Question

why were grazing lands of massais become smaller and smaller during colonial rule

Answer 1

The Massai community lost their grazing land due to following reasons:

(i) In the late 19th century, the Europeans imperial powers scrambled for territorial posses­sions in Africa which led to slicing up the region into different colonies. In 1885, Massai land was cut into half with an international boundary between British, Kenya and German Tanganyika. The best grazing land were taken over for the white settlers.

(ii) The Massais were pushed into a small area. They were confined to an arid zone with uncertain rainfall and poor pastures.

(iii) Local peasant communities were encouraged by the British colonial government to expand cultivation and pasture lands were turned into cultivated fields.

(iv) Large areas of Massai grazing lands were converted into game reserves and pastoralists were not allowed to enter these reserves.

lands of massais become smaller and smaller during colonial rule because...

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.