'Long live pastoralism'

Program officer Hassan Guyo Shano of Waso Trustland Project, a partner organisation of MS, was one of the speakers when pastoralist groups from several continents met in Ethiopia.

Mr. Hassan Guyo Shano

Over 300 pastoralist groups from 19 countries gathered in July in Qarsa Dambe Village Yebello District in Southern Ethiopia to discuss problems and ways forward for pastoralists. Participants came from both West Africa and the Horn of Africa as well as from Asia and Latin America.

The meeting, organized by the UN Office for the co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Pastoralist Communication Initiatives, attracted a number of UN agencies dealing with pastoralists, USAid and governments representatives for the Horn of Africa.

On the agenda were three major issues relating to increased productivity of pastoralists and the quality of their herds; acces to markets, the global livestock trade and the exploration of suitable governance structures to enhance pastoral economy and security, reports the Nairobi based weekly newspapaer The EastAfrican.

Among the speakers during the meeting was Hassan Guyo Shano, program ofiicer with Waso Trustland Project, an Isiolo based partner of MS Kenya who shared the experience of many Kenyan pastoralist.

The unknown half of Kenya
"In Kenya, it is estimated that over 70% of the land is occupied by pastoralists.  This large chunk of land occupied by the pastoralist is basically regarded as unproductive by the government hence subjected it to marginalization in all aspects.  In fact the pastoral communities in Kenya specifically the Boran and the Somali engaged the independent Kenya government in gorilla warfare between 1963-1967 seeking to succeed and join their brethren in Somalia.

This was occasioned by the belief that the rest of the countries hold against the occupants of the region.  This belief was perfectly and accurately summed up by one British writer who stated in his book that “Northern Kenya is one half of the country that the other half know nothing about and more so care to know less about”. For these reasons pastoralists and pastoralism in Kenya has been viewed with contempt and as such pastoralists have never been viewed as a way of life.  This therefore explains the reason for lack of elaborate policy plan for the pastoralists.  This situation has aggravated pastoral problem since it affects all other aspects of pastoralists’ life such as education, health, trade etc.”, he explained before continuing:

White elephants in stead of tarmac
“It is my considered opinion that the Kenya government has deliberate agenda to ensure that pastoralists are permanently impoverished.  To start with for the last forty years, Kenya has been talking about tarmacking of the Isiolo – Moyale road. The elaborate NARC government agenda for Northern Kenya, which included construction of abettor in all pastoral areas, has disappeared in a thin air and instead the government has embarked on a white elephant project of reviving (KMC), Kenya Meat Commission.”

In Kenya agriculture and agricultural production is always given preference when even a conflict arises, mr. Guoy Shona stated:

“One example is the recently approved Tana River sugar cane growing project, which was okayed by the government despite serious, protest by the pastoralist and environmentalist. The other example is the regulation of water used for the benefits of the society, while the farmers on the upstream of Ewaso Ng’iro rivers continues to enjoy unlimited usage of the water for their farms, the poor pastoralists in the lower stream suffer in silence and loss of livestock for lack of water.  It is worth noting that only during last the drought, pastoralists in Kenya lost approximately one million herds of cattle.  This in my view is something that would have been avoided if proper drought preparedness mechanism were put in place,” he said.

The way forward
Hassan Guyo Shona pointed at three steps on the way forward:
1. The United Nations must provide affirmative action clause in its charter to bind all nations to recognize pastoralists as a way to life and provided a clear policy for the pastoralist.
2. Such clause should lead toward creation of an independent ministry or commission for the development of pastoralists and pastoralism.
3. There is also need for establishment of parliamentary committees on pastoralism, this should address the specific issues facing pastoralists such as poor infrastructure, marketing and pastoral people educational policy etc.
Ending his speech Mr. Guyo Shano declared: "Long live Pastoralists. Long live Pastoralism."