Question

What was the impact of frequent droughts on the pasture lands of the Maasai community?

Answer 1

Drought affects the life of pastoralists everywhere. When rains fail and pastures are dry, cattle are likely to starve unless they can be moved to areas where forage is available. But in the colonial administation, the Maasai were forced to live within the confined areas. They could not move beyond the boundaries without special permits.
They were cut off from the best grazing lands and forces to live within a semi-arid tract prone to droughts. Since they could not shift their cattle to places where pastures were available, large number of Maasai cattle dies of starvation and disease in these years of drought. In just two years of severs drought, $1933$ and $1934$, over half the cattle in the Maasai Reserve died.
As the area of grazing lands shrank, the adverse effect of the droughts increased in intensity. The frequent bad years led to a steady decline of the animal stock of the pastoralists.