The International Collaborative Livestock Project

In September 2017, The ICSEE(T) opened a feedlot for livestock located on ten acres in the Rift Valley, north of Mto wa Mbu in the village of Mungere. The land is located near good water sources.It is a practical operating facility, concretely helping Maasai herders manage cattle safely during droughts and times when grass is limited. It is also  for research, experimentation, teaching, and learning.

A challenge to traditional Maasai livestock practice 

 The Maasai’s traditional herding practices have made them east Africa’s most famous pastoralists. Ancient methods are likely to be well adapted to the environment. So why is it so critical to review livestock management methods now for this rain-based economy?

High losses during drought

There have been periods of serious drought in recent years. During the 2016 drought, the people could not prevent the widespread death of their cows. In some cases this represented a devastating percentage of the herd. Many Maasai men find it psychologically difficult to sell cows for cash. For them, an increasing herd is a blessing and the right way to store wealth. But herders with many head of cattle experience high losses during drought because grazing becomes scarce.

Adapting livestock management practice

 Smaller herds offer better survival rates during drought. Holding a constant herd size means selling a portion of the herd every season. This change requires thinking of cows as something to harvest, rather than as possessions. The value of these cows can be used to buy feed and relieve poverty in the family and community.The ICSEE(T) is helping the herders think critically about their livestock management practices. Project Manager Kisioki Moitiko, himself a successful Maasai herder, knows that the individualistic traditional practices, including maintaining large herds, will no longer succeed.

There are many Maasai in southern Kenya who have already cut the size of their herds by as much as two thirds. These herders are creating an economy and a psychology that does well with herds of constant size. The other essential element in better cattle management is grassland use planning. Areas of grass can be saved for later grazing only if Maasai men work together and adopt collective grazing practices. 

Under current conditions, good cattle management includes

•  Herds kept small by regular cattle sales
• Good grass management through collective management
• When grass is not available, providing reliable feeding methods, such as feedlots

Feedlot operations

Early in 2017, International Collaborative representatives went to Kenya to meet the Maasai innovators. Their new ideas and practices were presented back home to Tanzanian Maasai leaders. Forty-six leaders went to Noongishu Conservancy in Kenya to visit the herds managed collectively and attend workshops. Operations began September of 2017.

Running the feedlot

 Many Maasai men have approached us to reserve room for at least some of their cattle during the next dry period.First customers include twelve Maasai lead herders, making a second visit to Kenya to study feedlot operations there. Each herder is releasing five cows to the feedlot for three months.

The Maasai Women Pastoralist Organization (MPWO) partners with the Maasai Stoves & Solar Project to improve women’s lives. The group has fifty-five cows.  The ICSEE(T) invited them to bring some to the new feedlot. All those with cows at the feedlot pay about $45 for three months of care. Herders cover that cost with the increase in profit when they sell the cows we have fed for them.In addition to feedlot rental, we buy, fatten, and sell our own small herds to cover the cost of staff salaries.

A new breed

In Kenya, many Maasai are replacing the cows with breeds that are better adapted to the increasingly difficult conditions that include long harsh dry periods.

The ICSEE(T) is excited to announce the creation of a breeding center for cows that are part Sahiwal and part Boran.

These are strong, durable, disease-resistant breeds and combine good meat and milk production, and many additional favorable traits. We have 25 young females and three bulls at the feedlot. They should be producing calves for sale to the Maasai in about a year and a half.

The first cycle of activities at the ICSEE(T) Manyara Cattle Feedlot has come to successful completion. Twelve Maasai herders and the women of the Monduli Pastoralist Women’s Organization had brought us a total of 110 cows for three months of feeding and care.

The cows that started out healthy turned enough profit to comfortably cover the cost of the feedlot services. And those that were frail to begin with were improved, although they could not be sold as profitably, and we did not ask for payment for those.

Overall, we’re proud to announce that the program is working very well. Thank you to all who make it possible.

Embracing the change

Most significant of all is the commitment of the herders to create and adapt new cattle management methods in the face of changing social and environmental conditions.