Could Cheese Be the Missing, Hard, Stable Currency to Fortify Self-Sufficiency of Pastoralist Communities?

Traditional pastoral existence in Africa has always necessitated close, sustainable interaction with a harsh natural environment. Pastoralists, such as the indigenous Parakuyo Maasai of Tanzania traditionally depend on fresh cow’s milk as a staple. They are among the few African ethnic groups that still live as small, socially intact associations close to nature. Unfortunately, fresh milk is difficult to store and inevitably, times of plenty fluctuate with the times of hunger that threaten cultural retreat. Milk storage is particularly challenging in an arid climate without refrigeration and at such times, survival takes precedence over prosperity. We describe an ongoing pilot project that has attempted to address these hardships, facilitate traditional subsistence and the economic autonomy of the Parakuyo Maasai. We proposed that a simple solution is cheese production. The “Maasai-cheese” project (www.vsf.at) was implemented in 2011 and instructs sustainable cheese production on the Maasai boma using locally sourced assets, combining Austrian experience of cheese production with Maasai experience of arid dairy farming. Anticipated gains for the Maasai are becoming realised: (i) Family incomes can be assured during hardship. During the dry season Zebu cattle do not produce enough milk that can be sold or exchanged. However, cheese produced and matured earlier can be sold at this time; (ii) Antibiotic abuse in cattle can be drastically decreased. When cheese is a valuable commodity there is a strong disincentive to treat cattle with antibiotics, which prevent fermentation. (iii) Cheese is a sought-after commodity in Africa. This pilot initiative is being well received as the demand for cheese in Africa is enormous. In particular, technical know-how has been a limiting factor until now