Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
inl uence on the people-environment relationship. The broad divisions
used are based on linguistic origins. The i rst inhabitants of the region
are believed to be Khoisan in origin and were hunter-gatherers. A low,
dispersed and nomadic population using traditional low technology tools
such as bows and arrows meant that this livelihood strategy was sustain-
able in terms of land and resources, even in times of drought (Armitage,
1996). It is unlikely that hunter-gatherers changed the ecology of their
surroundings to any great extent because of their low population and
primitive technology. Hunter-gatherer livelihoods rely on exploiting wild
animal and plant resources already present rather than domestication or
cultivation of animals or crops. Once widespread in the region they were
displaced or absorbed by other tribes who began to colonize the area from
North and West Africa. Only small groups such as the Hadza, who are
believed to be the descendants of these early inhabitants, still practise a
hunter-gatherer livelihood strategy in Tanzania today (Armitage, 1996).
From about 1000 BC and possibly as early as 2000 BC Cushitic tribes
migrated south into Tanzania from a region now in modern day Ethiopia.
They were generally cattle herders and occupied the northern central
region of Tanzania dominated by Somalia-Maasai vegetation, which was
settled because of its suitability for pastoral livelihood strategies. These
early pastoralists are still represented by the Iraqw in Tanzania. Possibly
one of the largest migrations, and certainly one of the most widespread
and inl uential linguistically in Tanzania, was the arrival of the Bantu-
speaking tribes from West Africa. Bantu tribes are thought to have started
migrating into the lake regions of Tanzania as early as 500 BC and after
AD1000 approximately 90 per cent of the tribes in Tanzania were of
Bantu origin. The success of the Bantu tribes is attributed to their use of
cultivation, which allowed them to successfully colonize the more fertile
highlands before spreading down onto the plains (Shorter, 1974). After
the Bantu tribes the fourth major group to migrate into the region were
the pastoral Nilotic tribes from Eastern Ethiopia who arrived much later
in the 1500s. The Maasai were part of this migration and had settled in
Northern Tanzania by the late 1700s.
Both pastoral and agricultural livelihood strategies had a much greater
impact on the ecology of Tanzania than the hunter-gatherer strategies of
the original inhabitants. Pastoralism was based on transhumance rather
than being truly nomadic. This meant that the homestead, comprised
of women and very young children, remained in one place for relatively
long periods of time. Lactating cows and calves were kept in, and grazed
around, the homestead, so often homesteads were widely spaced to allow
adequate forage. Young men and boys moved seasonally with the rest
of the herd to i nd adequate grazing throughout the year. Areas were
