Ogiek of Kenya

The Ogiek of Kenya’s Mau mountain forest have an economy based on hunting, gathering and agriculture. Through farming they produce honey, livestock and vegetables for trade, while relying on game and forest plants for most of their staple diet. Their sustainable land management techniques have been carefully designed over thousands of years of indigenous occupation.

However, the colonial government insists that Ogiek land use is unproductive and damaging to the local ecology. Their solution to this perceived problem is to “open up” the land to outsiders, for exploitation by agribusiness. Many Ogiek have been forcibly removed from their land in the course of this invasion, to make way for tea plantations.

Much of the land is also cleared for logging, with greater areas being annexed for this purpose as time goes by. The land is then “settled” by colonists and “improved” for the farming of tea.

So the next time you buy tea, check the label and see where it comes from. No doubt you’ll be as reluctant as I to support the eviction of Ogiek with your purchase.