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Sable blanc et 28 degres

Un ciel nuageux sur la cote de l'Ocean Indien...

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Laikipia: Shrinking grazing land fuels violence

Story by JOHN MBARIA
Publication Date: 10/8/2006
While in other parts of the country where insecurity is fuelled by tribal hatred, in Laikipia it is a fight over resources, pitting pastoralists against private landowners.
With available pasture and water in the drought-prone Samburu and Pokot districts too scarce to support the large and growing livestock numbers, pastoralists in these districts have had to travel to Laikipia seeking to secure a lifeline, especially in private ranches.

"But each time they meet, they collide with each other and with sedentary farmers who have largely occupied areas near permanent water and pasture," says the director of Forest Action Network, Dr Dominique Walubengo.

"This is not a political issue, it is just survival. Some of the people do not even know the names of their MPs," says Dr Walubengo.

Studies in the area indicate that both water and grazing land have been on a steady decline in the districts. Grazing land has decreased by more than 25 per cent since 1990s as the land under crops increased, according to a report published in the Eastern & Southern Africa Geographical Journal. The report shows that only large-scale ranches have a reliable supply of pasture while subdivided areas or lands under communal ownership are "rather bare."

Population increases – both of humans and animals – has also put pressure on the resources, particularly water. For instance, it is estimated that the number of people in Laikipia alone has risen from 50,000 to 500,000 in the last four decades.

That of cattle, sheep, goats, camels and donkeys has gone up to 521,000 while wildlife rose to 121,000. To get water for their animals, the pastoralists have been moving upstream, "consequently destroying crops and irrigation infrastructure."

Over-use of water is another source of conflict. Researchers say that between 60 and 80 per cent of the water flowing in most rivers and streams is used for irrigation by people and firms upstream. For instance, 80 percent of the waters of Naro Moru river is used upstream, "leaving very little or no water flowing during the dry season." Much of this irrigation is illegal.

The biggest "victims" of the skewed use of "common" resources are the pastoralists who are said to have been "restricted" to the edge of the Laikipia plateau and to the dry low lands. These areas experience intense heat, unreliable rainfall, frequent droughts and –in recent years – the drying up of some of the rivers. According to the study, there has been a steady decline in the volumes of water flowing along the once permanent Ewaso Ng'iro river. .

Going hand-in-hand with this has been the growth of a network of towns and rural centres that have confined tens of thousands of residents on a small land area. More recently, the area has also experienced an increase in tourism activities, especially on the white-owned ranches. Still, some ranches have been converted into horticultural enterprises that draw big quantities of water from the few permanent sources there. People have settled along the rivers and converted the limited wetlands and swamps into agricultural land.

Unfortunately, effective solutions have been in short supply. Dr Walubengo says: "We have become impotent both within the Government and as members of the civil society."

There are those who believe that planners need to zone off different areas suitable for different land uses and that the Government ought to ensure that Kenyans stick to such uses. They point out that to secure vital resources like water points and animal corridors, the Government will have to ensure that suggestions made in the recently-released national land policy are effected. But even here, there is skepticism because of the country's poor record of implementing policies.

There are also suggestions that the Government needs to buy off and secure areas that have been used over the generations as communal water points and for dry-season grazing. Pastoralists are also being encouraged to offload their "excess" animals now that the Kenya Meat Commission is up and running.

Photo jointe :

A Samburu family take a rest under a tree on their way to a place near Rumuruti township where several pastoralists are camping on their way to back home from Laikipia district Photo by Stephen Mudiari

Superposition de couleurs...

Un éléphant piétine à mort un touriste

Patrick Smith, un Britannique de 34 ans, a été tué dimanche matin sous les yeux de sa femme dans la réserve nationale Masaï-Mara.

Mariés depuis une semaine, ils étaient arrivés au Kenya pour leur lune de miel. Ils séjournaient dans un pavillon luxueux de la réserve. «C’est un accident terrible. Il a été piétiné par un éléphant alors qu’ils se trouvaient sur un sentier découverte», a expliqué Connie Maina, une porte-parole du Service kényan de la faune.

Accompagné d’un guide, le couple avait entrepris une randonnée lorsque l’éléphant les a attaqués, à moins de 300 m du campement. «Nous pensons que l’éléphant devait être très proche du couple et a été surpris, a-t-elle précisé. Habituellement, ils ne font pas ce genre de choses.»