losses. The loss of large human and livestock populations resulted in land cover changes. The observed land cover changes were from savanna grasslands consisting of grasses such as red oat grasses (Tbemecla triandra), to wooded savannas and bushlands such as Whistling thorn acacia (Acacia drepanolobium), which is suitable to harboring tsetse flies. The presence of certain wildlife species such as elephants (Loxondota africana), waterbucks (Kobnr ellzpripgmnnr), buffaloes (5)/merit: c‘cfler) and bushbucks (Tragelapbn: Jm'ptnr) are constant source of food for the tsetse fly (Sindiga 1984, Wilson 1987, Sinclair and Arcese 1995). These land cover changes have prompted overgrazing by livestock and wildlife in the plains areas, which was also reflected by the increases in the numbers of whistling thorn acacia trees (Acacia dnepanolobinm). As the Maasai tried to move their herding areas to higher slopes they converted the land cover to bush land. This bush land formed a suitable habitat for harboring tsetse flies and sleeping sickness. (Waller 1990, Sindiga 1984, 1987) The movement of Maasai livestock during this period and consequently the spread of tsetse is also a factor of the loss of land due to the creation of the MMNR, which is discussed in greater detail in the socio-economic determinants of the spread of tsetse in 2.4.2.1. 2.4.1.2 Wildebeest Portions of N arok district encompass the Greater Serengeti—Mara Ecosystem, an area of approximately 25,000 kmz, which is inhabited by Maasai pastoralists and large numbers of wildlife species. The migration of ungulates such as wildebeest (Connocbaeter taminnc), Zebra (Egan: bnrcbel/z) and Thompson’s gazelles (Cage/la tbompronz) is one of the best-known phenomena of the ecosystem (Serneels and Lambin 2001a). The migration of as many as 1.3 million wildebeests, Thompson’s gazelles and Zebras takes place between June and November each year when these ungulates follow the rain. The migration pattern begins 37 from the wetter grasslands in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park between January and june, moving to the western corridor inside the MMNR in Kenya where rainfall begins between June and August and then traverses the tall dry grasses back to the Serengeti National Park between August and November (Onyeanusi 1989). The main driving force of the migration is rainfall and its associated effects on food supply through the dry season (Sinclair and Arcese 1995, Serneels and Lambin 2001a). Between july and October each year, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is used heavily by migratory wildebeest following the rains (Steflox et al. 1986). In addition, there is a secondary wildebeest population that is resident around the northern boundary of the MMNR (known as the Loita plains), which numbers approximately 30,000. The Loita plains are used by the resident Mara wildebeest as the calving area. Wildebeest calving usually takes place between january and May each year for both the resident Mara population and the Serengeti migratory populations. The numbers of the migrating wildebeest have fluctuated between 1961 and 1999 as illustrated by Serneels and Lambin (2001a). Studies suggest that the increase in the wildebeest populations were due to the removal of rinderpest pathogen through the vaccination of cattle. The low numbers of wildebeest observed for 1961 is most likely attributed to rinderpest epidemic in 1949 (Simon 1962 and Dobson 1995). The population of the wildebeest prior to rinderpest epidemics is likely to be similar to the numbers of wildebeest observed today. Figure 2.4. illustrates the changes in the numbers of wildebeest between 1961 and 1999. The increases and decreases in the number of migrating ungulates have implications on the vegetation off-take within the Maasai Mara National Reserve. The levels of resource utilization for these ungulates have differed according to seasonality. During the wetter 38 Wet Season Sereneti Wildebeest Population season green-grass biomass is reduced by 20%. This percentage increases to 88% in the dry season. During the dry season as many as 90% of the ungulates found within the MMNR are the Serengeti migratory species (Onyeanusi 1989). These figures demonstrate that the levels of resource utilization for migrating wildebeest are high. In addition, the areas used by the migrating wildebeest for forage, outside the MMNR are similar to those used by Maasai livestock. Figure 2.4. Wet Season Serengeti Wildebeest Population Estimates 1,400,000 L A / \/\/\V/ \ / 1,000,000 / \ ,/ 800,000 1/ 600,000 // 400,000 // I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1961 1963 1965 1967 1971 1972 1977 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1989 1991 1994 1998 1999 Year Estimate 200,000 Dam obtained tram Serneels and Lambin 2001b: 396 2.4.1.3 The Park (Maasai Mara National Reserve) In 1948 the British Colonial Administration established the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve as part of the Royal National Parks of Kenya. The Game Reserve was managed by the Game Department, although it was under the jurisdiction of National Parks Department. The area carved out in 1948 was an estimated 520 sq. kilometers (200 sq. miles) and encompassed the land between the Siria Escarpment to the east, the Tanzania border to the south and the Mara river to the north. Safari hunting was prohibited in this area and limited safari camping was allowed. 39 The Mara river and its tributaries served as the Maasai water and grazing land especially during the dry season as this is was where perennial water was found (Talbot and Olindo 1990). In 1961, the control of the Reserve was brought under the control of the Narok County Council (N CC), a local government administration system, and the borders of the Reserve were extended east of the river to encompass an area of approximately 1,813 sq. kilometers (700 sq. miles). In 1984, three excisions of the Reserve were made along rivers so that the Maasai and their livestock could have access to the water. The new area for the Reserve was to be reduced to approximately 1,510 sq. kilometers (600 sq. miles) (Wilson 1987). The formal creation of the MMNR in 1961 was aimed at conserving the rich biodiversity found within the Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem and generating revenue from the proceeds of tourism related activities. The income from the proceeds of tourism related activities within Kenya, over the past 20 years have accounted for between half and one— quarter of Kenya’s GDP’s and attracts over 1 million tourists every year (Akama 1999, Kenya 2001). Within the national context the MMNR accounted for as many as 180,000 visitors annually in 1990 to 133,000 in 1995 making the Reserve one of Kenya’s most frequented protected conservation areas (GoK 2001, Akama 1999). A recent aerial count of key wildlife species, such as Elephant, Buffalo, Giraffe, and livestock in and around the MMNR was conducted by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KW S). This survey found that there are an estimated 1,436 Elephants, 3,516 Buffaloes, and 1,256 Giraffes within the Kenyan portion of the ecosystem. The greatest fluctuation from these wildlife species was observed for Buffaloes, which were reduced in number from 12,895 to the present 3,516 animals. This drastic decline has been attributed to (in part) recurring droughts in the area (Muriuki et al. 2000). 40 These aerial counts have also determined that there are a large number of livestock in and around the Maasai National Reserve. Of the estimated 47,655 cattle, and 47,474 sheep and goats present, over 3,400 cattle and 2,360 sheep and goats were found to grazing inside the Reserve in 1999. The authors of the study have thereby concluded that, “trespassing into the Reserve was therefore quite common” (Muriuki et al. 2000: 23). A similar aerial count conducted in 1997, illustrated that there were an estimated 43,113 cattle and 7,420 sheep and goats (Muriuki and Mulama 1997), of which an estimated 7,000 cattle sheep and goats were found to be inside the Reserve. 2.4.1.4 Climatic variability The areas around the Narok district and the Maasai Mara National Reserve have a mean maximum temperature of between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius, and a minimum mean temperature of between 10 and 14 degrees Celsius. The movement of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) affects precipitation in this region. The long rain season in this area runs between March and mid-May, while the short rains occur in November and December. The main dry period is between mid-June and mid-October with a less dry spell between january and February (Muriuki et al. 2000)-.see Figure 2.5. The annual precipitation within Narok district varies between 500-1,800 mm Gaetzold and Schmidt 1983). Within the Mara ecosystem, precipitation can vary from 500-600 mm around the northern extents of the Mara River to over 1,200 mm along the Siria escarpment and into the Trans-Mara district. Based on moisture availability and temperature the MMNR falls within agro- ecological zones UM-S and UM-6. Zone UM-5 can be characterized as a Livestock- Sorghum zone, while zone UM-6 is characterized as an upper midland ranching zone antzold and Schmidt 1983, Amuyunzu n.d.). 41 Figure 2.5. Average Monthly Precipitation for the Narok District, Kenya: 1914-2001 160.000 Some ofD‘ra: Ken," and Hymn Ram]: Clap, WM", Kenya 1400(1) 120. 000 100. 0C0 80. 000 60. 000 40. 000 Average Monthly Precipitation (mm) 20,000 jAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN jUL AUG SBP OCT NOV DEC Month The alternations between the wet and dry seasons have serious implications on the compositions of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and calcium concentrations in the herb layers of vegetation within the MMNR (Boutton et al. 1988a,b). The limitations of these minerals may reduce the availability of nutritionally adequate food during the dry seasons, which may in—turn affect the numbers and distributions of herbivore populations. 2.4.1.5. Section Summary The biophysical factors that I have discussed in this chapter illustrate how interconnected these various factors are to the present situation around the Talek region. The temporal scales of the changing levels of magnitude for each of the factors are large. The coincidence of two or three of these biophysical factors in a certain spatial location has resulted in the spread of a disease epidemics or severe environmental stresses. 42 2. 4. 2 Socio-economic factors The socio—economic factors that I examine here illustrate how the traditional seasonal herding strategies of the Maasai are influenced by different park policies, bush clearance activities, economic needs and markets of Maasai pastoralists, demographic change and land tenure and traditional land holding systems. These processes have both spatial and temporal contexts to them, which are noted throughout the text. 2.4.2.1 Park policy The creation of protected conservation areas in Kenya in the mid 1940’s was at first aimed towards biological diversity conservation and the generation of revenue for tourism related activities. In recent years, there have been opposing viewpoints regarding the conservation of protected areas in Kenya. The first suggests that the exclusion of indigenous peoples from protected conservation areas is unfair, unreasonable, and/ or illegal (Adams and Hulme 2001). This exclusion is coupled with the themes of ‘fortress conservation’ described by fences and fines and the high economic costs of conservation. To counter this, a new narrative began around the themes of ‘community conservation’, which seeks to undertake conservation activities with the interests and wishes of the local inhabitants. Community conservation activities embraced participatory approaches, which treat protected areas and local inhabitants as neighbors, whereby biological diversity conservation yields a higher economic return for the local inhabitants as well as contributing to the national economy and achieving sustainable livelihoods. Examples of these approaches have taken the form of Integrated Conservation and Development Programs (ICDP’s) and Community Based Natural Resources Management Strategies 43 (CBNRM) (Adams and Hulme 2001, Newmark and Hough, Anderson and Grove 1987, Western 2000). As noted by Brandon et al. (1998) the practices of biodiversity conservation are inherently political. Specifically, “many of the of the most significant challenges in protecting biodiversity are not biological challenges, but challenges that will be played out in social and political arenas. A struggle is underway to define ownership of the meaning of biodiversity — who wins will largely determine how and whether biodiversity is conserved” (Brandon et al. 1998: 2). Since independence, the management of protected conservation areas in Kenya previously fell under the administration of the Wildlife and Conservation and Game Department as part of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife (Berger 1988). In 1989, Kenya’s wildlife policy was overhauled and a new Wildlife Act was set up by Parliament, which paved the way for a new independent body, the Kenya Wildlife Service with its own Board of Directors (Kenya 1989, Western 2000, Leakey 2001). This Act enabled the KWS to devise and implement wildlife conservation and sustainable development policies for people living in close proximity to protected conservation areas. The MMNR falls under the management of the local government administration — the Narok County Council, and the KW S has no direct control over the management of the Reserve, although the jurisdiction of the KWS is in all matters pertaining to the wildlife in Kenya (Leakey 2001). The MMNR park policy has thereby been affected by the changing political climate of Narok District. Many policy directives that have been recommended by the KW 8 have not been initiated into the management of the MMNR. In addition, ICDP’s and CBNRM programs have not been fully implemented around the MMNR due to the lack of a suitable political environment with which these activities are able to take place, although smaller projects have been introduced with limited success. The demarcation of land gazetted to become the MMNR was previously utilized by the Maasai as a dry season grazing area, especially the flat plains around the Posse and Talek regions of the Reserve, which did not harbor tsetse flies (see figure 4.5). The creation of the MMNR mainly resulted in a loss of approximately 900 sq. miles of Maasai grazing lands (Wilson 1987). This loss of land, which was seen as a dry season grazing resource for the Maasai, attributed to the contemporary resistance towards the management of the MMNR. 2.4.2.2 Spread of Bush land/Tsetse Emergence Prior to the colonial period, Lewis (1939 quoted in Sindiga 1984) noted that tsetse existed in small pockets along the Mara river that had been inhabited by Maasai for many years. During this period, the Maasai experienced only slight mortality among the cattle2 by the tsetse fly. In an effort to reduce the infection of trypanosomosis to their cattle, the Maasai would shift their livestock between wet, dry and drought season herding areas (T arimo-Nesbitt et al. 1999). The movement into what is now the MMN R was a critical component of herding activities, whereby the livestock would be less susceptible to trypanosomosis. During the colonial period, the creation of the Northern and Southern Maasai Reserves in Kenya resulted in Maasai communities and their livestock being herded together in areas that the colonial administrators had drawn. “The general impact of this concentration of animals (and humans) in a comparatively smaller territory was overgrazing 2 Cattle act as the hosts for C. longcpennir (Makumi et al. 1996) 45 and the development of bush” (Sindiga 1987: 186). The resulting land cover changes from grassland to bushland assisted in the spread of tsetse. The protection of nature (game) reserves also led to an increase in the spread of tsetse fly, as there were an ever-increasing number of wild ungulates that lived within these bushland areas. As the numbers of ungulates and bushland habitat increased, the tsetse fly range had expanded, resulting in a rapid increase in the rate of trypanosomosis infections in both human and livestock populations (Sindiga 1987). Ford (1971 quoted in Waller 1990) suggests a model to explain the slow spread of tsetse initially, followed by an increasing rapidity and intensity later on. Ford argued that: “the spread of tsetse came about as a result of contact between two previously separated ecosystems: bush-game-tsetse and cleared areas-domestic animals-man. Contact occurred when, as a result of drastic disruption and depopulation, previously occupied and cleared areas were abandoned and then reverted to bush land. This brought tsetse and its animal hosts in close contact with man and domestic animals, setting up a chain reaction which resulted in the progressive settlement and advance of bush clearing and re-settlement” (Waller 1990: 89-90). Tsetse flies have always been part of the Mara Ecosystem and the Maasai have utilized traditional management strategies, such as shifting their livestock herds to areas that are now in the MMNR, to avoid the transmission of trypanosomosis. The creation of the MMNR has thereby limited the movement and resulted in an increased infection rate from trypanosomosis. 46 2.4.2.3 Economic needs and markets Maasai reliance on cattle is demonstrated through the large livestock herds that they utilize to achieve capital accumulation". Prior to the colonial period the economic needs and access to markets were purely a Maasai affair whereby the sale of livestock occurred between different Maasai tribes / clans as well as between other tribal groups. The control of livestock in Maasailand was an internal affair that was treated with traditional methods. At that time Maasai political leadership was largely decentralized and lacked a central authority figure (Sankan [1971]1995). This is particularly important as the lack of leadership contributed to the continued marginalization of the Maasai and the inability to leverage development initiatives through the government. As a result, the markets for livestock were based not from outside, but from within the clan or individual ownership (Evangelou 1994). This meant that production of meat and milk were based on: “. . .a set of humans owning and responsible for managing a set of animals by which they are fed. . .. At the upper level is the resource allocation unit, which is defined more by territory (as a function of resources density and fluctuation probabilities) though it has an associated population” (Dyson-Hudson 1980:13, quoted in Evangelou 1994218). Immediately after independence the economic needs and markets for Maasai livestock received attention from the national government as they were often viewed as marginal people living in marginal environments“, with little or no economic value to the 3 Recall that the means of capital accumulation have previously bee defined in section 2.3.1 under ‘Access to Livestock Markets’ 4 A similar definition of marginalization is provided in section 2.2.2. ‘Uncertainty’ 47 State. However, the growing needs of the country following a post-independence population boom led to a new policy directive. The newly independent country had to deal with the problems of increased population growth and feeding the population. The national livestock development policy states: “the most basic objective will be to increase productive investment and growth in output of livestock products. In the short term, the objective will be to avert the projected shortages in meat and milk. In the longer run, the objective will be to increase animal products to feed an ever increasing population” (Kenya 1980: 12). This meant that more care was given to developing the livestock sector in the arid and semi-arid lands as a sustainable means of production that would feed the population and develop the livestock sector such that the country might be able to generate foreign exchange revenues by exporting products to mostly Middle-eastem countries (Evangelou 1984). Within the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya various livestock development programs have been initiated, such as the Kenya Livestock Development Plan (KLDP) and the African Livestock Marketing Organization (ALMO). The main aims of these programs were to harness the livestock produce into a sustainable source of income for pastoral populations across the country. Because livestock marketing from pastoral areas was low (primarily due to the high seasonality of livestock health) and catered more towards commercial ranching schemes (owned by colonial settlers), ALMO was created in 1952 to “more directly address the problem of apparent low livestock marketing levels in pastoral areas” (Evangelou 1984: 44). However, ALMO was largely ineffective because Kenya was largely dependent on agricultural produce from large scale farming operations. Immediately after Independence, the Livestock Marketing Division and a Range Management Division replaced ALMO. 48 The activities of ALMO were then absorbed into the Kenya Livestock Development Plan (KLDP) and the National Livestock Development Policy. The KLDP, financed by the World Bank, main aim was to initiate “a comprehensive effort to increase rangeland production and bring the long-terms goal of increased stratification to the country’s industry closer to fulfillment” (Evangelou 1984). The KLDP along with the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC)S facilitated the goals of the National Livestock Development Policy. However a major obstacle that limited the goals of the policy were the price controls in effect at various points of exchange, namely the producer (the pastoralists), wholesaler, retailer and consumer. The price controls were originally aimed to improve resource allocation, reduce price, volume and income instability, increase economic sustainability in meat production and allow for the provision of low priced meat to low income consumers. Instead, researchers have found that price controls have encouraged the misallocation of resources and as a result restrain the growth and development of pastoral regions contradicting the goals of the National Livestock Development Policy (Evangelou 1984). Inspite of various national development plans regarding livestock, the livestock numbers have remained relatively stable between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. The population estimates for livestock in the Narok district are 610,750 in the 1970’s (1977-1981), 561,020 in the 1980’s (1985-1988) and 618,360 in the 1990’s (1992-1994) (Ottichilo et al. 2000). These figures represent an increase of 1% between the 1970’s and the 1990’s. However the population estimates for the sheep and goats are 409,150 in the 1970’s, 407,480 in the 1980’s 5 The Kenya Meat Commission was a government entity charged with purchasing livestock, operating abattoirs, storage and refrigeration facilities for the processing of meat and by-products for export and national consumption of meat. 49 and 430,040 in the 1990’s (Ottichilo et al. 2000). This represents an increase of 5% between the 1970’s and 1990’s. 2.4.2.4 Demographic change Kenya has experienced high rates of demographic growth in the years following Independence. Between 1948 and 1962 Kenya’s population grew from 5.4 million to 8.6 million. However following Independence in 1963 the population has grown rapidly from 10.9 million in 1969 to an estimated 29.4 million in 1999 (Sindiga 1996 and PRB 2001). Within Narok district this trend has also been noticed. The population for the district was approximately 210,306 in 1979 and grew to approximately 555,417 in 2001, demonstrating a population growth rate of 6.26% (Kenya 1994, 1997). The most remarkable data from census data illustrates that the youthful population between the ages of 0-14 account for 57.3% of the district’s total population in 1979 and 52.3% in 1989, and 52.4% in 2001 (Kenya 1994, Kenya 1997, Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979) — see Figure 2.6. These high rates of population growth are attributed to high fertility rates and the relative improvement of health care facilities within the district. The Osupuko division of the Narok district (which borders the MMNR) had an estimated 22,487 individuals in 1979. This number increased to 42,260 in 1989, 70,309 in 1997, 79,589 in 1999 and 90,178 in 2001. Osupuko division illustrates an increase in the population density from 8 persons per sq. kilometer in 1989 to 17 persons per sq. kilometer in 2001 (Kenya 1994, 1997). Although the Narok district is inhabited by predominantly Maasai tribe, there are increasing numbers of immigrants into the district where cultivating communities have occupied the wetter parts of the district, such as the area around Mau- Narok. 50 Figure 2.6. Population Pyramid for Narok District. Kenya 1994 " ‘ ' " " l I fi l Source:60vemmenr 01mm 1997 l 80+ 1 I . i 7074 I 1 6064 . ' - t a ‘ j , 5054 I , 8 1 50 40-44 1 l 1 3034 I l . —_ 1 2024 I. __ ; i —— l 1014 5 ———— r ‘ . ———— j 04 _————_ ; [—— 1 r I T r f w T t fl .7: 0..» 20 00 15 00 10 00 s. an 0.00 5. 00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25 00 Female ”/0 Oftbe Total Population Male Accurate data on fertility rates are difficult to obtain because of low literacy rates and the lack of scientific studies on the subject, though estimates for the Narok district vary between 6-7 children per Maasai woman (Sindiga 1996). Studies conducted on the proximate determinants of Maasai fertility in the Narok district indicate that the primary factor of lower fertility is attributed to the cultural organization of the society/ clan or sub-clan. The sedentarization of the Maasai in some parts of the Narok district, through two main processes has resulted in the loss of wetter grazing sites. The first is immigration by cultivator tribes, second is the expanded agricultural activities by colonial settlers in the early part of the twentieth century (Migot-Adholla 1981). As a result of the reduced access to herding land and water, agro-pastoral activities are beginning to take root in the wetter parts of the distnct. The transformations from the pastoral to agro-pastoral activities are likely to affect fertility rates through changes in nutrition (Sindiga 1996). Demographic changes in Narok district have been attributed to: 1) high birth and death rates of the Maasai and 2) a large influx of immigrants who are mainly cultivator 51 communities moving to wetter regions of the district. The high birth rates of the district have resulted in children under 15 years of age comprising of over half of the total population. The immigration of cultivator tribes has resulted in the restricted use of most of wetter areas of the Narok district from pastoral use, resulting in the forced movement of the pastoralists to drier regions (which has consequently meant that the Maasai have had to continuously use wet season grazing areas, leading to adverse effects on both the people and landscape) (Sindiga 1996). 2.4.2.5 Land tenure and traditional Clanship systems During the colonial period (1889-1963) the Maasai were restricted in their use of arid and semi-arid lands through a number of land reducing mechanisms. One such mechanism was the demarcation of traditional communal lands to an allocation of the Maasai people and their livestock to ‘reserves’ much like the Native American reserves set up in North America. The setting up of these ‘reserves’ resulted in the Maasai losing as much as 60% of their land by way of the British colonizers takeover of their land and resources (Fratkin 1997). Second, there has been the loss of land as a result of the creation of parks and protected areas for biodiversity conservation, hunting and tourism (Fratkin 1997, Lindsay 1987). This resulted in the Maasai being unable to utilize dry season herding resources and water access that were once located inside these parks and protected areas (Western 1994). Consequently tremendous conflicts ensued between Maasai and the managers of these protected areas, to the extent that Maasai began to spear endangered species such as Rhinoceros in retaliation for the loss of grazing land around Amboseli National Park (Smith 1986) 52 Soon after Kenya’s Independence from the United Kingdom, the Kenyan parliament instituted the Group (Ranches) Representatives Act Cap. 287 in 1967. This piece of legislation enacted a system of group ranches, as a means to reform the land tenure laws that were implanted by the colonial administration (Government of Kenya [GoK] 1970). The Group Representatives Act provided for the incorporation of group representatives to hold land on behalf of numerous community members. This allowed the community freehold to land titles and “. . .collectively maintained agreed stocking levels, herd their livestock collectively and yet continue to own them individually” (Ayuko 1981: 5). Membership into the group ranch was based on kinship and tribal affiliations as well as traditional land rights. As Ayuko (1981) suggests that the objectives of the group ranch were to modernize the modes of livestock production while still preserving the traditional ways of life. In recent years, the Group Representatives Act had given rise to uncontrolled sales of land by some communal members, as a means to develop new and more efficient ways of utilizing their land. They argued that individual lands resulted in individual owners being “able to raise loans and make improvements to their land” (Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979: 54). This meant that individual owners were able to utilize the land in the way that they saw best either in the form of small-scale agricultural production or livestock production. During the post-colonial period, the growing populations of East Africa resulted in the migration of large and smallholder agriculturalists to arid and semi-arid lands, who competed directly with Maasai pastoralists for land and water resources (Migot-Adholla 1981). This resulted in further conflicts between three actors: agriculturalists, herders, and wildlife (Campbell et al. 2000). The sentiments of the Maasai towards the sub-division of group ranches to individual land holdings are mixed. A survey conducted in 1979 indicated that 57.9% of the 53 Narok Maasai respondents stated that they were in favor of group ranches while 38% stated that there were no advantages to individual ranches. “The disadvantages of individual ranches suggest that respondents believe them to be entities likely to increase individualism within Maasai society. Many Maasai activities particularly those related to reducing the effects of drought are based upon reciprocity and sharing of available resources” (Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979: 54-55). A more recent survey published in 2002 indicates that 85% of Narok Maasai were in favor of subdivision primarily because of a greater sense of ownership offered by individual ranches and that they can effect development. This survey also indicated that 32% of respondents stated that they would expect communal herding activities to continue, while 33% stated that there would be less land to graze their livestock (Seno and Shaw 2002). Various sub-division processes have largely resulted in the lack of land available for the Maasai to utilize as dry season grazing lands and a decrease in the availability of wet season grazing areas. Kimani and Pickard (1998) suggest that: “due to subdivision, the Maasai are gradually losing their best land and are being pushed into drier areas. Sub-division will threaten continued extensive nomadic pastoralism production by decreasing mobility and the carrying capacity of group ranch land, increase the potential for land degradation and crop failures, and interfere with traditional wildlife migration patterns” (202). 2.4.2.5. Section Summary The effects of the various socio-economic circumstances that affect seasonal herding activities of livestock in the Mara have been an outcome of the changing weights that each of these circumstances carry across time and through space. A changing wildlife policy and its relationship to communities that live immediately around protected areas along with the 54 changing economic needs and access to markets of the Maasai has resulted in an altered economic system that had led to a diversification from the traditional land management systems. 2.5. Similar Studies Conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa The information provided in previous sections of the thesis has helped to refine the research question that this study undertakes. There have been relatively few analyses that have examined the factors that are affecting the traditional livestock herding activities in sub- Eastem Africa through an integrated perspective, that can be studied by geographers. Most studies have either concentrated in the Sahelian West Africa, or the arid and semi-arid lands of East Africa. I have briefly listed these studies as I will compare the results of my study to these studies in Chapter IV of the thesis. Bassett (1986) provides examples of Fulani herd movements in southern Mali, Burkina Faso and northern Ivory Coast. Turner (1999 a, b, c, 2002) provides examples from Niger that have highlighted how Fulbe pastoralists and park managers come into conflict over access to environmental resources found within protected conservation areas. Finally, Coppollilo (2000) provides insight into understanding the landscape scale patterns of livestock herding using a landscape ecology perspective in Western Tanzania. Bassett provides example of purely pastoralist tribes, while Coppolillo and Turner address livestock herding activities related to largely agro-pastoral groups. 2.6. The Political Ecology Perspective of this Study There are key elements of a political ecology farmework that this study incorporates in an examination of the socio-economic and biophysical factors that affect livestock herding 55 activities. These elements include utilizing different scales of analysis, the role of state in lending power to dominant groups and classes, the use of historical contexts and locally specific ecologies and the conflicts and contestations over the environment. It is also important to note what type of ‘ecology’ I rely on as part of the political ecology framework. I interpret ecology as a combination of biogeography and epizootic disease ecology. Biogeography may be defined as the science that “attempts to document and understand the spatial patterns of biodiversity. Biogeography is the study of distributions of organisms, both past and present, and of related patterns of variation over the Earth in the numbers and kinds of living things” (Brown and Lomolino 1998: 3). The discipline (in part), concentrates on: “natural disturbances and their spatial dynamics, the role of habitat patches resulting from natural disturbance, the impact of long—term historical changes in environments, and the relevance of natural disturbances to human land use” (Zimmerer and Young 1998: 12). These disturbances have affected both the biophysical and socio-economic factors that have historically facilitated or hindered the livestock herding activities of pastoralists. The Office International des Epizooties (OIE) defines epizootic diseases as: “transmissible diseases that have the potential for very serious and rapid spread, irrespective of national borders, that are of serious socio-economic or public health consequence and that are of major importance in the international trade of animals and animal products” (OIE 2002: 1). 56 The three main types of diseases that I discuss as part of my ‘ecology’ are rinderpest, tsetse transmitted trypanosomosis and Malignant Catath Fever. Restating the research question, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the factors that influence the traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek area. The previous sections have highlighted the historical and contemporary factors that have either facilitated or hindered livestock herding activities and have also highlighted the complexities within each of the biophysical and socio-economic factors that. It is therefore, important to incorporate political ecology as a research framework so that we can begin to make an integrative assessment of these various factors and how these factors may change across time and through space. 2.8. Chapter Summary The previous sections of this chapter have illustrated some of the charactefistics of pastoral herding systems in sub-Saharan Africa. These include non-equilibrium systems, uncertainity, flexibility and diversification. In the next section, I have narrowed this introduction to include some of the components of pastoral herding systems in East Africa. These include critical issues of access to livestock markets, the various forms of diversification methods and I have demonstrated some of the major land use conflicts that pastoralists undergo. The most recent section of this thesis, thus far, has examined the factors contributing to changes in seasonal herding patterns of Maasai livestock. While these factors have been characterized as being either socio-economic or biophysical in nature, the link between the two is supported by a political ecology framework. The next chapter of this 57 thesis decribes the methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation that the study utilizes. This is then followed up by a presentation of the data and the results. 58 CHAPTER III The Research Design and Methods of Data Collection/ Analysis 3.1 Introduction In this chapter, I present the research design and methods that I utilized to collect, analyze and interpret the data. Restating the research question, the main focus of this study is ‘what are the factors that influence the traditional herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek region, which borders immediately north of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR)?” To answer this research question, I examined both the biophysical and socio- economic factors attributed to the seasonal herding conditions. The biophysical factors included the influences of tsetse fly, wildebeest, the role of the park (Maasai Mara National Reserve) and climatic variability on seasonal Maasai pastoralist herding strategies. The socio- economic factors included park policy, the spread of bushland and the resulting emergence of tsetse, the economic needs and markets alongside the governments’ livestock development policy, and demographic changes in the last 40 years. The necessary background research on these factors has already been discussed in Chapter II as part of the literature review. The research questions are conceptualized within a political ecology framework that has been delineated in section 1.4. To assess the levels of interactions, patterns and flows, a political ecology approach which seeks to examine cultural, demographic, economic, and political dimensions of resource use and ecological change, focusing on these issues and their linkages at and across multiple spatial and temporal scales. The scale problem in political ecology is addressed so that the linking of the patterns, processes and flows of interactions 59 can be scaled up from the local level to the national and global scales conceptualized by ‘The Kite’ framework for Environment and Development (Campbell and Olson 1991a,b). 3.2 Research Design The research design involves a review of the research methods that incorporates both primary and secondary data sources, data analysis and data interpretation. The research design and methods are tied to the research question. The data analysis are intended to provide the answers to the research question with sufficient and detailed information on the factors that influence the traditional livestock herding strategies through the examination of socio—economic and biophysical processes. 3.3. Data Sources The primary data for this study were gathered during a field study period of four months between May and August 2001. During this period, I collected data using methods that were derived from rapid rural appraisal (RRA), but did not undertake any RRA’s. The main methods that I used during the filed study included informal group and individual interviews. The secondary data sources for this study involved the use of government documentation at both the national and local levels, feedback reports from workshops on natural resources monitoring in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Secondary data sources also include reports from government parastatal1 agencies such as the Kenya Wildlife Service - aerial monitoring reports from the Mara ecosystem and precipitation data from the Kenya ‘ Parastatal agencies are partially state owned and operated agencies responsible for their own funding. Within Kenya parastatal agencies include the Kenya Railways, the Kenya Ports Authority, and the Kenya Wildlife Service 60 Meteorological Department and the Hyena research camp within the Maasai Mara National Reserve. A table of all the techniques I used to collect, analyze and interpret data is listed in Table 3.1. Table 3.1. List of Techniques used to Collect Analyze and Interpret Data Technique ' Field walks ' In the field conversations ' Informal group and individual interviews ' Calendar mapping activities ' Participant observation ' Scientific and governmental literatures 3.3.1. Primary Data Sources The primary data collected for this study allowed for exploration of the major factors influencing the traditional herding dynamics for the Maasai livestock. The field data was limited to the late wet season and early dry season between May and August 2001. The locations for interviews were determined by calculating a 5-kilometer buffer distance from the northern extent of the park boundary and the east-west extent along the northern border of the park in a GIS and locating bomas that fell within this buffer zone using a Global Positioning System (GPS). 61 3.3.1.1 Fieldwork Methods The filed methods that I employed as part of my field data collection are derived from Rapid Rural Appraisals (RRA’s) suggested by Waters-Bayer et al. (1995). The methods that I used for my fieldwork were also derived from Campbell (1984), Campbell (1987) and Eklund (1990). These methods included field interviews, participant observation, field walks and calendar mapping activities. The activities were conducted by holding informal group and individual surveys of Maasai household settlements (bomar). Incorporating field surveys resulted in the collection of qualitative data on the traditional seasonal herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists. Between two and three visits were paid to each boma over the 4-month period. Interviews were conducted using the boma as the base unit. The boma or settlement is defined as a compilation of dwellings that contain multiple members of an extended family. The boma was selected as the base unit as the boma also doubles as the herding unit (Coppollilo 2000). I constructed a stratified sample of thirty-eight boma: that were located inside the 5- kilometer buffer zone during the field study period. The number of boma: that I was able to sample was a factor of distance from my base camp, and the prevailing road conditions. Consecutive visits were paid to introduce myself to the respondents and to brief the respondents on the purpose of the research as well as to collect baseline data. To link the seasonal herding practices with the socio-economic conditions, I conducted demographic surveys that compiled the total number of inhabitants within each boma. This quantitative data collection involved determining the total number of Maasai that were resident within the boma, at that particular period of the year. In addition, the Maasai were asked of the size of their livestock herd. This was differentiated between cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys. Previous studies by the Kenya Rangelands Ecological Monitoring Units 62 (KREMU), the Department for Resources Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) and the British Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has combined sheep and goats into one category called shoats. I have chosen to maintain sheep and goats as independent categories as the herding habits for both species are distinctly different. The qualitative data collection involved interviews regarding the wildlife-livestock interaction, wildlife-human conflicts, disease vectors and pathogens, herding habits of cattle, sheep and goats, the role of livestock through subsistence and commercial needs. In addition, questions were addressed to Maasai on the effects of wildebeest on seasonal herding patterns of livestock and the effects of the park on Maasai grazing activities. Other questions administered during the interviews dealt with the variability of climatic conditions on livestock herding activities, and how the Maasai alternate the daily/ monthly seasonal herding patterns. Finally, questions also addressed the alternatives to utilization of the park as a herding resource. Interviews were conducted in the early morning period, between 7:00am and 11:00am, as this was when the senior members of the household were available. All the interviews were recorded by taking field notes during the interviews and immediately after they were held. Almost all of the senior members of each boma were males above the age of 25. The interviews were conducted by having a Maasai research assistant explain to the head(s) of the boma, the purpose of the research in Maa (the native Maasai language). Once the head(s) of the household accepted our formal request to conduct the interview, I proceeded to read the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects CRIHS 2 statement re rdin mv articular research a enda and affiliation. Once the 83 g . P g 2 Federal and University regulations require that all research projects involving human subjects and materials of human origin be reviewed and approved by an IRB before initiation - UCRIHS Handbook 2001. 63 respondents agreed to this. I stated my gratitude for being allowed to conduct my research in Maasailand. In addition to answering questions, Maasai respondents were also asked to disucss the various components of the Maasai calendar relating to livestock, such as the times of the year when cattle sheep and goats are calving, and when market prices are optimum for the sale of livestock to the informal markets. Maasai who gathered around during the discussion were part of collective group interviews. Some of the questions were designed to provide information specifically on the biophysical factors of herding activities while other questions yielded information of socio—economic conditions over time. Some of the techniques that I employed to learn more about the factors contributing to seasonal herding activities were achieved by being a participant observer in activities such as the daily herding activities of cows, sheep and goats. I had in the field conversations with councilors of various wards of the Osupuko division of Narok dismict. I also undertook historical profiles of how the Maasai were able to cope with drought and dry season events. This was done by walking along side herders who are mostly young males and females between the ages of 7—16. Because many boma: around the northern border of the MMN R are widely distributed, I was only able to conduct a few interviews each day as the distances between boma: may be between 10—1 5 kilometers across difficult terrain. While performing the interviews, I did not ask a specific question in exactly the same way, as the circumstances at each boma were different. Interviews were conducted in both Swahili (the national language of Kenya) and the Maasai language Maa, as some older Maasai are unable to communicate fully in Swahili. A sample question guide that I used to conduct the informal group and individual interviews is listed in Appendix 2. 64 Interviews were carried out with the male elders of the area who are the oldest and most respected of the Maasai society. Through these interviews, I was able to determine the relative changes in the numbers of livestock that have been affected by drought and disease or other socio-economic or biophysical factors. Informal group conversations were often followed up after completing the interview, as respondents would go into greater detail on certain issues than what was previously discussed. This yielded a great deal of information especially on the historical and cultural aspects of change in the Maasai people. I also conducted interviews with Maasai who were employed in tourist camps and lodges in order to understand the diversification alternatives and the reasons for the alternatives. Interviews were also undertaken at the only veterinary clinic that was located at the Talek center in order to determine what the main types of medications being sold are. This enabled me to determine what some of the major diseases facing the pastoralists in the Talek area were. In addition, interviews were carried out with various national and local government officials top determine what role the state played in lending power relations to dominant social groups and relations. Within the national government, I interviewed the District Commissioner (DC) and the District Livestock Officer (DLO). Local government officials interviewed included the Senior Warden of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR)3, in addition to various park rangers, and other employees of the Narok County Council. Information on human-wildlife conflict and the sentiments of the local inhabitants to the managers of the MMNR was also collected from staff members at the Kenya Wildlife Service, who maintain a research station within the MMNR. Members of the research station that I interviewed were the senior rangers, anti- poaching control officers, officer-in-charge of the research station, and senior researchers 3 Recall that the MMNR is managed by the local government authority of the Narok County Council 65 resident at the station. Members of the Kenya Wildlife Service resident at the headquarters in Nairobi were also interviewed. These were the Heads of the Ecological Monitoring Units and Rhino Conservation Units, both of whom have had extensive research experiences within and around the MMNR. Once again the interviews were recorded by taking noted and after the interviews. 3.3.2. Secondary Data Sources Secondary data sources for this study included published and unpublished reports by various governmental, non-govemmental organizations and academic organizations. Secondary data sources achieved three main aims for the study. First, governmental publications provided an understanding of the role the state plays in lending power relations to groups and societies and also to determine the governments’ development policies and priorities for the area. Second, non-governmental literature provided insight into the activities that NGO’s were undertaking in the region, especially for conservation development activities. Third, academic literatures allowed for an in-depth examination into some of the complexities inherent within the socio-economic and biophysical entities that the study examines. Governmental data sources included district development plans for the Narok District. The two reports that I used for this study included the 1994-1997 and 1997-2001 district development plans (GoK 1994, 1997). Secondary data sources from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) included aerial census estimates of livestock and key livestock species within and around the MMNR. These were collected for both the wet and dry seasons for each year between 1997 and 2001. Additional documents from the KWS included the 1989 Management Plan and reports of climatic variability and human—wildlife conflicts. 66 Various pieces of government legislation were also collected such as the Environmental Management and Coordination Act of 2000, the Wildlife (Conservation and Management) (Amendment) Act of 1989, the Group Representatives (Ranches) Act of 1968 and the Wildlife (Conservation and Management) Act of 1976. Historical climatic data was collected to understand periods of seasonality within the Narok district. This data was collected from the Kenya Meteorology Department, at the Narok Meteorological Station located approximately 100 kilometers from the field study site. Data on the total monthly and annual precipitation was obtained for a 75-year period between 1914 and 1989. Additional data for the area was obtained from Hyena Research camp located in the Talek region inside the MMN R, for the time period between 1989 and 2001. For purposes of this study, drought is defined as an extended interval of abnormally dry weather sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause a serious hydrological imbalance (i.e., crop damage, water supply shortage, etc.) in the affected area (NASA- GCMD 2002). Topographic map sheets from the Survey of Kenya at a scale of 1:50,000 were obtained for the study area and used to interpret the topography of the region and also to understand the infrastructure of the area. The map quadrangles that I used for the study included Keekorok (158/ 1), Emarati (145/3), Bardamat (145/4), Mara (1 44/ 4), Mara Bridge (145/1), and Lemek (145/2). 3.4. Data Analysis Qualitative data was analyzed by reading and summarizing field notes that were collected from the informal interviews and calendar mapping activities. Part of the analysis was conducted by summarizing similarities recorded in the field that were in response to the 67 questions asked in the interviews. However, there were inconsistencies in the various responses given by the respondents. These inconsistencies were difficult to interpret, as I was unable to determine whether the responses to the questions were due to the method of questioning or the way in which the questions were understood, versus a change in the response because of differing resource use. Quantitative data was analyzed using various statistical tools and programs such as Microsoft Excel and Systat 10. Historical climatic data was interpreted by calculating a three-year moving precipitation average between 1914 and 2001. 3.5. Data Interpretation Using data collected from both the primary and secondary data sources along with the tools of data analysis such as geomatics technologies, the data used for this study was interpreted by identifying similar responses to questions delivered during the field interviews and were recorded as part of my field notes. Following the political ecology framework previously discussed, the data interpretation of this study also incorporates how various social, political, economic, and environmental themes have pervaded within the study period across time and through space. The relevant components are interpreted by linking the secondary data sources with on-the— ground observations. The relative magnitudes of importance for each theme differ with time and the spatial location. 3.6. Chapter Summary In this chapter, I have provided information on the methods of data collection, analysis and interpretation that I used for the study. The methods of data collection 68 involved both primary and secondary data sources. The primary data sources include field data interviews and other techniques that are derived from Rapid Rural Appraisals (RRA’s). Secondary data sources involved compiling governmental and non-governmental reports and documents. The methods of data analyses used for this project involved both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The quantitative data analysis was mainly done using statistical calculation of precipitation anomalies. Qualitative data analysis was performed looking for similar themes in the responses of the field interviews and by summarizing my field notes that were taken during and immediately after field walks and when I was a participant observer. Finally the methods of data interpretation include linking geospatial and statistical information with the information recorded during the field visits. 69 CHAPTER IV Presentation of Data and Results 4.1 Introduction This chapter is divided into six sections, which present the results of the study from the data collection phase. First, I present some of the basic characteristics of the traditional herding strategies of Maasai livestock. Second I present the baseline data results, which examine livestock and human numbers in the study area, dietary characteristics of different types of livestock and the Maasai labor demands of caring for the livestock. The third section of this chapter presents the results of the data that examines how various biophysical factors have independently affected the traditional seasonal grazing patterns of Maasai livestock. The fourth section of the chapter examines the same for the socio-economic factors. Fifth, I present an interactive analysis of the synergy that demonstrates how the various socio-economic and biophysical factors have influenced the traditional methods of livestock herding strategies to produce the contemporary strategies I have observed in the Talek Area of the Narok District, and mostly importantly to determine why there has been this change. Finally, a concluding section summarizes the main points of this chapter 4.2. Traditional Maasai Pastoralists Herding Strategies As part of the literature review, I have presented some of the generic characteristics that comprise pastoralists’ herding strategies such as diversification, flexibility, uncertainty, and residence in an environment that conforms to a state of disequilibria. This chapter is meant to provide an understanding, through the results of the data, of how the traditional herding strategies of Maasai livestock have undergone changes that have been influenced by the various socio-economic and biophysical elements to produce a contemporary herding 70 strategy. In order to do this, I highlight the key elements of the traditional herding strategies of the Maasai pastoralists (see Table 4.1.) Table 4.1. Traditional Herding Strategies of the Maasai Pastoralist Livestock Traditional Herding Strategy Description 0 Herd Mobility 0 Diversity of Livestock Species 0 Maintenance of Herd Size 0 Control over Access to Environmental Resources 0 Control of Social Relations Herd movements are in response to variations in spatial and temporal rainfall and forage availability. During the rainy season the herds will disperse over rangelands while in the dry season, and in periods of drought, the herds are contained within localized areas that are able to provide grazing and water resources. Most pastoralists herd a variety of animals, such as cattle, camels, sheep, goats and donkeys; each species grazes different ecological niches and has different economic and social value. Pastoralists need enough livestock to sustain their own basic subsistence requirements throughout the year (through milk, meat and leather products), plus those for trade, social obligations and drought losses. Therefore, they attempt to maintain large herds (ZOO-1,000 cattle). Access to dry season water and grazing areas is critical to the survival of pastoralists within the environmental constraints of the dry parts of the country. These may include swamplands and valleys of perennial streams within the rangelands, hill slopes and other areas at the more humid margins of the rangelands. To protect these areas pastoralists resist, by force if necessary, any attempts by other pastoralists or by farmers, to occupy their traditional dry season retreat areas. Pastoralists maintain a variety of social linkages both 71 within their own group and between themselves and neighboring communities. Families, clans and age groups mutually support one another to reduce the negative effects of drought, disease or threats from outsiders (e.g. livestock raiding activities by the Kuria). o Diversification of Economic There is the trade of animals and exchange of animal Staple products for grain particularly during periods of drought, as means of supplementing their income and diet. 0 Flexibility Pastoralists move in and out of different activities, taking advantage of new opportunities such as vaccination, sale of stock, diversifying into farming, and labor migration. These characteristics of the traditional Maasai livestock herding strategies are defined here so that comparisons may be made to observations in the Talek area. Scoones (1995), Sandford (1983), Homewood and Rodgers (1991) and Bekure et al. (1991) among others have also discussed these herding strategies in greater detail. 4.3. Baseline-Data Results Key baseline data numbers regarding human and livestock populations are presented here so that they can be linked to a discussion of the independent and interactive biophysical and socio-economic factors that will be presented in later sections of this chapter. The study area involved approximately 38 households (bomar) with a total of 1,530 inhabitants. During the group and individual informal interviews I documented a total of 7,619 cattle, 9,439 sheep, 1,565 goats, and 165 donkeys within the study site (See Table 4.2.). The number of cattle housed within each boma varied from as little as 7, to as many as 1,000. The total number of livestock counted within the study area numbers ranged between 34 and 1,840 total cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys for each boma. Within the Narok district, Ottichilo et al. (2000) suggests that numbers of cattle have remained relatively stable between 1970 and 1990’. Table 4.2. Summary of Maasai and Livestock Numbers from the Study Area . Livestock ' , 4 Maas ai Cattle Sheep Goats Donkeys Total Total 1,530 7,619 9,439 1,565 165 19,328 Mean 41 201 248 41 4 509 Standard Deviation 36 206 233 75 10 426 Number of households surveyed (11) = 38 Earlier I defined livestock as cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys. Here, I differentiate between these different types of livestock as it relates to herding radius and grazing/ water needs, as well as the economic needs and markets that the Maasai determine for their livestock. These differences are important to note, as they will relate directly to both the biophysical and socio-economic factors of seasonal herding activities. Cattle, usually involve large beef cattle, milk cows, and younger calves. Cattle, sheep and goats are all herded differently. The East African Zebu Cattle (Bo: indicur) are primarily grazers (see Figure 4.1), where as sheep (Obit ariei) are intermediate grazers, and goats (Capra bicnr) are selective browsers. These dietary characteristics are related to the herding radius of the livestock. ‘ In the 1970’s, the Population Estimate (PE) for the Narok district was 610,750 and increased marginally to 618,360 in the 1990’s, representing a 1% increase. However, in the 1980’s the PE for cattle in the district was 561,020. Number of sheep and goats increased from 409,150 in the 1970’s to 430,040 in the 1990’s, a 6% increase 73 Figure 4.1. The predominant cattle (Bo: indicw) that are kept by the Maasai —— Image in Black and White (Photo by author) During the individual interviews I found that male beef cattle and female milk cows have a herd radius of 3 and 4-kilometers in the wet season. This range is extended in the dry and drought seasons to between 15 and 20 kilometers daily. Sheep and goats maintain roughly the same herding distance of between 2 and 3 kilometers in the wet and a maximum of 4 kilometers in the dry and drought seasons. When the Maasai were asked how far they extend their livestock range in the drought season during the field interviews, the responses were interpreted in one of two possible ways: (a) in terms of distance traveled from the boma, and (b) a total translocation to wetter areas. The details of these variations in responses are discussed in greater detail in section 4.4.3. 74 Information attained from the field interviews also shows that goats prefer to browse on the leaves of shrubs and bushes, such as Acacia drepanolobinm and Tambonatbn: campboratni. Sheep on the other hand prefer to graze on the shorter grass plains, while cattle prefer to graze in areas that have taller grasses. Secondary data from a paper on the cultural uses of flora illustrates that the Maasai exhibit a great deal of indigenous knowledge on the native flora. This knowledge is related to the forage preferences for the different types of livestock. Grewia rimilir remains green throughout the dry season and is an important source of food, particularly for goats. “When cows or goats give birth at the end of the dry season and there is no grass, the leaves of G. Jimilis are collected and fed to the calves and kids” (Ecco Travel 2000: 7). In addition, the leaves of Olea afn'cana are used to feed cows, calves and goats during the dry periods, as it is drought resistant. Cadabafan'nora is another preferred source of browse for cattle and goats. Finally, the leaves of Glenna bicolor provide forage for goats because they remain soft and green even throughout the dry season and the leaves are sometimes cut and brought to calves, kids and younger lambs (Ecco Travel 2000). During the field walks, I observed that through the combined effects of the distance traveled from the boma and the forage preferences there was a distinct gendered labor component in the seasonal herding strategies. I was able to observe that middle aged and older men were responsible for herding larger cattle. This is because larger cattle are grazed further away from the boma during the dry and drought periods. Conversely younger children” manage the herding activities for sheep and goats as it is centered closer to the boma. 2 Children within this context are defined as children less than 12 years of age. 75 I was also able to observe that there was a secondary labor component inherent within the seasonal livestock herding strategies. I was able to document that more herders are needed to guard the livestock against predatory wild animals, particularly lions and hyenas. This is primarily because the size of the cattle herd is usually much larger than those of sheep and goats (the average size of a cattle herd within the study area is 201, while the average size of a goat herd is 41). In addition, I observed that cattle in particular are grazed in tall grass plains. These tall grass plains may make it easier for predators such as lions and leopards to hide and attack the livestock herd. Since sheep and goat herds are grazing in relatively close proximities to the boma, there is less of a labor requirement in terms of guarding the herd against predators. During the informal and group and individual interviews I observed that there are very few donkeys within Maasai land. Donkeys are important sources of transport. Homewood and Rodgers (1991: 145) suggest that the use of donkeys is important during transhumance movement, as well as transporting water and purchased grain. The low numbers of donkeys that I recorded within the study area (see Table 4.2) suggest that there is not a great deal of reliance on buying and purchasing grains or transporting water from distant locations. 4.4. The Biophysical Factors The biophysical factors that affect the traditional herding strategies of Maasai livestock such as the presence of tsetse flies and the transmission of human and animal trypanosomosis, large numbers of migratory and resident wildebeest, the biological diversity contained within the park and the climatic variability of the region are discussed independently in this section. An interactive discussion of the biophysical and socio- 76 economic factors is then made in section 4.6. In this section I illustrate how the qualitative and quantitative data that was attained from the various primary and secondary data sources affect the traditional herding strategies. The results of the data illustrate how the traditional herding strategies have been influenced by these factors to produce the modern strategies observed in the Talek area. 4.4.1. The Tsetse Effect Information attained from the field walks, in the field conversations, informal group and individual interviews suggest that the effects of the tsetse fly (Glom'na 9919-) and its associated disease of trypanosomosis on the traditional seasonal livestock grazing activities, within the Talek area north of the MMNR, are among some of the most important grazing factors that the Maasai pastoralists face. Of the 38 boma: surveyed, 35 boma: (92%) indicated that tsetse fly significantly affected their livestock herding strategies. Through the interviews, I was able to find that the effects of the tsetse fly are felt during the dry and drought periods when there is the scarce availability of water. During these time periods cattle are forced into the upland areas that contain greater moisture than the plains below. These upland areas such as the Il’baan Hills are vegetated mostly by bushes. These shrubs are where the tsetse flies are harbored. The movement of cattle to the upland areas usually takes place when the forage resources have been exhausted in the plains areas near the bomar’. During the field walks I observed that the movement of pastoralist livestock to the upland areas is usually undertaken mostly for cattle and in some circumstances for goats (because of their palate for leaves of shrubs) but not sheep. During this period the cattle are weak from the lack of forage on the 77 plains areas. The combination of weak cattle and the movement in upland areas that harbor tsetse fly results in the transmission of sleeping sickness to the cattle and in some instances to the Maasai herders. When asked how the tsetse fly influenced the seasonal herding patterns of their livestock, one herder replied that ‘the tsetse fly like bushland and cause sleeping sickness. What happens is that during the dry and drought period, the cows are forced into the upland areas where there is more moisture, and there is drought in the plains below, and the cows are also becoming weak from the effects of the drought. The coincidence of weak cows in the upland areas with sleeping sickness occurs, the number of cows that die is high.’ The transmission of sleeping sickness to cattle also results in increased monetary expenditure for the Maasai herders. Maasai will periodically inject their cattle with a variety of trypanocides to protect their cattle against trypanosomosis (Rodean et al. 2000) - see Figure 4.2. Interviews undertaken at the only veterinary clinic in the Talek area found the major drugs used by the Maasai to protect against trypanosomosis were Veriben, Novidium and Berenl. The cost of Veriben and Novidium is a combined 100kshs (U SD$1.25) per cow. The cost of these drugs a few years ago was approximately 20kshs (U SD$0.33) per cow‘. Given the average herd size of 201 head of cattle, this can cost as much as USD$ 250. Although not every cow is injected with the drugs, boma: that house large cattle herds have to face the increased drug costs. The monetary income that is received from hosting tourists at the boma is used to offset the cost of the drugs in some instances. The cattle that are infected with trypanosomosis will sometimes die as a result of a lack of treatment or exacerbation of an existing disease that is worsened with the 3 It is important to differentiate between the plains grasses in the areas near to the boma: versus the plains grasses that are found inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve. 78 trypanosomosis infections. In this way the size of the herd is reduced. However, after interviewing the Maasai respondents, I was able to find that the numbers of cattle that are lost due to trypanosomosis are negligible compared to the losses during the dry and drought periods when lack of grazing land and water resources weaken livestock . The Maasai of the Talek area will lose between 2 and 3 head of cattle to trypanosomosis against approximately 10-20 that are lost due to the drought. During the interviews the Maasai also stated that the way in which each injected cow reacts to the medication is different and as a result the losses of cattle to trypanosomosis may differ. Figure 4.2. Maasai herdsmen injecting a young cow against trypanosomosis - notice the weak cow (Photograph by author) ‘ The exchange rate for the Kenya Shilling against the US Dollar in 2001 was approximately 80 kshs to the The intensity of tsetse flies in the Talek area has a distinct temporal component to it, as the intensity of the tsetse is determined by the alternating dry and wet seasons. Results from field interviews suggest that the Maasai have noticed that although tsetse are present within the study site all year round there is an increased presence of tsetse flies in the dry and drought periods with a lesser presence of tsetse flies in the wet season. Perhaps one of the reasons that tsetse has remained undetected in this area (as noted by national tsetse control programs) is the movement of cattle from areas of tsetse-infected areas to tsetse free areas as well as the relatively low densities of tsetse Gordan 1988). jordan’s findings are well demonstrated in the case of the Talek area whereby the movement of livestock is a factor of the seasonal availability to forage, which is determined by precipitation. During my field walks, I observed that some of the bomar are located near an upland area (probably because of the increased number of settlements — a product of the high population growth rate — see section 4.5.3.). These areas have dense shrub land that the Maasai will attempt to clear in an effort to rid the hill slopes of tsetse. This control mechanism of clearing highland areas that are infested with tsetse flies outside the Maasai Mara National Reserve leads to a land cover change. However, the Maasai suggested during the field interviews, that there are relatively few areas of tsetse fly infestation in areas that are immediately inside the MMNR and larger areas outside the Reserve. Information attained from the interviews, field walks and participant observation techniques illustrates that there is a spatial context that affects the spread of trypanosomosis from tsetse flies to cattle. The extension of the grazing areas to incorporate bush/ shrub land areas in highland areas along with the increased presence of tsetse flies in the dry seasons has dollar and 60kshs to the dollar in 1998 — Source Central Bank of Kenya 2002. 80 resulted in the cattle being weak from both trypanosomosis infections and from the lack of available grazing and/ or water resources in the dry and drought season. From the various techniques that I utilized for the study, we can suggest that the presence of tsetse flies and the spread of human and animal trypanosomosis have curtailed the traditional livestock herding strategies of the Maasai as the transmission of trypanosomosis limits dry season forage areas. The high cost of trypanocides has meant that the Maasai have had to bear added expenses to treat the infected livestock. These restrictions have resulted in reduced herd mobility as movement in the upland areas is at the expense of potential infections from trypanosomosis. 4.4.2. Wildebeest The presence of both migratory and resident wildebeest have always affected the ways in which the Maasai traditionally herd their livestock. However, over the past 30 years the increase in the numbers of wildebeest, which is a combined product of both the eradication of rinderpest and above average rainfall in the dry season (Steflox et al. 1986, Sinclair and Norton-Griffiths 1979, Dobson 1995, Simon 1962), has meant that the Maasai have had to restrict both the spatial and temporal herd mobility of their herding activities. The creation of the MMNR also affected the increases in the numbers of wildebeest and its role is discussed in greater detail in section 4.4.4. During the field walks and in the field conversations with the herders, I found that the presence of wildebeests within the Maasai grazing lands disrupts the traditional livestock herding strategies set by the Maasai, as the Maasai will usually try and avoid the same grazing areas in which the wildebeest have traveled. However, during the migration months when there are as many as 1.2 million wildebeest within the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem and 81 approximately 30,000 wildebeest resident throughout the year in the Loita and Siana plains of Kenya this becomes difficult (Serneels and Lambin 2001a). The greatest factor that limits the traditional livestock herding strategies occurs during the calving period of the wildebeests. This usually occurs in a 3-week period between january and February each year (Sinclair and Norton-Griffiths 1979). The afterbirth of the wildebeest on the plains areas is the primary cause of Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF) when livestock consume the grasses that are contaminated with the afterbirth. Information attained from the informal group and individual interviews suggest that because the birthing period for wildebeest is in January and February, it is the resident, not migratory wildebeest that affect livestock in the Talek area during this time period. During the field walks, I was also able to find that the Maasai herders will usually stay away from areas that have been grazed by both the resident and migratory wildebeest. However, in some instances, especially during the dry and drought periods, both livestock and wildebeest may converge on the same watering holes or rivers such as the Molibany, Talek and Olare Olorok rivers. This coincidence increases the potential of disease transmissions such as Malignant Catarhll Fever (MCF), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) (for greater detail - see section 2.3.3.1). Through the same field technique the herders argued that after the wildebeest leave a watering area such as a flooded lugga’, the water is very muddy and the livestock are unable to drink the water from it. Through the informal group and individual interviews, the Maasai suggested to me that some of the same factors (other than grazing resources) that influence the wildebeest presence in the Talek area are the same as the preferences that their large cattle have. These factors include the avoidance of wet and muddy ground that is usually found in woodland 5 A lugga is usually a dry river bed that gets filled up with water during intense rainfall events 82 areas. In addition, wildebeest will also avoid areas that have thick vegetated cover, as this may be a potential hiding place for predators. This is (in part) also the reason that the Maasai will herd their livestock away from areas of thick vegetated cover. Information attained from reviewing the scientific literature that focuses on the dynamics of the Serengeti—Mara ecosystems migratory species, has shown that grazing activities of wildebeest are heavier in the months before giving birth, where there is a significant reduction in the height of the grass, which is mainly due to wildebeest grazing (McNaughton 1976). The scientific literature also documents that grazing activities by wildebeest are also influenced by the availability of certain minerals, such as calcium, which assist the wildebeest during the lactation period (Kreulen 1975). During the field interviews with herders at their bomar, I found that the Maasai visualize the wildebeest as exacerbating the situation during the dry or drought conditions. Because the migration typically reaches the Maasai Mara National Reserve at approximately the same time as the dry period, the grass is completely eaten by the wildebeest. The large numbers of wildebeest are also a concern for the Maasai when wildebeest and cattle herds coincide and come into accidental contact with each other. This may result in a stampede whereby some cattle might be lost during the ensuing confusion. The rapid increase in the numbers of wildebeest over the last 30 years has resulted in the Maasai making adjustments to the spatial extent of their traditional grazing areas. This restricts the areas over which the Maasai have access to environmental resources that they have in the past traditionally relied upon. During the field walks with the herders I observed that there was an increased labor component in the herding processes during the migration period of wildebeest. More individuals are needed during this period to try and control the cattle herd in the event of a 83 stampede that is caused by large numbers of wildebeest converging on the same area that cattle use. During the field walks I was also able to determine that due to the grazing lands being curtailed by the presence of the wildebeest, the Maasai have to extend their herding distances from the bomar and hence there is an increased labor component here. As the distance from the boma increases, more members of the community are needed for the herding process. During the informal group and individual interviews, and field conversations I was told that there are variations, within individual Maasai households, on how the Maasai will avoid wildebeest. Some Maasai will not differentiate among the areas that they can graze their cattle, if the herd size is small. Alternatively, Maasai who have large cattle herds will try and avoid dense concentrations of wildebeest for reasons that have already been described. In some instances, the Maasai will monitor the movements of the wildebeest and accordingly change the grazing patterns of their livestock. Some of the herders suggested that during the months that the wildebeest migration takes place (between July and September each year) the cattle might be temporarily relocated to areas that have relatively fewer concentrations of wildebeest. This only occurs when the members of boma have family members that are willing or able to assist in the herding activities. In general, it is mostly the stronger cattle that are temporarily relocated, whereas sheep, goats and smaller cattle remain at the boma. This is because of the lesser herding resources required for the smaller cattle, sheep and goats. The herders also want to maintain the health of the large cattle so as to ensure that they will be able to negotiate higher prices for the cattle immediately after the dry period is over. 84 Of the Maasai herders that interviewed, a little more than half (52 % n=38) suggested that they will usually move their cattle to the north of the Talek area towards Lolgorian or Aitong in order to avoid the wildebeest in the migration months as a method of flexibility. Bush and shrubland interspersed with tbemeda grasslands dominate this area with little other human activity. This area effectively acts as a buffer zone between the Maasai residents of the Talek area and the Maasai residents of the Aitong area. Both groups utilize this area during the dry and drought periods, but its resource as a grazing area is limited by bush land that harbors tsetse fly, although in drought years the Maasai of the Talek area are forced to herd their livestock in this region. 4.4.3. Climatic Variability In this section I review the climatic variability of the study area. I concentrate on describing how drought events have affected the traditional livestock herding strategies of the Maasai within the Talek area. Using time series climatic data from two different sources I attempt to understand when some of the previous drought periods have taken place. Climatic data from two main data sources, the Hyena research Camp manned by the Department of Zoology at Michigan State University and the Narok Meteorological Station‘, was used to determine when the major drought and rainfall events had occurred within the district between 1914 and 2001. A 3—year moving average was calculated between 1914 and 2001 and these are graphed. On the same graph, I plot the grand mean of the annual precipitation for the 87 year-period, which was 786.6 mm. This graph is illustrated in F igure4.3. 85 Figure 4.3. Three year Moving Average and Grand Mean Between 1914 and 2001 for the _ Nate's Districn 30.91“ L, L .2-“ _,,,.r .7 r . ‘ - 3—Year Moving Average 1300.0 — Grand Man 311000 E. a O '3 'E 90040 " Grand Mean 2786.6 mm E J .l . , "3 l ”I”! I a 700.0 . 3 ””0, ’ ‘ : 500.0 , .. r 300. 0 o—I H t—l 0-4 n—A H t—h u—l .4 0—D H H o—A H 0-3 H H r-I \O Q \0 \D \D \O \9 O \9 \O O ‘0 ND 0 \O Q Q ‘0 H ’-‘ N N (a! l» 4'- 48 U'I U" 0‘ 0‘ \l \l CD on \9 ‘0 4. so 4: o 4s \9 4s \0 4s so 4n \9 4s ~o 4s so 9 so Year Surveys of the scientific literatures suggest that there have been relatively few articles that have examined how climatic variability affects herding practices in relation to other biophysical and socio-economic factors. However, recent articles by Little at. al (2001) and Galvin et. al (2001) have attempted to explain how pastoralists in East Africa have coped with drought and excessive rainfall events. Campbell (1999) looks extensively at how Maasai herders in the neighboring Kajiado district have responded to climatic stresses such as drought. Information attained from field conversations and the group and individual informal interviews with the herders suggest that at the onset of the dry season there is excessive grazing in the areas immediately surrounding the bomar. The reasons for this vary from one " The Narok District Meteorological Office is located in Narok town, which is approximately 100 kilometers from the T alek area 86 household to another, but in general this is because the Maasai will try and conserve labor efforts when there is still sufficient grazing resources in areas closest to the boma. As mentioned in earlier sections, one of the main determining factors of precipitation is topography and altitude. As seen from Figure 4.4. there is an increase in elevation towards the western part of the MMN R and the Narok district. This area is also known as the Isuria escarpment and tends to receive higher amounts of precipitation. The rainfall gradient between the Isuria escarpment and the Talek region allows the Maasai to temporarily migrate towards the Isuria escarpment into the newly created Trans-Mara district and toward trading centers around Lolgorian and Kilgoris (Figure 4.4). It is usually the larger cattle that are taken on the temporary migration, while smaller cattle, sheep and goats remain within daily herding distances of the boma, although livestock from other boma: may not undertake the journey. While undertaking the field conversations and interviews, I arrived at the boma: at approximately 7:00am and noticed herders would extend their herding radius in the dry season outwards leaving with the cattle herd at between 8:00 am and 8:30 am. I also noticed that the livestock herds would return just before dusk (typically around 7:00pm). In the dry season the amount of labor contributed by the family members towards the livestock herding is greater. During field walks with the herders, I was able to observe that the there are a greater numbers of herders that are needed to steer the cattle away from dangerous and rocky paths across luggas in the dry season as large rocks may have been moved from flooding events in the previous months. 87 Figure 4.4. Annual l’uetipiratiun for the Narok District -I1I(l\||lllll|ll(llllg A1935 Kilgoris I < V’\ ,_{,B lolgonan Legend . . An . Pnel . mm . \\ Mama-Tanzania Border n P l l - 501 800 0-100 Narok - 601 - 700 101 - 200 - 701 - SDI] BMW“ N 201 300 ' m1 - 1000 .- I - "I 4‘- .' Pvuvlnces . _ ‘1-’ a? m “m - 1001-1200 ‘ "m m -5°° - 1101-1400 0 ’0 ID 40 E El. .0"!!th Source: Corbett et al. 1998 The onset of the drought also affects the surrounding wildlife and competition for grazing and water resources increases. During the field walks with the herders and field conversations, I was also able to document that the grazing areas are altered in the dry and drought periods because of fear from wildlife predators particularly lions, leopards, Cheetahs and hyenas. In these instances the herders will avoid bush land areas as these predators may be hiding there. Due to the lack of rainfall, the grass is dry and prone to fire. Some evidence in the academic literature suggests that the Maasai will periodically light fire to the grasslands to get rid of ticks and burn unpalatable grasses for their livestock, although there was no observation of this while undertaking the field period (Wilson 1987: 9 and Dublin 1995: 73). 88 The herders suggested, through the field conversations, that there have been instances whereby fires have been accidentally lit by small groups of Ndorobo7 who will use fire to smoke out bees to harvest honey. As there is greater moisture in upland areas, the Maasai will usually try and go in these areas to get access to greener grass and water resources that has fallen in the form of orographic precipitation. However, when they undertake this activity the Maasai are in susceptible positions as these areas are the same ones that harbor tsetse as discussed in section 4.3.1. The higher temperatures that occur during the dry and drought periods also affect the transmission of various diseases especially trypanosomosis. Information from the Famine Early Warning System (F EWS) between December 2000 and 2001 indicates that during periods of climatic stress, the Maasai engage in a variety of activities to offset its impacts. These include livestock and the purchase of foodstuffs. The climatic stresses that are experienced in the area are manifested through such banditry activities. Neighboring pastoral tribes, such as the Kuria who live in the borderlands between Kenya and Tanzania, will attempt to raid Maasai cattle when the drought is severe and cattle losses are large. Livestock banditry activities across the Kenya/ Tanzania border have been thoroughly investigated (among others) by Fleischer (2000). During the field study period, there was no evidence of pastoralists diversifying their economic bases to incorporate agriculture to deal with the dry and drought conditions. However, there is an increasing reliance on purchasing foodstuffs (especially the maize meal staple of Kenya - Uga/z), using legal tender obtained from the sale of livestock that are becoming more readily available at the Talek trading center. I did not investigate strategies 7 The Ndorobo are a small group of hunters and gatherers. There are small pockets of Ndorobo within parts of Maasai land. The Ndorobo are also known as the Ogiek 89 for coping with drought, however these indications may illustrate that a range of coping strategies exists, as has been described for the Maasai in Kajiado district by Campbell 1999. In this section I have focused mainly on how dry and drought conditions have affected pastoral herding activities. There have also been significant rainfall events that have occurred due to the El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the La-Nina periods, which have affected livestock herding practices. Some of the academic literature has found that during the 1997 and 1998 El-Nino event crucial infrastructure, such as roads and bridges were washed away limiting livestock marketing activities (Little at al. 2001, Galvin et. a1 2001). These flooding events result in the disruption of the trade and sale of livestock as means to capital accumulation. Excessive rainfall events also contribute to the spread of both human and livestock diseases such as Malaria and Foot and Mouth Disease (Campbell and Migot-Adholla 1979). 4.4.4. The Role of the Park In the previous sections of the thesis I have illustrated how the presence of the tsetse, wildebeest, and climatic variability have influenced the traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists. A final biophysical factor that influences these livestock herding strategies is the existence of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR), which acts a biophysical reservoir of elements, such as grazing land and water, that have historically facilitated the livestock herding practices of the Maasai as well as forming the northern extension of the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. The various biophysical factors that have been discussed in previous sections are all present within the MMNR. Tsetse is found more predominantly outside the MMNR than inside, although pockets of bush land that harbor 90 tsetse fly are found inside the Reserve particularly in the southern part of the MMNR along the Mara River. Data from the Almanac Characterization Tool (ACT) Version 3.0 (Corbett et al. 1998) and the academic literature suggests that in general (1) there is an increase in the amount of precipitation along a east to west gradient and north of the MMNR (see Figure 4.4.) and (2) there is a general decrease in the amount of precipitation southwards towards the Serengeti (also supported by Broten and Said 1995). The Talek area is within the zone where there is the least average annual precipitation and the movement of livestock is based primarily on where there is sufficient precipitation and hence greener grass. Information provided by Dublin (1991 and 1995) indicates that between the early nineteenth century and the present time period, the Serengeti National Park and the Maasai Mara National Reserve have undergone a series of land cover changes. The first set of land cover conversions occurred in the 1890’s when there was a conversion from grassland to woodland. This was prompted by the great rinderpest outbreak of the 1890’s where both animal (both native wildlife and livestock) and human population decreased. Fire was also infrequent because of this. The woodland habitat was suitable for tsetse infestations preventing high amounts of human activities within the ecosystem. The next set of land cover conversions took place between 1960’s and the 1980’s where the land cover changed from woodlands to grasslands. During this period human populations had recovered from the rinderpest outbreak and there was a period of abnormally high rainfall that limited the growth of woodland species such as Acacia and Cmton thickets (Dublin 1991). Throughout the 1980’s the land cover remained mostly grassland. During this time period the wildebeest numbers had increased five-fold (Dublin 1995: 73-75). 91 During the field study period, attempts were made through field interviews and conversations to determine whether the Maasai had changed their livestock herding activities in response to the land cover conversions, but none of the respondents interviewed were able to recall such changes. In general, the result of discussions and interviews suggests that the impact of the park on the livestock herding activities of the Maasai in the Talek area was found to be more a factor of policy implications through time, than one of access to the biophysical resources that are within the MMNR, although within the area that lie immediately around the Talek region the tall grasslands of the park are more favorable for the cattle than the areas outside the Reserve. The Maasai Mara National Reserve has affected the traditional livestock herding strategies of the Maasai in a number of ways. The creation of the park for biodiversity conservation and tourism-related revenue generation in 1961 has resulted in the loss of 900 sq. miles of dry season grazing areas, thereby limiting the herd mobility of the pastoralists. This mechanism has also denied the Maasai access to critical environmental resources such as dry season forage and water. This has, in-turn, resulted in an extended utilization of wet season grazing resources, which are in close proximity to the bomar. The biggest impact that the MMNR has is the restricted use of the MMNR as a grazing resource. This has curtailed the patterns of flexibility that the Maasai have traditionally relied upon. 4.4.5. Section Summary This section of the thesis has presented how various biophysical elements such as the presence of tsetse fly, wildebeest, climatic variability and the Maasai Mara National Reserve have either hindered or facilitated the traditional livestock grazing activities of Maasai pastoralists. As a result of the influences of these various elements, the traditional herding 92 strategies have been modified. The traditional herding strategies such as herd mobility has been constrained by the imposition of park boundaries, and the control over the access to environmental resources such as water and grazing land has been limited by the impacts of wildebeest and tsetse fly. Climatic variability has disrupted the methods of diversification of pastoralists as intense rainfall events have washed away critical infrastructure. 4.5. The Socio-Economie Factors The socio—economic components that I discuss in this section are similar to the descriptions that I have presented as part of the literature review in chapter II (see sections 2.4.2.1 — 2.4.2.5). These sub-headings of bushland and tsetse, park policy, demographic growth and the economic needs and markets have been maintained in order to provide consistency throughout this thesis. I have not covered land tenure in my results of the socio- economic factors affecting livestock herding strategies, as I did not collect sufficient information on this issue. The sections that I illustrate in this chapter of the thesis are meant to provide the reader with an understanding of the socio-economic factors that have impacted the traditional grazing strategies of Maasai pastoralist livestock. In Table 4.3. I present the results of the calendar mapping activities as the components contained within the table set the context for the interpretation of the socio- economic factors that influence the traditional livestock herding strategies. The calendar mapping activities that I present can be compared against the traditional Maasai calendar that has been prepared by Sankan (1971 [1995]: 64-66) and that has been attached in Appendix 3. 93 Table 4.3. Results from the calendar mapping activities. Month Activities 0 january 0 February 0 March 0 April 0 May Ojune ' July 0 August 0 September This month is relatively easy for us as there is the ongoing continuity from the previous months. There are light rains, which continue in this month, although this is in contrast to the previous months of November and December, when there is generally higher precipitation. Although there is some greener grass, the larger cattle avoid eating this, as they will sometime die as a result of eating the immature grasses. Between now and April, the cattle are stronger and give birth. Usually the herd size will increase (on average) by 20%. This is good if you have a herd with a large number of mature cattle. In general the herd will become stronger as there is available water and pasture. The market prices are still good at this time year as the cows are still healthy and have high milk and fat yields. It also this time of month that the tsetse flies begin to bother the cattle quite a bit. The cattle maintain their healthy state. We capitalize on the good rains by milking the cows twice a day at time (once at 9:00am and once again at 6:00pm). By the end of this month, most of the mature cattle have mated with the bulls. We are aware that in the coming months there will be a dry spell and maybe even drought conditions. There are lesser rains now, and the prices of cattle are a little higher now as there is the tourist peak season. This is also the month when we start to see the wildebeest migration. Due to the lesser rains the cows are beginning to become a little weaker as the there is very little green grass left. The migration is still coming at this time. This is the month when the dry season is at its peak. The cows have become weaker and as a result the market prices are lower. We begin to look for alternative localized grazing areas. If the rains have not arrived by this time, then there is drought and those 94 of us that are able relocate to the Trans-Mara district in areas such as Kilgoris and Lolgorian. If we are unable to go to Trans-Mara we will go into the park or go north towards Aitong. The milk and fat yields are much lower. 0 October During this month there are a lot of tsetse fly infections to the animals, and the sheep give birth in this month. The wildebeest migration in the Mara will begin to finish and the wildebeest will return to the Serengeti. 0 November There are light rains at this time of year and the sheep are moved to the areas that experience the light rains. The smaller sheep, which have just been born, rely on the mother’s milk. The cattle will begin to return home to their original bomas. 0 December The heavier rains begin in this month, and the grass begins to regrow. The cows will begin to give birth now. Milk yields are also much higher now as are the market prices. 4.5.1. Bush land and Tsetse Through a survey of the scientific literatures and through the group and individual interviews, field walks, field conversations and the calendar mapping activity, I was able to find that the traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists are limited by the impacts of: (1) the successive development and decline of bush/ woodland which acts as a suitable habitat for the tsetse fly, and (2) through the spread of diseases such as human and animal trypanosomosis which is transmitted by the tsetse fly. Through a survey of the scientific literatures, I found that between the early 1900’s and the 1930’s traditional livestock herding activities were only slightly constrained in the lower reaches of the MMNR and along the tributaries of the Mara river as this was where there was light bush/ woodland. By the 1930’s the increase in human and livestock populations resulted in heavier grazing, which led to the development of bushland. The development of bushland led to the investment in a variety of tsetse control programs. Between the end of World War II and the 1960’s there were a series of bush clearance activities to protect livestock against animal trypanosomosis. These bush clearance activities were aimed mostly at halting the spread of tsetse to large farms owned mostly by colonial settlers in the district (FAQ 1998). As the tsetse began to spread and various efforts were underway to halt the spread of the tsetse, the Maasai were subjected to being enclosed in ‘reserves’ where there were limited grazing and water resources. During the colonial period, the British administration’s policies regarding the Maasai were to create the southern Maasai Reserve, where the Maasai were limited in their grazing and water resources. This was mainly a way to control the ‘native’ population and make land available for colonial settlers. The concentration of human and livestock populations resulted in localized overgrazing and increased competition for environmental resources. “These changes in grazing and settlement patterns, by concentrating human and (live)stock population away from the Mara plains, in effect created a Maasai withdrawal, particularly in response to the threat already posed by the fly, was thus an important factor in the further modification of the ecosystem” (Waller 1990: 99). Studies that have relied upon historical documents suggest that although the Maasai withdrew to halt the spread of the tsetse fly, Maasai herders would still periodically go into areas that were infested with tsetse as there was a reduction in the available dry season water and grazing resources and they had little option but to subject the livestock to grazing in tsetse infested areas. To guard against the potential of infections from trypanosomosis, the Maasai herders would: 96 “purchase and use trypanocides to treat the livestock at commercial rates. Their approach to tsetse control was through traditional methods such as fire, bush clearing and avoidance of infested areas. During the dry season, livestock losses occurred when the herds are taken to tsetse infested grazing and watering places, which are otherwise normally avoided” (FAQ 1998). Although the Maasai are fully aware of the presence of the tsetse fly, they are also unable to avoid these areas (as duly noted by the FAO reports), particularly in the dry and drought periods, because of the combined effects of the interactions between the socio— economic and biophysical factors. This is discussed in greater detail in section 4.6. Livestock herding activities around the Talek region of the northern Mara have been affected by the direct and indirect effects of the tsetse fly and associated through the spread of bush / woodland. The important points to note in this section are that the spread of the bush / woodland and the tsetse fly has been precipitated by the colonial policies, which have delivered land-reducing mechanisms to the Maasai, and thereby restricted control over environmental resources. As the Maasai engage in a cash economy and preventative medicines become more readily available, the limitations posed by the tsetse fly and trypanosomosis could be significantly reduced. 4.5.2. Park Policy By examining governmental data sources, especially government legislation, I was able to find that the policies of protection and exclusion of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMR) have played and continue to play a large role in the induced changes of traditional pastoralist herding strategies to produce contemporary ones. The MMN R is, by an act of legislation, a protected conservation area that may be open to modification. According to the Wildlife (Coordination and Management) Act Cap 376: 97 “. . .the provisions of this part shall apply to a National Reserve as they apply to a National Park except in so far as — (a) they are modified or excluded by any such conditions or restrictions. . .(b) they are modified or excluded as the Minister may, by the notice declaring the area to be a National Reserve...” (60K 1986). By examining historical maps of the MMNR, I found that the boundaries of the MMN R have undergone a series of revisions to the boundaries of the Reserve. These are demonstrated in figure 4.5. Through my fieldwork in Kenya I was unable to determine the reasons for these changes, although they have been most likely occasioned by the need for access to environmental resources such as grazing and water for the Maasai pastoralists’ livestock. The three boundary changes that have occurred in the MMNR have been alongside perennial streams on the northern, western and eastern boundaries of the Reserve. The MMNR poses a significant dilemma to the Maasai. Prior to the passing of legislation that certified the MMNR as a protected conservation area, the region was traditionally utilized as a dry season grazing and water resource. The supplementary income that is achieved through employment in tourist camps and lodges does assist the Maasai to diversify their income sources, but hinders their traditional livestock herding activities by limiting the access to critical environmental resources. The results of the study indicate that the Maasai see the MMNR as both a positive and negative resource. The park is seen as a positive resource because it brings limited benefits to the Maasai through tourist related activities. One Maasai herder was asked what role he saw the park as playing with regard to his herding strategies. “The park is a positive resource for us because we can find jobs through the camps and lodges.” Interviews conducted with the Maasai employed in these camps and lodges suggest that employment in 98 tourist camps and lodges are seen as supplementary activities to generating income, in addition to livestock rearing. Figure 4.5. Changing Boundaries of the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) P Kilgoris - \ 7 Lolgorla Talek Aru \N\ Maasai Mara arional Reserve Serengot NannaIPc \\ F 1 Legend \/ Roads \ International Border fl Serengeti N P. N [i] New MMNRBorders » é [fl OldMMNR Benders °_ ‘_ ° ’° 3' 3L r L J D 75 5 10 15 I)” / t" The MMNR also acts as a buffer zone, whereby the livestock raiding activities by the Kuria are limited. In addition the grazing resources found in the park are better for the livestock especially in the dry and drought seasons. One response from an interview suggests that “the park is definitely a grazing resource for us (the Maasai), when we are forced to go into the park for grazing access, even if it mean breaking the law and stealing from what is essennals ours”. Alternatively some respondents suggest that it is hard to break the laws of the MMNR because of the risk of being caught and fined. This response is representative of boma; that have lower numbers of livestock, whereas bawdy that house larger numbers of livestock are able to ‘afford’ the fines placed on them by the authorities. The policy of the Maasai Mara National Reserve and its managers, the Narok County Council is that the livestock grazing within the Reserve is prohibited and offenders are charged with a fine of approximately 2,000 Kenya Shillings (equivalent to approximately USDSZS). However, there is little consistency to the policy enforcement of the MMNR, as some Maasai suggest that there is a greater crack down on livestock grazing inside the MMNR when the tourist season is at its peak (between June and August each year). This is because western tourists complain frequently to the authorities and lodge managers on observing livestock inside the MMNR. There is also evidence to suggest that in order to gain access to the water and grazing resources found inside the MMNR, the Maasai will take their livestock into the MMNR at night. Seventy nine percent (11: 38) of the herders that I interviewed stated that they regularly take their livestock into the MMNR to graze either during the day or at night. The impacts of the wildebeest during the migration period and other native game animals also influence the Maasai decision to undertake this activity. A photograph of livestock herds grazing illegally inside the MMNR is shown in Figure 4.6. The Maasai argue that wildebeest are able to graze both inside and outside the MMNR and when they graze outside the park they normally finish the resources in the dry season grazing areas that we (the Maasai) normally utilize and there are many areas inside the park where you can still graze your livestock. A question that was frequently posed to the researcher during the field conversations and interviews was that ‘if wildebeest are able to graze both inside and outside the MMNR then why shouldn’t the Maasai be able to utilize grazing areas inside the MMNR?’ 100 TALEK Figure 4.6. Illegal cattle grazing activities inside the MMNR — Image in Black and White (Photo by author) The Maasai herders were asked why they would go into the MMNR to graze their livestock. The responses suggest that there is a lack of tsetse fly in the Possee and Burrungat plains (located immediately inside the border of the park) makes this area favorable to the Maasai, and it is also adjacent to a number of bar/tar. Many Maasai suggest that the illegal incursions into the MMNR take place mostly in the dry and drought seasons. There are additional factors that determine the Maasai ability to go into the MMNR. These include the number of times that the family has already been caught in the MMNR and the amount of money that they have to pay in fines. The number of livestock within each boma and the 101 individual needs of that boma as well as grass height all affect how many and how often livestock are herded inside the boundaries of the MMNR. The responses to the question of whether the Maasai saw any alternatives to using the MMN R as a grazing resource, were varied. Some respondents suggested that there would be no alternatives in sight and that they would continue to utilize the MMN R as a grazing resource especially during the dry and drought periods. Alternatively, some respondents argued that if the situation arises where the Maasai are unable to utilize the MMNR as a dry/ drought season grazing resources then they will trans-locate to the Trans—Mara region where there is little difference between the dry, wet and drought seasons because of the orographic precipitation. This transloaction may result in pastoralist-farmer conflict and is discussed in greater detail in the next chapter. In some instances the Maasai suggested that they would move towards the north (Aitong), west (Lolgorian and Kilgoris) or south (towards Tanzania). When this response was explained further, I found that in most cases this preference is because of kin relationships that are maintained in those particular areas. Some Maasai have also suggested that there are alternatives to utilizing the MMNR, such as the translocation either Trans- Mara or north towards Aitong, but the constraints that they face in order to utilize these alternatives are far too costly and so it becomes advantageous to just use the MMN R. Some Maasai suggest that livestock grazing will continue to take place in the MMNR for as long as is possible, despite park regulations that suggest that livestock grazing inside the park is an illegal activity. For example one herder explained that “ we will use it (the MMNR) for night—time grazing as there is plenty of grass inside the MMNR, we mostly utilize the park as a grazing resource during the dry and drought periods”. 102 The high population growth of the Maasai (as discussed in the next section - see section 4.5.3.) has meant that there are a significantly higher number of individuals utilizing the land, although the amount of land available for dry season grazing and water resources has decreased due to the demarcation of these protected conservation areas and the loss of additional dry season grazing sites such as the Mau Narok where large scale commercial agriculture is taking place (Serneels and Lambin 2001b). 4.5.3. Demographic Changes Demographic data from the district development plans and the Almanac Characterization Tool (ACT) version 3.0 of the raw population estimates for the divisions within Narok District, demonstrates that the district has grown rapidly between 1960 and 1990. Within the Osupuko division of Narok district, the population has increased from 31,607 in 1960, 46,211 in 1970, 69,564 in 1980 and 136,203 in 1990. This represents a population growth rate of above 6 % (Corbett et al. 1998). The Narok district as a whole has grown from district from 102,046 in 1960 to 439,745 in 1990. These high rates of growth have been the result of both high birth and low death rates in this district. During field walks, and field conversation at or close to bawdy, I observed that there are a large number of children and young adults in the Talek area. This is consistent with demographic results from the Narok District Development Plan for 1994 and 1997. Within the Narok district there were a total of 68,950 males and 68,368 females under 15 years of age in 1989. This represents approximately 50% of the total population of Narok district. The projections for 2001 conducted by the District Planning Unit (DPU) of Narok district in 1996, suggest that in 2001 there will be 146,131 males and 144,897 females below the age of 15. This is approximately 52.4% of the total projected population in 2001 (60K 1994, 103 1997). Although these projections cannot be verified from census data at the present time, it is expected that children below the age of 15 will comprise of approximately half of the districts total population. As the Maasai encounter both socio-economic and biophysical impediments to their livestock herding activities (that have been identified in earlier section of this chapter), the role of children becomes particularly important. The demographic growth of the Narok district has altered the traditional grazing strategies that Maasai pastoralists have relied upon. Sindiga (1996) notes that: “traditionally men herded livestock; children took shoats (sheep and goats) and calves to pastures, and women put up house structures and dealt with all matters including rearing children. At the present time men and women are moving away from these traditional roles. There are more men taking up paid employment in certain urban areas especially as security guards. Some men have also taken to charcoal burning for cash. Maasai women are beginning to take to livestock grazing, cultivation and making and selling curios” (83). As grazing areas are extended into the MMNR or towards wetter areas such as Trans-Mara or even north towards Aitong, a greater number of younger individuals are needed to assist in the herding activities. Smaller children will learn from being with the older members of the next age set. Younger children usually undertake the herding of sheep and goats. As it is usually larger cattle that are temporarily translocated during the dry and drought periods, the younger children will remain at the boma: and assume the responsibility of herding the sheep and goats. The loss of well-watered rangeland through biodiversity conservation, namely the creation of the MMNR, which resulted in the loss of approximately 900 square miles of dry 104 season grazing land, immigration of other ethnic groups (primarily farming communities) and European settlement has resulted in the Maasai adopting mixed farming as a form of diversification. The division of group ranches into individual ranches accelerates this diversification. These individual ranches are leased out to other Maasai or immigrant groups. Sindiga (1996) suggests that the pastoralists’ transition to mixed farming will affect fertility. “The traditional diet of milk, meat and blood will be modified to include ugali (maize meal), potatoes, vegetables, and even tea. Even where these crops cannot be grown on account of harsh environmental conditions, sedenterization itself will ensure trade connectivity with wetter areas and make these foods available at the marketplace” (85). 4.5.4. Economic Needs and Markets While population growth may be high in Narok district there has been a significant lack of sustainable economic development. In an effort to foster their own forms of economic development, the Maasai have related their traditional livestock herding activities with the opportunities to exploit contemporary economic needs and markets on the national scene. Within the national context, livestock contributes to approximately 38% of the total agricultural output in Kenya (FAO 1998). A significant amount of the livestock is reared in arid and semi-arid lands, particularly the Maasai livestock herded in the Narok and Kajiado districts. The various government initiatives in harvesting livestock products after independence in Kenya have already been highlighted in section 2.4.2.3. The impacts of these initiatives, such as the African livestock marketing organization, and the national livestock development policy have differed over time and the impact on livestock herding 105 activities has varied from place to place. In this section, I highlight how the collapse of formal marketing schemes has led to the development of informal markets and their relationship to the traditional herding activities of the Maasai in the Talek area. To restate, one of the main aims of pastoralists is capital accumulation8 (Evangelou 1984) through the sale, or trading of livestock at formal and informal markets and among other members of Maasai society. Because of the climatic variability and the seasonal nature of livestock markets, which corresponds to the general health of the livestock (Holtzman and Kulibaba 1995), the Maasai have related livestock herding to market prices. The development of the informal marketing structures arose after the collapse of government sponsored livestock marketing and production schemes such as the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) and the Kenya Livestock Development Project (KLDP). Informal markets have since arisen in the Narok town center (which is the district headquarters of the Narok district) and in a suburb of Nairobi known as Dagoretti. These markets are filled on a weekly or a bi-weekly basis. In Narok, I was able to observe that there are large trucks, which for a fee may be rented to transport livestock to Nairobi. I also found that there are buyers who arrive from urban areas to purchase the livestock in both Dagoretti and Talek. From holding conversations with herders who were taking their livestock to sell in Narok and Dagoretti, I was able to determine that the travel time from the Talek area to Narok town center is about a two day walk with the livestock, and approximately 4-5 days time between Talek and Dagoretti. The discussions with the herders who were selling their livestock also stated that there is vehicular transport to Nairobi available for families that are wealthy enough to pay 8 Recall that the means of capital accumulation have previously been defined in section 2.3.1 under ‘Access to Livestock Markets’ and also discussed in section 2.4.2.3. ‘Economic Needs and Markets’. 106 for this. In these instances it is usually families who have large bullsg that are taken to the markets. I was also able to find that transport between Talek and Narok town center is limited with most buyers and sellers choosing to make the overnight trek to Narok. Using information attained from the field interviews and field conversations I found that the presence of these informal markets has produced a sustained outlet for the sale of livestock and livestock products for the Maasai pastoralists. The rise of these markets has meant that the Maasai are able to expand on their methods of diversification as a way in which they supplement their income. The presence of markets has also meant that the Maasai will try and maintain large herd sizes so that they can sell healthier and stronger livestock at the markets to achieve a monetary income, while smaller calves as well as sheep and goats are maintained for subsistence. The responses received from the Maasai when asked whether they raised livestock for subsistence or commercially, or both, indicated that the larger livestock are equated to the savings account and are seldom sold unless the need arises such as when someone in the family is sick and money is needed to take them to hospitals or to purchase medicines, whereas sheep, goats and smaller calves are equated to a checking account and their sale or meat, milk and leather products are used for subsistence on a daily basis. This has differed from the traditional grazing strategies as the Maasai would tend to increase the numbers of the livestock in anticipation of ensuing losses from drought and or diseases. 9 Large bulls (males) usually fetch the highest prices at these markets. A single large bull will sell for as much as kshs 30,000 which is equivalent to approximately USD $384 107 4.5.5. Section Summary In this section I have presented information from the results of this study on how each of the socio-economic factors such as the spread of bush/ woodland and tsetse, park policy of the MMNR, demographic growth rates, and the economic needs and markets of the Maasai have contributed independently to traditional livestock herding activities in the Talek areas of the Narok district to produce contemporary herding strategies. I have also outlined some of the factors that are in—turn affecting the contemporary herding strategies. My findings indicate that the high costs of the trypanocides used to treat livestock against trypanosomosis has meant that the Maasai are only able to vaccinate larger livestock that fetch higher prices at the informal markets in Narok and Dagoretti markets. The formal market structures that were set up as part of the government’s initiatives to harness livestock produce as a sustainable form of development have also failed. The impromptu increase in informal markets has instead facilitated the marketing and distribution of livestock produce and the traditional reasons for maintaining the size of the livestock herd such as coping with losses incurred by drought or disease are now more a factor of high market prices and the economic base being measured in terms of monetary income. My findings also indicate that the Maasai are aware of the correlations between high or low market prices and climatic cycles. Finally, the Maasai view the MMNR as a positive resource as: (1) there are sufficient grazing and water resources inside the MMNR during the dry and drought periods, even though they fully acknowledge that this activity is illegal, and (2) limited monetary income through employment in tourist camps and lodges. In Figure 4.7. I diagrammatically illustrate how each of the socio—economic and biophysical factors that have been previously discussed follows a ‘braid of time’ as discussed by Campbell and Olson 1991a. Each of the biophysical and socio-economic factors are 108 listed along the y-axis and the time along the x-axis. This Figure is meant to provide a better understanding of the complexities within and among these various factors across time. 4.6. Synergy: Linking the Biophysical and Socio-Economic Factors The results that have been presented in the previous sections have maintained their structure with regard to the sub-headings contained within the socio-economic and biophysical factors. In this section, I would like to dissolve these structures so that we may begin to discuss the synergistic effects between: (1) the biophysical factors, (2) the socio- economic factors and (3) interactive effects between both the socio-economic and biophysical factors. By dissolving these barriers, we can begin to understand how the traditional livestock herding strategies have been altered to produce contemporary strategies observed in the Talek area. Figure 4.8. provides a conceptual diagram that illustrates these linkages. My results from the various techniques that I utilized for the study suggest that the effects of the tsetse fly on livestock herding activities are very important and have both spatial and temporal components to them. The spatial component is illustrated by the different wet and dry season grazing areas. The wet season grazing areas are usually closer to the boma: and the effects of the tsetse fly are not as intense as during the dry season. During the dry season the grazing areas are either near the upland areas such as the Il’baan Hills or inside the MMNR. The upland areas are vegetated with bushland and thereby harbor the tsetse fly, whereas portion of the MMNR have no tsetse fly and are an illegal grazing areas for the livestock. 109 BUS-[LAND / Due to ‘Rn nzvu’ Tim concentration , , g1 nwlhdia GramwtnchtheMMNR g_ . cmbuhdtn dcwlopmrt 9 Small pools-ts of Grassland to Bush ch tang sebum: ofbuh [’11 tutu inlowoz Mara Bmhhadcmvuion foxcdodal attic: 8 g DEMOGRAPHICS 5 . . . n. m-rnpahon of 3!] Stacy powlh fumu'nvntthm a “3% in oftb din-int O a ECONOMIC NEEDS/ An' ad C 11: d' MARKETS " ‘ ° P” , S C 1 . ”a“ ti & Gov‘t Initiative: ”ch 1: Ann of Infernal om ° 0““ run on Mulch at Narok Traditional sale 5 or trade of mat, mill: ALMO KLDP KMC and D qontfi and la nth r 220 (bots I POLICIES OF T" MM Ct.¢m Of .0.................................................. MMNR M .1 MMNR ..................... J G“: . mm 11 Border Re Lossofqnsquafiy Chm: 5““ uuongznm; lands CLlhrI ATIC VARlABle’ 1310'».th TSETSE FLY Tsetse along nvem m u Developrmrt of Bushland due _ md m upland “1 u to disease (undezpe it) R‘Fnd 9pm ‘d '3" tsetse fly 03 I; WILDEBE esr 13 mllxon LE “Wildebeest numb: rs 1,2 nullicn / '5' prior to 1960 < few- H Unknown _—--"'-- V : 2130,1301] _,_,—- 9UU,UUU fl 3 ROLE or 3 THE F n 1; kn hi d d MIMNR resent: INT '- J} ‘11 m _ erilife suchu bushbucks and I3 ”'1 T3959 1mm”! Mum dry season wuflwg, Insxcb the Posse Plum new land I l l I l I I 1930 1943 1950 1960 1970 1980 19% 2000 YEARS Figure 4.7: A Braid of Time of the Narok District, Kenya This diagram has been drawn following Campbell 1998: 290 110 Figure 4.8: The Interactive ‘Synergistic’ Effects of the Socio-Economic and Biophysical Components of the Traditional Livestock Herding Systems of Maasai Pastoralists BUS HLAND/ 'I'SE‘I‘SE \EJ’ILDFRFTFST DEMO- GRAPHIC CHANGES CL! M AT] (3 A TSE'I‘SE THE ROLE OPTHE MMNR —-> SOCIO- ECONOMIC COMPONENT THF. ROLE OF THE M MNR KEY VARI A BILI'I'Y ECONOMIC NEEDS/ BIO-PHYSICAL COMPONENT The effects of the tsetse also have a distinct temporal component to them. Although the effects of the tsetse fly are felt all year around, they are intensified during the dry and 111 drought seasons when the cattle are forced into the upland areas, making them more susceptible to trypanosomosis. When I examined the effects of the tsetse fly, in a historical context, by relying on scientific literatures, I found that the Maasai have always had to cope with the effects of the tsetse fly (both human and animal trypanosomosis - sleeping sickness) from the 1960’s onwards when there was the development of bush and woodland after the recovery from the rinderpest epidemic (approximately 1930’s). The availability of pasture and water resources in previous years had been less constrained and the movement to dry season grazing areas was less limited than it is presently. Hence the effects of the tsetse were not as severe as they are today. By examining the literatures on wildebeest and their effects as well as through my own fieldwork by conducting interviews and holding informal conversations, I was able to find that the increase in the number of wildebeest within the Mara ecosystem has resulted in the Maasai altering their grazing areas because of the fear of the spread of Malignant Catarrhal Fever (MCF) and other diseases that can be transmitted to the Maasai livestock. By conducting group and individual interviews I found that the Maasai are dissatisfied that the wildebeest are able to graze both inside and graze outside the park in the dry season. This limits the Maasai livestock dry season grazing areas on the plains areas. The period during which the wildebeest are at their greatest numbers in the MMNR is during the annual migration period (lune to approximately September), which is also approximately the same time period that the Maasai begin to feel the effects of the drought and generally move into areas of higher elevation that have greater rainfall. My findings also show that it is in these areas of higher elevation that have dense bushland that tsetse flies are most common. I 112 have found that the Maasai herders will knowingly take their livestock into these tsetse prone areas, as there is limited forage and water resource available in other areas. To counter the increased rate of infections from trypanosomosis, I found that the Maasai have resorted to purchasing trypanocides from the Talek trading post located at the Talek gate entrance of the MMNR. Interviews with the retailers of the trypanocides, indicated that the recent increase in the cost of trypanocides has resulted in the Maasai inability to purchase trypanocides and thereby vaccinate their livestock herds against trypanosomosis. The Maasai herders are only able to vaccinate livestock that are strong, healthy and able to attract higher pries at the markets in either Narok or Dagoretti. Through the various filed techniques I determined that as a result of combined effects of the lack of adequate livestock markets at or near the Talek area, the effects of the tsetse, restricted dry season grazing access due to the creation of the MMNR, and the increased presence of wildebeest during the migration period (itself a product of the eradication of rinderpest and increased rainfall), the Maasai have resorted to grazing their livestock inside the MMNR as the socio-economic and biophysical factors that affect the herding of their livestock are of a lesser intensity within the Reserves boundaries that outside the Reserve. The creation of the protected conservation area that would eventually become the Maasai Mara National Reserve has today resulted in the concentration of environmental resources that are viewed by many Maasai as the resources that they lack for their pastoral modes of survival and are within sight, but inaccessible to them, on land that is essentially theirs. The demarcation of the Reserve’s boundaries did not take into consideration the Maasai dry season grazing range and the associated effects of wildebeest and other native 113 game migration routes that go between both the protected areas and areas of Maasai settlement. The circumstances that I document in the Talek area of the Narok district are similar to the circumstances in Amboseli National Park located in the neighboring Kajiado district. These conditions have been extensively described by Western 1982a, 1994, 1997, 2001 Smith 1986, Lindsay 1987, Talbot and Olindo 1991 among others. However, unlike Amboseli, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is administered by the local government authority — The Narok County Council (Leakey 2001, Wilson 1987). The management of this conservation area is a critical point of contention as the conservation of the local government authority are very different from those of the national government, through the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Within the last few decades, the Maasai of the Talek region have had to cope with additional environmental stresses such as the shorter time interval between drought and flooding events, and disease epidemics. These environmental stresses coupled with socio— economic stresses such as the lack of adequate markets, high rates of population growth, the subdivision of land from group ranches to individual ranches, and policies of restriction against utilizing the MMNR as an environmental resource have led to the negative image of protected conservation areas. Many previous studies have demonstrated the effects of the local population on various protected conservation areas across Africa (Anderson, D. and Grove, H. 1987, Kiss, A. 1990), Kenya (Medley 1993) and even the Narok district (Serneels and Lambin 2001a). This study has provided insight into the reverse effects, that is, the role of the protected conservation areas on the resource strategies of the local population. 114 The results of this study illustrate that while the Maasai have attempted to diversify by temporarily translocating to the Trans-Mara District where there is year-round precipitation during the months when the environmental stresses are high, there are additional obstacles that need to be overcome. The greener areas of the Trans—Mara District are also attracting agriculturalists such as the Kisii tribe. As a result ethnic conflicts are taking place between agriculturalists and pastoralists for land. These conflicts have been reported within sections of the Kenyan press (East African Newspaper 2001). 4.7. Chapter Summary In this section I have summarized the main results from the field study period. Both the results from the socio-economic and biophysical perspectives suggest that there is a complex set of determining factors that influence the traditional livestock herding activities of the Maasai. The biophysical circumstances that influence the herding activities have been the product of varying tsetse control programs (or lack thereof) that have been human induced. However, there have been land cover changes within the greater Mara ecosystem that are strongly influenced by the interactions of disease, game and precipitation. The land cover changes that have taken place in the Mara are not without human interference, although the degree to which humans have modified the ecosystem is debatable. The interactions between the biophysical factors, much like the socio-economic conditions are centered on the MMNR. The socio-economic circumstances that lead to livestock herding activities are also linked to the biophysical conditions, but the differentiating factor is the influence of national and international priorities and policies. The collapse of meat and leather marketing schemes 115 and the government’s lack of involvement with tsetse control in areas which are less severe than the rest of Kenya has led to the continued neglect thus resulting in the concentration of forces in one small area. The combined effects of both the socio—economic and biophysical factors are affecting livestock herding activities beyond the traditional constraints that the Maasai have faced. 116 CHAPTER V Discussion 5.1. Introduction In this chapter, I will link the results of the data that I have presented in the previous chapter to the broader body of knowledge that I have presented in Chapter II as part of the review of related literature. This chapter will: (1) draw comparisons to other studies that have examined similar concerns but utilizing different conceptual frameworks, and (2) relate the results to the political ecology framework linking the results of the study to national, regional and international scales. Finally, I will summarize the chapter re-emphasizing the main points of discussion. 5.2. Comparison to other studies In this section, I will relate the results of this study to some of the recent studies, by geographers and landscape ecologists that have examined the traditional livestock herding activities in sub-Saharan Africa. Most studies have either concentrated in the Sahelian West Africa, or the arid and semi-arid lands of East Africa. Bassett (1986) illustrates the patterns of Fulani pastoralist herd movements in southern Mali, Burkina F aso and northern Ivory Coast. Turner (1999 a, b, c, 2002) provides similar examples from Niger that have highlighted how the livestock of Fulbe pastoralists and park managers come into conflict over access to environmental resources found within protected conservation areas. Finally, Coppollilo (2000) provides insight into understanding the landscape scale patterns of agro- pastoralists livestock herding using a landscape ecology perspective in Western Tanzania. Bassett provides example of purely pastoralist tribes, while Coppolillo and Turner address livestock herding activities related to largely agro-pastoral groups. The differences 117 between these two groups are large enough to support significant differences in the livestock herding practices between the two. However, in areas where there is sufficient precipitation to support both agricultural and animal husbandry activities an integrated perspective becomes crucial. The results that each of these authors draw from their research are compared and contrasted against my findings from the Talek area of the Narok district, Kenya. The results of Bassett’s study reveal that the factors affecting livestock herding activities of Fulani pastoralists are very similar to the constraints faced by the Maasai of the Talek area. Bassett notes that movement of the zebu cattle herds are influenced by (1) effects of prolonged drought, (2) a tsetse fly infested zone that restricted movement, and (3) the availability (or lack thereof) veterinary facilities. He suggests “the frequent movement of the (livestock) herds (between Burkina Faso, southern Mali, and northern Ivory Coast) constitutes. . .a managerial practice that helps ensure the health of the animals as well as the viability of the pastoral household (Bassett 1986: 234). Bassett’s observations that tsetse flies restrict the movement of livestock are similar to what I was able to find in the Talek area of the Narok district. My results indicate that the densities of tsetse flies limit grazing and water resources and that the influences of tsetse fly have both spatial and temporal contexts to them. However, unlike this study, some of the additional factors that influence herd movements such as the interactions or conflicts with herders that take place in West Africa are not experienced by the Maasai of the Talek region, but are experienced by the Maasai in the Kajiado district and has been detailed by Campbell et al. (2001). Bassett also suggests that the movements of livestock in West Africa are not hindered by external employment factors. In comparison, the results that I found indicate 118 that increase in the numbers of tourist camps and lodges within and immediately outside the MMNR has resulted in older Maasai (primarily males) seeking monetary employment. As a result long-term pastoral movements may be hindered because of their monetary employment commitments. However, the Maasai of the Talek region may ask their kin to undertake these activities, especially during the dry and drought seasons when the livestock are moved to the Trans-Mara regions of Lolgorian and Kilgoris. Bassett’s study illustrates that the primary livestock movements are in response to the availability of forage and water resources. However, these movements are constrained by cultivator tribes, whereby conflicts over crop damage undermine the relationships between herders and farmers. My findings indicate that the Maasai of the Talek area are facing similar conflicts with the Kisii agriculturalists, but only when the Maasai have to undertake the temporary translocation to Trans-Mara in the dry and drought periods. This movement is precipitated by the lack of dry season grazing land and pasture, which is a result of the resource utilization from migrating wildebeest and other ungulates such as zebras, and the effects of the tsetse fly in upland areas that contain greater moisture, but are also densely vegetated which bushland which harbors the tsetse fly. Turner’s research in Niger has specifically focused on the Fulbe pastoralists and their conflicts with the manager of National Park ’W’ in southwestern Niger. The problems faced in National Park W’ are similar to those faced in the MMNR in Kenya, where there are frequent incursions by pastoralists and their livestock herds into protected conservation areas. Further, in both areas there are fines that are levied for grazing livestock inside the protected area. However, unlike my findings from the MMNR, Turner’s research finds that the movement into these protected conservation areas is promoted by lack of pastureland due to increasing levels of state sponsored cultivation (Thompson 1998). Although this is 119 not the case in the Talek area, there has been a significant increase in the amount of wheat farming in the wetter regions of the Narok district (Serneels, Said and Lambin 2002, Serneels and Lambin 2001b) — see Figure 5.1. There are similarities between Tumer’s results, and the results of Bassett’s study. The availability of pasture governed by precipitation and the annual dry and wet seasons affects the herding radius in both these regions. Turner notes that: “the pattern of herd mobility ... has been very diverse varying between three poles: (1) truly sedentary management (herd within 5 km of the village year round); (2) local circuits between key pastoral resources found within a 20km radius of the village; (3) more pronounced north to south transhumance movement during the early rainy season” (Turner, M. 1999b: 352). Figure 5.1. Wheat farming in the wetter regions of the Narok district, Kenya — Image in Black and White (Photo by author) 120 This is similar to my findings from the Talek area, as I was able to determine that male beef cattle and female milk cows have a herd radius of 3 and 4—kilometers in the wet season. This range is extended in the dry and drought seasons to between 15 and 20 kilometers daily. Sheep and goats maintain roughly the same herding distance of between 2 and 3 kilometers in the wet and a maximum of 4 kilometers in the dry and drought seasons. Similarly, I also found that during the prolonged dry and drought periods, there is a temporary translocation from the original boma: to wetter areas such as Lolgorian and Trans- Mara where there is more reliable precipitation due to orographic precipitation. There are differences between the systems of political control and authority between the Fulbe that Turner studied and the Maasai of the Talek that I examined. These differences are critical to note as livestock movements of the Fulbe have been organized “under the leadership of indigenous authorities, answerable to regional political leaders” (Turner, M. 1999b). The Maasai, on the other hand, lack a central authority figure as Maasai society is structured as “a united though not homogenous group” (Sankan, [1971] 1995: vii also see Kituyi 1985: 6-8). As access to environmental and social resources diminishes within pastoral areas, pastoral groups will begin to utilize resources that have been protected such as national parks and national reserves. Turner finds that, while protected conservation areas are heralded as conflict free zones that promote the conservation of indigenous flora and fauna, the reality, both within and around National Park W’, is that these areas are centers of conflict. From the results of my study around the MMNR, I suggest that the same is true, as I was able to document that a large number of the Maasai pastoralists I interviewed acknowledged that they utilized the MMN R as a dry season grazing resource, as there is 121 adequate grazing land inside the MMNR and the effects of the tsetse fly are less severe inside the MMNR than in the bushland areas, which is the alternate dry season grazing area. One way that these conflicts may be reduced is through the promotion of participatory approaches to conservation. (Western et al. 1994, Western et al. 1989 and Brandon et al. 1998). Turner notes that: “a major impediment to the effectiveness of such programs (participatory approaches to conservation) is how conservationists conceptualize the logics, constraints, and spatial scales associated with the production practices of rural inhabitants that may cross protected perimeters” (Turner, M. 1999b: 345). The problems of conceptualization faced in National Park ‘W’ are similar to those faced in the MMNR. An understanding of the livestock geography associated with the Maasai pastoralists must go hand—hand with the conservation priorities of these areas. During the study area, I was unable to document any significant community conservation programs that were being undertaken. Coppollilo (2000) presents the results of a study that examined the livestock herding activities of the Sukuma agro-pastoralists in Tanzania. This study utilized landscape ecology to examine two different components. The first describes the effects of labor availability, cultivation practices, herd size, water availability, settlement density and the distribution of grazing around herding households (50mm). The second component examines how the distance traveled from the household affect milk yields and the animals body condition. By relying on a landscape ecology approach the author only concentrates on the landscape scale patterns and ecological processes, discounting the varied synergistic effects of both the biophysical and socio-economic dimensions of the region. 122 Coppollilo’s study finds that there is a lack of a relationship between labor, cultivation and herding. However, the results that Coppollilo presents are related to the 42217 berdz'ng practices of livestock. By holding various interviews, holding field conversations, and undertaking field walks, I was able to determine that labor is a critical component within the regional herding activities of the Maasai pastoralist livestock within and around the Talek area. As the Sukuma are an agro-pastoral group their range of movement is partly restricted because of the sedentary activities of raising crops, whereas I was able to find that the movement of the Maasai is less restricted, although Maasai who are employed through tourist camps and lodges are fled to their monetary employment. Coppollilo’s study also suggests that the density of other livestock rearing settlements affects the herding radius. The notion behind this statement is that “more settlements (and more cattle) could deplete grazing resources and force herds to travel farther to find suitable forage” (Coppollilo 2000: 543). Within the context of the Talek region, this is particularly important, as I was able to find that during the wet season livestock are herded closer to the boma, whereas in the dry season this range is extended, or there is movement into the park, or in some instances a total translocated to wetter areas such as Lolgorian and Trans-Mara. Since there is no time series data on the changes in the number of boma: within the study area, a determination of the change in the number of boma: is not yet possible. My study also finds that the Maasai will graze their livestock based on the needs of each particular type of livestock and also dependent upon whether they have kin in neighboring boma: that might be able to help collectively graze the livestock. As with the results that I was able to determine from the Talek area and West Africa (Bassett 1986, and Turner, M. 1999b), livestock grazing within the Rukwa valley of Tanzania is primarily driven by the availability of water and forage resources. The milk yields from the 123 cattle were significantly affected by travel further away from the household. These results are consistent with the results from the field interviews that I conducted in the Talek area, where herders suggested that the milk yields are higher in the months of March and April as there is adequate forage available. Milk yields are lowest in September and October as this is typically when there is very low precipitation and there is very limited grazing resource (see Figure 2.5 and Table 4.4). The model that Coppollilo has presented partially obscures significant additional factors that affect livestock grazing activities of pastoralists. The role of the state in promoting cultivation as demonstrated by Turner (1999b) and the influence of the nearby Katavi National Park in Tanzania have been overlooked. The historical process of land use / land cover change, which have been induced by diseases, demographic growth, and climatic variability, access to livestock markets, and tourism alternatives, that I have presented from the Mara provide an alternative view that incorporates the political ecology paradigm instead of the landscape ecology framework that was presented by Coppollilo (2000). All these studies have demonstrated how various socio-economic and biophysical factors have affected the traditional livestock herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists. Different studies have incorporated differing units of both spatial and temporal scales providing insight into the historical processes of livestock herding activities. The political ecology framework that has been suggested by Blaikie 1994, Blaikie and Brookfield 1987, Campbell 1998, Campbell et al. 2001, Zimmerer and Young 1998 incorporates the ideals of an integrated and holistic perspective on livestock herding activities within sub-Saharan Africa. 124 5.3. Seasonal Livestock Herding as a Political Ecology Perspective While the evolution of thought on political ecology, as a framework for investigating the relationships between nature and society, has already been described in detail in section 2.5. , I would now like to suggest how the results of this study feed back into the framework. I stress the important components of a political ecology framework, and note the important linkages between the components that are essential to the framework. Re-examining the accepted definition of political ecology as, combining the interests of a broadly based political economy and ecology, whereby political economy may be translated to the concerns that the state plays in lending power to dominant groups and classes and the ecology is interpreted as a combination of biogeography and epizootic disease ecology. Within the study area, the role of the state has come through the form of government marketing policies and livestock development programs that have failed as quickly as they had evolved. The role of the state is also incorporated through the promotion of large-scale wheat cultivation in the northern part of the Narok district. This has resulted in the Maasai who have broken away from the traditional group ranching system into individual ranching, whereby there is the leasing of Maasai land to non-Maasai in order to farm wheat. The role of state has also been interpreted through the management of the Maasai Mara National Reserve by the local government administration, the Narok County Council. Although the Maasai Mara National Reserve is supposed to be run for the benefit of the local, by the local people, the reality is that the Narok County Council is viewed negatively because of the lack of resources that the Maasai face, not only through grazing and water resources, but in the lack of basic health care and inadequate development infrastructure such as roads, bridges and veterinary facilities for their livestock such as dips (Kituyi 1985). My findings indicate that the MMNR resent the imposition of park boundaries that results in lack of dry season grazing resources. My findings suggest that two interactive forces are influencing the herding strategies of the Maasai pastoralists to result in the utilization of the MMNR as a dry season grazing resource: (1) the increased effects of the tsetse fly in upland areas that are vegetated by bushland, and the increased cost of trypanocides, and (2) the lack of enforcement by the park authorities. To assess the importance of the different factors affecting livestock herding activities of the Maasai in the Talek area, I turn to the political ecology framework. By re-examining the linkages between the economic, environmental, political, and socio-cultural attributes, I assess the problems being observed in the Mara from a holistic yet integrated perspective. This can be best described by the Kite Framework for environment and development conceived by Campbell and Olson (1991a) -— see figure 5.2. The role of the state can be conceptualized as power within the context of the Kite framework, which is represented by the wind that flies the Kite. Power as noted by Campbell and Olson (1991a): “must be addressed in the use of the Kite to understand past interactions, such as who maintained control of what resources and how that pattern evolved. Analysis of alternative policy scenarios must follow up on this understanding to determine not only if the existing power structure would support a proposed policy, but to what power-altering effects that policy would have in the long term” (19-20). 126 Political \ ~. \ Social/ GLOBAL . Cultural ¢ ‘ > ECOI'IOITHC \ . 1 Environmental \ .. -' /. \ / \ / , ’x ’ \ Political .. ,. ’ \ ’ \ _ ', t 1 Social/ Economic ' Cultural { I ¢ 1 I. I Environmental - - I ‘ / .’ \ \ / ’ \ / l \ / l \ ,1 ’ s \. . ’ \ ‘\ Polllncal Cstlflcfirazll \ //1 ECOnomic Environmental , \/i_,/’y~\)<‘\ ..(l‘y’l ‘x)(: Th':':’ /4\ “bf—(k :3/477 ‘3 overtime Figure 5.2. The Kite Framework for Environment and Development (Campbell and Olson 1991: 18) 127 Within the Talek area, I have demonstrated that there has been little sustained policy on promoting livestock development in the area and the district as a whole. The power variable is also connected with the economic variable. The economic variable for the state may be interpreted as the rise and collapse of the formal marketing system that the Maasai utilize for the sale or trade of their livestock. As a result informal market structures have arisen to cater for the sale of livestock by pastoralist populations. As a result the power variable has undergone significant shifts in the prominence that it plays to Maasai society and has undergone a change in its form from a formal structure to an informal structure. The combined effects of the power, politics and the economic variables may be directly referred back to the definitions of a political economy. The policies (or lack thereof) associated with the (re)emergence of bush/ woodland in the Narok district are directly associated with the governmental policies of trypanosomosis control, limiting the grazing and water resources available for the livestock at the present time. The socio-cultural variables that are associated with the Maasai have also changed as a result of the changing political, economic, and environmental resources. The increase in the numbers of tourists within and around the MMNR has consequently led to an increase in the numbers of tourist camps and lodges. My findings suggest that Maasai who have engaged in this monetary employment have subsidized the cost of treating their livestock by purchasing trypanocides and other medication to treat livestock diseases and are somewhat tied to their boma: because of this monetary employment. The degree to which employment in tourist camp and lodges affects the sedenterization of the Maasai is yet to be studied. The final element of the Kite framework, time, is critical to understanding not only the past patterns, flows, and interactions between these variable, but also to understand the 128 future directions that will further limit (or expand) on the factors that influence seasonal livestock herding strategies. Campbell and Olson (1991a) note: “Patterns of interaction exist not only over space but through time. The outcomes of induced change in social, political, or economic conditions are recognized to involve both an interaction between them, a synergism and an occurrence of time-lags, such that the full impact of interactions may only become evident over a longer period of time” (Campbell and Olson 1991a: 20). This analysis is crucial when examining the trends in the precipitation analysis of the district, or the recent increase in the numbers of the migratory wildebeest. As Campbell and Olson (1991a) note the “patterns of interaction exist. . .through time in both synchronic and diachronic contexts. Analysis of interactions at any one time provides evidence of the nature and relative intensity of flows between components of the Kite at that time. This synchronic analysis does not however, allow the discussion of change through time. A diachronic perspective, ‘the braid of time’ is required to determine the long-term pattern of interaction” (20). However, such analysis may be limited by the lack of data to support hypothesized patterns of interaction. In the case of the Talek area, there is sufficient evidence from the ecological literature, through aerial monitoring of wildebeest to support claims by the Maasai that their dry season grazing lands have been taken up by the large numbers of migratory wildebeest (Muriuki and Mulama 1997, Muriuki et a/ 2000, Serneels and Lambin 2001a). 5.4. The Scale Issue in Political Ecology The Kite Framework (Campbell and Olson 1991a) and the Chain of Explanation (Blaikie 1994) are both examples of the heuristic approaches to investigating the linkages between natural and societal systems. However, a critical issue within political ecology is the 129 issue of scale. How might the relative patterns, processes and flows and interactions change over time, space and scale? The Kite framework suggests that: “the interactions between areas or scales are not limited to one sector; environmental change can influence economic outcomes and political decisions can alter social conditions. Interactions are not therefore unilinear but rather form a spiral of interconnected impulses” (Campbell and Olson 1991a: 17). It is for this reason that I have chosen to describe the relative magnitudes of importance that the various socio-economic and biophysical factors that affect the traditional livestock herding strategies in the Talek area at each of the scales (local, national/ regional and international). 5.4.1. The Local Scale The results of my study find that the influences on the traditional livestock strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek area are a combination of the socio-economic and biophysical factors. The most important factor that influences the traditional herding strategies of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek area, that I was able to determine at the local scale are the biophysical effects of the tsetse fly and the transmission of human and animal trypanosomosis and the climatic variability. The effects of the tsetse fly along with the effects of the wildebeest are resulting in limiting grazing resources especially during the dry and drought periods. The density of the tsetse is intensified in the dry season when there are low amounts of precipitation and the livestock are forced into upland areas which are densely vegetated, and that harbor tsetse fly. In addition, this is the same time period when the annual wildebeest migration takes place 130 (Serneels and Lambin 2001a, Dublin 1995). During this period, the Maasai are motivated to take their livestock into the MMNR for grazing and water resources as these factors have a lesser intensity inside the reserve than outside. Hence, there is a great deal of temporal variation in the intensity of the factors affecting livestock herding activities. Other less important factors that influence the traditional herding practices of Maasai pastoralists in the Talek area, though still notable include: the lack of land through the sub- division of and from group ranches to individual ranches all have an effect on the livestock herding strategies, the increase in the human population (Sindiga 1996), and in addition the effects of the colonial policies placed on the Maasai people are still felt today such as the loss of 900 sq. miles of dry season grazing areas that were taken away from the Maasai for the creation of what is today the Maasai Mara National Reserve. 5.4.2. The National/ Regional Scale The most important biophysical factor that influences traditional livestock herding strategies in the Talek area is the effect of climatic vadability. Several multi and bi—lateral donor agencies as well as government departments that have begun to fund studies into the variability of climate on the pastoralists and arid and semi-arid lands in particular (DMCN 2001) Additionally, various socio-economic factors affect the traditional livestock herding activities of Maasai pastoralists at the national/ regional level. These include the high rates of demographic growth within Maasai land. These high rates of population growth are of concern to the national government as the government is trying to reduce population growth rates. The economic needs and markets of the Maasai have been ignored following the collapse of government initiatives such as the KLDP (Evangelou 1984), although as in the 131 section on the local scale there is some evidence to suggest that the government will privatize the Kenya Meat Commission, thereby enabling a secure and sustainable market for livestock produce (Daily Nation 2001), although there is no evidence that the Maasai have suffered from a lack of markets. Instead they have started to sell their livestock at informal markets in Narok town and Dagoretti. The region as a whole is beginning (once again) to bring the value of livestock production in Maasai land back into the Governments Ministry of Agriculture priority agenda (GoK 2001). At the national/ regional scale, the effects of the tsetse fly and trypanosomosis are less important. However, initiatives such as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Program Against African Trypanosomosis (PAAT) have mandated research and development programs that seek to combat African trypanosomosis on the continental scale (FAO 2002). 5.4.3. The International Scale Wildlife conservation is perhaps the most important component that draws support at both the national/ regional and the international scales. Hence the economic importance for the wildebeest is large as it draws large number of tourists from around the world to witness the ‘Great Migration’. Nationally, the generation of foreign exchange through tourist ventures in Kenya accounts for approximately 23 billion Kenya shillings (approx. USD$ 287 Million) (East African Standard 2002). The other socio-economic and biophysical factors are affected less by international processes. However, programs such as Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) initiated by the Bretton Woods Institutions with the assistance of the Government of Kenya, have implications that eventually funnel down to the local level and even affect the traditional 132 livestock herding strategies. Examples of such programs include the decline in veterinary services, roads, education, and marketing strategies. The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) prepared by the Government of Kenya recognizes that a major characteristic of the poor in Kenya is landlessness and a lack of education. The PRSP notes that: “The poor are clustered in certain socio-economic categories that include small farmers, pastoralists in arid and semi-arid lands. . .certain occupations such as pastoralists (60% poor) have a higher average incidence of poverty. This pattern can be partly attributed to the differences in the fertility of land and the affordability of inputs to improve productivity. For livestock, cultural factors and the lack of high- 9 grade stock and poor access to markets could account for low sales among the poor’ (60K 2000: 34). While most herders that I interviewed explicitly addresses proximate influences or decisions about grazing patterns, they less directly recognized that exogenous forced, such as tourism, government investment in services and infrastructure also affected them. The fact that day to day decisions that had to be made regarding access to resources dominated the discussions should not detract from the analysis of the importance of such exogenous pIOCCSSCS. 5.5. Chapter Summary The chapter has taken the socio-economic and biophysical factors affecting livestock herding activities in the Talek area of the Narok district and placed these back into the political ecology framework and contrasted these factors against the central elements as 133 envisioned through the Kite framework for environment and development (Campbell and Olson 1991a). This chapter has separated out the different scales of analysis and attempted to suggest how the relative levels of importance for the different socio-economic and biophysical factors change from the local scale to the national/ regional and international scales. The interactive effects of the socio-economic and biophysical factors that were presented at the end of the last chapter (section 4.6.) have been contextualized to these different scales. 134 CHAPTER VI Conclusions 6.1. Discourses on Political Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development This study has shown the complexities of the individual and interactive components of the socio-economic and biophysical systems found within the Talek area of the Narok district, Kenya. I have shown, by using the political ecology framework, how the T. modification of natural environments is carried out by human systems and have stressed on the reasons for these modifications. The political ecology framework used in this research 17_, has highlighted how power relations at each scale have shaped the opportunities and constraints by which local people are able to utilize (and gain access to) environmental resources. Why might an investigation into the seasonal factors affecting livestock herding activities be important in rural areas of arid and semi-arid lands be important? As Bassett suggests, “understanding why herd owners move their animals from place to place is crucial for the success of any development projects that seeks to modify managerial practices” (Bassett 1986: 238). Additionally, investigations that seek to understand the factors affecting herd movements of pastoral populations, especially in areas that have abundant wildlife resources, will allow conservation managers and pastoralists themselves to mitigate and adapt to changing environmental resources. As national and local governments’ priorities towards pastoralists change over time, information on herd movements will facilitate in alleviating some of the stresses that pastoralists face. This may be achieved by conducting participatory approaches with 135 pastoralists so that the development of various infrastructure projects that the government recommends as part of their district development reports can be undertaken. One of the problems faced when examining livestock herd movements in arid and semi—arid lands is the lack of adequate time series data. The Kite framework notes the importance of time, and the way in which the temporal components are analyzed, either as synchronic and diachronic modes (Campbell and Olson 1991a). The lack of time series data on livestock movements, make this analysis more synchronic than diachronic. Although I did not utilize any modern geographic technologies such as GIS, GPS and remote sensing, should be incorporated in future studies to assist in the interpretation and analysis of environmental change phenomena (T oxopeus et al. 1994, Herlocker et al. 1994). Studies incorporating these exercises have been undertaken by Galvin et al. 2001, little at al. 2001, and Lawrence, 1997 among others. Through my study, I have found that the Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) forms the nexus of the Maasai discontent over the utilization of environmental resources. Increased livestock grazing inside the MMNR is worrying conservationists. Livestock grazing activities inside the MMNR are intensified during the dry and drought periods and usually takes place immediately inside the MMNR border (such as the Possee plains) and not for the MMNR as a whole. Although the borders of the MMNR have been modified so that the Maasai can gain access to perennial rivers as the primary water resource, these border modifications have essentially acted as ‘the foot in the door’ by gaining easier access to the grazing resources found inside the park. A lesser intensity of tsetse fly in the park than outside and a shorter grazing distance to the MMNR has made it a more favorable grazing area, than the traditional areas found outside the MMNR. 136 The interactions between livestock and wildebeest have traditionally centered on the transmission of epizootic diseases (Bourn and Blench 1999). Within the Mara, the presence of large numbers of wildebeest in the dry season has resulted in greater numbers of wildebeest grazing both inside and outside the MMNR, while the Maasai livestock are restricted to using areas only found outside the Reserve (Serneels and Lambin 2001). The antagonistic relationships between the Maasai and the wildebeest (represented by conservation interests) in and around the MMNR has been explored in some depth by Norton-Griffiths (1996). He suggests that: “both the Government of Kenya (GoK) and the Maasai have clear, legal and enforceable rights to the benefit streams from their land, the GoK to the MMNR and the Maasai to their group ranches. The Government of Kenya produces conservation on its land and, to some extent, on the Maasai’s land as well. To the consumers of conservation, namely the international community of eco-tourists and the vast array of users of the global commons, these actions of the Government of Kenya are perceived a pub/z'cgood. In contrast, conservation is perceived to be a pub/iv bad by the Maasai, for both its production and consumption greatly increases their costs of production and hinders their development” (1574). While Norton-Griffiths statements might be true of protected conservation areas that are managed by the National Government (through the Kenya Wildlife Service), this criticism refers to the Government of Kenya being directly involved with the MMNR, whereas in reality, the MMNR is run by the local Government administration (the Narok 137 County Council), whose conservation aims are far removed from the National Governments‘. The situation in the Talek region also gets at larger issues of wildlife and property rights in sub-Saharan Africa. Naughton-Treves (1999) presenting results from such a study in Toro, Western Uganda, has found that “within the conservation realm, property rights analysis typically focuses on land based, or landed property ng/m especially regarding the designation of private, public, or communal reserves owned and managed by small social groups are best defended from overexploitation by outsiders” (N aughton-Treves 1999: 312). Within the case of the Mara, these defenses are wrongly interpreted. These defenses are focused on suggesting the right way to conserve the natural environment, instead of incorporating them into the participatory approaches. These approaches are not without downfalls (N ewmark and Hough 2000, Western and Wright 1994), and new techniques of incorporating communities into conservation have yet to be tried and tested (Wilhusen et al. 2002, Brechin er al. 2002). The debates within the conservation sciences are lending themselves to the understanding of the social and political forces (both local and non-local) affecting biodiversity conservation. The conservationists, it seems, are beginning to discover the debates that have been inherent within the political/ cultural ecology framework for decades now. ‘ Norton-Griffiths suggests, “the property rights to the MMNR was vested in the Narok County Council (N CC) which is itself an institution of the Government of Kenya” (1196: 1559). However, the relationships between the NCC and the Government of Kenya are not harmonious within the context that Norton-Griffiths suggests. 138 The political ecology framework is now also being challenged to rework the conservation geographies and incorporate post-structural political ecology (Zimmerer 2000, Escobar 1996, 1998). One such way is to incorporate the notion of second nature. Second nature is the suggestion that nature-society hybrids, such as regulated land use and managed environments have resulted in a human-produced environment. In recent years there have been many different types of conservation territories that have invoked the ‘second nature’ approach, such as biosphere reserves (Batisse 1982, 1985), international peace parks (Zbicz and Green 1997), heritage sites (Batisse 1992), transboundary basin initiatives (Barnard at al. 1998), extractive resources, and co—management areas. Zimmerer (2000) suggests that these hybrid rich landscapes are part of the ‘second nature’ and that the politics and management of these areas requires a considerable re-working. The reasons for these reworking of conservation territories are illustrated by research that has shown that a “plethora of conservation abuses and injustices have resulted from territory making in today’s conservation boom” (Zimmerer 2000: 359). Additionally, Zimmerer highlights the present-day reliance on community-based conservation territories, which overlooks the power relations within communities. These power relations connect outside institutions that effectively shape the distributions and benefits of conservation programs. As a result, Zimmerer suggests “conservation territories should consider the areas that are worked as ‘second nature’ by the members of networked, multi-community social and political movements” (Zimmerer 2000: 359). In addition to reworking the conservation geographies (Zimmerer 2000), the political ecology framework needs to address the importance of stochastic events such as droughts and floods (Felling 1999), or disease epidemics (Mayer 1996) on both natural and human systems interactively and not separately as the case has been in the past. 139 This study has attempted to describe the etiology of the current herding activities of livestock in the Talek area of Narok district. By examining these etiologies through a breaking down of the root factors, (socio—economic and biophysical) an interactive assessment has been made to determine the areas of resource utilization and the changes of these resource patterns across both spatial and temporal scales as suggested by a political ecology framework. This framework has successfully facilitated the description of the observed phenomena. 6.2. Recommendations for Further Research H While there has been a significant amount of information on the Maasai and their animal husbandry activities, there have been relatively few attempts to integrate both the socio-economic and biophysical factors, which have affected the traditional livestock herding strategies. Recent studies have examined the livestock herding activities of pastoral populations in areas that have lower densities of wildlife populations and the associated effects of high volumes of tourist traffic. This study is lacking in quantitative data on the daily, monthly and seasonal movements of livestock in the Mara region. This has partially been due to the sensitive nature of collecting data at the fringe of the MMNR and the pastoralists knowledge of tracking livestock through the MMNR. A study into possible method(s) that may be employed to determine the levels of resource utilization, by pastoralists livestock inside the MMNR should also be addressed. This study has also shown that there is a great deal of misinterpretation on the conceptions of protected conservation areas. Within Kenya, there are National Parks, National Reserves, Forest Reserves and Private Game Sanctuaries. Each of these protected 140 conservation areas have different mandates and the levels of protection at each of these designates may differ, especially when the interest and resource strategies of the local population are also considered. Hence an investigation into the levels of protection for each of these protected conservation areas is considered and analyzed. Such a study should also be able to determine the proximate causes that have led to these disparities, noting the spatial and temporal variations that exist within them. Because large numbers of Maasai herders that I interviewed stated that the greatest factor that affected their livestock herding strategies were the impacts of the tsetse fly and trypanosomosis, I believe that an examination of these two issues calls for further research. This study has shown how the presence and densities of tsetse fly affect herd movements with seasonality. Previous historical studies have highlighted the social complexities associated with advance and retreat of the tsetse fly (Summarized in Bourn, Reid, et al. 2001). Additional research is therefore required to determine the extent to which tsetse flies and trypanosomosis affect herding activities by identifying and thereby mapping areas of tsetse infestations. This may then be expanded to integrate research efforts that have tried to curtail the effects of tsetse. Finally, further research on the integration of geomatics technologies that will link livestock herd movements with the availability of pasture and water resources within and around the MMNR should be explored. Such a study with not only assist in the validation and testing of integrated range ecology models, but would also assist pastoralists in trying to determine the appropriate areas and times that pastoralists are able to utilize. 141 6.3. Concluding Remarks My aim in this thesis has been to understand some of the historical and contemporary factors that have led to the seasonal herding practices of the Maasai livestock and present an analysis of these factors within a political ecology framework. I have attempted to understand both the local and non-local factors that have led to the marginalization of the Maasai, the efforts of conservationists in conserving the landscape (or lack thereof) and intermittent government involvement in promoting pastoral societies in order to harness livestock products for domestic and international consumption. In a quest to find possible solutions to the problems faced in and around the Mara area, I have surveyed the literature, people, and landscape. I hope that the reader will be able to appreciate the complexities instead of the sirnplicities of the Mara and its socio- environmental problems. M 170 mg ’ata miafa olemama Do not go into the wilderness without someone to remove the dust from your eyes. 142 APPENDICES 143 Appendix 1: Monthly and Annual Precipitation for the Narok District, Kenya 1914-2001 YEAR Jan Feb Mar Apr May jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Tot. Year 1914 93.2 48.5 221.5 51.3 140.2 6.9 26.7 59.2 19.8 0 75.9 3.3 746.5 1915 O 37.6 111 156.5 106.9 20.8 2.5 7.1 6.6 4.1 60.5 82.3 595.9 1916 119 129.3 129.5 115.1 160 15.7 0 27.7 47.2 47.2 4.8 25.9 821.8 1917 240 132.8 111.8 218.2 60.7 150.4 44.2 50 13 55.1 38.1 0 1114.1 1918 75.7 7.1 1.3 52.1 110.2 13.7 27.2 20.3 0 10.2 15.2 16.5 349.5 1919 13.5 168.4 135.4 244.3 57.9 12.7 34.3 16.3 37.6 59.7 38.4 42.9 861.4 1920 78.7 6.1 172.2 240.3 59.2 27.4 0 0 17 9.7 83.3 157.5 851.4 1921 21.1 123.2 5.3 27.7 76.2 34 26.4 30 6.1 40.6 73.4 8.9 472.9 1922 68.3 110.7 183.1 87.4 32.5 3 2.5 66 14.2 15.5 40.9 63.2 687.3 1923 20.3 109.2 89.4 229.9 292.9 0 O 2.5 10.7 62.5 4.6 48.3 870.3 1924 3 135.1 36.1 66.5 65 12.2 16.5 21.6 19.3 2.5 62.2 2.5 442.5 1925 261 73.7 82.8 10.7 36.6 41.9 46.7 1 16.5 10.9 238.3 117.9 937.6 1926 75.9 46.5 39.1 187.7 20.6 0 18.3 9.4 58.7 118 59.9 55.4 689.9 1927 88.9 28.4 140.5 97 22.1 0.3 2.5 40.4 19.8 14 23.4 72.6 549.9 1928 31 43.4 54.6 94.5 108 21.1 0 4.1 5.8 87.6 22.1 72.1 544.3 1929 26.2 3.6 64.3 97.3 135.1 2.5 59.2 15.5 10.2 5.1 30.2 79 528.2 1930 91.4 176.5 256 282.2 160.3 14.2 27.4 0.8 97 21.3 76.7 6.6 1210.4 1931 27.7 67.8 194.1 159.5 33 6.9 0 2.5 39.6 9.4 58.7 101.6 700.8 1932 11.9 15.7 140 137.7 47.8 9.9 19.6 7.4 10.9 17.8 49.3 120.4 588.4 1933 108 56.6 15.5 11.9 6.9 0 7.1 13 8.1 2 0.5 24.4 254.2 1934 6.6 107.2 43.7 69.9 41.1 24.9 6.1 4.6 9.7 9.7 18 39.6 381.1 1935 0.8 205.5 32 45.7 127.5 105.9 0 3 0 35.1 18 66.5 640 1936 61.9 82.3 101.4 119.9 82.3 24.7 15.3 17 18.4 26.7 52.3 54 656.2 1937 62 84.3 105.9 121.2 83.8 25.1 15.5 17 18.7 28.6 54 55.3 671.4 1938 64.2 84.9 108.2 133.3 85.3 26.1 15.5 17.3 18.8 28.8 55.8 55.6 693.8 1939 65.4 90 114 139.2 90.8 27.4 15.9 17.5 19.3 29 58.5 57.5 724.5 1940 30.2 131.1 146.8 156.5 141.2 32.3 161.5 4.3 10.9 4.3 68.3 46.2 933.6 1941 90.9 47.8 39.6 113.3 49.8 13 12.4 7.1 27.2 14.7 88.4 192.8 697 1942 57.4 165.1 265.7 115.6 248.2 37.3 0 49 9.1 2 4.3 35.8 989.5 1943 37.6 103.6 6.9 41.4 95.3 52.1 5.3 1 4.1 17 37.6 28.7 430.6 1944 26.4 47.2 114 102.4 41.1 25.1 13.7 4.3 36.1 17.8 145 79.2 652.3 1945 82 62.7 46.7 58.4 97.3 45 30.5 13.5 4.8 10.7 142 20.8 614.4 1946 8.1 5.6 47.5 98.3 53.6 27.7 27.2 27.4 81 20.3 24.9 61 482.6 1947 137 125.2 169.4 219.5 196.3 49.5 22.1 1.3 5.3 0.5 16.8 50 992.8 1948 26.9 3.3 64.8 117.9 22.9 21.3 16 64.3 64 10.4 26.2 63 501 1949 25.7 35.1 7.6 193.8 6.6 38.1 0.8 3.8 6.4 11.4 18 138.2 485.5 1950 72.4 93.5 223.8 190.5 18.8 11.4 4.6 34.3 17 54.6 9.1 14.2 744.2 1951 141 91.2 89.4 419.6 46 39.1 13.7 23.6 17 47.8 63 130 1121.1 1952 33.8 64.8 39.9 202.4 200.7 0 29 13.5 24.1 8.4 27.2 7.6 651.4 1953 45.5 10.7 16.3 121.9 27.7 14 1.8 24.6 20.1 24.1 27.4 62.7 396.8 1954 88.4 59.2 3.8 278.9 170.4 17.5 38.4 4.6 13.2 23.4 22.1 87.1 807 1955 14.2 198.4 79.8 99.3 14 18 26.2 105.2 58.2 13.2 68.6 103.4 798.5 1956 209 93.5 94.5 128.5 48 20.1 6.9 67.6 20.3 17 100.1 88.9 894.2 1957 133 53.8 93 267.5 250.7 85.3 0 0 6.4 14.2 44.2 131.3 1079.2 1958 105 124.7 130.8 99.1 196.3 24.4 47.2 10.4 10.7 25.4 38.4 141.2 953.2 1959 50.5 56.6 224 25.7 55.6 10.4 8.4 38.9 11.9 15.5 152.7 83.6 733.8 1960 94.5 47.8 212.1 1.8 9.7 7.1 12.7 15 59.9 34.5 120.9 38.1 654.1 1961 8.5 45.9 40.4 70.5 102.5 33.5 0.5 19 25.4 25.5 289.3 371.6 1032.6 144 YEAR Jan Feb Mar Apr May jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Tot. Year 1962 223 19.6 93.5 183.1 217 47.7 1 31.7 20.1 104 68.1 87.9 1097.3 1963 193 59.5 91.8 263 243.1 14.3 41.7 33.8 0 1 187.4 231.4 1359.7 1964 66.4 136.6 124.3 230.5 44 24.6 47.7 26.2 23.7 35.1 11.5 25.8 796.4 1965 57.9 57 59.3 84.5 76.4 20.8 5.9 8.8 43 15.8 75.2 64.5 569.1 1966 38.4 191.3 130.9 185.8 18.3 12.7 9 42.7 43.5 29.1 45.3 11.7 758.7 1967 4.6 52.5 44.3 153.3 187 11.6 18.9 2.8 43.8 32.6 55.4 82.6 689.4 1968 18.7 101.5 177.9 281.2 83.5 61.9 11.2 1.6 6 16.6 68.6 54.3 883 1969 142 114.1 56.2 23.3 111.6 18.8 2.7 6.4 25.4 22.4 74.9 25.5 623.7 1970 361 72 201.6 135.9 113.9 37.8 22 7 7.8 25.5 13.8 62.1 1060.6 1971 63.8 34.9 28.2 175 104.4 7.9 28.6 129.7 1.5 14.1 6.9 92.1 687.1 1972 82.7 160.1 59.8 36.2 119 125.2 1.8 4.6 3.9 79.7 135.2 67 875.2 1973 138 224.2 6.7 48 55.6 66.6 3.4 12.4 109.6 36.5 90.4 42.8 834.6 1974 8.8 18.2 138.6 310.1 53.3 45.1 74.1 3.8 18.3 0.2 35.1 34.7 740.3 1975 40.7 5.9 101.2 80.1 67.9 6.8 54.3 4.1 72.9 60.2 9.4 79.3 582.8 1976 36.4 12.8 16.5 96.3 60.8 60.3 17.1 26 29.1 11.1 78.5 38.5 483.4 1977 92.4 96.5 40.7 246.5 126 8.8 42.2 45.9 22.9 46.5 130.6 118.8 1017.8 1978 135 144.4 368.7 122.9 28 13.1 1.3 25.6 17.8 8.3 20 125.8 1011.2 1979 86.7 173.9 137.8 162.6 101 49 22.2 5.3 8.2 4 39.4 52.1 842.2 1980 90.4 10.8 91.3 179 171.9 11.7 1.8 4.4 12.4 33.6 117.7 39.7 764.7 1981 12.7 66.7 111.5 84.5 113 13.9 19.1 2.3 15.5 4.1 29.9 38.6 511.8 1982 23.1 60.2 29.5 130.5 103.1 36.1 8.7 2.5 50.9 68.6 159.6 93.1 765.9 1983 22.9 62.5 19.9 124.1 84.8 52.5 22.4 38.9 26.9 51.6 38.5 91.7 636.7 1984 45.3 4.4 24 88.2 6 0.9 21.5 8.7 16.2 59.4 52.8 120.5 447.9 1985 10 157.6 78.8 287.3 51.9 56.1 19.7 2.6 15.3 3.7 81.4 78.2 842.6 1986 46.9 15.5 25.7 129.1 78.3 94 74 O 12.4 10.7 54.7 95.4 636.7 1987 158 59.2 174.4 85 142.8 83.3 55 13.1 26.4 0.5 81 12.4 890.9 1988 165 8.3 168.5 272.2 54.4 10.5 17.4 40.2 5.2 18.5 7 56.6 823.4 1989 210 119.6 96.4 137.4 90.2 21.6 31.7 45.3 78.4 5.1 25 225.4 1086.4 1990 35 143 141.5 231.5 104 63 6.5 72.5 17 39 66.5 109 1028.5 1991 102 20 114 48 182.5 133 15 104 22 115 18 62 935.5 1992 28 82 79 214 83 175 47 18 68 36 69 68 967 1993 142 82 61 21 85 94 8 34 14 18 11 14 584 1994 108 43 108 105 62 65 65 45 52 26 190 18 887 1995 70 159 116 145 146 200 16 84 71 34 107 48 1196 1996 234 194 96 60 12 105 188 196.5 143 37 44 35 1344.5 1997 139 33 122 321 102 81 20 64 3 18 256 216 1375 1998 275 200 122 137 203 92 26 96 53 55 47 8 1314 1999 105 26 336 94 7 39 6 126 38 38 58 55 928 2000 46 71 137 53 130 46 3O 35 41 21 137 141 888 2001 267 56 156 229 69 45 67 100 39 90 103 - 1221 Avg. 83.6 81.7 103.8 139.9 93.5 38.7 23.6 29.0 27.2 28.3 65.3 72.7 786.6 145 Appendix 2: Sample Question Guide Asked during Field Interviews How many sheep are housed in this boma? How many cattle are housed in this boma? How many donkeys are housed in this boma? How many goats are housed in this boma? How many people live in this boma? Do you herd you cattle in a different way than you herd goats or sheep? Do you raise cattle / sheep / goats for subsistence or commercially, or both? How do the wildebeest affect your traditional herding strategies? How does the dry season and drought affect you traditional herding strategies? Do you temporarily migrate to other areas in the drought period? If so why? What additional factors contribute to the movement of livestock? How does the endorobo (tsetse fly) affect you traditional herding strategies? How do you alternate your daily/ monthly/ seasonal herding patterns? What climatic factors, or other factors affect your traditional herding strategies? What role do you see the MMNR as playing with regard to your traditional herding strategies? What alternatives do you envision to utilizing the MMNR as a dry season grazing resource? What are the major constraints you face to your traditional grazing strategies? How do wildlife in general, affect your traditional grazing strategies? What are the main problems you face for land utilization? 146 Appendix 3: The Maasai Calendar The Tradition Maasai calendar presented here is adapted from Sankan [1971(1995): 64-66. The Long Rains - Nkokua 1. Oladalu — The hot, dry sunny month 2. Arat - The month of scarcity when slight rain may fall and collect in luggas and scattered pools 3. Oenioing’ok - Bulls become fierce drive cattle home during the day. They have to be tied and left at home 4. Olodoyiorie - A very wet month The Drizzling Season — Oloirurujuruj 5. Oloilepunye — It is still wet but the rains are abating 6. Kujorok - The whole countryside is beautifully green and the pasture lands are likened to a hairy caterpillar 7. 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