For the last two days the Climate Debt Agents had been in the village… to examine how the climate changes have affected the Massai people living there. The biggest problem is related to water. 10 years ago the area was green and fertile but now the rain has disappeared and most people haven’t been able to harvest for 3 years! And the cattle, sheep and goats are dying too. Now usually when there is a drought the men take the cattle elsewhere to grass and send home money to their families. In recent years they have had to go further and further away. And this time they have come back empty handed. Most have lost almost their entire livestock, simply because there is nowhere to go and look for green grass for the cattle!
This has a tremendous effect on the income that has gone down. This means that people are starving! A lot of children has dropped out of school because their parents can’t pay the fees, more people are getting sick because their diet has changed and people are fighting over the few resources that are left.
When faced with all these problems we offcourse asked what the Massais meant was the solution and the reply was clear: we need a political solution! The one adaptation that would help the masais most would be water, but there is no money for it! So take the lead Denmark, pay your climate debt and give the masais a change!