The karamoja pastoralist

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Pastoralist Stories of Survival, Resilience and Change

Issue No. 2 | Sept. 2017

Pastoralist

Women: Contemporary Issues

Magazine by

Karamoja Development Forum | www.​kdfug.org

Cover photo: A woman dancer at the Karamoja Cultural Day event in Moroto, 2015. Photo by Longole Hannah

Karamojong women read “The Karamoja Pastoralist� magazine in Rupa, Moroto

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Pastoralist TEAM 2017 Edition

Contents...

Tebanyang Emmanuel, Policy Analyst

Loumo Sam Research & Advocacy Assistant

04 Women and Livestock Ownership in Karamoja

Lomuria Vincent Research & Advocacy Volunteer

Antonia Pohl Research & Advocacy Volunteer

Pastoralist Women: Insights from KDF’s work Okema Robert Research & Advocacy Volunteer

Anyakun Moses Moad Research & Advocacy Volunteer

With support from the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa

Graphics Design Kahroy Ronny kahroy@gmail.com +256 774 314 796

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Typical day in the life of a pastoralist woman

The Life History of a Karamojong Pastoralist Woman

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Provision of goats helps to empower women economically and reduce domestic violence in Karamoja

Everybody - men and women - is necessary in the kraal

27 Chinese Investors now turn to donkey meat and hides in Kenya and Uganda

31 Girls Improving Resilience with Livestock (GIRL) Project Brief

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Women herders at Nabokor kraals prepare wild fruits for consumption (2015)

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Editorial

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o m e n constitute a significant part of the pastoralist production system, yet their role in it is often less known or misunderstood.

In this issue of ‘The Karamoja Pastoralist’, we focus on women herders, drawing on the literature, our work within KDF, and stories from the field. In particular, we showcase the voices of pastoralist women and their daily experiences to give the readers a glimpse into the lives of women herders in Karamoja.

Women’s perspectives on their lives, their experiences, and issues affecting the region offer a rare opportunity to understand the struggles of modern day pastoralists. Tasked with the major responsibilities of household nutrition and well-being, women herders provide inspirational stories of survival and resilience in a fast-changing Karamoja. Stories in this edition range from women’s experience of insecurity during the livestock raiding years, their struggles in the post disarmament period, and their persistent efforts and struggles in providing for their households in the face of extreme climatic variability. We hear from women in kraals, in peri-urban centers, and in towns. We hear from women working as miners, as petty traders, and in the livestock business. We also get a chance to witness the different life stories of women, from those in rural

Simon Peter Longoli

Padmini Iyer

areas living the ‘traditional’ way to those following the path of formal education. All of these stories, with their differing trajectories and contrasting plots, intersect at the critical juncture of what it means to be a Karamojong woman today.

While these are not new narratives, the simplicity with which these stories are told offer a human face to the effects of an ongoing pastoral economic crisis, as well as possible solutions from the vantage point of women.

Although this issue is mainly focused on women, we also highlight other issues affecting pastoralists in the region, such as the large-scale sale of donkeys.

We also shine the spotlight on two development programmes working on providing livestock to girls and women. We thank all individuals who contributed to the magazine and we hope to give you, the reader, another, perhaps different look at the lives of Karamoja’s pastoralists. We invite your feedback and encourage you to engage with us by sending us an email or joining the conversation on our Facebook forum.

Happy reading!

Padmini Iyer Technical Adviser iyerkp@outlook.com Simon Peter Longoli Associate Executive Director longolisimon@gmail.com

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Women and Livestock Ownership/Access in Karamoja

By Padmini Iyer & Nangiro Patricia

As a dominant form of subsistence in the drylands, the study of pastoralism has witnessed major shifts in focus over the decades. Early studies of pastoralism, for example those before the 1970s, tended to neglect or underplay the role of female herders, and focused mainly on “male” matters of livestock management, rituals, and politics. Similarly, whereas much has been written about the importance and significance of livestock in a male herder’s life, the value of livestock in women’s lives has either been overlooked or superficially noted until recently. The earlier absence of female herders’ perspectives and roles in the literature on pastoralism has been remedied to some extent thanks to comprehensive and women-focused studies in recent decades among various pastoralist communities.

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Although in contemporary Karamoja the ways in which women acquire and manage livestock may have been influenced by the generally low livestock numbers in the region and the breakdown of traditional systems, the fact that women can and do access and manage livestock deserves greater promotion Photo by Longole Hannah

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n Karamoja’s context as well, any conversation on livestock, whether personal holdings or for marketing, immediately evokes the image of a male herder. While this is not necessarily false, and the vast majority of livestock is controlled by men,Karamojong women play a pivotal role in household pastoral production.

Although they bear the primary responsibility of household agricultural production, and by association of household nutrition, women’s role in livestock management in Karamoja can no longer be minimized. For instance, women bear the primary responsibility of milking animals kept within the homestead, and sometimes also in the livestock kraals in the grazing areas, and of processing milk products such as ngakibuk (churned milk) or ghee (clarified butter). Similarly, at the kraals, women are tasked with a variety of activities including the construction of fences, the acquisition of a bushel of thorns (egolit) to cover the entrance of the kraal, fetching water for kraal residents as well as watering animals.

Likewise, although Karamojong women’s ownership of livestock is an age-old phenomenon, the narrative around ownership is dominated by the belief that women only have access to livestock products with no claim of ownership over the animals.

Before discussing women’s livestock holdings, it is critical to understand the subtleties of property rights in animals among pastoralists. Unlike the common

understanding of the term ‘ownership’, property rights over animals can take various forms according to the community, where multiple related and unrelated individuals or even entire households can claim ownership over a single animal.

This is a critical consideration in any discussion on “ownership” where the reality of ‘owning’ an animal is better viewed in terms of ‘access’. With multiple and overlapping rights on the same animal, several persons may have access to an animal at the same or different times, making property ownership collective instead of individual. Moreover, offspring of shared animals may have their own, often different, set of rules guiding ownership and access. In Karamoja, for example, multiple individuals, including the head of the family and age-set members, may have access rights to the most “individual piece of property” – a man’s name ox (emong ngolo aminat). Therefore, the following discussion on women’s acquisition and ‘ownership’ of animals should be interpreted within the larger context of access and property rights over animals in Karamoja.

Women in Karamoja, contrary to the current narrative, play an important role in livestock management, and do have the right to acquire and own livestock either completely or with temporary (usufruct) rights.

Women acquire livestock in a few key ways. Fathers may give their daughters animals for their well-being and survival during marriage. At the end of the marriage ceremony and usually when most of the bridewealth

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Pastoralist demanded by the bride’s family is paid, her new husband’s friend may give her one or several animals known as aate ngina nyaraet aberu (the cow for calling the woman). This animal, typically a female, belongs entirely to the woman and only she has the right to milk it. Her husband may not sell or exchange this animal except with the explicit permission of the woman.

Besides ceremonial animals and those assigned to her (for milking) from the central herd upon entering the husband’s house, women in Karamoja also acquire animals as part of their vast kinship and friendship networks. For instance, a woman may receive animals as part of the marriage of any of the girls in the extended family or in her friendship circle. As a close friend, a woman becomes a part of the kinship network of families, and thus receives (and gives) livestock gifts as a share of the bridewealth for close friends’ daughters, sisters, or other female relatives.

If she resides far away, the family would send word for her to come and claim her share of animals, or they may keep it for her until she is able to visit. Similar to men’s livestock sharing networks, women also maintain friendship networks that allow for the acquisition of livestock gifts, besides food, cash, and other help. Most notably, women, like men, provide support to their male friends during marriage by helping them accumulate bridewealth through livestock gifts. Likewise, male friends become a primary source of livestock acquisition for women, who may receive them as ‘friendship’ animals (gifts) or

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Women in Karamoja, contrary to the current narrative, play an important role in livestock management, and do have the right to acquire and own livestock either completely or with temporary rights

during a time of need.

Finally, and perhaps most critically, women may also buy animals from income generated through other activities. For instance, cash from brewing, firewood and charcoal sales, and other ‘alternative livelihoods’ may be saved for future investment in livestock. Often, these animals are herded with other units within or outside the household; however, the woman can hold sole rights over determining the animal’s future. Due to extreme weather conditions and the unreliability

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of agriculture, even women claim that the most secure investment for the family is livestock, which provides a long-term insurance mechanism as well as short term food security.

These are not stories of the past, but are realities of the present. Women, until today, play an active role in sociocultural and economic management of livestock.

Although in contemporary Karamoja the ways in which women acquire and manage livestock may have been influenced by the generally low livestock numbers in the region and the breakdown of traditional systems, the fact that women can and do access and manage livestock deserves greater promotion. It provides a way for development stakeholders to rebuild the pastoralist system in a more equitable way. The end of insecurity affords a welcome environment in which the livestock sector can thrive and offer greater opportunities for income generation as well as household insurance through asset wealth for both men and women. Thus, the push for women’s ownership/ access to and management of livestock in Karamoja is not only a question of rights within the pastoralist system, but can be a sustainable way to build stronger households, ensure food security, and provide solutions to the problems confronting the region.

Nangiro Patricia is a member of the board at KDF. Padmini Iyer is a Technical Advisor to KDF, and co-editor of “The Karamoja Pastoralist.”

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Pastoralist

Women: Insights from KDF’s work

By Sam Loumo & Vincent Lomuria

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hrough the support of the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA), KDF established a Pastoralist Information Centre (PIC) equipped with an Interactive Voice Recognition and Recording (IVR) system with the aim of enhancing communication and information sharing through toll-free services. Starting October 2015, the PIC was fully functional to enable toll-free inbound and outbound calls as well as messaging. Pastoralists are able to call in and speak to a person at KDF about issues affecting them. The PIC is enabled to record the phone call and later retrieve it for further

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Women during a traditional ceremony in Pupu Village, Rupa Sub County (2016) analysis. In case the information is urgent and requires reference to a particular stakeholder, KDF makes a decision on how to transfer information to the pertinent person, organization or government body. The PIC also enables mass broadcasting outbound calls on such issues as livestock health, security, and water availability. This is done through a voice call, which is entered into the system and set up to make an automated call to all phone numbers recorded in the system.

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The PIC project’s components included research input from community engagements in kraals and villages to create pastoralist networks and groups to support the mobile technology component. KDF conducted community meetings targeting women in Rupa and Nadunget Sub counties, to understand gender roles in pastoralism by investigating the role of women play today in livestock management, including how women and youths perceive pastoralism as food security, and how women survive in extreme

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drought conditions.

Below are our findings on the role of women in pastoralism generated during the aforementioned community engagements.

Women are involved in taking care of lactating, small, and sick livestock as well as of animals kept near the homestead. They fetch water, search for and carry forage for home feeding, and manage the health of nursing calves.

Their involvement in activities related to birthing and caring for the newly born animals is important in cattle production

Women also perform most domestic tasks including food preparation and collecting firewood and water. They are responsible for child rearing and for food provision.

Moreover, women are tasked with processing milk products such as butter, and they also make decisions on dividing these products for home use and sale.

Some women commute from homesteads in villages to support men in the kraals. They take maize flour and sorghum flour to the kraals, and, when coming back they bring milk, butter and meat for home use.

And are usually called to the kraals

when an animal has been killed or when an animal dies. The women go and skin the animal, carry the meat home, or process it in the kraals through smoking and drying.

Pastoralist women play a fundamental role in contemporary livestock management by providing water for livestock, which they acquire from boreholes and rivers, or in some cases, as in Loyoro in Kaabong district, women dig wells. They also support men in constructing kraals especially during the dry season. Importantly, women play a lead role in responding to environmental hazards. Among other things, women are involved in veterinary and health care, and they collect medicinal roots and herbs for both livestock and people. Women in Kangura kraal, Nabilatuk Sub County, told us about their treating and spraying activities in order to keep animals in good health.

As part of food provision, according to Nyanga Maria from Pupu village, Rupa Sub County, women also collect wild fruits from the local areas thanks to their knowledge, skill and understanding of when fruits are ripe, whether they are safe to eat, and where they can be found. Pastoralist women also take the lead role in subsistence agriculture, where they have the primary responsibility of crop farming and they receive help from men in the clearing, ploughing and harvesting stages of the process.

It is one of the central livelihood activities that women depend on when the climate is favourable in order to improve household income and food availability.

Women we interviewed as part of the project recognized that they are often consulted by men during times of migration of both people and livestock. Although they are

Below is a list of suggestions, both from our analysis and from our informants, on ways to help pastoralist women have a better quality of life and to improve their situation.

• Understand the basic needs of women while respecting local customs • Understand the roles that women have in pastoral societies and how these roles are changing • Enhance women’s involvement in decision-making • Develop new opportunities for pastoralist women in the labour market

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Pastoralist consulted on these matters, if the environment was supportive. they continue to have, allegedly, They said they move strategically limited roles in decision making. for water and pasture for animals, When we asked Angella Anna, a and sometimes they move woman in Rupa, about women’s because of security or suspected participation in politics, she told livestock diseases. us “Have you ever heard of a The multiplicity of women’s woman who is a kraal leader? If tasks brings them in close you have never heard, then you interaction with and dependence should know that we don’t have on the natural environment in a any right to be one”. Even though number of ways: for example, in they do not make direct decisions collecting wood and water, and on migration of livestock, women’s foraging for both animal and councils (alogita a ngaberu), similar to men’s akiriket, discuss and cooperate on issues of importance to the community.

During a meeting in Nadunget, the women informed KDF that they do not own any mobile phones. They see phones being used by Livestock is life, their husbands and it is our wealth, and every shepherds. They do not know how to use phones household should own and they cannot afford (livestock). I wonder how to buy. Moreover, they mentioned that they we would survive and feed do not have any use of our families if we did not mobile phones: “to call whom? “Said a woman at the have livestock”. community meeting.

Another woman called Nakiru said: “Livestock is life, it is our h u m a n wealth, and every household consumption.

There are should own (livestock). I wonder therefore, severe repercussions how we would survive and feed for pastoralist women from our families if we did not have the worsening climate and livestock”. the diminished availability of Women acknowledge that they rangeland resources. would not wish to keep migrating Degradation of pasture land

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has increased the amount of time that has to be spent caring for young, sick, and feeble livestock that are kept at the homestead.

It is women who are responsible for collecting water and fodder for these animals. Moreover, the degradation of the pasture lands has contributed to the deterioration of fodder supply, which considerably increases the burden of work on women.

Any deterioration in the quality of grazing areas rapidly translated to a reduction in milk products.

Thus, pasture degradation has a severely negative impact on women by further reducing the milk supply which is extremely critical in household food supply and children’s health.

As a result of the increased incidence of drought, which triggers migrations in search of water and pasture, pastoralist women move longer distances away from their homesteads and are, thus, barred from accessing critical services, such as health, during illness.

In terms of their key responsibility of providing food for the family, pastoralist women are hindered from crop farming as an alternative livelihood because of the increased drought condition. They, therefore, depend on livestock to provide income through the sale of animals and products to cater for the family’s needs.

Typical day in the life of a

pastoralist woman Apie Theresa: How Alternative Livelihoods Influence Livestock Ownership: Interviewed by: Lomuria Vincent Transcribed by: Loumo Sam

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y Name is Apie Teresa, I am from R u p a sub-county, from a village called Lomario, and I am 63 years old. I am the head of the family and I live here with eight children, two of whom are for my sister, three of the children are my co-wife’s and three are mine. One of the girls is studying in Kasimeri Primary School.

When I wake up early in the morning, I start sweeping the compound and when I finish, I prepare porridge or warm the food left over from the previous evening for

my children to eat.

When I finish that, I go to the garden (to do agricultural activities) and when the garden work is done, I come back home, go to the borehole (to fetch water), and then come

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Pastoralist back and prepare a meal in case there are some vegetables I have gathered from the garden. If there is flour, I start selling flour or local brew at the trading centre of Rupa and then later come back home and do other household work like bathing children, cooking and washing utensils.

When it is time for cultivation, I don’t stop local brewing and other businesses.

When children are in school, I wake up early in the morning for garden work and when I come back, I open my business of selling flour and local brew.

I don’t start sales very early in the morning because I have to first go and work on something else before starting to sell local brew or flour and when that is done, I come back for household work like cooking.

[Sometimes]I also break marble stones for sale at Lopusak mining site - it is one of the activities that has helped me educate my children. When the stones have been bought, I use the money to buy household needs like salt, groundnuts and maize for local brew. The same money I get from the sale of stones I use for cultivating my garden - sometimes I hire people to work in the garden and also break stones at the mining site, and when they come back, I give them food and payment at the end of the day. My work is to supervise them daily.

When enough marble stones have been broken into smaller pieces (to fill) about two trucks, I get around 500,000 UGX - this is the money I can get within the shortest period of time.

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Apie Theresa talking to KDF volunteer

I currently have about

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In a month, you can even get about 1 million UGX as long as the stones are bought immediately by buyers. Sales of local brew can also earn me about one million in a month including the selling of flour, when flour is cheap from the market. I earn a lot of money especially when I buy cheaply and bring it here for sale in small quantities. With local brewing, sometimes I get about 200,000 UGX in a week.

The money I earn from the sale of stones, I use for running other businesses like brewing, selling of salt, flour and beans. I also use that same money for paying my children’s school fees.

The money that I get from the petty business I carry out is the one I save in our group for savings.

On Livestock Rearing & Resilience I own my livestock. I bought cattle some years ago from the money I got through selling marble stones. I started with two heifers and after some years, they multiplied. I have now started buying goats and I’m planning to buy more livestock at the end of the year when the savings are distributed.

I was also able to construct a semi-permanent house out of the money I got from the sale of marble stones. It is my personal house that I constructed from my hard work. All my children have constructed semipermanent houses apart from those young ones who are still in school.

My children take care of livestock and they are currently in Napedo and others in Lokupoi at the kraal. On the weekends,

I move to the kraal to go and see the livestock, I also go with some medicine in case there are some sick animal. Sometimes I go to water them in Rata (Rupa Sub County, Moroto) borehole; they are currently getting water at the nearby dams around the kraal because there is some rain at the moment. I currently have about 13 cows and about 70 goats and sheep.

I have found that livestock helps to overcome very many problems, when cultivation of crops fails, I depend on livestock, I have bulls, and when there comes a time for hunger, I can sell one bull and it solves all the problems I have. I can sell one at about 1.2 million UGX and use it for many things like buying food and also restocking.

I also buy turkeys and other

poultry and you will get them all in my home. That money I get from the sale of a cow is also used for paying school fees and other school requirements like uniforms, books and other basic requirements.

Livestock is a store, you have seen that because of the current situation of hunger, many livestock were sold especially when there are no harvests. When crop cultivation is successful, then you should leave your cattle to multiply because there is enough harvest and less hunger. I cannot sell my livestock when there is no hunger. Not only that, I also get a lot of food from a cow. Sometimes one can slaughter for both commercial and home use. I drink a lot of milk and also get butter.

Life After Disarmament and Peace After disarmament, life has changed drastically, People used to die and we were pulled from the houses but now it has changed. You can even move at night and sleep in the wilderness.

Before disarmament, there were no businesses like the ones we are now doing, we could not access markets or even move up to Kangole or Kotido to look for food. But now we can move as women to Kangole and buy food during market days. Even livestock is multiplying slowly but not rapidly because of the droughts and diseases which affect them.

My life has changed, I no longer feel sad, no more tensions of insecurity because before disarmament, when it reached evening, you get worried of the insecurity situation in the area, and now we are at peace and happy always. Even when you go to your garden, you don’t feel scared of anything; you commit to your work in the garden without any fear. In the past women used to rarely own livestock, it was only men who used to own but now women also own livestock.

In decision making, we are now nearly at the same level with

men in political affairs. Women contest for leadership with men, there are no positions now that were said in the past that they are meant for men only. Back in the day, a woman had no voice during meetings but now we can sit together and contribute ideas equally in community meetings.

There are no longer meetings that are meant to be for Men only- it is only during Akiriket where women are not supposed to go.

Some Akiriket sessions include women which was not the case in the past. A woman now has a right and a voice to speak and make decisions in a community.

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Pastoralist

Mama Moroto: On Livestock Trading as a Woman Interviewed by: Lomuria Vincent & Antonia Pohl Transcribed by: Lomuria Vincent

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y name is Akot Mary, but I am known as Mama Moroto. I am 58 years old and I stay in Singila village of Katikekile Sub County in Moroto District.

My life and work relies on animals.

I keep animals and I also sell them.

Every morning I wake up, as a woman or mother I make sure my milking utensils are clean before I start to milk though I don’t milk every day because I have herders that look after my animals.

My daily routine is not fixed, because some days in the morning I milk, some days I start by cleaning the compound, sometimes I start by washing/cleaning kids (young ones of goats) but I get to my butcher at least every day. I slaughter and sell meat from here, then after late in the evening I get back home.

This job of keeping animals attracted me because of the importance of the cow or an animal - it really helps us in various ways. First, you can get milk from a cow for home consumption or even sell it for money. Second, when the animals multiply, you can sell one and use it as school fees for the children.

You can even slaughter animals like I do now. Even as we talk I don’t admire any other business because I have love for animal keeping and doing businesses in line with animal keeping.

What I do mainly is keep them and when they multiply I sell some and I use it for constructing houses for my

children. When the animals are still young and growing, I am doing this business of slaughtering, though I do slaughter every day.

Even yesterday I did, but all was not finished (not all the animals were slaughtered), and it is the very one I am selling today. Before I used to slaughter at my home in Singila, but it is quite far for the people. So, I had to move closer to the people and that is why I am here in Camp Swahili. I don’t have a (stable) butcher yet, so that is why I slaughter at my place here in Camp Swahili. However, I will soon shift to the butcher, since I have been given one room there by the district. Because my slaughter business was dying off in Singila due to limited customers, I said let me also get closer (to the market).

Even now as we talk, my prices are different from that of the main butchers. I sell a kilogram of beef at 6000 Uganda Shillings (UGX) to 7000 UGX, in order to attract more customers. Other butchers sell a kilogram of beef at 10000 UGX. I have so many children that I feed. These other businesses like brewing of alcohol cannot manage or help me to take care of my children. This business of slaughtering was very good before - animal traders from Sudan came. Animals are now expensive.

We would get a profit of about 50,000 UGX per cow. Now it is just about 10.000 UGX in profit. Before the Sudanese came, the profit was so high that in a period of about a week or less you could even buy another cow from these very profits. And that is why I really love this animal business - the profits are really good, and you get milk, blood from these very animals.

Currently I have about 50 cows;

some are at home here in Singila and some are in the kraal in Rupa.

As for goats, I used to have very many but due to theft they are few now, and it is mainly my own shepherds that steal them. When you chase and bring another (shepherd), the previous one and his people start to loot when the current one is maybe busy doing something. Goats are really very good, they easily multiply. But the only challenge with keeping them is theft. You see, like me now, sometimes they can steal about 10 goats in one day. And these stolen ones we always follow them up. Sometimes we get lucky and find them, but in most cases, we don’t. It is really hard to trace

When NUSAF (Northern Uganda Social Action Fund) came, I also become a beneficiary where I got six cows and one bull.

These animals really multiplied and become very many, until the raiders came in the night and took all of them

these thieves. Sometimes you get lucky and the goats escape the thieves and come home. My son is the one who normally follows up on the stolen goats.

As a woman, how where you able to acquire animals?

I got animals by first buying one and then I kept it. When it produced I loved it and kept them, even though I had bought it for slaughter. Then I bought another which also reproduced, and when they reproduced bulls and when these bulls grow, I sell or slaughter them. I really started by keeping only one cow that I bought while I was slaughtering goats. These two cows that I bought multiplied and became five. When NUSAF (Northern Uganda Social Action Fund) came, I also become a beneficiary where I got six cows and one bull.

These animals really multiplied and become very many, until the raiders came in the night and took all my animals, and though the army got back part of them, three quarters were taken by the raiders. Even my shepherd was killed in this raid, which happened seven years ago just here at home in Singila. I had to pay the relatives of the lost shepherd. It was people from Matheniko who raided my animals saying that I am not a Matheniko, and that I am a Tepeth. The animals I was left with multiplied again. Cows are really good, like one which I just gave one of my sons when he asked one cow for milk for feeding his children. I already have five (offspring) out of that cow alone. So, I continued buying and selling animals. I bought some cows after losing many to the raiders. When I was raided,

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Pastoralist my son came from Kampala and gave me about 500,000 UGX with which I bought three more cows because prices were very low at the time. Raiders were the ones selling these animals since one would want to sell it very fast before he is followed up (by the family from whom he stole). They could sell at around 100,000 UGX to 150,000 UGX which cannot be compared to the high prices of today where a cow can cost you 600,000 UGX to 800,000 UGX, and bulls are at a million and above.

How much money do you get in the animal business?

I get little money nowadays - it ranges between 10,000 to 30,000 UGX in a day depending on the customer turn up that day.

Two years ago, I would get about 50,000 to 100,000 UGX a day, but profits have reduced due to the bad market prices. I use the profits I make for taking care of my family.

Profits no longer buy another cow like it used to be before.

Also, the family size is another thing that is affecting me today. I have about 10 young children in my home and, most of them are my grandchildren. When profits don’t help, I sell say one goat, but I never touch my capital. I feed my children and their children, and I have employed about seven people, four are my shepherds, and then three help me at my local butcher here.

How do you at look at life before and after disarmament?

Life is so good today than before when the gun was there.

Even if your animals sleep outside no thief or anyone will take them.

Animals are really multiplying,

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Currently I have about

50

cows; some are at home here in Singila and some are in the kraal in Rupa

you see? You don’t have to call the army for your and your animals’ protection like before. Today we don’t need any soldiers to look after your animals in the night; it is only these petty thieves who can take one and you can catch him without the army. Before, animals multiplied but they were also raided, but today they multiply and no one takes them, except the common animal diseases and drought. These two (factors) are finishing our animals today, especially diseases. For me, between now and mid last year, I have lost 10 cows to diseases.

Also, we don’t have safe water for our animals - like the Singila river is full of leeches when the water stops running.

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

Do women have a voice now more than before, or are women empowered more now than before?

Women have a voice now than before, women are now empowered. Even right now me having animals is a wonder to some people - for an old woman like me who is not even educated owning animals like this. It is now my pride. Those days, like eight years ago, it was forbidden for a woman to own as many cows as I do now. Women were allowed to have two to three cows for milk which in fact belonged to the husband or the family. It is this current government which has allowed this; it has respected and recognized the women rights here in Karimojong (Karamoja). You can see just like how you are talking to me now, before you would be talking to a man because they were the only ones that owned animals and did big businesses like this one of slaughtering animals and trading of animals in the cattle markets.

Any message for the Karamoja Development Forum?

My only message is if you could be in position to get or lobby (on our behalf) for animal drugs and water. If possible also help the Karimojong people restock their animals. Many women are not like me, who is buying and selling animals. I move even to Teso region markets like Ochorimogin to trade because animals are cheaper there than here. You know a woman is so caring and good at grooming. If there will be a program that will restock Karamoja and give us animals especially to women, some will even go beyond me.

Nyanga Maria: Life with Peace but without Animals Interviewed by: Lomuria Vincent Transcribed by: Loumo Sam

M

y Name is Nyanga Maria and I am from Rupa Sub-county from a place called Pupu Village. I am about 67 years. I have six children.

When I wake up early in the morning, I go to the nearby (trading) centre of Katamukono in Moroto to buy local brew and then bring it here for sale. When I come back from the centre, I first go to do the garden to weed and then after I go and start selling local brew. When local brew is finished on time, I go to look for some greens and vegetables in the garden. Then I later go and fetch some firewood and come back to prepare food for the family in the evening. Some other days when sale of local brew has failed, I go to Kaaleyo very early in the morning to fetch firewood, and carry it to Moroto town for sale. If I happen to sell, I buy some food for the family in town and bring it back home to prepare for the children. The local brew I trade in is for both commercial and home consumption. One Jerrycan of local brew in Moroto town costs about 9,000 UGX and when there is a loss after sales, I go and fetch firewood and sell in town so that I recover the money for buying a Jerrycan of local brew. The money I get from the sale of local brew does not sustain and meet all basic needs in the household. I have to make sure that I balance it with the business of selling firewood. A heap of firewood is sold at 2,000 UGX and sometimes 2,500 UGX and you can buy a half kilogram of Posho for 900 UGX - that is what I buy in order to provide food for the children.

The money I get

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist from the sale of firewood and I have failed to fetch firewood, local brew cannot be saved, what I do is to go and help the simply because there is nothing shepherd water the animals. in the store. When the season But I never go to the kraals, I just is favourable and there is food stay at home here because this harvested, the crops help to is where my kraal is. It is people provide food for the family and who own a lot of animals that I can also be in a position to move in the bushes and are in make local brew from home kraals. But for women that go without going to the town to to kraals, they mainly go there buy. My trade in local brew only to help in watering the animals, happens in situations where and in the dry season they help there is no food in stock. I make sure that my small business continues in order to feed my family. My husband has grown old and he also depends on the food I get.

As my husband is very old and does not With the own cows, it is my responsibility to feed peace of today if we him as well. Even my had our animals, we children who are older but not yet married would be rich now depend on me to take because there are no care of them through the sale of fire wood more raids and this very local brewed alcohol you are seeing here.

As a woman, what is your role in animal keeping or as pastoralist?

I really don’t have animals currently. Ever since raids finished our animals, I have just sat like that. It is this very jerrycan of locally brewed beer that is feeding me and my family now as well as fire wood selling as I had told you earlier.

But we women also have many roles to play when it comes to animal keeping. As for me I have only one cow. My role in keeping this animal is to water it. There are shepherds who are males. Sometimes if

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in gathering wild fruits. Fruit gathering is normally done after watering the animals.

People in kraals depend on wild fruits since there is no milk during dry seasons. Wild fruits are even cooked and eaten.

The animal I told you that I own was the only one left after raids. I also got some through my daughter’s bridewealth. I used to own a lot of animals before, but raiding finished them all and it has left me in a state of poverty.

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

Disarmament and Peace How do you compare life when the gun was in Karamoja and when it has been replaced with this peace we are living in today?

When the gun was there, we had a lot of animals. Life was good in that there was no poverty that is seen today. Except we did have the insecurity of raids and there was a lot of loss of life due to the gun. With the peace, I am really happy about it and I was even excited when disarmament started, but got disappointed that our animals went together with the gun. To me, with peace, I knew I would get very rich since no one will be coming after my animals. But when disarmament was done, our animals were also no more. To be honest, with the peace of today if we had our animals, we would be rich now because there are no more raids. No one is going to steal your animals, but we have been unlucky not to have animals at this time of peace. Instead, it is hunger and disease now.

When you compare then and now, do women have a voice in public?

Response: Today things are really okay. Women have a voice and we even participate in politics more than before because we didn’t know that women can also lead or participate in public meetings. We are enjoying today. Even in my household, we share responsibilities. We listen to each other right from the father, child and mother. We now somehow know about human rights and law. That is why we women have got a voice now more than before.

The Life history of a

Karamojong

Pastoralist

Woman

By Nangiro Patricia

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist

A

mong the Karamojong people, there is no room for doubt that both women and men are part of the pastoralist system from birth, contributing to the enterprise through distinct but complementary roles and responsibilities. In this article, we examine the life history of a woman from being born into a pastoralist community to adulthood, in order to appreciate the complex and dynamic gender constructs that pastoralist women contend with daily.

The life history of a Karamojong woman is a story of energy, resilience, and survival within a harsh semi-arid environment.

The story may not be the same for every woman, but the common thread is visible in the lives of the majority of women and girls.

It starts when a child is born normally the describing idiom is ‘iperemoding kori ikaeon?’ literally translated as ‘one who sleeps out in the bushes or one who sings?’ in reference to whether the baby is a boy or a girl. The description stems from the distinction in gender roles, where men and boys spend their days out in the bush herding cattle, while women and girls tend to do chores in the home like grinding, digging, collecting firewood and fetching water, in most cases while singing.

Girls begin the process of learning how to provide for the household and support members’ wellbeing from an early age (between 5 and 12 years). As mothers start their day before the crack of dawn away from home in crop fields, gathering wood, and

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An aerial view of a Panyangara settlement. Women are trained for central roles in livestock production doing casual work in nearby town centres, young girls are co-opted as the second mother and are tasked with taking care of other siblings and doing household work, including taking part in agricultural activities. As a result, a girl’s chances of enrolling, staying, and completing the first stage of formal schooling are negatively affected. She is already part of the crucial household labour force, playing an equally important role as boys who herd livestock. The mention of formal schooling for girls is often met with a counter argument from the mother: “who will help me at home?” Boys on the other hand have more chances to attend school if the family has no or few livestock, which can be pushed to another kraal.

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

Teenage years (13 – 19) are a critical stage for a pastoralist girl.

It is a time to build friendships with other girls in the village, doing home chores together, participating in traditional dances to meet suitors for marriage, and engage in courtship. She has to make her own money through casual work in nearby town centres, selling wood and brew to buy beads and other traditional attire. Her productive roles increase as she is expected to contribute in monetary terms and in-kind to household needs such as food. At home, her roles also include, among others, milking the cows, churning milk to make ghee, and ensuring the shepherds have food. She also has to join the boys and men in the kraal to help

in cooking and bring back home animal products.

As a girl gets ready for marriage, she is entrusted with a new set of tasks. These include constructing a small hut in the backyard of the main home for which she has to trek miles to bring building materials, sometimes with the help of her friends. She puts to practice the skills passed down to her by the older generations of women. In pastoralist communities, it is the women who build homes as men are meant to stay in temporary livestock kraals for the most part of the year. With the policy shift to sedentary lifestyles and alternative livelihoods, men and boys are now spending more time at home and in towns, taking on non-pastoralist roles and giving

way to conversations around a joint contribution to household well-being.

Once she is married and her bridewealth (normally in the form of livestock) has been received by her family, she wears her marriage bands on her neck and attains some level of influence and status in the family and society by becoming a key participant in traditional ceremonies and rituals.

She will have more opportunity to influence and speak in community forums, except in the traditional shrine – akiriket – that is reserved for only the initiated sections of men. But as a wife of one of these men, a woman will be among those cooking and serving meat at the periphery of the gathering. Among Ngijie (Jie), for instance, the wife of a key elder has the opportunity to present women’s views to her husband before the gathering at akiriket, and she may also be invited in his place if the husband is unable to attend.

During marriage, her husband assigns her livestock for milking.

She may also inherit gardens from her mother and or motherin-law with which to substitute household food. While the practice may have changed overtime, it is important to recognise it as a social protection system that society has relied on for generations to ensure women’s access to and ownership of farmland, as well as ensure food security. A woman whose bridewealth has not been given to her family culturally remains a daughter in her parents’ home and her children belong to her family. As an older woman (depending on the age-sets) in the family or clan, she is the custodian of family customs, performing marriage ceremonies, naming of children and other

rituals like akitujuk emunyen (smearing of sacred clay).

On the other hand, the life of an educated Karamojong girl may take a trajectory slightly distinct from that of a rural pastoralist girl. Her life journey (with minimal negative traps) may follow from her attainment of formal education to completing higher education and finding employment. In the course of this trajectory, they may spend less time in the village as education and employment leads them to towns and cities, and they may, therefore, have less contact to traditional modes of life, the pastoralist environment, and their resilience skills. While cultures and practices are not static, Karamojong pastoralist women should locate their place within the larger national social, economic and political systems.

Considering the life histories of the majority of the women and girls, it is important that pastoralist women’s voices are at the centre of the discourse on development in Karamoja.

Therefore, development in Karamoja would for instance include: investing in low cost technologies that reduce workload for mothers so that young girls are not co-opted as second mothers but have the opportunity to enrol and complete formal schooling; specific focus on building social and entrepreneurship skills for adolescent girls, since they are critical contributors to household well-being; investing in livestock services and value chain systems to ensure food security; and strengthening cultural practices that protect women’s rights to property such as land and livestock.

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist

Provision of goats helps to empower women economically and reduce domestic violence

V

By James Odong eronica Aleper, 32, ran a red comb through her hair while looking into a small mirror with quiet excitement, like a teenager expecting her suitor.

Her three healthy-looking children are playing around her in their home in Ariono-Moru village in Kaiku Parish, Namalu Sub County, Nakapiripirit District. Aleper’s ex-

citement was borne out of relief because in the past her husband,

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Alemuyan Lokut, 37, used to beat her almost daily, which is no longer the case now.

“Before I received these goats, fighting was the order of the day in my family between me and my husband, sometimes over small things. Back then, every morning, instead of going to do productive work to support our family, we would be in a clan meeting settling the previous night`s fight”, Aleper recalls.

She added, “But ever since I received five goats from Welthungerhilfe under RWANU

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

(Resiliency through Wealth, Agriculture and Nutrition), I don’t remember us fighting or even quarrelling. To me it is these goats that have brought peace to my family, because my husband is busy looking after the goats during the day to get milk for our family from the goats. Before that, he had nothing to do. He was just idling and spent his time drinking from morning to sunset”.

Aleper is one of the beneficiaries of the RWANU flagship project, a five-year USAID Food for Peace Development Food Assistance Program (DFAP) which is being implemented by Welthungerhilfe among others.

The overall goal of the program is to reduce food insecurity among vulnerable people in sixteen subcounties in Southern Karamoja.

The program has two strategic objectives: (1) Improved access to food for men and women; and (2) Reduced malnutrition in pregnant and lactating mothers and children under five.

Welthungerhilfe carries out the technical training and input provision related to livestock.

Aleper, like many other women in Southern Karamoja, benefited from this component.

In a region where cases of domestic violence are high, Aleper’s disclosure that it is the goats that she received that have stopped domestic violence in her home can best be described as, “hitting two birds with one stone”.

One stone being the goats which she received from Welthungerhilfe and the other being the peace and harmony which has been reestablished in her family.

Gender Based Violence, in particular sexual and physical violence, is widespread in Uganda

800

women were trained in best practices of goat husbandry, savings and credit, gender and conflict mitigation to build their capacity in managing goats.

Previous page: Aleper with her goats in her home Aleper during the interview at her home

and is mainly committed against women and girls. This is also backed by the Uganda police annual crime and traffic safety report 2013 which states that domestic violence also increased by 18.4%from 2,793 cases reported in 2012 to 3,426 cases reported in 2013 throughout the country.

This percentage is highest among women who belong to the Iteso ethnic group (70 percent), among rural women (58 percent), women in the Eastern region (66 percent), and women with five or more children (60 percent). (Refer to chapter six of the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2011).

“My husband is now guarding me jealously and cannot beat me because he fears losing me because that will also mean him losing out as a co-owner of the goats as I will go away with my goats’, she said when asked whether she is not scared that her husband can easily backtrack to his old habits of beating her.

RWANU supported the formation of 88 women livestock groups, each comprising about 10 women.

Aleper was one of the ten women who received five goats within their

group. The programme intended to reach 1,215 women in 2014, but implementation delays meant that most of the group selection was concentrated in the second half of the year. Over 800 women were trained in best practices of goat husbandry, savings and credit, gender and conflict mitigation to build their capacity in managing goats. The training emphasized construction of goat shelters, breeding for milk, feeding and disease management.

Given that men are traditionally the animal keepers (Editors’ note: also see “women and livestock ownership” article in this magazine), gender training involved men and elders to ensure they accept goat ownership by women while not shifting the role of grazing the animals to the women.

“From the five goats which I was given, my goats have multiplied to 19. My husband supports me by taking the goats to graze and water.

He understands that our life now depends on our success or failure in managing these goats. And I don’t think he wants us to slide back to where we used to be”, Aleper explained.

From the goats, Aleper’s family is able to get milk to feed the children in order to fight malnutrition.

“This one here is the first beneficiary of the goat milk”, she said while pointing at a healthy-looking little girl playing with her friends nearby.

The provision of goats to women, like Aleper, may be the way forward to deter cases of domestic violence.

James Odong is a former Communications Officer, Welthungerhilfe, Karamoja Project Office. He can be reached on Tel:0772664757 or email: odongojamesbond@yahoo.com

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist

Everybody - men and women - is necessary in the kraal Mzee Angella Adome Interview and transcription by Antonia Pohl

M

y name is Angella Jackson Adome.

I am an Opinion Leader and elder in Moroto. I live in Moroto, specifically in the sub-county of Rupa, north of Moroto town. I am 64 years old.

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I was born in 1953.

From the time Karamoja (came into being), the Karamojong used to move with their entire family and the kraals. As kraals move in search of water and pasture they would move with the entire family.

Now that is a traditional belief or not, but it is something they do.

What Karamojong do. The moment they get a woman, the woman is

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

assigned her own cows, her own animals. Either cows, either goats, camels or donkeys. And of course, every woman wants to be near all the time to watch over and to see the animals that belong to her.

And as you know, as she continues delivering children, her animals are also multiplying and because of this no women would like to be far, not knowing what is happening

Because of today’s changes in the weather, many animals are affected. Many animals have so far died and as such women are now confined back to the villages.

to her specific animals.

Well it is through those animals that she can earn a living. She has to get milk from these cows and in case these cows die, at least she is there to skin (the dead animal) and to get the meat. She can dry the meat for the dry seasons because it can be preserved for quite a long time. With the animals, her specific job includes herding and watering them. During the time of watering the animals, especially when they dig wells, even if a well goes up to ten feet deep, the women has to go deep and get water from there.

Although the man can dig the wells, watering the animals is the work the women normally do.

Then, in the kraals when the animals are brought back in the evenings, the women go and milk their own cows. She cannot go and

milk somebody else’s cows; she has to milk her own. This is where she will have to get milk and then she can get ghee from it. She can get whatever she wants and that is why the women do not want to detach themselves from the kraals.

The issue today is that things have changed. Every woman would not like to part of the kraal because of what I have already explained, because she has to follow her animals. But because of today’s changes in the weather, many animals are affected. Many animals have so far died and as such women are now confined back to the villages. This used to not happen. And that is a big challenge. But even now those who still have a few of their animals in the grazing areas or in the kraals, these women go (there). And even if they don’t go, their children are there. Either being girls, a boy – child or a girl - child, they are there to monitor the animals that belong to their mothers. And that is why these herdboys are there.

You are there to specifically guard the animals that belong to your mother, as a boy. And then the girl is there to do the milking and to preserve some ghee which will be sent home to their mother. But now that cows are no longer as many as they used to be, women are now here, away in the villages, and that has effects, because that is why you hear a lot about heavy drinking.

That (drinking) is being encouraged by the women and their husbands of course, leaving the young children, a girl-child or a boy-child in the kraal to guard those animals.

But the mother and the father are now here (in the village) drinking.

Then another thing they have resorted to now is selling charcoal, firewood. Just because there is

nothing else again to eat here. And that is a big change. Whether being positive, whether being negative, but on my side, I see it as a negative change, there is nothing positive, because they have lost their identity of livelihood. They have lost it. Now even if they try to grow food especially in the sub county I come from, for the last ten years they have not harvested anything.

So, people are now wishing, (they had) some cows (so that they could) feed (their) children with milk. but now the climatic change (and associated lack of water and pasture, and increase in animal diseases) has brought a very big disease to the herdsmen and herdboys.

I think to me there is need to support women, in particular. In the absence of cows (humanitarian help can take the form of animals) I think it would be better to get some animals, have them there, that will be given to a specific woman and then this specific woman with her children will move with these cows.

Wherever there is grass they can move, because to them whenever your cows have not eaten you don’t get milk. But at least you are content especially when you see your animals. Even the so-called hunger, as long as you see you have animals, healthy animals, at least you are content, you are happy. I think, I can say, if there is anything to help the people it is necessary and it is long overdue that they should be given assistance, - some help in terms of cows. Even if you give her two cows or three, she can leave this idea of drinking at trading centres and this idea of roaming around in town, this idea of moving around with firewood, it will be reduced, because every woman will definitely prefer to be with

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist and to watch her animals grazing somewhere, as long as peace is guaranteed. I can assure you: no woman will sit back here (in town) and suffer just because of drinking (they would go to the kraals to take care of animals). There is no alcohol in the bush. After all, when they run short of grass or when they run short of pasture or water they can move again to places where there is Waragi. But this will not even be able to reach (the bush), and if it does reach, the quantities of waragi are too small and will be exhausted in one hour and then the rest of the hours people are settled (in their work).

not trust what the husband will tell her: “Because your calf died because of what…” It will take time, you will labour to explain to the woman but the woman will not just (accept it) immediately, until she is satisfied. So, to me, I think it is very necessary for women to be there, to be watching and to be herding, not herding in a sense that they will take animals for grazing - that is the work of the boys and men. But the women should be there to see their animals in the morning when they go to graze and in the evening when they’re brought back. She should be able to see and smile when she sees her cows are healthy. And if

Angella Jackson talks to Antonia Pohl Everybody is necessary in the kraal. The husband is necessary, even the woman is necessary.

Because a woman might not trust (her) husband when (he is) herding animals alone. She will always have suspicion that maybe in case if a report reaches her that one of her calves has died she will just say: “that man ignored to look after my animals” and that will bring conflict. Because she will

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she’s milking (the animals), she will avoid the rampant moving (around town). This will save them from getting in contact with wrong men who have the money to deceive them and later on infect them with diseases like HIV. So, I think to me it is important to the women to be in the grazing areas, there they relax. For them, even if there is a shortage of food there, there are lots of things that can be eaten.

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

There are leaves of certain plants that people can get, especially during dry season, they can boil those and eat. There are even some fruits of some trees which can be eaten up there. They can pick those and boil and eat than just coming here to drink.

I would only want to add this: It is important to let everybody know that the Karamojong you see no longer have cows as they used to. I don’t know what happened.

All the communities in Karamoja have lost animals and there is no community that can proudly say we have so many cows. There is no one, as an individual, who can say “I have so many cows”. You can imagine that; you can see so many cows passing here and then when you see the number of animals you can see that it is equivalent to the number of herders. So, if there is anybody, government or any organization, that can advocate for the restocking of Karamoja. I think that will save the Karamojong from being “lamed” (paralyzed due to lack of animals) in most cases.

Let restocking be encouraged by whoever is willing to help save the souls of the Karamojong.

Otherwise, Karamojong without cows especially in areas like where I come from, when you try even to plant food, as I mentioned earlier in the last ten years they have not harvested anything on the ground, they are depending on their cows.

Even now it is drizzling a bit, but people continue to sell their own cows. They sell a few, again at this particular time they sell at very cheap prices meaning still nothing is done. So, I think it is important for anybody to encourage the restocking of the Karamoja region.

The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist

Chinese Investors now turn to donkey meat and hides in Kenya and Uganda Abdul Haro, with input from Teba Emma

A

ccording to the 2009 National Population and Housing Census, Kenya has 1.8 million donkeys. 42% of these donkeys are found in only two counties in Kenya: Turkana County which has the highest number of donkeys in the country

with 557,187 donkeys, and Mandera County with 191,664 donkeys. However, in Uganda, the Ministry of Agriculture for 2009 livestock census estimated the donkey population at 200,000 with 80% involved in agriculture. In both Kenya and Uganda, donkeys are a source of livelihood to many poor families and provides them employment opportunities and income. It is

also a delicacy in Turkana County.

The majority of donkey owners and users are small farmers and small businesses who rely on the back of this animal to earn their living. Donkeys are also mainly used by women and youth. Their main tasks are in transport where they are used for transporting water, firewood, construction materials, people, farm produce, livestock feed, and

Panyangara, Kotido District, Uganda.

Photo Credit: Vincent Lomuria

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The K a r a m o j a

Pastoralist harvest to the market. The donkey remains a cheap, convenient and consistent means of transporting goods in rural areas of northern Kenya and Uganda.

There is an emerging concern along the Kenya-Uganda border that donkeys are facing the risk of being exterminated from the area. The areas on the western stretch of Turkana County (Loima, Lokiriama etc.) and their neighbouring borderlands of Moroto district in Uganda have shown a rise in disappearances of donkeys which are then found slaughtered and skinned.

There are reports of a gang of livestock rustlers who have, allegedly, descended on the area and are hunting down the donkeys for their hides/ skins which have become quite lucrative after a third donkey abattoir in Kenya was opened in the Napetet area in Lodwar, Turkana County by a Chinese investor. The first donkey abattoir opened in April 2016 in Naivasha to cater to the burgeoning Chinese market. Reports indicate that the hide from a donkey sells at between 6,000 to 10,000 Kenya Shillings (approx. 200,000 – 350,000 Uganda Shillings) in Turkana, which is quite lucrative compared to the current price of a live donkey. Many donkey owners in the area now worry that they will have to herd their donkeys the way they herd cattle and small stock in order to save them from donkey thieves in Turkana that have connived with other thieves across the border in Moroto, Uganda to ensure that a lost donkey is unrecoverable.

In Karamoja, the donkey business is becoming increasingly lucrative. In Moroto,

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Photo from: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001230344/narokresidents-want-donkey-abattoir-permits-suspended-to-save-animals%20 accessed%2012.04.2017

at Naitakwae livestock market alone, about 60 donkeys are sold and transported to Tororo every Monday. A Chinese investor has opened a donkey abattoir in Eastern Uganda district of Tororo.

A donkey in Naitakwae livestock Market costs between UGX 350,000 and UGX 450,000. The skin for the same animal costs between UGX 150,000 and UGX

Karamoja Development Forum | 2017

250,000. The local government revenue departments also profit from the trade as each sold and transported donkey is taxed UGX 10,000.

However, similar to Turkana County, reports of disappearing donkeys are increasing in and around Moroto. With about 20,000 donkeys in Uganda, it will take 340 market days for

Naitakwae livestock market alone to consume the national donkey population. That is merely 6 years. Moreover, this only applies to one livestock market in Moroto. Other livestock markets across Karamoja especially in Karita, Amudat and Kanawat, Kotido also see sale of donkeys.

The way these donkey thieves or rustlers operate is likely to cause a cross-border conflict between communities living along the Kenya-Uganda border, and it is just a matter of time before the menace is replicated on the borders between Kenya

and Ethiopia and Kenya and South Sudan. The thieves are said to drive the donkeys away when they are set free to graze, as is done, after working for the owner. They are then driven across the border to Moroto, Uganda where they are slaughtered in the bushes and skinned, and the hides are then transported back to Turkana where there is a ready market. Reports also indicate that the slaughtering of these animals is done in an inhumane manner in many instances.

Cases have been reported to government administrators in the border region that some of these donkey rustlers drug the animals and skin them alive.

Some skinned animals have been seen by villagers walking around in great pain or writhing on the ground in pain.

Local communities in Turkana County and their counter-parts in Moroto strongly feel that the business licenses issued to Chinese Investors buying the hides in Turkana should be taken away. They argue that the local community in Turkana County was not involved in the decision to give licenses for business in the area and for opening an abattoir. They demand a hearing in the spirit of public participation, which is an integral part of development decisions under devolution in the counties. This, some have argued, may not be possible because of the free business environment in Kenya by law, in that the government cannot close a legitimate business. Others have argued that the donkey is also recognised as livestock in Kenya and, therefore, it is not

illegal to slaughter it and sell its hide like for any other livestock.

The other countries where the donkey business has resulted in a brutal outcome for donkeys is Egypt, Tanzania and South Africa.

In South Africa, for instance, the surge in the demand for donkey hides has led to a rise in cruelty towards and theft of donkeys in rural areas. In a statement by the National Council of Societies for the Protection of Animals (NSPCA) in South Africa, the brutality against this historical beast of burden was described as horrifying, and that donkeys had become the latest victims of the trade in animal parts ‘for medicinal purposes’ to the far east. NSPCA also reported that donkeys were being rounded up, stolen, then transported and brutally slaughtered for their skins.

Other people and animal rights activists have also joined the ongoing debate about the fate of donkeys in the region. Some have argued that the number of donkeys is very low, and hence the business may not be sustainable and might lead to the extermination of this important animal from the area. This would in turn expose poor pastoralists to more hardships in the dry region.

One commentator has argued that since the construction of the donkey abattoir is an investment that must be approved by the Public Health Ministry of the County Government of Turkana, the trade is acceptable as long as the County Government has seen some business sense in the matter and the people of Turkana are not opposed to it. There is also the argument that for poor counties such as Turkana, which

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Pastoralist have high poverty levels, a proper understanding of the economic determinants that are driving this business need to be understood before taking measures against lucrative market opportunities.

This school of thought also argues that due to the increased rate of mechanization in many parts of Africa, the donkey may not be as useful as before. Thus, there is little harm in putting them to other profitable use such as rearing them for slaughter either for meat or for hides.

Finally, there are also those who argue that many donkeys are mistreated and left to die if they grow old or sick. For these reasons alone, they support the slaughter of donkeys for meat and hides since it is very costly to carry out euthanasia on large herds of donkeys.

A similar problem seems to be facing many other countries in Africa. In Ethiopia, two abattoirs have been constructed by the Chinese for similar reasons as in Kenya. Shandong Dong, a donkey slaughterhouse,has been opened at a cost of 80 million Birr (over 12 Billion Uganda Shillings) in Bishoftu (Debrezeit) town, 48Km east of Addis Ababa. Another donkey abattoir is reportedly being constructed by Chinese investors in Assela in the Oromia region. Both abattoirs are set up for the purpose of exporting donkey meat to Vietnam, and the skins to China, which will be used to manufacture medicines.

The Guardian in its online edition on 29th January 2017 published a story on how the demand for donkey hide needed for making a traditional Chinese medicine called Ejiao (used for treating

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With about

20,000 donkeys in Uganda, it will take

340

market days for Naitakwae livestock market alone to consume the national donkey population

anaemia and other blood disorders) was fuelling the rise in price and rate of slaughter of donkeys, thus endangering the livelihoods of millions of rural folks who rely on the donkeys as a means of transport. Other countries in affected by the new donkey trade include Niger and Burkina Faso. Niger is reported to have exported 80,000 donkeys to China in 2016, compared with 27,000 donkeys in 2015. Burkina Faso reportedly sold 18,000 donkeys to China from January to April of 2016, compared to only 1,000 animals sold in the

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same period in 2015. Both the Governments in Niger and in Burkina Faso are worried about the decimation of their donkey populations, and have banned donkey meat and product exports.

A report also published in January 2017 by the Donkey Sanctuary indicated that the demand for donkey hide is far outstripping the supply. “Around 1.8million donkey hides are traded per year, while global demand is estimated between 4 to 10 million skins,� states the report. This has raised the price of donkeys in some countries, making them unaffordable for many people who use them for transporting goods to market, cultivate land, and fetch water and firewood. The report also indicates that the donkey population has nearly halved in China since 1991 due to the growing demand for their hides.

It is stories like these that is worrying many donkey owners in Turkana County and Moroto Region. These communities are afraid that if donkey populations are allowed fall at this sharp rate, many people will be deprived of their only means of survival.

Abdul Haro is based in Nairobi.

He can be reached at abdul.haro@gmail.com.

A version of this piece was previously circulated in the CELEP email listserv. A version can also be found at: https://abdulharo.wordpress. com/2017/04/12/chinese-investorsnow-turn-to-donkey-meat-and-hides-inkenya/

Girls Improving Resilience with Livestock (GIRL) Project Brief

M

ercy Corps’ Girls Improving Resilience with Livestock (GIRL) program is a three-year initiative (May 2015 – May 2018) aimed at empowering 12,000 pastoralist girls in West Pokot and Turkana counties (Kenya) as well as the Karamoja region (Uganda). The program focuses on adolescent girls aged 12-19 years old, with the aim of improving their livelihoods and personal agency, in addition to improving food security and adaptive capacity of their households, and resilience of their communities. The GIRL program model centers on the theory of change that if adolescent girls are given the skills and economic capabilities capacity to participate at the household, community and market level, then households will have increased food security and resilience to economic shocks.

Through facilitating collective learning and the application of new skills including basic education, livestock management, financial literacy, and business and life skills, the program is benefiting both girl participants and, notably, their wider households and communities. Besides providing these skills, Mercy Corps also

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Pastoralist

9,045

girls are engaged in weekly trainings on Life Skills, Health, Financial Literacy, Livestock Management and Power & Negotiation

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aims to support the development of girl-centered markets to encourage the growth of livestock and their by-products.

To date, the program has enrolled 9,045 girls across the three regions, and plans to reach a total of 13,427 girls over the lifespan of the program. A recent midline report (May 2017) shows that 8,602 girls have been trained in financial literacy and

mentors trained helping to build their leadership and teaching skills

5,800

girls actively saving to support households during emergencies

3,000

girls collectively or individually owning small ruminants or poultry

2,500+ gatekeepers engaged through community dialogues to change perceptions on girls and asset ownership

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Girls in Karamoja have increased their average monthly contributions to the household from $5.82 to $51, with 68% of girls reporting an increase

5,653 girls participate in weekly savings groups. In addition, 267 groups own livestock and poultry.

Moreover, the program has trained 397 mentors in leadership and teaching skills.

The midline study reveals that girls’ decision-making related to marketing of livestock and byproducts increased in all three regions, thus providing them a significant income opportunity.

Critically, girls’ purchase of livestock in Karamoja increased dramatically from 5% to 47%, thus indicating their confidence

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and ability to enter the livestock market and negotiate prices, and an increase in asset ownership through other income generating activities. Moreover, 60% of the girls in Karamoja reported increase in decision-making abilities, primarily around marketing of milk.

Since the start of the program, girls in Karamoja have increased their average monthly contributions to the household from $5.82 to $51, with 68% of girls reporting an increase. The income generation activities are skewed towards Northern Karamoja due to family pressure in Southern Karamoja to stay within the household and not engage in market activities. Karamoja also reported the highest increase across the three program regions in household access to financial services with 33% of households reporting access compared to a baseline of 22%. Girls in Karamoja also reported an increase in group savings.

To ensure girls’ success, the GIRL program has undertaken such supportive activities as: 7 curriculums adapted to the local context including local music, dance, and drama aspects; 8 value chains mapped and analyzed to identify and target female-centered market opportunities; and robust qualitative and quantitative data tracking to build a stronger understanding of the challenges, needs and opportunities around pastoral girls.

Adapted by Padmini Iyer with support from Elizabeth Valone, Program Director, Mercy Corps

Karamojong women read “The Karamoja Pastoralist� magazine in Rupa, Moroto

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www. kdfug.org Kitopoloi House, Plot 15-17, Ojakala Road, Moroto Municipality

Do you believe that a team of volunteers can contribute to change in Karamoja?

We do! At the Karamoja Development Forum, volunteering is at the core of our work and our mission. We put our skills and our resources to learn and work with our communities on issues that we believe matter to the Karamojong people.

If you would like to work with us, or join our team, write to us at karamojadf@gmail.com or ed@kdfug.org or visit our website (www.kdfug.org) for more information

Karamoja Development Forum is registered by the National NGO Board in 2014 as a Non Governmental Organisation registration number 10602