In Ariamaoi village, Nabilatuk district, a family of Karamojong elders walk back home after escorting herders and advising them on the grazing routes that are safe to use. Iriama Anthony, 34, leading them at the front, is a household head of the Manyatta (Small Karamoja homesteads) in the village. He plays a major role in providing information regarding the quantity of water and pasture versus the number of livestock in the area. Moving in a queue is a security mechanism they use especially in this period when cattle raids and conflicts have increased in the region.
Peter Lemukul, 5, milking one of his fathers’ cows in Ariamaoi Village, Nabilatuk district. He does this every morning and evening with his brother and cousins.
At 7 a.m. in Ariamaoi Village, Nabilatuk district, Angelle Peter and his colleagues sit together sunbathing while brushing their teeth with sticks and having conversations. In one situation, they were speaking about which grazing routes to use after receiving an alert about an expected raid by a group of rustlers within their area. It was pretty scary when my interpreter mentioned this to me, knowing the insecurity situation at the time.
At about 10 a.m. when the dew has fallen, the herders start the move with their cows, carrying small jerry cans that store water for drinking on the long walks. Shockingly, since it was the dry season, herders in Amudat were facing floods due to heavy rains in the past few days. These made some grazing routes impassable.
After a heavy downpour the previous night, pastoralists in Amudat move with their cattle along a muddy road to find greener grass. Because of the heavy rains, some roads that serve as the major grazing routes had been flooded. Heavy rains and floods also destroyed crops.
Due to the unpredictable rains, various rivers, especially in Amudat district, were seen with water flowing on one side of the river bed with the other dry.
Many of the rivers in Amudat district were also saturated with water.
A Karamojong pastoralist cools himself from the hot sun with the surface water from the heavy downpour the previous night in Amudat district. During the dry season, temperatures can reach as high as 40°C, but average around 29°C in the afternoon.
Not all areas of Karamoja benefited from the unusual rains. River Omaniman, one of Karamoja’s longest and fast-running rivers through Kotido district, was left completely waterless over the dry season in October. During the wet season or when this area of Kotido is receiving heavy rains, the river floods with dense water flow, which can sometimes claim the lives of people and animals.
A crowd of sellers and buyers mingle in the goats and sheep section of Kanawat Livestock Market in Kotido district. More than 200 animals a day are sold at this market. Pastoralists use the money to buy food during the long dry spells.
“At the moment, I could sell a cow between 600,000 UGX ($171) and 1,200,000 UGX ($341). During the wet season, it could even go double for a fully grown one,” said James Okono, a pastoralist from Kotido district.
Pastoralists assess the state of their goats before they are sold at Kanawat Livestock Market in Kotido. It is noted that livestock sales in Karamoja are dependent on the season. During the wet season with adequate rains, buyers are willing to purchase cattle at the rates set by the sellers, unlike the dry season where they buy cheaply since the cows’ body condition has deteriorated as a result of not feeding properly.
In Kotido district, cattle have crossed through a dried river bed. Many of the rivers in Kotido have dried despite the scattered heavy rains. These days, pastoralists have to move 30 kilometers longer to find sufficient water for their livestock, especially in Kotido.
In Kotido district, a Karamojong herds boy watches over his cattle. This river was the herders’ first water encounter of the day after walking for about four hours. It is very common in the Karamoja region today to see young boys between the ages of 6 and 15 moving with their cattle, especially in safer grazing grounds around Moroto and Amudat.
In Amudat district, a community borehole sits in a groundwater flood. Boreholes and small ponds are highly utilized to water small stocks like goats and sheep as well as provide water for home use. Most pastoralists draw drinking water from such hand pumps that are poorly kept with rainwater contaminated with waste, causing waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid. The stagnant water, which acts as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, has also contributed to an increased incidence of malaria, especially among children.
A Karamojong boy digs a small hole for freshwater at the River Loidiri bank. The boy and his brothers were herding their livestock when they stopped by a river to take water. On reaching the water underneath, they pour out the surface water, leaving fresher water to bubble up seconds later. With this method, the pastoralists can drink water that is not contaminated.
A woman washes her clothes at river Ajijim in Nabilatuk district. Being a dry season, the basic sources of water in this area like some of the boreholes were dry with no water at all. People, therefore, move further to where they can access more water to carry on heavy domestic needs. In Nabilatuk for example, individuals would rather store the little collected borehole and rainwater for drinking and cooking, and then use water from rivers for livestock and other intensive domestic needs.
After a long day of walking, we finally set up camp for the night in Ariamaoi Village, Nabilatuk district. A group of Karamojong engage in nighttime conversations while drinking their locally brewed alcohol. Spending the day walking with them and their cattle, I observed they never ate any solid meal apart from the gathered fruits and water - their granaries had barely any food. At night, they only took milk while chewing sunflower seeds.
Ruth Nakwang, a resident of Kakwakou village, Kaabong district, displays dried seeds used to make soup to be eaten with maize. Ruth and her family chew them separately now that their maize stock ran out, she said.
Owalinga Lawrence, 16, milks one of his family’s cows on return to the kraal in Ariamaoi Village, Nabilatuk district. In the pastoral communities, it is usually the young boys that milk and graze the cattle.
The Arecek-Nakicumet water dam in Napak district, which was constructed between 2007 and 2011. In the background is Mount Napak, which channels water into the 6-meter deep dam that is currently serving multiple benefits including irrigation purposes, fish farming and supporting herders in accessing water for their livestock especially in dry spells.
In Nakicumet, Napak district, a group of farmers work on an onion garden. They also grow green pepper and tomatoes, which heavily rely on the irrigation system that uses water from Arecek-Nakicumet dam. According to the farmers, the small garden has supported some neighbouring communities when they are totally out of food.
The Arecek water dam caretaker, who also acts as an underground tank operator, climbs back to the surface after opening pipes that allow water to flow into the common stream accessed by the community. During a heavy downpour, the level of water is monitored to not exceed 7 meters. Water is channeled out to small ponds from the underground tanks to maintain the water level.
In Ariamaoi village, Nabilatuk district, a Karamajong family stand by their man-made water pond. Using hoes and other digging tools, they set up the pond in preparation for the long dry spell but have since not used it as the area is receiving some rain. According to them, this 5-foot pond that was filled with water from previous rains can sustain water for up to two months during the long dry spells.
