Drought forces Kenya’s Maasai to sell starving cattle for a pittance
EDWIN WAITA COWS too weak to stand, with sores on their hides from lying on the ground and ribcages protruding from their sides -- such is the painful sight faced by Kenya's Maasai herders as they struggle to keep their cattle alive in a severe drought. Livestock is central to the traditional Maasai way of life, not only as the main source of food and income but also as a marker of social status and constant presence, with cows living alongside people inside circular enclosures called kraals. Kenya, along with neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia, is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years,…
