State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Akie number about 5,200, while the Hadzabe population number between 1,000 and 3,000. The concept of indigenous peoples is not acknowledged in Tanzania, but the government “recognizes the vulnerability of some of the marginalized communities”.28 The delivery of health services in the areas occupied by indigenous peoples is difficult. This is because of poor infrastructure and also that the communities are sparse and migratory. They have to depend on services provided by non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations and other agencies. A study on the differences in health between the Datoga/Barabaig and their neighbours indicated how patterns of health are linked to wider issues of marginalization. The marginalization of the Datoga/Barabaig includes the lack of access to their traditional homelands where their lands are being acquired by the government and private interests for non-pastoral commercial use such as parks, private ranches and commercial wheat estates. Communal lands are being fenced off resulting in the Datoga/Barabaig being evicted from their traditional lands. The loss of their pasture lands has resulted in the decimation of their herds. The large-scale prairie-type farming has also resulted in the destruction of trees and other vegetation, affecting rain patterns and soil erosion. In some areas, water is extremely scarce. The relationship between the Datoga/Barabaig and the surrounding community has been one of hostility and antagonism. Incidences of abuse of human rights, the beating and arrest of pastoralists and confiscation of cattle on the pretext of trespass have been common.29 Not surprisingly, the Datoga/Barabaig are at a greater risk of anaemia, maternal mortality and tuberculosis. Infant mortality is also high among the Datoga (20 per cent), while fertility is lower than in neighbouring groups, and pastoral Datoga children show early growth faltering and little catch-up growth when compared to neighbouring groups.30 The pastoralists are also vulnerable to HIV/AIDS due to negative cultural practices and low levels of literacy. The negative cultural practices are FGM, early sexual debut and early marriages for girls and the low social status of women.
Botswana The indigenous peoples of Botswana are collecticvely called the Basarwa, Bakgalagadi or San and are hunter-gatherers. In his report the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples noted that the government of Botswana has made efforts to address the situation of indigenous peoples through the Remote Area Development Policy of 1975, which has been revised over time in line with new developments.31 In the revised programme the Government “shall adopt a community-led development approach which aims to promote participatory processes and community participation in issues affecting their own development”. The new policy also acknowledges the need for affirmative measures for the benefit of communities that have faced intractable disadvantages, either for logistical reasons or because of long standing historical prejudice and subjugation by the dominant groups”. Such measures will be adopted across a variety of sectors to improve access to education, health, employment and economic development opportunities, and to develop sociopolitical institu28
Country Technical Note on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues: United Republic of Tanzania. Submitted by IWGIA, June 2012.
29
Isa G. Schivji, Globalisation and Popular Resistance (2002) p. 9 .www.caledonia.org.uk/papers/Globalisation%20 and%20Popular%20Resistance.doc.
30
Alyson G. Young, Young Child Health among Eyasi Datoga: Socioeconomic Marginalization, Local Biology, and Infant Resilience with the Mother Infant Dyad (2008), p. 66.
31
A/HRC/15/37/Add.2.
018 ξ Chapter 1