KENYA: Cattle owners trained in new ranching techniques to pre-empt drought impact

Record ID: 362159

  • Title: KENYA: Cattle owners trained in new ranching techniques to pre-empt drought impact
  • Date: 10th November 2011
  • Summary: RIFT VALLEY, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) MIXED HERDS OF CATTLE ON OL PEJETA RANCH TWO HERDS OF CATTLE FEET OF MAASAI VISITORS TO OL PEJETA RANCH MAASAI VISITORS TALKING WITH JOSEPH MATHENGE, DEPUTY LIVESTOCK MANAGER, OL PEJETA RANCHES MATHENGE TALKING MAASAI VISITORS LISTENING MAASAI'S FACE MAASAI SPEAKING CATTLE/COWS IN FENCED AREA (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOSEPH MATHENGE, DEP
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Business,Entertainment,Environment / Natural World,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVAAVTNI3Q5YYG44RTZAMP3W7HE1
  • Story Text: The predeliction of Kenya's pastoralists for large herds of cattle, which for centuries have been regarded as a form of wealth, is legendary - almost as much a part of local mythologoy as the Maasai penchant for killing lions.
    So the idea that some Kenyan pastoralists may be looking to reduce the number of cattle in their herds may seem unlikely. But with the region's increasingly severe droughts devastating large numbers of cattle and increasing human population putting more and more pressure on available pasturage, change is almost inevitable.
    This group of Maasai have chosen to pre-empt the changes they see coming. They are visiting a conservancy in central Kenya that offers a unique programme which aims to make pastorlalism in the wilds of Kenya's Rift Valley more sustainable, not only for the pastoralists and their herds but also for the wildlife they live alongside.
    As the herds run by Ol Pejeta conservancy gather on its ranchlands to be sprayed for parasites, deputy livestock manager, Joseph Mathenge, explains the theory to visiting Maasai pastoralists.
    "We actually feel that we can have integration - livestock-wildlife integration - positively by using the cattle or using livestock as a tool to manage the rangleland," he explains.
    The idea is to build a sustainable, high quality herd, well adapted to the harsh conditions and then graze them the way herds of wild animals graze on the Rift Valley's rangelands.
    Wild animal herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra are kept well bunched up by predators, like lion. That means they have a big impact on a small grazing area, churning up soil, sowing grass seeds and fertilising as they go. When rain comes, the ground is well prepared to grow new pasturage.
    Livestock managers at Ol Pejeta are able to use compact tje cattle herds to reproduce this effect - and improve the pasturage available to their cattle, even during droughts - over a short period of time.
    "So, because you cannot actually manage the grazing patterns of the wildlife - they will graze wherever they want to, whenever they want - but with cattle, you can actually walk them, you can herd them, to certain areas. Once identified, we put these cattle into these areas in a bunched manner. You actually have to graze them close together such that their impact on the rank, growing grasses is actually identifiable or seeable within a short period of time," explained Mathenge.
    The advantages of running livestock alongside wildlife are plain to see at Ol Pejeta, which is also one of Kenya's better known tourist destinations.
    The conservance has also partnered with a number of other conservation organisations, including Kenya's Northern Rangelands Trust, to provide training to pastoralist interested in improving their herds and techniques.
    The conservancy is also home to the world's largest single herd of Boran cattle, a breed developed from local stock, which is extremely resistant to disease and drought. With high meat yield, fewer Boran can be grazed to produce the same amount of meat as larger numbers of other cattle.
    The Maasai group are keen to introduce quality into their herds in order to increase the value of individual animals and may even choose bulls from this herd.
    "The place where I come from, we have very little cattle that, those cattles don't provide us the money we want so that's why its important, its good (to improve the quality)," said Maasai pastoralist, Emmanuel Lemalon.
    "Currently our cows are too small. If we breed them with one or two of these bulls, we will be able to educate our children," explaine Maasai elder Masiane Ole Ateti.
    Climate change and pressure from growing populations may be ringing in huge changes across Africa. But if this group of pastoralists are able to adapt, they may be able to maintain the lifestyle their community has chosen to lead for hundreds of years.
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