Effect of Closed Borders on Pastoralists
The pastoralists could not move freely after the colonial government began imposing various restrictions on their mobility. Special permission was required to move beyond the boundaries and it was difficult to get permits without trouble and harassment. Those found guilty were severely punished. Pastoralists were not allowed to enter markets in white areas. In many areas, they were not allowed to participate in any form of trade. Europeans saw the pastoralists as dangerous and savage. However, whites had to depend on black labor to bore mines and build roads and towns. The restrictions affected both their pastoral and trading lives.
Pastoralism in Africa
Pastoralism and pastoral livestock production are very important to the livelihood and economy of Africa’s semi-arid areas. Due to long-term climate change, around 7,000 years ago; it spread throughout Northern Africa as an adaptation to the constantly changing and unpredictable arid climate. Pastoralism in Africa is practiced in 43 percent of the landmass.
More than 22 million Africans rely on some type of pastoral activity for a living. Among them are Bedouins, Berbers, Maasai, Somali, Boran, and Turkana. Today, the bulk of them live in semi-arid grasslands or dry deserts, where rainfed agriculture is difficult. They raise cattle, camels, goats, sheep, and donkeys, and sell milk, meat, skins, and wool. Some augment their meager and uncertain earnings from pastoralism through commerce and transportation, while others combine mobile lifestyle activity with agriculture.
The lives of African pastoralists changed tremendously over colonial and post-colonial times. From the late 19th century, the British colonial government in east Africa started expanding land under cultivation. As cultivation expanded, pasturelands turned to cultivated fields and this brought a number of problems for the pastoralists and their lives became tough.
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