The government is struggling to manage the spread of zoonotic diseases partly because of the difficulty it faces in tracking them as herders move from one location to another, said the KVA’s Kahariri. “Use of safe grazing routes is one of the many (types of) indigenous knowledge that have been helping marginalized communities battle climate change and zoonotic diseases where the national government has failed,” he said. “But it is the only cheap and readily available measure we have.”įor now, the technique is used mainly by Maasai tribes in the Rift Valley and the Borana in northern Kenya, said Abdulaziz Jama of the Pastoralist Capacity Development Programme.Īnecdotal evidence from local elders confirms the technique works where there are no other options to fight diseases, he added. “It is a difficult task ensuring that our livestock do not share pasture or watering points with wildlife,” said Kerei. When that happens, the brick towers are dismantled, signaling to others that the route has become risky. Once they identify routes that do not cross into wildlife territory, they mark them out with small brick towers.īesides checking for tracks and faeces, they know the presence of big cats like lions and tick-eating birds indicate that grazing animals such as buffalo and deer have moved into an area, said Paul Gathitu, a Kenya Wildlife Service spokesman.

They search for grazing routes that are not used by wildlife, and mark them for others to follow. In recent years, some herders have found a simple way of keeping their livestock and themselves healthy.

With droughts and floods shrinking the amount of habitable land in Kenya, the search for enough food and water is driving people and wildlife deeper into each other’s territories.Īs a result, cases of infectious diseases that are passed from animals to humans - called zoonotic diseases, or zoonoses – are on the rise, said Patrick Kimani, chief executive of the Kenya Livestock Producers Association. Like pastoralists all over the East African country, Kerei needs to keep his cattle away from wild animals to avoid exposing them to infectious diseases, some of which can be deadly to both livestock and humans. On the 10-km (6-mile) journey to a nearby grazing ground, the 24-year-old was on the lookout for fresh wildlife tracks. LOSIRIEN, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The morning calm of Losirien valley was broken by a cow bell tinkling as Benjamin Kerei led his herd of about 50 animals down a parched trail alongside a dry riverbed in southwest Kenya.

Benjamin kerei