Local Partner: Biftu Gafarsa Fodder SHG
Pastoralists use water management as a means to manage the wider rangelands and customary water management practices and systems are tailored to a mobile livelihood system, which itself is a response to the requirements of dryland environments is dependent on negotiation and reciprocity and mobility. Traditional wells are critical sources of dry season water and ‘belong’ to clans, as considerable labour inputs are needed for both construction and extraction of water.This important knowledge is fading as schools and sedentarization deny younger generation the opportunity to acquire necessary skills for survival in their arid ancestral lands.
The project aims to map traditional hand excavated shallow wells in Chari grazing zone in Isiolo County. It will in addition document indigenous knowledge related to underground water detection, excavation methods and water management to revitalize the knowledge and practice including facilitating knowledge sharing through inter-generational workshop, to honor pastoralists who utilize it as a source of livelihoods and natural resource management process and to pass the technology to the younger generation.
Local partner infromaton: Biftu Gafarsa SH Group was formed the year 2015 and registered in 2016 with the Social Services Department. The group is based in Gafarsa sub-location in Isiolo County and its main activities are Conservation of natural resources, small scale business ventures, food security measures, fodder conservation and livestock keeping, youth development, gender equity and cultural heritage protection.
