** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **

By the way, I forgot to mention that I think the upwards of 100,000-acre, 900-year leases awared to white settlers in Kenya and other parts of Africa are unfair to the indigenous peoples.  Nine hundred years???  Who in his right mind would give away such a concession or sign such a lease on behalf of his people?  None that I know of!

- Wilmot

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From: "Wilmot B. Valhmu" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 2004/09/23 Thu AM 11:44:13 CDT
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: MZUNGUS  ON  OUR  LANDS

** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **

Matthew,

I found your comments quite interesting.  Although the Fulanis are found in most countries of West Africa, I was not aware, or had forgotten, that they are primarily nomadic, cattle-herders.  In Liberia, the situation is different.  The Fulanis in Liberia are traders/marketers.  That's what I primarily remember about them.  So, I was somewhat taken aback when you mentioned the cattle-herding tradition or way of life of the Fulanis.

Thanks for your comments,

- Wilmot

============================================================
From: mathew jallow <[log in to unmask]>
Date: 2004/09/23 Thu AM 11:05:18 CDT
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: MZUNGUS  ON  OUR  LANDS

I read this article in the New York Times yesterday, and I was flabagasted to find the similarity between the Masai and the Fulani. I knew all along about the cultural and psysiologicall similarities between these two tribes, but I did not realize that the Masai are contributing so much to the environmental degradation on the east cost just as the Fulanis are on the west.
I grew up herding cattle, moving from one part of the region to the other all in search of pasture. I know first hand what over-grazing can do, all because my people the Fulani still regard cattle as a symbol of status. The more cattle, the higher the social status and standing in the tribal heirachy.
Cultural beliefs are the hardest to change, and to me, by far our greatest challenge as we enter this new century. Getting the Fulanis to recognize the economic value of their cattle wealth as opposed to being a mere social sattus symbol is something even my own family is struggling with.
But even as the Fulanis and the Masai take pride in their cattle wealth, and destroy the environment as they do, I still believe that we are not face with an unsurmountable problem.


Aggo Akyea <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

THE MASAI, THE SETTLERS AND THE LAND

In Kenya, land values in conflict

Marc Lacey/New York Times
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
http://www.iht.com/articles/539922.html

Cherish the wild, or use it for grazing?

LAIKIPIA, Kenya: The view from above explains why this rugged area of Kenya has a problem on its hands.

As far as the eye can see there is wilderness: trees and scrub and, roaming amid them, elephants, antelope and giraffe, not to speak of endangered species like the black rhino.

But then, interrupting the National Geographic vistas, one spots a fence - a long straight one that goes on for miles and miles.

On the other side of the fence, the landscape seems to change. Much of the vegetation appears gone. Wild animals are nowhere to be found, although one can spot herds of cows, goats and sheep. Their heads point constantly to the dry earth, and they are scrounging for nourishment.

The herds belong to the Masai, and they are far too large for the available land. The result is a barren landscape, overgrazed and unhealthy, and certainly no place of refuge for Africa's endangered species.

Recently, though, herders have begun cutting the fences that crisscross Kenya's Laikipia district and marching their livestock onto the private land inside.

On the other side of those fences is another form of endangered species - the white settler.

The holder of one of the largest private properties in Kenya is Kuki Gallman, an Italian by birth who moved to Kenya 30 years ago with her husband and later became a Kenyan citizen. She has chronicled her life in a series of books, including ?I Dreamed of Africa."
Gallman is one of only several dozen white ranchers in Laikipia but together their holdings stretch far and wide in central Kenya.

Her ranch, Ol Ari Nyiro, sprawls over 40,000 hectares, or 100,000 acres, just north of the equator, and boasts the largest population of black rhinos outside of a national park.
Conservationists at Gallman's ranch and at others across Laikipia are hard at work attempting to preserve the rhino and the other animal rarities of the area, such as the Grevy's zebra and the reticulated giraffe.

But when it comes to the white settler, just the opposite is occurring. The Masai tribesmen are intent on moving them to a different habitat, which could ultimately spell trouble for the endangered animal species.

The Masai say that Laikipia was stolen from their ancestors a century ago in a colonial-era treaty between a Masai leader and the British that transferred the land from the Masai to the whites. The Masai say that the document is out of date and that the vast ranches of Laikipia, most of them owned by whites, are now officially Masailand.

Inside the ranch houses that dot Laikipia there is anger at the destruction of the private lands and fear that the conflict could intensify. But there is also some sympathy for the plight of the Masai and a bit of resignation that this wonderful way of life might not last as long as their leases, some of which extend in excess of 900 years.

?I'm sympathetic to them," said Laria Grant, 32, whose father bought a 5,600-hectare cattle ranch known as El Karama around the time of independence in 1963. ?I know how it would feel if I were them, even 100 years later. To me, it's not the exact details of the lease that's the issue. It's about land and their feelings toward it. They're poor and can see our huge acreage of beautiful grass across the fence. But we feel as strongly about this land as they do."

The Masai refer to the settlers as ?mzungus," the Swahili term for white people or foreigners. But most of the white landholders are Kenyan citizens, albeit not with ties to the country that stretch back as long as those of the Masai.

?I'm as much a Kenyan as they are," said Martin Evans, a white rancher who has cattle, sheep, goats and camels on his 12,000 hectares. ?My dad was born here and I was born here and my sons were born here too. I'm as Kenyan as anyone else."

Laikipia, despite its tranquil appearance, is full of conflict. There is the natural kind that is occurring in the bush, with predators stalking and chasing and devouring their prey. There is the constant conflict between those who are attempting to farm the semi-arid land and those who want it to remain untouched, wild and well stocked with animals.

On the side of the ranchers is Kenya's government, which has arrested trespassers by the scores and stationed police officers on white-owned property to keep future invaders away. The government says that a Zimbabwe-type situation, in which whites were ousted from their land, would be an economic disaster.

Instead, Kenya is studying its land use and limiting the length of leases, a go-slow approach aimed at respecting property rights.

Some of the white settlers use the land to support their own livestock businesses. Others, though, hold on to the land primarily for its beauty, earning a living by luring tourists to an unspoiled spot of Africa.

There are more wild animals on private land in Kenya than in the many national parks, and preserving rare species means finding a way of keeping those animals alive.

?I'm a curator of a living museum," said Gallman, who brings schoolchildren from around the world to her property. ?Nature here is so majestic. The world will need places like this more and more in the future. They are impossible to reconstruct, once they're gone. My dream for the future is just that this place will remain whole."

Gallman and other landholders say that they contribute much to Kenya as well as to the local population. There are the salaries they pay their staff, which in Gallman's case numbers about 200. There are the community outreach programs they have begun, like the scholarship program for Masai youth funded by one rancher, Michael Dyer, and the Masai-run tourist lodge.

And there is the conservation they engage in, the landholders say, by fencing their property or just by keeping it pristine.
?My heart is at peace," Gallman said.

She has not had any clashes with the Masai and hopes her property will be spared. ?My conscience is clear. I don't think I've muscled myself into anywhere at the detriment of the local community."

Still, ranchers wonder what more they can do to head off the campaign to remove them. Is the best approach a heavy-handed one, they wonder, or a conciliatory one? And they wonder, as well, whether they might become extinct before the species they are trying to protect.

?For the time being, this is wonderful," said Grant, who has every intention of holding onto her father's ranch for another generation, if history allows. ?How this will play out no one knows."

The New York Times

 Copyright ? 2004 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com



Aggo Akyea
http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/akyea
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
"Instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my baskets, I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them."
WALDEN
by Henry David Thoreau ? 1854








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