They feed on various types of vegetation,
and particularly on leaves, hence sparing
the soil-conserving grass.^5Mobility and biodiversity conser-
vation
The Gabbra practise three specialised
forms of nomadism: qayath, kunnand
foora. Qayathis the migration of base
camp and its livestock to far away territo-
ries at the beginning of the rainy season.
Kunnis also long distance migration but in
the reverse sense, from wet season pas-
tures back to permanent water points.
Fooraentails an opportunistic movement
of the ‘dry’ part of the herd (i.e. the ani-
mals that do not give milk) to exploit vari-
ous grazing and water resources.Qayathand kunnsystems involve move-
ment of entire livestock and base camp to
and from wet season pastures. In qayath,
livestock and base camp move towards
lush pasture. But the movement is not
towards the same areas visited in the pre-
ceding rainy season. The Gabbra return to
the same areas only after several years,
giving time for the environment to regen-
erate and recover from past use. Qayath
also applies to movement away from inse-
cure drought reserve pastures areas to
more secure ones.
Kunnis movement of
entire livestock and
base camp back to dry
season water points.
Unlike qayath, kunnis
also used to describe
emergency movements,
when pastures and sea-
sonal water sources dry
up rather suddenly.
Such movements can
be strenuous and can
last several days with-
out the comfort of
water points.Thefoorasystem is a practice of breaking
up the livestock into a milk herd kept
around base camp and a dry herd, which
moves to pasture reserves, sometimes as
far as 50 km away from base camp.
Young boys and girls take care of the herd
in the foora under the guidance of at least
one adult.^6 Most of the pastoral groups in
Northern Kenya practise foora(i.e. herd-
splitting) as a coping strategy. This
reduces the competition for forage and
water resources between herds and opti-
mises pasture utilisation. Practicing
qayath, kunnand foora helps the Gabbra
to reduce overgrazing by limiting the con-
centration of livestock in drought reserve,
wet season pasture and dry season pas-
ture. The mobility pattern enhances
restoration and stabilisation of the local
ecological conditions.One of the most interesting indirect bene-
fits of a mobile lifestyle is that it enables
the dispersal of seeds and the regenera-
tion of arid land vegetation. Nomadic
grazing allows nitrogen to be returned to
the soil over dispersed areas. When the
land is grazed for relatively short periods
it generates rich grass. Hoof pressure acti-
vates the process through the crushing of
the grass and gravel. As a matter of fact,
the Gabbra wander from one point to the
other even before being pressured by the
local pasture conditions—simply in order
to ensure that the land is replenished for
the future utilisation.^7 In this sense,
mobility is consciouslyused to enhance
the growth of arid land vegetation.Camels, goats, sheep, cattle and donkeys
feed on diverse plant species and move
different varieties of seeds from one area
to another, with preference to the most
palatable ones. The seeds of consumed
plants get treated in the rumen of live-
stock and are deposited over large areas
and/or in the night enclosures where the
animals camp. In the enclosures there isHistory, cculture aand cconservation
...a mmobile llifestyle
enables tthe ddispersal
of sseeds aand tthe
regeneration oof aarid
land vvegetation... tthe
Gabbra wwander ffrom
one ppoint tto tthe oother
even bbefore bbeing ppres-
sured bby tthe llocal
pasture cconditions—
simply iin oorder tto
ensure tthat tthe lland
is rreplenished ffor tthe
future uutilisation.