Building Community Capacity in Fragile Environments: Case Study of the Mara Serengeti Ecosystem

BACKGROUND

People living in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) bear the brunt of climate change impacts. As traditional pastoralists, the main challenge for the people of the Mara Serengeti Ecosystem is to cope with an increasingly frequent and recurrent drought pushing them further to competition for resources and livestock loss from starvation. Thus, there is a need to create opportunities in building up community capacity and resilience in these fragile environments.

GOALS & METHODS

The goal of the study was to measure the effectiveness of the Grazing for Growth (G4G) curriculum used to train the stakeholders with new innovations to build their community resilience. Methods used include the following: (i) multi-enterprise case study of the Enonkishu conservancy; (ii) review of the Grazing for Growth (G4G) Curriculum; (iii) biological monitoring of rangeland; (iv) wildlife transects; and (v) tracking cattle quality.

CONCLUSIONS & TAKEAWAYS

This chapter discusses new innovations rooted in indigenous knowledge and provided under the Grazing for Growth (G4G) curriculum. Part of enhancing capacities in a fragile environment, the training center on the Mara ecosystem aims to build the disaster resilience of vulnerable communities exposed to the effects of climate-induced drought.

The main purpose of the G4G program is to create a bottom-up regenerative grazing plan which is locally led, designed, and implemented. This would stimulate innovation in livestock enterprises, enhance the current system of managing the environment sustainably, and protect the future resource base.

This chapter also shows how a multi-faceted approach has been utilized in building resilience of communal pastoralists in the area. Through a multi-enterprise model encompassing Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM), pastoralists were trained on livestock husbandry as well as maintaining the biodiversity within the buffer zones on the edge of the protected areas. Thus, the case of the Mara Serengeti Ecosystem has set a new standard for community conservation focused on building disaster resilience within vulnerable communities.