Since the onset of the El Niño phenomenon in 2023, millions of people across the African Horn and the East of the continent have been suffering from severe climate fluctuations, which came after successive seasons of drought, leading to an escalating humanitarian crisis fueled by climate change. But amid this crisis, inspiring stories emerge of women from the Maasai tribes who decided to be part of the solution, as they turned challenges into opportunities, and barren land into green gardens.
Maasai women
The Maasai people live on small farms in East Africa. The livelihoods of indigenous communities such as the Maasai depend on herding and raising livestock. According to their culture, men control matters, especially with regard to land and livestock, while women are limited to caring for their families.
When drought struck the region, destroying traditional livelihoods and leaving the land barren. And with livestock dying, Maasai women found themselves directly confronted with the threat of hunger threatening their children, and decided to take responsibility and lead the way for change.
The Climate Crisis: Riding the Winds of Change
For generations, the Maasai people have relied on livestock for their livelihood, which has been a lifeline and a measure of wealth and food security, providing milk and meat. But with the ongoing droughts and the death of animals, women realized that they needed to adapt to the crisis and learn how to manage the available resources intelligently and skillfully. So they decided to keep fewer livestock and focus more on farming and exploiting the available land.
This shift from livestock breeding to agriculture is a profound departure from the Maasai ancestral traditions, as some still view agriculture as inferior to livestock breeding. So, Maasai women may be leading a difficult and unsettling transition, but it is necessary to feed their families and survive the environmental challenges and need a resilient future in the face of extreme events and climate shocks.
In the arid village of Mekese in eastern Tanzania, “Maria Naiko”, 31 years old, who takes care of a small vegetables garden says: “When the drought hit the area and livestock died, we couldn’t get milk for our children, and I had to find a way to feed my family, so I started growing vegetables.”
Speaking in a report on the Maasai people with “Down To Earth” website, Maria continues: “I didn’t know that drip irrigation could really feed crops, but when I saw green leaves sprouting from the soil, I knew the future was ahead of us.”
Maria's success with her small green garden inspired other women in her village to follow in her footsteps, and this humble garden has become a lifeline and food security for the region.
Sustainable solutions
With rainfall becoming more erratic due to climate change, Maasai women have turned to climate-smart agriculture practices as a means of survival, including drip irrigation, where water is sparingly dripped directly to the roots of plants through a network of pipes to provide water.
There is organic farming that improves crops and preserves soil, and a group of women have adopted water conservation techniques, including building underground tanks and rainwater harvesting systems, turning it into a vital source for agriculture, as it is used for irrigation when rivers dry up.
Maasai women have succeeded in providing a model for adapting to the crisis, because adopting climate-smart agriculture is not just a reaction to the current disaster, but appears to be a blueprint for long-term climate resilience.
“These women have learned how to make the most of their small plots of land, diversifying their income sources and reducing their dependence on livestock, which are becoming more vulnerable to drought," says Oscar John, program manager for Norwegian Aid.
John explains that Maasai women are taking a transformative approach by applying sustainable farming techniques that improve soil health and increase the production of drought-resistant crops without depleting natural resources, while using organic fertilizers, which contributes to enhancing productivity and increasing harvests.
Women's Empowerment and Food Security Management
The shift from livestock breeding to crop farming has brought about a major change within the Maasai community, with women now managing their families' resources to achieve food security despite environmental hardships.
As women in these pastoral communities continue to secure their families’ future, they are paving the way for a just and resilient society that can confront the climate crisis and overcome challenges through efficient and appropriate resource management.
The quiet revolution led by Maasai women is spreading in Tanzania and reverberating across East Africa, and the success has caught the attention of development organizations and government agencies, which are studying how to replicate the model in other drought-stricken areas.
