Tanzanian Herder Becomes Climate Change Campaigner Thanks to Scholarship
Valentin Olyang’iri knows about the pressures climate change is exerting on people in rural Tanzania – he grew up herding livestock there. Now, thanks to a University of Manchester scholarship, he has the skills to do something about it.
In recent times rainfall has become less predictable in East Africa. Prolonged droughts and degrading farmland have a serious effect on local farmers and pastoralists who herd livestock for a living. Each group needs access to land and this shrinking resource often brings the two groups into conflict.
Having grown up in this environment, Valentin understands the community and felt that, with the right skills, he would be in a position to change things for the better. However, in Tanzania there wasn’t a course he could do that could give him the skills he needed.
But thanks to The University of Manchester’s Equity and Merit Scholarship Scheme, Valentin was able to complete an MSc in Environmental Governance this year, giving him the skills to lobby government and educate his communities in more sustainable practices.
Rod Waddington