Poverty and changing livelihoods of migrant Maasai pastoralists in Morogoro and Kilosa Districts, Tanzania

This REPOA paper examines recent changes to the livelihoods of Tanzanian Maasai pastoralists driven by socio-economic developments and environmental change in the Morogoro and Kilosa districts where they live.Using a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) the study applies the Impoverishment-Degradation Spirals theoretical framework to test four hypotheses.The sedentarisation of the pastoral Maasai and the change in their livelihood strategies has led to their impoverishment.</B> decline of pastoral resources combined with profitable agricultural pursuits have drawn more Maasai into agriculture widening the wealth gap between the well-off and poor pastoralistsinterpersonal relations have been transformed, individualising access to recourses<B>Sedentarisation of the Maasai has contributed to the growing pressure on arable lands, thereby threatening the integrity of the environment in the expansion areas.</B> In spite of increased farming by Maasai migrants, there is little evidence that the integrity of the environment is under threat. This challenges previous fears that the Maasai would apply inappropriate land management methods. <B>Migration of the poor groups among the Maasai out of Maasailand and into the expansion areas has allowed them to rebuild their herds.</B> Rather than rebuilding their herds and eventually returning to their pastoral way of life, the Maasai take up new non-pastoral economic activities and their worldview also changes upon migration. The aspirations of the younger generations who want an education differ from those of their elders. <B> As they are forced to sedentarise and diversify their sources of livelihoods the Maasai are gradually being de-skilled as pastoralists.</B> While some Maasai have carried on with livestock keeping, others are seeking non-pastoral livelihoods either by adopting crop cultivation or migrating into urban areas. The study does not suggest that the latter groups have become de-skilled as pastoralists. However a small section of the Maasai (especially the young people) appear to be loosing the pastoralist way of life. Given that agriculture and livestock keeping will continue to be viable economic pursuits of the Maasai, the paper recommends that policy interventions should follow three logical steps: improving the agriculture and livestock development sector so as to provide a base for the development of non-farm economic activitiesimproving the human capital in the rural areas to enable excess labour in rural communities to access other profitable economic sectors in the countryimproving the existing and other potential non-farm economic activities to expand income earning portfolios in rural areasAdditional recommendations: a subsidy programme on farm and livestock production inputs is neededthe state should provide investment in rural infrastrucutre such as roads, water supply, schools, research institutions, and extension services as a means of reducing production costs and increasing productivity.microcredit financing for smallholder farmers and livestock keepers is needed. These institutions should be conjoined to the development of democratic farmers’ cooperatives. More investment is also needed in basic education, non-formal education, and non-government institutions with a special emphasis on pastoraliststo avert land use conflicts between pastoralists and crop cultivators participatory village land use management should be introduced[adapted from author]