Kenya’s Masai are nomads. They move through the countryside with their cattle herds. But climate change is changing that.

The first thing they do in the morning is to dance. It’s an old tradition among the Masai. But their work is changing, these former cattle herders have now become farmers cultivating fields. Climate change is to blame and how it affects the weather.

In the recent past we experienced unpredictable rain patterns. We used to depend on nomadic pastoralism, but we went to a village once where we were chased away because there wasn’t enough grazing land. When we came back to our village we decided to have our Chief consult farming experts to help us start crop farming. We now farm maize and sorghum.

In the past they spent their days herding animals. They were nomads used to wandering, the nomadic lifestyle defined their life and culture. Now they have to tend to the grain fields. The harvest is coming. For the Masai it’s an enormous change. The weather even makes their new life as farmers a challenge.

With climate change, I think this could be the beginning of the end of African pastoralism as we have known it over the years. Because we could no longer rely on the traditional rainfall systems, we can, we can no longer rely on the traditional weather forecasts, and the more erratic the rainfall is, the more fragile the system becomes. The more production that is getting less both either livestock or land.

Maiyani Melonye is also Masai, but he still holds onto his herd and covers long distances to find enough food for them. He feels like one of the last of his kind.

The weather has become unpredictable. Our children will never be like us the way we were brought up to locate grazing lands. They will only know the language but never understand the Masai traditions.

Whether as farmers or herders, it will become increasingly difficult for the Masai to earn a living in the future. They depend on the climate and that is changing fast.