Question

Question 3 Give reasons to explain why the Maasai community lost their grazing lands.

Class 9 - Social science - Pastoralists in the Modern World Page 116

Answer 1

The Maasai community have lost their grazing lands due to the following reasons:

1. The lives of the African pastoralists have changed drastically in the Colonial and postcolonial phases. In the 19th Century the European powers were fighting for colonies. The occupied several regions which were divided by multiple International borders between British Kenya and German Tanganyika.

 

2. In 1885, Maasais land were divided between the British and the Germans. The Maasai community was pushed into a small area in South Kenya and North Tanzania which considerably reduced their grazing lands.

 

3. From the late 19th century, The British colonial rulers promoted cultivation on pasture lands. The movement of herders were restricted in the settlements. The Maasais therefore lost their grazing areas.

 

 

4.The Maasais were forced to live in a dry area where there was a little water and poor pasture. They could not graze their herds in such areas.

 

5. The British converted many forest into game reserves like the Masai Mara, Serengeti national park and Samburu National Park. This led to fall in pasture lands.

 

 

6. The Masai community was not left with many Pasture tracts as a result their livestock declined and their economic condition became worse.

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Answer 2

The Maasais were a community of cattle herders. They lived primarily in East Africa. There were 300, 000 Maasais in Southern Kenya and 150,000 in Tanzania. The Maasais occupied a vast stretch of land from North Kenya to the steppes of Northern Tanzania. The lush green grass of the steppes provided ample fodder for their herds. In the nineteenth century, European imperial powers captured Africa and scrambled for territorial possessions. They drew up boundaries and took over the land that was hitherto occupied by the Maasais. The Maasai lost about 60 per cent of their pre-colonial lands. They were restricted to a dry zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures. The Maasais faced continuous loss of their grazing lands and this affected their lives in times of drought and even reshaped their social relationships. The British colonial government in East Africa encouraged the local peasant communities to expand cultivation. Soon pasturelands were turned into cultivated fields and the Maasai community yet again lost its grazing fields. The colonist also converted grazing land into Game Reserves. The pastoralists were not allowed to enter these reserves. Thus the grazing grounds of the Maasais was once again confiscated. The Maasais were soon restricted to small areas. They could not hunt or graze their animals in the reserved areas. Due to the restriction to small areas, fodder became scarce. Large numbers of Maasai cattle died of starvation and disease. The loss of the finest grazing lands and water resources created a lot of hardship for the Maasis.




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