Pastoralists call for mobile schools

By Endale Assefa

A chair person of a commission on environmental, economic and social policy of the World Conservation Union and secretariat of the world alliance of Mobile Indigenous Peoples, Taghi Farver, suggested the establishment of mobile schools for pastoralists in Ethiopia at a regional gathering of pastoralists of the horn of Africa, held at Quarsa Denbi, 41 kilometers from Yabelo, on July 17, 2006.

The forum held in the southern Ethiopia savannah was attended by sixty pastoralists. Taghi Ferver, who himself is from a pastoralist family, said “Pastoralist refers to shifting cultivators, mobile fishing folks, mobile forest people and all the peoples and groups who need to move from place to place seasonally in order to make their living .”

Pastoralists conserve their resources and manage natural resources like pasture and forest in order to survive. “Education enables them to know techniques and the means of survival. These people have certain characteristics, which are different from sedentary people. An educational curriculum designed for sedentary people does not work for pastoralists,” Mr. Ferver explained.

Nafisatu Dahirru Mohammed , Head of Nomadic Commission in Nigeria on her part said, “Locally functioning pastoralist schools are available in Nigeria and Kenya (started a year ago). I think they are contributing to the capacity building program of the human resource development and Ethiopia can learn from such experiences.” The Kenyan representative said pastoralist children spend the day going from place to place with cattle and at night, they attend schools in selected stations. The program was started a year ago and it has been doing very well.

During the forum, it was indicated that about 11mln pastoralists are found in Ethiopia, or close to 15% of the 75mln population. Somalia and Djibouti have 90% and 98% of pastoralist peoples respectively.

A total of sixty pastoralists from various countries, ten governments, NGOs, and the international community attended the forum. The forum will continue debating on different issues raising unsolved regional and international issues like cattle rustling, trade, and marketing in neighboring countries and issues of governance.

The famous ‘Ika of Tsemay’

By Endale Assefa

Dressed in highly decorated outfits made from goat skin, Ika Badan , a well known Amharic speaking representative of the Tsemay ethnic people calls for dramatic change in her society and a transformation to a newer one. She was the person who proposed the celebration of Pastoralist day all over the country a year ago, an idea that was taken up by parliament. Last Monday, July17, 2006, when pastoralists invited from different parts of the world gathered in Yabelo town, she called for the banning of harmful traditional practices found in Tsemay.

Describing about some of these harmful customary practices, Ika told Capital, saying "For instance, there is a tradition of pulling out the lower one or two teeth for reasons we don’t know. This is done immediately after the milk teeth wither and permanent teeth start to grow. I, myself, did not escape this thing. No body in our tribe can tell you exactly why this is done. But this thing is also common in other parts of the country like Gambella , Pokot speaking people like the Mursi and even in Kenya. Perhaps, these people can tell you and me too,” says Ika smiling.

To find more about this bizarre practice, Capital talked to a person from the Massai tribe in Kenya, Simon Simpay, who also lost one of his lower teeth to the same custom. “In case a person collapses, he would shut his mouth tight and it would become difficult to put medicine through his mouth. This is the main reason though I do not know the justifications given here in Ethiopia,” he explained.

Ika condemns many of the beliefs found among her people as ‘wrong’. According to her, a child has to grow his first tooth at the lower part to stay in the family. Otherwise, if a tooth appears in the upper part, it would be considered ‘bad luck’ and spell doom on the family. The child will be thrown into the jungle to die of starvation or be devoured by a wild beast. “Only a few of these outcasts survive the dangers.

The other big problem, according to Ika, is if a woman conceives a child while she is still breast-feeding, this again is believed to bring a curse on the family. As a result, the child, when born, will be thrown to the jungle to die together with the breast feeding kid.”

“Therefore, it is common to see many kids growing up as street children in Tsemai without parents. They need guardians and who can afford to do that? I always worry about them. Attempts have started on our side to eliminate this dangerous practice. Yet, I honestly say that change has been awaiting for too long,” says Ika.

Tsemai people are one of the fifty-two tribes found in the Southern Nations and Nationalities People region (SNNPR). They are specifically located in Jinka zone. Like most of the smaller ethnic groups of the far south-west, people of Tsemai practice a combination of pastoralism and shifting opportunistic rain-fed agriculture.

Horn Pastoralists demand lifting of RFV Sanction

By Andualem Sisay

Horn of Africa Pastoralists demanded the International community to lift the Rift Valley Fever (RVF) embargo at the regional pastoralist gathering held in ‘Quarsa Dembi’, Ethiopia from July, 11 to18, 2006.

“There is one fiction which has been sent across the world, which is hindering African governments and the people to trade in livestock market across the world. Ten years is over now, we are tired. Let the scientists put the facts on the table, not fiction.” Says, Ali Wario, Head of Kenyan Pastoralist Parliamentary Group. “People are scared of Rift Valley Fever; we can’t sit and wait for all of these years because of Rift Valley Fever. We can’t trade; we can’t sell our animals to Saudi Arabia, to the Congo. I want the scientists to come out and tell us where this Rift Valley Fever is.” He added.

Rift Valley Fever (RVF), is a zoonosis (a disease that primarily affects animals, but occasionally causes disease in humans). It may cause severe disease in both animals and humans leading to high morbidity and mortality. The death of RVF-infected livestock often leads to substantial economic losses.

On the gathering of pastoralists from 19 countries and 60 clans, Fu’ad Adan Adde, Somaliland Minister of Pastoral Development, and Environment on his part says, “The problem is not of disease; it is actually political. We used to send 7 million livestock to Saudi Arabia, but because of this Rift Valley Fever it is banned.” To comply, an exporting country may need to establish national or zonal freedom-from-disease, control livestock movements, and guarantee biosecurity during production and processing.

Countries have the right to take measures to restrict imports or exports of products when this is necessary to protect the health of humans, animals, or plants. When liberalizing services, they retain the right to regulate in order to meet national policy objectives, in areas such as health, explains the 171-page study of WTO Agreements and Public Health. “Cross-border trading is one of the burning issues facing the pastoralists. Pastoralists are one of the stakeholders who contribute very much to the economy of every country; we are not given our due.” Said Dahir Ibrahim Issa, Technical Advisor to Ministry of Culture, Djibouti. “We understand that animal health is the biggest obstacle facing trade. In some areas, export of livestock is limited to a side issue instead of being given to the pastoralists themselves. We stand to correct this situation; we will definitely carry the message to our government and we are confident that it will be heeded,” he added. Since 1930, when the virus was first isolated during an investigation into an epidemic amongst sheep on a farm in the Rift Valley of Kenya, there have been outbreaks in sub-Sahara and North Africa. In 1997-98, there was a major outbreak in Kenya and Somalia. In September 2000, RVF was for the first time reported outside of the African Continent. Cases were confirmed in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. This virgin-soil epidemic in the Arabian Peninsula raises the threat of expansion into other parts of Asia and Europe.

Adding his view towards the ban, Jama Ali Korshel, Punt Land State of Somalia Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Environment, said, “We have been eating livestock products in the in the past and now here also every body in the camp whether those who came from the UN or other officials are eating meat; we don’t have any problem of Rift Valley Fever. So’ we want the world to support us to fight this ban.”

RVF virus is primarily spread amongst animals by the bite of infected mosquitoes. The initial signs will depend upon the breed and genotype of the target animals. However, a sudden onset of abortions among sheep, goats, cattle, or camels over a wide area is probably the most significant sign according to FAO Corporate Document Repository

The pastoralist also raised Australian claims of patent rights on the Acacia tree, the Borena cows, and black sheep of Punt land State of Somalia; and they stressed their readiness to protect their ownership by taking up the matter with the International court