Mobile App to Navigate through Droughts for the Herders of Kenya

[GeKo]

We need to develop something like this for the geeljire/xoolo daqato of Somalia. Instead of aimlessly walking for days and trying their luck for greener pastures and water source they can use an app like this and save themselves a lot of time and effort.

The traditional somali way, was to send someone to go scouting for good pastoral lands that might take a day or 2 to find if your lucky, another day to come back to your family and finally 2 more days to reach that greener destination. This app saves the goats/camels from dying instead of just hoping to stumble upon good pastures.

Earthrise travels to Kenya to see how pastoralists in southern Kenya are using this satellite mapping technology to make informed migration decisions.

https://www.aljazeera.com/programme...e-change-coping-extremes-180429112513988.html

 

[World]

There is a limited amount of water resources and grazing land whilst the livestock population is constantly increasing. Nomadism just isn’t made for modern life.

 

[GeKo]

I also like how educated the rural maasai man is. Even though he lives in a rural community, he can speak 3 languages fluently (Maasai, Swahili and English) as well as read/write.
You don't find that often in Africa.

 

[GeKo]

There is a limited amount of water resources and grazing land whilst the livestock population is constantly increasing. Nomadism just isn’t made for modern life.

What do you suggest for the million+ nomads?
I think they should become agro-pastoralists that harvest their own food without having to move. This way there kids can be educated and have more services and better living standards.

I heard they're doing this in K5, with the Somalis. They're being settled along the river and are being taught farming. From what I heard it's drastically improved their lives and kids can go to school.

 

[World]

What do you suggest for the million+ nomads?
I think they should become agro-pastoralists that harvest their own food without having to move. This way there kids can be educated and have more services and better living standards.

I heard they're doing this in K5, with the Somalis. They're being settled along the river and are being taught farming. From what I heard it's drastically improved their lives and kids can go to school.

I don’t know to be honest. Somalia unfortunately has a high unemployment rate so nomads wouldnt be able to get an income if they quitted their profession. At the same time, the situation keeps deteriorating. Your idea would simply further exhaust the limited amount of grazing land available and we’ll be back at square one.

There should be a slow push for urbanism in the north whilst turning nomads into farmers in the south maybe? Fishing is obviously another option.

 

[GeKo]

I don’t know to be honest. Somalia unfortunately has a high unemployment rate so nomads wouldnt be able to get an income if they quitted their profession. At the same time, the situation keeps deteriorating. Your idea would simply further exhaust the limited amount of grazing land available and we’ll be back at square one.

There should be a slow push for urbanism in the north whilst turning nomads into farmers in the south maybe? Fishing is obviously another option.

They won't graze their animals, they'll keep them indoors and provide them the waste materials after the harvest, they'd have to greatly reduce their number of livestock and it'll only become secondary to their farming. They could farm energy rich, drought and heat resistance crops like sorghum, lentils and barley.

The north should push for urbanism, but you'd be surprised that crops can grow well even in the north. It's not as dry as we think it is. I believe @Factz posted videos on it as well.

 

[GeKo]

Even strawberries can be grown in the north @World