Maasai predicament beyond pastoralism: a case study in the socio - economic transformation of pastoralism.

The Maasai are undoubtedly the largest and the most well known of the East African pastoralist ethnic groups. The wide knowledge of the Maasai, extending far beyond the borders of East Africa is however too often distorted image and an unduly romanticized one. Little have been written on the development, needs and possibilities of these people. Indeed the livestock they own have attracted greater development attention than the people themselves. The greater part of available literature on the Maasai is sketchy outlines of their history and anthropological works. The question of Maasai development has had the notoriety of being entangled in a multiplicity of myths and emotional bouts to the extend of appearing to many minds either a fruitless task or something possible but only at a snail's pace. Besides confusion has often resulted in the failure to separate the Maasai proper and related pastoral groups such as Sambur and Baraguyu on one hand and on the others peoples semi-pastoralists notably the Waarusha who although speak a dialect of the Maasai language have a completely different culture resulting from the reality of their economic base i.e. predominantly agriculture. Thus Waarusha practices dave time and again been wrongly quoted or pictured to show how the Maasai have responded to things like agriculture' "proper" dressings, going to school etc. Maasai development is here explored within the framework of its pivots i.e. the pastoral situation and the totality of the Tanzanian situation rather than merely as another isolated anthropological study of a curiocity arousing cultural specimen. To be certain I am strongly convinced that though it is not simple arithmetic the development of the Maasai is far easier than most people can possibly imagine. But -it has conditions. Without identifying and observing those conditions, it cannot be attained in the near future. Frankly speaking, the task at hand, has been given the image of extra ordinary difficulty by irrational and reactionary attitudes and policies based on the failure to understand the people and grasp the key threads of development in their specific kind of social order.Consequently the objective of this research project has been sat beyond the requirements of an academic dissertation. Indeed I admit that in my considerations the significance of the academic dissertation lies primarily in availing with the opportunity have all along sought without success to undertake this project the work is geared above all at attempting an exposition of the totality of the Maasai situation in the hope of widening understanding of the functional rationality internal logic and cultural coherance of what is definitely a minority culture among our people. The minority culture position of pastoral societies in an overwhelming crop production centred peasant economy like ours make such societies even more susceptible to both supervisial treatment and outright prejudice ladden conceptualizations as manifested in self-defeating development policies being formulated and implemented. Examples will be quoted of cases in which such policies have in actual fact turned out means for systematic cultural and ecological destruction. Secondly, it is kindly to comprehend and appreciate not only the weaknesses but also the attributes specific to the culture of our livestock-based communities as this is vital in the struggle to mould a national ethic and a self.-centred national economy. Thirdly given internal need for livestock products and abundance of rangeland the grasp of the urgency of the need to develop rather than dismantle livestock raising as the continued principle economic activity among those sections of our people who have had a long tradition in that occupation is immediate. Further more, the historic nature of the present juncture in the development of our country compounds the urgency for deeper understanding of our people in their diverse social realities. The weighty development challenge before us calls for something extending beyond policy acceptability by the people. The mobilization of the people to become the actual force for the transformation of their own situation holds true far the pastoralists just as much as it is with any other segment of our nation. The point of departure of our analysis is the recognition of the dichotomy of the totality of the development of pastoral socio-economy. That is the transformation of pastoral society must be based on the simulteneous preoccupation with the development needs of the PEOPLE and the requirements of an increasingly more productive livestock raising occupation. This has made it imperative that we take the broad length of the totality of the Maasai sacio-economy for this study. The implication is obviously commitment to the ambitious task of persuing an inter-disciplinarian approach even at the risk of weakening academic acceptability. Besides the time limits and the low ceiling imposed by being required to cut the coat to the academic size of an M.A. research project despite the magnitude of the research area have made me unable to attempt anything near a detailed all round study of the Maasai socio-economy. Certainly I have been determined, thanks to my conviction, not to settle for a study of a fragment of the totality which would have put me in better position to produce a respectable academic dissertation. I have restricted my self to the use of the following methods in the survey:- (1) Make use of whatever relevant, official data I had access to from files, publications and correspondence. (2) Analysis and presentation of available previous research data. (3) Formal interviews with officials and technicians working in Maasailand. (4) Participant observation. (5) Informal interviews with people in the villages. These have enabled me:(a) Firstly to clarify many aspects of the Maasai society which they alienation years in western-type schools have made me so ignorant of and, therefore to improve my own understanding of this section of our people. (b) To seek understanding of the genuine problems that have to be surmounted in the practical struggle to mould up a socialist livestock based community from the rough realities of a pastoral environment.