Pathways of Continuity and Change: Maasai Livelihoods in Amboseli, Kajiado District, Kenya

Abstract

The Greater Amboseli Ecosystem (GAE) extends ~8,400 km 2 north, east and west from the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, and includes the Amboseli basin, swamp wetlands along the base of the mountain, and neighbouring rangelands which act as seasonal dispersal areas for resident herbivore populations (Western, 1973) . The ecological centre of this system is Amboseli National Park (NP); however, land use centers on the distinctive combination of transhumant pastoralism and wildlife habitat that has typically characterized a majority of East Africa’s rangelands. Wildlife corridors, particularly for the area’s substantial elephant populations, cross the Kenya–Tanzania border and link Amboseli ecologically with the Longido region to the south. This ecosystem is unique in many ways. It is a cultural and economic core area for Maasai pastoralism in southern Kenya, and the landscape was traditionally characterized by both high wildlife diversity and abundance (Western, 2001) . The combination of these human–ecological characteristics has made Amboseli NP one of Kenya’s most visited tourist destinations. However, current literature on pastoral environments globally (Galaty and Johnson, 1990 ; Blench, 2001) and in East Africa in particular (Desta and Coppock, 2004 ; Fratkin and Mearns, 2003) , emphasizes that the challenges facing pastoral ecosystems are daunting. The Amboseli system is typical in this, as research points out that local pastoralists there are becoming poorer overall (Rutten, 1992 ; Campbell, 1999) , wildlife corridors are threatened (Noe, 2003 ; Okello, 2005) and some wildlife populations are in decline (Worden et al., 2003 ; Western and Nightingale, 2003) . Current challenges to Maasai pastoral livelihoods include an intensified recent cycle of drought in Eastern Africa (FEWS NET et al., 2005) , changes in land tenure