How the Climate Crisis is Impacting Indigenous Africans
Written by Mayowa Ogunremi - Entrant in the AASOA x Exeter ACS Engage in Africa Short Essay Prize
Indigenous Peoples are communities with pre-colonial connections to land who consider themselves distinct from contemporary society. They have survived genocides, epidemics, forced migration, and marginalisation across all corners of the globe.
Furthermore, despite representing <5% of the global population, Indigenous territories guard 80% of the world’s biodiversity and contribute the least to GHG emissions.
Every generation of Maasai faces a unique set challenges, such forced displacement to make room for colonial settlers’ ranches, and more recently pressure from the Kenyan and Tanzanian governments to send their children to government-approved educational facilities. However, the invisible enemy of climate change presents a threat of a different calibre. Sources can be found under Image 1 and Image 2 in the References section.
This reliance on nature has left Indigenous Peoples some of the most vulnerable to anthropogenic climate change, with severe climate impacts already affecting Indigenous lives and livelihoods worldwide.
Today, we will explore how global warming is impacting the Maasai of East Africa – a community already reporting devastating and irretractable climate-related losses.
The Maasai and Climate Change
Often misspelled “Masai”, these nomadic pastoralists settled in arid and semi-arid regions of Kenya and Tanzania in the early 20th century. The Maasai consider themselves “cattle guardians” by divine appointment and rely on a livestock market economy for their food and livelihoods.
However, arid regions are the most vulnerable to climate change in Kenya. Rainfall is increasingly erratic and droughts which used to occur once in ten years now occur every other year – killing off livestock and reducing the productivity of those which survive.
This threatens the food security and sovereignty (the ability to provide oneself with nutritious and culturally-appropriate food) of the Maasai, whose native diet consists almost entirely of meat, milk and blood.
Diminished livestock populations also threaten the foundations of Maasai tradition – life-cycle rituals centre around cattle, from bull sacrifices to the use of dairy products for embalming. In the face of starvation, such practices are reformed or removed entirely.
Low levels of formal education diminish the adaptive capacity of the Maasai; today, many more young Maasai attend school to bring new skills and sources of income to their families. Increasing formal education can be considered an overwhelmingly positive adaptation, though some elders fear that Western education may cause the next generation to abandon their culture.
Maasai women wearing their Shúka (red/blue/purple sheets worn wrapped around the body) and immaculate beaded jewellery. Source can be found under Image 3 in the References section.
Information, Marginalisation and Perception
How do we know about climate impacts on Indigenous Peoples? Researchers gather information through interviews with community leaders – typically older men. This introduces the risk that documented impacts may exclude the experiences of vulnerable members of the community, such as women or the disabled.
Climate impacts may also introduce a feedback loop of marginalisation – already marginalised Indigenous communities are destabilised, decreasing their independence and increasing reliance on systematically oppressive institutions.
However, the world has a lot to lose if it only views Indigenous Peoples as victims of climate change. Though vulnerable, Indigenous communities have been recognised to hold some of the most effective climate solutions. Many Indigenous representatives have been trying to contribute to international adaptation planning since the Kyoto Protocol, but have been continually rebuffed and belittled – perceived only as victims instead of agents and partners to cooperate with.
Recognising, honouring, and welcoming Indigenous voices to international climate cooperation will not only alleviate the burden of climate impacts on Indigenous communities, but on the whole world.
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