The Samburu
Community
Protocol about
the Samburu
Indigenous
Livestock Breeds
and their
Rights to their
Indigenous
Livestock Genetic
Resources and
Role in Global
Biodiversity
Management
THE SAMBURU COMMUNITY PROTOCOL
We are the Samburu, pastoralists living across a number of districts in
Kenya. We are keepers of indigenous and exotic breeds of livestock and
our lives are interlinked with and wholly dependent on our animals. Our
way of life also allows us to live alongside wildlife, promoting the conservation of our breeds and other living resources in our environment. Yet we
feel that our way of life and our indigenous breeds have been consistently
undervalued. The government-promoted breeding programs that sought
to replace or improve our breeds have left us particularly vulnerable to
the recurring droughts which are causing our people acute suffering.
This is our community protocol. It is an articulation of the integral role of
our breeds in Samburu culture and their importance to the world. It seeks
to establish the significance of our way of life and the value of our indigenous breeds, and that as the keepers of important livestock populations
we have a right to maintain our way of life. It clarifies for others on what
terms we will permit activities to be undertaken on our land or regarding
our indigenous breeds and traditional knowledge.
Specifically, it sets out:
Who we are;
Details of the livestock we keep;
The cultural significance of our indigenous breeds;
How our way of life contributes to the conservation of local biodiversity;
Our traditional knowledge and associated customary laws;
The customary laws and procedures of prior informed consent that
must be respected for engaging in any activity on any on our lands or
involving our breeds or traditional knowledge;
Our current challenges;
How we are responding to the current crisis;
A message to the government and researchers; and
A call to international bodies.
WE ARE THE SAMBURU
We originate from North Africa, specifically mentioned by many as North
of Marsabit the direction of Ethiopia having migrated into what is now
Kenya many hundreds of years ago. We are closely related to the Maasai, speaking a dialect of the same Maa language. A legend name describing the Maasai, Samburu, and Cushites in Northern Kenya relates
them with one name, the ‘Loibor Kineji’ (Translated as Owners of the
White Goats). Indeed, legend tells us that a man took three wives: one
bore a Samburu, one a Maasai and one a Laikipia. Our name, Samburu,
comes from a bag we carry in which we keep meat, called a “Samburr.”
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Today there are over 800,000 Samburu living in a number of adjoining
districts, including: Samburu, Laikipia, Isiolo, Marsabit, Baringo and Turkana. We are formed of nine clans divided into two main subdivisions,