Red is the New Color of Life: The Maasai Community
(Baraka Agricoltural College, Molo, Kenya – 28/01/2020, Jessica G. and Alessandro S.) Day 9 of the Winter School “Agri-Food Choices. From field to plate, for the planet: building a better food system”. The Winter School participants visited the Maasai community near Narok, a town west of Nairobi. After a 3 hour journey along the bumpy kenyan roads, they finally arrived at the presedium located in the village of Satellite. The lands of the various farmers and breeders are scattered throughout Satellite. The guys were introduced to Agnes Kunguru, her family and other members of the Red Maasai sheep group. After a brief presentation by the students, Agnes started to show them her red dress.
Twenty years had past without the presence of the Red Maasai Sheep in the community. This was due to the kenyan government’s promotion of the dorper sheep breed. This promotion of the dorper actually created a market for the products, sold by big corps, used to care for the animals and to provide support for their growth. The Dorper was introduced in great masses to the Maasai community all around the country during the 80’s, and the reasons for its fast adoption may be found in the natural propensity of the farmers to take on a new and captivating breed which was promised to be more profitable for their business. Indeed in the short run the Dorper proved all her qualities and farmers were pretty happy to gain more than before thanks to the sheep’s capacity to gain more fat and weight more compared to the Red Maasai Sheep. But after a while breeders started to understand why that breed had been promoted with such claim. In fact dorper was in a continuos need for care and treatments to allow her to resist an environment she was not meant to live in. Dorpers actually come from South Africa and where were brought to Kenya they struggled to resist persistent droughts and a different kind of feeding and general conditions. So breeders were constrained to buy products for their care and medicinals such as different injections to help them resist advert conditions. Benson continued explaning the participants, that the dorper was breeded for succedent years, in the meantime the Red Maasai Sheep was becoming more rare to see among the Maasai villages, at such rate though, that it has come near to exint. Despite today the Red Maasai Sheep is still rare and this community faces different challenges, the Maasai community continues to fight for its future.
Winter School participants on their way home re-thought about the value of this breed, understooding that promoting of the Red Maasai Sheep represents a way of living in harmony with nature while preserving the Maasai’s cultural heritage.
From Red Shuka to Red beverage
Maasai community can be recognized by the Shuka, a particular red cloth that they wear with utmost pride and elegance. To Maasai community red is the most important color. It represents different things, for example: cow warm blood, which the Maasai drink mixed with milk. This beverage provides high nutrients and for this reason the community drinks it especially in times of famine. In addition, it is important to wear red color for Maasai warriors because it represents a way to protect themselves against wild animals.The value of the Red Maasai Sheep
Over the course of the years, Maasai land has undergone different pressures: grabbed from herders and given to other groups or private investors. Thus, grazing land has been reduced and the Maasai people has been forced to move. Mr. Benson started to tell them about the recent reintroduction of their typical breed into the community. The main topic between the participants and the members of the Red Maasai Sheep group was the initiative promoted by Slow-Food of reintroducing the breed to the shepherd it was farmed from for centuries. This particular sheep is also called Tanganyika, which is found in southern Kenya, northern Tanzania and some parts of Uganda.Twenty years had past without the presence of the Red Maasai Sheep in the community. This was due to the kenyan government’s promotion of the dorper sheep breed. This promotion of the dorper actually created a market for the products, sold by big corps, used to care for the animals and to provide support for their growth. The Dorper was introduced in great masses to the Maasai community all around the country during the 80’s, and the reasons for its fast adoption may be found in the natural propensity of the farmers to take on a new and captivating breed which was promised to be more profitable for their business. Indeed in the short run the Dorper proved all her qualities and farmers were pretty happy to gain more than before thanks to the sheep’s capacity to gain more fat and weight more compared to the Red Maasai Sheep. But after a while breeders started to understand why that breed had been promoted with such claim. In fact dorper was in a continuos need for care and treatments to allow her to resist an environment she was not meant to live in. Dorpers actually come from South Africa and where were brought to Kenya they struggled to resist persistent droughts and a different kind of feeding and general conditions. So breeders were constrained to buy products for their care and medicinals such as different injections to help them resist advert conditions. Benson continued explaning the participants, that the dorper was breeded for succedent years, in the meantime the Red Maasai Sheep was becoming more rare to see among the Maasai villages, at such rate though, that it has come near to exint. Despite today the Red Maasai Sheep is still rare and this community faces different challenges, the Maasai community continues to fight for its future.
Winter School participants on their way home re-thought about the value of this breed, understooding that promoting of the Red Maasai Sheep represents a way of living in harmony with nature while preserving the Maasai’s cultural heritage.
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