Barabaig of Basodami Sub-Village 

In order to understand how to better assist vulnerable indigenous communities IKP has initiated a pilot project with the Barabaig of Basodami sub-village in the Hanang District of the Manyara region of North Central Tanzania. Together we are designing and implementing a methodology for assisting indigenous tribal villages worldwide. Below are videos that elaborate the specifics of our work. You can find an exact manual here.

 

 

Learn more about our team.

The Barabaig

The Barabaig are one of many pastoralist society found throughout East Africa. Their story is representative of the plight of indigenous societies throughout the world.

The Barabaig are a sub-tribe of the Nilotic-speaking Tatoga (Datoga) ethnic group. They are cattle-raising pastoralists of about 30,000 living in the plains around Mount Hanang in north-central Tanzania for the last 150 years. Average rainfall in their territory is 450 mm to 900 mm a year, occurring in the months of April/May and November/December. Water in their homeland is extremely scarce. The major form of vegetation is acacia woodland interspersed with grassland. The Barabaig adapt to these environmental conditions by moving with their livestock depending upon water access and pasture accessibility.  Mobility, thus, is critical for attaining enough nutrients for their cattle, the basis of their diet.

The major issue that is threatening their continued survival is that of access to their traditional homeland. Fertile areas are being acquired by governmental and private interests for non-pastoral commercial use such as the creation of game parks, private ranches, and commercial wheat estates. Communal land where once these herders roamed their cattle is being broken up and fenced off. Leaving the indigenous people evicted from lands that were traditionally and legally theirs. This process of land alienation is not only threatening the cultural survival of indigenous people such as the Barabaig, is it also eroding natural resources and genetic diversity.

To learn more about the specific issues facing the cultural survival of the Barabaig and how we are addressing them click here.