Pastoralism, Policy & Power (page 2)
Donor funding weakened Barabaig land-rights movement in Tanzania
From the 1960s to the 1990s, Barabaig pastoralists in Hanang District of Arusha Region, Tanzania, sustained a vibrant grassroots social movement that agitated to reclaim the grazing land from which they had been removed under Tanzania’s post-independence nationalisation programme. This land had been taken over for development of parastatal wheat farms. However, by the year […]
Community solutions to insecurity on Uganda–Kenya border
In the Karamoja and Turkana borderlands of Uganda and Kenya, there is widespread violence including armed robbery, rape and human rights abuses. The 4-page Policy Briefing “Community solutions to insecurity along the Uganda–Kenya border” (2023) highlights how different insecurities reinforce each other in ways aggravated by the international border. It stresses the need for fulfilment […]
MISA condemns UNESCO mission to Ngorongoro, Tanzania
On 3–9 February 2024, a UNESCO mission investigated allegations of human rights violations against Maasai pastoralists in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), a World Heritage Site in northern Tanzania. The Tanzanian civil society and international organisations in MISA (Maasai International Solidarity Alliance), which includes CELEP, expressed serious concerns that the mission was not publicly announced […]
Maasai in Tanzania displaced for nature conservation
In December 2023 – the same month as Maasai lawyer Joseph Oleshangay received the Human Rights Prize from the City of Weimar, Germany (see news item) – the Germany-based Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker (Society for Threatened Peoples) issued a 50-page report in German on “Die Maasai in Tansania: gewaltsam vertrieben für den Naturschutz” (The Maasai […]
Rethinking policies for pastoralists – governing the rangelands
Policies and governance arrangements shape livelihoods in pastoral areas. Institutions that enable access to land, markets and investment for pastoralists and regulate their political participation are critical in fostering or constraining their resilience. Decades of misconceived narratives leading to distorted policies around pastoralism have undermined the capacity of government and development agencies to deal with […]