The Kesho Trust’s current focus on Maasai land management is an outgrowth of a research project on Traditional Knowledge in Community Based Forest Management that was conducted in Enguserosambu Ward of Ngorongoro District in 2019 with financing from UNDP’s Small Grants Programme. That study investigated Indigenous Maasai land and resource management based on cultural traditions (Val, E., 2021). Following this research, Kesho Trust, in collaboration with the University of Victoria, designed and implemented a scaling-up project, Indigenous Knowledge Bridging of Land and Water Governance in Tanzania and Canada (IKG) in 2020 which was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
This initiative builds on work by the Kesho Trust begun in the IKG project. In Tanzania, the IKG centred on direct engagement with traditional knowledge of the indigenous Maasai people and the utilization of that knowledge to inform land and resources governance in Tanzania. The project helped to address a number of environmental related issues and challenges, including: a) increasing frequency and intensity of drought; b) conflicts in land use with other surrounding land users; c) weakening of traditional knowledge and practices of land management; d) food and income insecurity; e) national government policies favouring changes to traditional land management practices and the loss of pasture to alternative land uses; and f) an increasing lack of recognition of the value of culture in strengthening and supporting communities. The IKG also supported a Master’s student at the University of Dar es Salaam whose research addressed the Impacts of Land-use/cover change on pastures in pastoral communities using a case of Kilindi District, in the Tanga region, in Tanzania (Paringo, J. 2024).
Adverse impacts of climate change including increased drought, changing precipitation patterns, and flooding affect both natural and managed ecosystems, constraining productivity of climate-sensitive sectors such as rain-fed agriculture and livestock keeping. It also reduces availability of water and energy, and thereby affecting community health and wellbeing. Traditionally the Maasai utilized longstanding traditional and cultural practices to manage the ecosystems on which their livelihood depended, but the modern land management strategies are not recognizing such knowledge and management system.
Specifically this project is designed to promote the acceptance and use of Maasai traditional knowledge of community land and resources management for improved adaptations and resilience to climate change. The project will develop locally accepted community action plans to address climate change impacts and adapt community infrastructure; develop and implement innovative and resilient livelihood activities for increased community’s income and food security; and, expand supporting partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally. From our longstanding partnership with the local communities of the project sites, we will adopt a partnership approach with community members, traditional leaders, organizations and local governments to build knowledge and implement effective change.