Kargi Pastoralist Link (UK & Kenya)

The Rendille tribe is one of the nomadic pastoralists that inhabit the Kaisut plains and the Chalbi desert in Northern Kenya. Kargi is an area in the famous Chalbi desert , home of the pre-historic Koobi Fora and the ranges of Marsabit, a green thick forest during the rainy season. Kargi is based in the present day Marsabit County . Kargi is considered one of the harshest place on earth climatically as it only depends on seasonal rainfall that is hard to come by as a result of climatic degradation. The Rendille tribe is a nomadic tribe in the arid region of northern Kenya in Kaisut desert and also bordering the Chalbi desert that is to the west of Marsabit town, now in the newly created Marsabit county. The region is one of the harshest in the country due to lack of rainfall and prolonged droughts over the years. Rendille are mainly herdsmen. They herd camel, cattle, goats and sheep for their livelihood but the camel is their most precious animal. The camel is not only the source of food (milk and meat) but it is also used as the mode of transport. The staple food of the Rendille people is milk, meat and ‘banjo,’ a mixture of blood and milk. The population of the Rendille tribe is approximately sixty thousand people and they are among the minority tribes in Kenya. They are among the most marginalised communities in the country with an estimated literacy levels of below 2 percent.