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The last few days (with the exception of Thursday) can be summed up as long, full of class, and tiring. Tuesday morning we split into 8 groups and went out into the community to gather information for our Environmental Policy class. Our task was to learn about the land use practices in the Kimana Group Ranch. As long as I'm on the subject, I'll describe the group ranch situation to all of you.
Traditionally, many of the 42 tribes that live in Kenya were pastoralists. A pastoral way of life isn't an easy one and it requires an intimate relationship with the natural environment that one lives in. Most pastoralists own sheep, goats (or a mixture of the two that we fondly refer to as shoats) or cattle, and sometimes all of the above. In the late 1960's it became apparent that Kenya was in need of a land tenure system that would allow pastoral ways to continue and also ensure the ecological integrity of the lands being used by livestock for grazing.
From there Kenya was divided into districts and then into group ranches. The area that we are living in is in the Kimana Group Ranch; however we spend a lot of time in the neighboring Kuku and Mbirkani Group Ranches as well. Presently the group ranches are undergoing huge transformations in the way their inhabitants use their land. Over the past three decades agriculture has taken off in the marginal lands of Kenya and many pastoralists are giving up their semi-nomadic ways for a more settled lifestyle. The results are numerous and in some cases severe. Water that is supplied by Kilimanjaro is being diverted in unprecedented amounts and rivers no longer flow their entire length. Palatable plants are being overgrazed and perennials can't recover fast enough. Actions taken by government institutions to try and remedy problems caused by human-wildlife conflicts are implemented without consulting or involving local communities.
Essentially what needs to be done is an upgrade in Kenya's land tenure system. The current system does not work. Right now many of the group ranches are being subdivided and people are staking claims to land. Subdivision in the group ranches is leading to even more degradation of the pastoral way of life. Communal grazing areas and rotational grazing areas are now off limits as people take them as private property. From many views it seems as though the entire system is about to collapse.
Cue students from the United States. Our goal here is to learn as much as we can about the group ranch system and history of land tenure in Kenya with the hope that the directed research we execute in the final weeks of the semester can be used to help Kenya find a more sustainable way to use its land. It's a difficult task, but our professors are excellent guides and have so far provided us with a vast amount of information.
It's these issues as well as wildlife management in the Amboseli Ecosystem that our classes are built around. My classes are Wildlife Management, with a special attention to the Amboseli Ecosystem, Environmental Policy which so far has covered the background of the Kenya land tenure system as well as a little history of Kenya, Wildlife Ecology, with special attention on the Amboseli Ecosystem and the large mammals found there. We also have gone on bird walks and plant walks for this course, and finally our last course is Swahili and a brief introduction on East African tribes.
So anyway, getting back to this week's events. On Tuesday I was with a group that traveled around in Mbirkani Group Ranch and asked farmers to explain the costs and benefits of the crops they grew. Most farmers grew one or more of French beans, Maize, tomatoes, onion and occasionally coffee. From what my group gathered, tomatoes and onions make a lot of money for a farmer, but they also require the most water and inputs. Out of the 15 farmers we spoke with, not one grew something other than the above, so it's interesting to see that the market can actually support all the crops when everyone is growing them.
Wednesday was devoted to Wildlife Management. It brought back horrible flashbacks of my stats class as we took the mammal counts we made on Sunday at Amboseli and plugged them into formulas to statistically analyze them. It makes my head hurt just to think of it again now. Wednesday evening though we were in for a treat (or trick depending on your meat eating status) when two of our Askaris and a couple of other staff members killed, skinned and roasted a goat for us. We were invited to see the entire process, which I did and of course we sampled it at the end. I have to say I don't like goat, it tasted like how it smelled when it was raw and I couldn't get over that the entire time I chewed it. Nevertheless it was a unique experience and I'm glad I participated.
Thursday was a well deserved Non-Program day. We traveled to Loitoktok to visit Boma La Maini. (House of Hope) It is faith (Catholic) based support center/group for people living with HIV. There are currently 58 people in the support group. The center also offers free HIV testing and with the cooperation with a clinic in Mbirkani, it offers free meds. The meds are brought by employees who travel by motorbike to Loitoktok. I can't explain just how dedicated those employees are to do that. The roads in Kenya are beyond what you can imagine. To say their bumpy would be an understatement. However the tarmac road from Nairobi is scheduled to be continued to Kimana and Loitoktok, but no one knows for sure when it will make it to those towns.
Anyway, while we were at the center a handful of the women in the support group told us their stories about how they came to know that they were positive, their children being tested and found to be positive, the stigmas they had to face as friends and neighbors heard they were positive and the challenge of being single mothers with 4 or 5 children. The stories were sad and from the heart and really put life in Kenya into perspective. After the women shared with us we had a chance to view and purchase the beadwork and other crafts that they do together when their support group meets.
Friday we had a four hour field lecture with all of our professors. We drove to five different sites and at each one our professors commented on the land use we were seeing as well as the trials and tribulations of life in the group ranches and in Kenya in general. Comments ranged from sex education and AIDS to soil erosion and water resources. We stopped alongside two rivers, in a bush area just outside of camp, beside the failed fence around Kimana Group Ranch and along the pipeline that carries water from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi. The goal of the lecture was to look at what we were discussing and make interpretations as we went along. It was also a time for reflection and an opportunity to try and digest all the information we've been fed the last few weeks. It was a long morning, but I never complain about getting to go off camp.
Then finally today we had wildlife ecology in the morning and discussed how the environment is monitored in Kenya in respect to the physical, biological and human statuses. Then this afternoon we drove to Kuku Group Ranch and broke off into six groups to conduct transect walks and collect data on plant species, ground cover, soil erosion and trampling, and canopy cover. The area where my group traversed is clearly used by wildlife and pastoralists. We saw almost as much elephant, giraffe, zebra and gazelle dung as we did cattle and shoat dung. We came across a couple of hares as well. It was a pleasant afternoon and getting out in the field to do work was very rewarding. However I'm paying for it now with my sun induced headache and a paper that's due Tuesday looming over my head. Oh well, that's the way it goes I guess.
Tomorrow it's Amboseli again! Instead of counting animals we'll be acting as tourists as we participate in a Maasai cultural Manyatta. I'm not sure what to expect so I'll be sure to fill you all in later.
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