"Capturing resilience: Exploring climate change, cultural values, and human mobility among Maasai communities"
"In mid-July, Dr. Julia Blocher and Dr. Thaddeus Lekule, together with research assistants Emmanuel Ole Kileli and Julian Daniels, met at Tumaini University Makumira (TUMa) in Arusha, Tanzania. The team worked to consolidate the field guide for CLARS WP4 (Climate and cultural values) participatory research to explore how climate change affects Maasai pastoralists' mobility patterns, socio-cultural cohesion, and their interactions with host communities. On this occasion, the team also met with the Rev. Prof. Dr. Faustin Leonard Mahali, TUMa's Vice Chancellor, to reiterate the relevance of understanding how community cohesion contributes to resilience, and how intercultural partnerships may improve climate adaptation.
Following this preparatory phase, field activities began across three selected districts (Kilosa, Kiteto, and Simanjiro). To date, the research team has conducted 60 interviews in five predominantly Maasai villages, ensuring a balanced representation between pastoralists and farmers, as well as across gender lines. The team is now moving to Kilosa district, where the mixed-farmer herder context will provide further valuable insights. Early findings point to notable dynamics, including recent shifts in destination choices and the growing influence of younger migrant men within their communities, partly linked to migration income used for distinct obligations.
In the coming weeks, the team will revisit all three districts to conduct Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) using visual participatory methods. The "Social Resilience Photography" activity engages participants directly by asking them to capture images over weeks that represent resilience in their communities. These images will then be discussed in small hub groups divided by age and gender, creating space for diverse perspectives on collaboration, cohesion, and adaptation strategies. By the end of the project, the photographs will be returned to the communities in the form of a collective exhibition, acknowledging participants' contributions and reinforcing local ownership of the research process."
Post by Dr. Diogo Serraglio