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The article discusses multiple workshops and meetings of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), including a virtual Continental Workshop on Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa and a panel discussion on Indigenous experiences held during the 77th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR in Arusha, Tanzania. Topics include the forceful evictions of the Maasai in Tanzania, the expanded mandate of the ACHPR's Working Group, and various Indigenous rights issues.

Exploring the life lessons we all have to share forges stronger relationships and deeper empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to understand how Maasai women use informal learning and literacy to access to health information and improve well-being of their family at the village level, this qualitative study explores the significance of village based informal learning and literacy in maintain good health among village women and girls in the male-dominated community in rural Kenya. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and observations. 15 Village women, 12 women's group leaders and 10 government officials were interviewed during an intensive six-month field study in Kenya. The information obtained from the interviews was analysed thematically and as narrative case studies. Results indicate that the village women initiate manageable health promotion activities to improve the well-being of their family and community via informal learning and literacy approaches. The study also concludes that the interviewed Maasai women developed their own effective communication mechanism to improve the situation of gender inequality in their community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This is a review of a study carried out in Maasai Mara schools in January 2016. The project formed a part of “The Maasai Mara Science and Development Initiative” (MMSDI). We examined school children in the Maasai Mara North Conservancy for extraction of permanent mandibular incisors and primary canines, which form part of a long-held tradition in the Maasai community in Kenya. Objective: Review information on oral hygiene habits and examination of study participants, their oral hygiene procedures, and the presence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Aggregatibacter aphrophilus in their oral cavities. Data sources: Three publications in 2018 and 2021 on traditional dental practices, the prevalence of JP2/Non-JP2 Genotypes of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and A. aphrophilus, and inhibition of leukotoxic activity by herbal plants used in oral hygiene procedures by children from Maasai Mara. Results and conclusions: The results obtained indicated that of the 284 participants used in the three studies, 61% of them had had their primary canines extracted, among whom a majority (95%) had two mandibular central incisors missing. The microbiological findings in saliva and plaque samples harvested from the participants revealed that 72% of the oral samples had A. actinomycetemcomitans, with three of them being positive for the highly leukotoxic JP2 genotype of this bacterium. The prevalence of A. aphrophilus was even higher, which may affect the virulence potential of A. actinomycetemcomitans. Most of the adolescents used commercial toothbrushes and toothpaste for their oral hygiene practice, but also plant-derived chewing sticks for daily teeth cleaning. Interestingly, all the participants used Warburgia ugandensis as the material for chewing stick, and in vitro tests showed that its extract efficiently neutralized the leukotoxin that is expressed by A. actinomycetemcomitans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The benefits of traditional medicine have long been recognized by the World Health Organization. However, as formal education, urbanization, and deforestation increases; the use of traditional medicine has decreased. Within this phenomenon, this paper discusses the continued importance of preventive health practices among the Purko Maasai. Using nurturing as an explanatory framework, qualitative data is analyzed to understand the cultural importance of specific traditional medicine with the goal of building the body with 'engolon' (strength). Results address the importance of nurturing children by administering traditional medicine in order to build the body's immune system. Our data show an interesting gender divide in which both genders play a critical nurturing role, however at different timeframes in the child's life. Findings demonstrate concern with changing frequency of herbal medicine given to children, however there is resiliency within some nurturing components of using preventative traditional medicine to build up children's immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Understanding the effectiveness of programs designed to empower women is important for development policy, and critically important in places with historically unequal gender norms. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a multidimensional program on women's empowerment in northern Tanzania, where our study sample is among the pastoralist and traditionally patriarchal Maasai tribe. The multidimensional approach of the program included various components: microcredit groups, business skills, livestock management, water improvements, women's rights discussions, and nutrition education. To measure the effect of the program, we employ a difference-in-differences approach, with doubly robust weighting. We use the livestock-enhanced project-level Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (pro-WEAI), a new quantitative measurement of women's empowerment designed for communities where livestock is a main productive asset. Our analysis of the program impact shows that the multidimensional program led to higher levels of empowerment for young women, specifically more group membership, access to credit, increased control over income, and a larger input into household productive decisions. Notably, the improvement in empowerment for young women does not reflect any change in attitudes towards intimate partner violence. Despite the positive findings for young women, we do not find any change in empowerment for the full sample of women (all ages). Our results demonstrate that programming focused on women's empowerment has differential effects over a woman's life cycle. • We estimate the impact of a women's empowerment program among pastoralists in northern Tanzania. • We employ difference-in-differences estimation with doubly robust weighting. • In our sample empowered women experience less intimate partner violence. • The program led to improvements in empowerment for young women, but had no effect on the full sample of women. • It is important to consider life cycle stage and participation when designing women's empowerment programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at 'Maasainess' and Whiteness as binaries in constant engagement aimed to question how Whiteness is re-inscribed in Maasainess in the autobiographical genre. It explores the image of the Maasai often figured as a male warrior, a residue from the colonial intrusion into the East African region during the nineteenth century. To trace the various embodiments of this male figure and how it enhances the intersections between Maasainess and Whiteness, I focus on two autobiographies by Euro-American women: Corine Hoffman's The White Maasai and Budgor's The Warrior Princess: Becoming the First Female Maasai Warrior. Drawing from Mary Louise Pratt's idea of the contact zones and Renato Rosaldo's imperial nostalgia, the paper reads Maasainess and Whiteness as sites of cultural encounters, even contested encounters. Both Hofmann and Budgor appropriate the Maasai male warrior by way of nostalgia as a trope and double cultural signifier to embody and reflect white privilege as well as freeze the image of Africa to its colonial past. It argues that the autobiography as a tool for self-expression is employed to extend the colonial agenda to appropriate cultural spaces and entities to further perpetuate the differences between Maasainess and Whiteness as cultural markers. However, the two autobiographies read here as medium of selfexpression defy such cultural appropriations through their constant engagement with Whiteness and Maasainess as categories of difference, highlighting the fault lines in the cultural appropriation of Maasainess by Whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As progress to eliminate trachoma is made, addressing hard-to-reach communities becomes of greater significance. Areas in Tanzania, inhabited by the Maasai, remain endemic for trachoma. This study assessed the effectiveness of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) through an ethnographic study of trachoma amongst a Maasai community. The MDA experience in the context of the livelihoods of the Maasai in a changing political economy was explored using participant observation and household interviews. Factors influencing MDA effectiveness within five domains were analysed. 1) Terrain of intervention: Human movement hindered MDA, including seasonal migration, domestic chores, grazing and school. Encounters with wildlife were significant. 2) Socio-cultural factors and community agency: Norms around pregnancy led women to accept the drug but hide refusal to swallow the drug. Timing of Community Drug Distributor (CDD) visits conflicted with livestock grazing. Refusals occurred among the ilmurrani age group and older women. Mistrust significantly hindered uptake of drugs. 3) Strategies and motivation of drug distributors: Maa-speaking CDDs were critical to effective drug delivery. Maasai CDDs, whilst motivated, faced challenges of distances, encounters with wildlife and compensation. 4) Socio-materiality of technology: Decreases in side-effects over years have improved trust in the drug. Restrictions to swallowing drugs and/or water were relevant to post-partum women and the ilmurrani. 5) History and health governance: Whilst perceptions of the programme were positive, communities questioned government priorities for resources for hospitals, medicines, clean water and roads. They complained of a lack of information and involvement of community members in health care services. With elimination in sight, hard-to-reach communities are paramount as these are probably the last foci of infection. Effective delivery of MDA programmes in such communities requires a critical understanding of community experiences and responses that can inform tailored approaches to trachoma control. Application of a critical social science perspective should be embedded in planning and evaluation of all NTD programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article emphasizes the need for better protection of the intellectual property rights (IPR) of indigenous groups, especially that of clothing and clothing designs. It offers a comparative analysis of the Maasai people of East Africa and the Navajo Nation of North America, who have been successful in defending their IPRs. It also suggests potential solutions that the World Intellectual Property Organization and individual countries can adopt to combat the exploitation of indigenous fashion.

Adolescent fertility rates are high in Kenya and increase the likelihood of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Our objective was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, and barriers surrounding the use of family planning services among young Maasai women in Laikipia County, Central Kenya. Individual interviews with 50 participants were conducted in Laikipia County, Kenya during June and July of 2019. Qualitative data was visualised using JMP software and coded using the framework method for content analysis. Several overarching themes were identified. First, we identified a high rate of unintended pregnancy and a low rate of family planning use. Second, we found that many young Maasai women believe that only women that are married and have finished childbearing should utilise family planning services. Finally, we document highly prevalent myths among young women in the Maasai community that the use of family planning will lead to negative health consequences, such as infertility and cancer. We conclude that the Maasai community of Laikipia County, Kenya needs comprehensive family planning education that will improve knowledge and dispel myths in order to empower young Maasai women to make informed decisions surrounding family planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of psychology relies heavily on evidence from North America and Northern Europe. Universally applicable models require input from around the globe. Indigenous lexical studies of personality, which define the most salient person-descriptive concepts and their structure in a population, provide this. Such results are reported from two nonindustrialized communities, representing 2 of the 3 main language families of Africa, in groups with differing cultural characteristics. Maasai participants, traditionally herders in rural Kenya and Tanzania, have a highly structured, traditional culture. Supyire-Senufo participants are traditional horticulturalists in Mali. The 203 most common person-descriptive terms in Maasai were administered to 166 participants, who described 320 persons (166 highly regarded, 154 less so). The optimal emic solution included 5 factors: virtue/moral-character, debilitation/vulnerability, boldness/surgency, hubris/pride, and timidity. In the Maasai context, descriptions of well-regarded individuals were exceptionally uniform, suggesting the role of personality language in norm socialization in tight, traditional cultures. In Supyire, 115 participants used 208 person-descriptive terms to describe 227 targets (half highly regarded). The optimal emic solution included 10 factors: social self-regulation, well-being, vitality/resilience, broadmindedness, diligence versus laziness, madness, stubbornness versus attractiveness, acceptance versus discontent, hurry/worry, and peacefulness. The best convergence between the languages was at the 3-factor level, where factors relate to moral character, low agreeableness coupled with high extraversion, and emotional stability. Beginning with the 4-factor level, content related to local cultural characteristics became apparent. In both languages, 2-factor solutions matched the Big Two, but 3-, 5-, and 6-factor solutions failed to overlap with etic Pan-Cultural Three, Big Five, or Big Six models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sought to assess the understanding of climate change among the Maasai community in Ngerengere Division, Morogoro Region, in Tanzania. A recent study that involved 70 participants in an embedded case study design revealed that the Maasai pastoralists and farmers understand the weather patterns and can cope well with climatic variability typical of semi-arid areas. This understanding helps individuals and social groups to access and process climate information to the level that raises their capability to adopt relevant mitigation measures. Presented narratives obtained through the triangulation of data indicate that the Maasai people have established coping strategies to help them reduce the impacts of climate change in their contexts. Captured strategies include: shifting from livestock to small-scale farming, cattle raiding, and increasing the number of livestock. The paper uncovers that the target community has developed indicators that help individuals and social groups to access climate change knowledge in their area, and adopt necessary and useful measures. Cited indicators include; prevalence of new types of diseases, change in patterns of human activities, extreme fluctuations of Ngerengere river volume, and shifting of the river flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Micronutrients comprised of vitamin and mineral nutrients that are needed during pregnancy for foetal growth, development and maturation, as well as for reducing/preventing maternal complications. However, micronutrient‐rich foods (vegetables and fruits) are lacking in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as a result of restrictions on cultivation in conservation areas and the unavailability of vegetables and fruits in local markets. The present study introduced a food basket intervention and assessed the effectiveness of the food baskets with respect to addressing anaemia, vitamin A and iron deficiencies among pregnant Maasai women within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Methods: The quasi‐experimental study included Misigiyo ward as a control group (provided education only) and Olbalbal ward as an intervention group (provided food baskets and education). The study assessed haemoglobin, serum ferritin and retinol at baseline and during follow‐up. Haemoglobin, serum ferritin and retinol were quantitatively (duplicate) measured with HemoCue™ (HemoCue AB, Ängelholm, Sweden), Maglumi 800 (Snibe Diagnostic, Shenzhen, China) and vitamin A enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Dependent and independent t‐tests were used to compare the micronutrient blood levels between and within the groups. Results: The present study found a statistically significant increase in serum retinol (P < 0.001) in the intervention group compared to the control group; moreover, baseline serum retinol was positively associated with the follow‐up serum retinol, whereas baseline haemoglobin and serum ferritin were negatively associated. Conclusions: The food basket intervention holds promise with repect to reducing micronutrient deficiency, especially in communities where micronutrient‐rich foods are scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vast majority of indigenous communities are among the world's poorest and are unlikely to be engaged in a thriving, mutually beneficial partnership with an MNC. While there are increasing studies on CSR initiatives in base of the pyramid communities, few—if any—feature the self-initiated stakeholder transition of an impoverished community. This paper examines the factors that motivated the stakeholder transformation process of an indigenous community, from its position as a non-stakeholder, one lacking in power and legitimacy, to the status of being a primary stakeholder of the firm. We applied a constructivist grounded theory approach to longitudinal data to arrive at the conceptual framework. The findings presented are drawn from an in-depth case study of the Maasai, an indigenous community from East Africa. The findings point to the existence of entrepreneurial alertness that is instrumental in propelling the indigenous community to evolve from one stakeholder category to the next. Our research aims to propose a possible foundation for how communities deep in poverty can coalesce themselves to make their social needs salient to multinational organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With safari attractions dominating the African tourism sector, many tourism studies in Africa have focused on wildlife and wilderness resourced-based tourism, with a secondary body of literature exploring cultural aspects of tourism. Recently many countries in the region, including Tanzania, have started to recognize the potential for stand-alone, culture-based tourism to diversify the tourism industry and for rural, economic development purposes. Drawing upon insights from local stakeholders, primarily members of the Maasai community this study identifies the critical challenges for providing indigenous cultural tourism in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. Qualitative data for the study were collected through interviews and site visits to eight Maasai bomas (cultural tourism villages or settlements). Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed significant limiting factors affecting the development of indigenous cultural tourism amongst Maasai in Tanzania. The findings indicate that achieving success in indigenous cultural tourism is therefore challenging, and needs to incorporate specific community-based strategies which can facilitate the development of Maasai cultural tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the relationship between Olamayio or lion hunting and Maasai population in villages near the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem in Tanzania. Explored is the impact of lion hunting frequency on the area's wildlife conservation and protection. A table is also provided on the percentage of Maasai's lion hunting practices.

This paper presents an analysis of different positions on female genital cutting, either legitimising the practice or challenging it. The framework it offers has been developed from cultural psychological theory and qualitative data collected in Maasai communities around Loitokitok and Magadi, Kajiado County, and Samburu communities around Wamba, Samburu County, in Kenya. Over the course of one month, 94 respondents were interviewed using maximum variation sampling. Triangulation took place by means of participant observation of significant events, such as alternative rites, participation in daily activities and informal talks while staying at traditional homesteads and kraals. The framework adds to understanding of why more contextual approaches and holistic interventions are required to bring an end to female genital cutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article empirically describes gender roles and practices in natural resource management among the pastoral Maasai society of Kilosa, Tanzania. Through a qualitative approach, a descriptive case study design was adopted to collect and analyse data using content analysis. Results show that gender roles and practice in land management is gender differentiated. There is a strong patriarchal system in Maasai societies that govern access to, and use of, land. Women have limited access/ownership to land and have to seek permission from men to use land. In this regard, the hardest hit are women who use land without having independent access or muscles for negotiating due to existing norms and values that license their exclusion. The article argues that unless customary practices are addressed, women issues will remain unchanged given the presence of a male-centred customary practice built on strong patriarchal system that side-lines women in land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights key issues that affected the indigenous peoples in Tanzania in 2018. Topics discussed include the decreasing freedom of expression and shrinking civil society space, the Maasai pastoralists in Mabwegere village of Morogoro Region, and the threat of dispossession in Hai District for the expansion of the Kilimanjaro International Airport.

The article reports on major issues that affected the indigenous peoples in Kenya in 2018. Topics discussed include the Community Land Act, the potential for addressing historical land injustices, and the court case involving the Lake Turkana wind power project. Also mentioned are genital mutilation of indigenous Maasai girls, the eviction of the Sengwer and Ogiek indigenous peoples from their ancestral homes, and the implementation of the African Court ruling on Ogiek indigenous peoples.

Gender dimensions are fundamental to human/environment systems. I use gender to investigate land change in a forested area of conservation concern in the pastoral rangelands of Kenya Maasailand. Mixed methods reveal a narrative arc from the mid-1970s culminating in a transformation of land, livelihood, and culture by 2014. Empirical findings expand current understandings of livelihood shift in Maasailand to include gender dimensions critical to livelihood success. Remotely sensed satellite data and qualitative evidence expose simplistic narratives about environmental conditions in Loita Forest and Maasai women's social status. I argue that gender deserves more attention in land-change studies because of its linkages to resource utilization and drivers of forest decline around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maasai beaded ornaments are generally understood as traditional artifacts, but are in fact the result of modern developments. This case study refutes widespread assumptions about Maasai beadwork, showing that modernity cannot be captured accurately by the narrative of binary oppositions it has produced. I describe how the very presence, but also many of the uses and designs of these artifacts are material expressions of the dynamic and complex interactions and relationships between people across continents in modern times. By establishing and reflecting on these connections, I argue that modernity should be approached as a stage in the ongoing, increasingly integrated, humanity-wide cultural dynamic on our earth. This insight takes us out of the impasse in the debate on how to approach the concept of modernity, giving a clear space to the singular concept while simultaneously acknowledging that a variety of modernities have come about as different peoples are influenced by, as well as contribute to, the wider cultural dynamic. Employed so often in daily and scientific sense-making, it is essential to further disentangle understandings of modernity from modernist thinking in simple and absolute dichotomies, and establish it as an emergent and interactive process with semi-permeable boundaries that includes opposing voices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a domain model that formalises the human-land relations in the Maasai nomadic pastoralist society in Kenya, referred to as MSKDM, and its integration with the prominent Land Administration Domain Model (LADM). Our long-term aim is to facilitate a land administration system that can accurately capture and express salient Maasai concepts of land use, ownership, communal tenure, and to assist in transparency during land transactions. We use an extensive corpus of existing research literature, and input from our own on-site workshops, as source material for our domain model. We use real sketch maps drawn by Maasai community members that we collected during our field studies for validation, and to demonstrate how our model can be operationalised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent land conflicts in Laikipia County, Kenya, have re-ignited debates about the future of minority land ownership in eastern Africa. With climate change, foreign investment, and population growth placing unprecedented pressure on lands, Laikipia has become a “battleground” for land struggles involving some of Kenya's most alienated ethnic and racial groups. Providing ethnographic insight into land politics in Laikipia in the lead up to the 2017 general elections, this article examines the relationships between Laikipia's Maasai communities and three distinct private land parcels that neighbor them. While significant segments of land in Laikipia are owned by foreigners or Kenyans of European descent, the county is home to other minority landowners whose political significance is underappreciated. Though the owners of some large ranches in Laikipia see neighboring pastoralists as liabilities, others see them as a source of political capital or allies in the struggle to secure their land tenure. Overall, I show that Laikipia's political landscape is defined by actors who defy the black-white, rancher-pastoralist dichotomy, and make a case for the qualitative study of land politics at a time when Kenya's future is shaped by high-stakes alliances between historically dissonant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper reports a study, which examined the specific information needs and sources of Maasai pastoralists at Orkesumet area in Simanjiro District, Manyara -Tanzania. Design/methodology/approach: The study used pragmatism paradigm which is a mixed method approach. Simple random sampling was used to select 40 respondents from the five villages (Mukumbi, Naibor-enderit, Narosoito, Orkirung'urung' and Endonyengijape. Purposive sampling was used to select clan leaders (Ilaigwanak and Ingopir), two from each of the five villages forming ten purposively selected respondents. Questionnaire, interview schedule, and observation were designed to extract information from respondents. Findings: The findings of the study showed that, Maasai practicing pure pastoralism had different needs from those who practice agro-pastoralism. Traditional leaders and extension officers were regarded as the reliable sources of information. Mobile phones were preferred as a source of information but facing challenges. Acquaintance and family members were acknowledged as reliable sources of information. Maasai pastoralist face challenges in the use of information technology due to their low level of educational and inadequate formal sources of information. Practical implications - The authors anticipates that this study will act as an eye opener to the United Republic of Tanzania government and non-government organizations to think of providing appropriate reliable sources of information to Maasai pastoralists so that their contribution can be seen in the socio-economic development of the country. Originality/value - Several studies have been conducted on information needs and sources for different tribes in Tanzania. However, none of these studies have been conducted on Maasai pastoralist. This study is expected to serve as a stepping-stone for further studies on this neglected tribe in socio-economic activities in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional plant use is of tremendous importance in many societies, including most rural African communities. A variety of studies have shown knowledge dwindling due to changes towards a more Western lifestyle, and the influence of modern tourism. In the case of the Sekenani Maasai, we hypothesized in 2006 that, while little knowledge loss had been observed at that time, the change from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle would lead to an accelerating loss of traditional plant knowledge. This paper examines the plant use of the Maasai in the Sekenani Valley, North of the Maasai Mara National Reserve 15 years after a first study. Based on the study of 2002 (Bussmann et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2: 22, 2006), semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff of Sekenani Camp in order to document current plant knowledge. The results of this follow-up study indicate dramatic knowledge loss over the last 15 years. Of 139 used species documented in 2002, only 84 remained in use in 2017. Off those species still in use, 30 had experienced a loss of uses, while for 18 species new uses were documented. The knowledge loss observed in Sekenani in 15 years is rather dramatic. Lifestyle changes and over-use of resources have clearly led to a rapid decline of traditional knowledge on plant use. This trend is expected to continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article spotlights Maasai ethnic identity in Tanzania as a site of social, cultural, and political transformations triggered by urbanization and market liberalization. Important social and cultural changes have occurred among east African pastoralists as they have entered the ‘cash economy’. Research done since the 1980's on the integration between the rural, pastoral economy and urban, ‘cash’ economy has depicted these changes largely as loss , e.g. of tradition and culture expressed as a weakening of traditional institutions. This article calls into question the narrative of change as loss. It eschews value judgment about ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ in relation to ‘being Maasai’ by recognizing Maasai ethnic identity, culture and gender roles as a blend of old and new meanings continually reshuffled as the Maasai partake in different social spheres, in and out of the ‘cash economy’, at the rural-urban interface. The article employs the theoretical framework of social, cultural, and rural geography, and is grounded in ethnographic analysis to unearth the negotiations and contestations over what it means to be Maasai today, including gender-based meanings connected to being Maasai men and being Maasai women . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Pastoralist Maasai populations of east Africa use several different wild plants as dietary and medicinal additives in beverages (soups and teas), yet little is known about how the plants used and the rationales for use compare and contrast across different Maasai beverages, including how gender specific dietary and health concerns structure patterns of intake. Aim of the study We investigated three Maasai beverages: almajani (tea or herbal infusion); motorí (traditional soup); and okiti (psychoactive herbal tea). In order to build knowledge about the cultural functions of these Maasai food-medicines and their incidence of use we also investigated use rationales and self-reported frequencies of use. We conclude by examining gender differences and the possible pharmacological antimicrobial activity of the most frequently used plants. Materials and methods Research was conducted in 2015, with a population of semi-nomadic agropastoralist Maasai residing in northern Tanzania. Data were collected using key informant interviews, plant collections, n = 32 structured surveys, and n = 40 freelist interviews followed by a literature review to determine the known antimicrobial activity of the most used plants. Results We identified 20 plants that Maasai add to soup, 11 in tea, and 11 in the psychoactive tea, for a total of 24 herbal additives. Seven plant species were used in all three Maasai beverages, and these clustered with 10 common ailments. Based on self-reports, women use the beverages less frequently and in smaller amounts than men. There were also several gender differences in the plants that Maasai add to motorí and their associated use rationales. Conclusions There are several intersections concerning the plant species used and their associated rationales for use in almajani , motori , and okiti . Moving outward, Maasai beverages and their additives increasingly involve gender specific concerns. Female use of food-medicines, relative to men, is structured by concerns over pregnancy, birth, and lactation. The frequent consumption of herbal additives, many of which contain antimicrobial compounds, potentially helps modulate infections, but could have other unintentional effects as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the legal and social conditions of indigenous peoples in Kenya including the Ogiek, Wata, and Turakan. It discusses the 2016 Community Land Act that governs how communities can collectively use and manage land. Other topics covered include force evictions in the Embobut Forest, the slaughter of Maasai livestock by government agencies, and the political activity of indigenous women.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, efforts to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are aggravated by unregulated drug sales and use, and high connectivity between human, livestock, and wildlife populations. Our previous research indicates that Maasai agropastoralists-who have high exposure to livestock and livestock products and self-administer veterinary antibiotics-harbor antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli). Here, we report the results of a public health intervention project among Maasai aimed at reducing selection and transmission of E. coli bacteria.Methods: Research was conducted in two Maasai communities in Northern Tanzania. Participants were provided with health knowledge and technological innovations to facilitate: 1) the prudent use of veterinary antibiotics (tape measures and dosage charts to calculate livestock weight for more accurate dosage), and, 2) the pasteurization of milk (thermometers), the latter of which was motivated by findings of high levels of resistant E. coli in Maasai milk. To determine knowledge retention and intervention adoption, we conducted a two-month follow-up evaluation in the largest of the two communities.Results: Retention of antimicrobial knowledge was positively associated with retention of bacterial knowledge and, among men, retention of bacterial knowledge was associated with greater wealth. Bacterial and AMR knowledge were not, however, associated with self-reported use of the innovations. Among women, self-reported use of the thermometers was associated with having more children and greater retention of knowledge about the health benefits of the innovations. Whereas 70% of women used their innovations correctly, men performed only 18% of the weight-estimation steps correctly. Men's correct use was associated with schooling, such that high illiteracy rates remain an important obstacle to the dissemination and diffusion of weight-estimation materials.Conclusion: Our results indicate that dietary preferences for unboiled milk, concerns over child health, and a desire to improve the health of livestock are important cultural values that need to be incorporated in future AMR-prevention interventions that target Maasai populations. More generally, these findings inform future community-health interventions to limit AMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using mixed methods that combined participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study looked at changing practices and shifting meanings of female genital cutting among the Maasai people in Tanzania. The findings suggest that an increasing social pressure to abandon female genital cutting has inspired the hiding of the practice, causing the actual cutting to become detached from its traditional ceremonial connotations. This detaching of cutting from ceremony has created a shift in meanings: the ceremony still carries the meaning of passage into adulthood, while the cutting seems to function as a way of inscribing Maasai identity into the body. The detaching of genital cutting from ceremony offers those willing to continue the practice the opportunity to do so without being prosecuted, and those unwilling to undergo or perform the practice the opportunity to evade it by faking the cutting without being socially sanctioned for it. Findings also suggest changing attitudes towards the practice among the younger generation as the result of education. Maasai culture and the practice of female genital cutting are not static but actively challenged and reinterpreted from within the community, with formally schooled and women taking up leading roles in reshaping gender norms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The impacts of climate change to the dryland areas of East Africa are especially strong, especially if it is considered that these areas have weak institutions and governance systems. Climate change has also affected many rural communities in a severe way, reducing crop yields and sometimes causing crop failure. In Kenya and Tanzania, where drylands cover over around 80 and 50% of their respective land areas, rural populations have been especially affected. Among them is the tribal group of the Maasai, legendary nomad warriors, who have been suffering from persistent droughts and the negative impacts on their cattle herds. This paper describes how climate change affects the Maasai communities in Kenya and the changes seen in their habits and diet, in order to adapt to a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: African trypanosomosis is a disease of public health and economic importance that poses a major threat to the livelihoods of people living in the Maasai Steppe, where there is a significant interaction between people, livestock and wildlife. The vulnerability of the Maasai people to the disease is enhanced by the interaction of their cattle, which act as vehicles for trypanosomes, and tsetse flies close to wildlife in protected areas. This study was aimed at identification of trypanosome infections circulating in cattle and tsetse flies in order to understand their distribution and prevalence in livestock/wildlife interface areas in the Maasai Steppe. Methods: A total of 1002 cattle and 886 tsetse flies were sampled from June 2015 to February 2016 in five villages and PCR was conducted to amplify the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) from trypanosomes. All Trypanosoma brucei-positive samples were further tested for the presence of the serum resistance-associated (SRA) gene found in human-infective trypanosomes using the SRA-LAMP technique. Results: The overall prevalence of trypanosome infections was 17.2% in cattle and 3.4% in tsetse flies. Using a nested PCR, prevalence and abundance of five trypanosome species, Trypanosoma vivax, T. brucei, T. simiae, T. theileri and T. congolense, were determined, which varied with season and location. The highest prevalence of the identified trypanosome species was recorded at the end of wet season with an exception of T. brucei which was high at the beginning of the wet season. No human-infective trypanosomes were detected in both cattle and tsetse fly DNA. Conclusions: This study confirms that seasonality and location have a significant contribution to the prevalence of trypanosome species in both mammalian and vector hosts. These results are important for designing of community-wide vector and disease control interventions and planning of sustainable regimes for reduction of the burden of trypanosomosis in endemic pastoral areas, such as the Maasai Steppe in northern Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essentialist, 'traditional', Maasai gender ideology that poorly reflects the day-to-day gender realities of residents is being reproduced and dominating in the modern schooling setting of a Maasai community in Southern Kenya. Through an ethnographic analysis based on long-term fieldwork and mixed-method approaches, this paper explores the construction of this gender ideology as reflected in schooling aspirations of parents, teachers, and students, in students' own constructions of masculinity and femininity, and in school culture. This ideology functions to promote education as a means of cultural preservation and livelihood protection by drawing schooling into the Maasai's unique age-set system and warrior tradition, which is heavily imbued with particular gender constructions. While, arguably, maintaining this traditional ideology may conflict with broader goals of empowerment and social equity for Maasai women, it may serve to facilitate schooling for young girls, off-set increasing and burdensome responsibilities, and provide them with an attainable femininity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]