Climate Stress on Indigenous Systems: Water, Food, and Governance as Integrated Peace Infrastructure

Working paper submitted to UNU-CRIS. Under editorial review.

Author: Stephanie Zabriskie
ORCID: 0009-0000-9273-1529
Affiliation: Humanculture (Indigenous-led nonprofit organization)
Capacity: Founder and Executive Director

Abstract

Climate-driven drought constitutes not only an environmental emergency but a humanitarian and governance crisis, constraining access to water, food, education, and livelihood security while increasing risks of resource conflict, displacement, and social fragmentation. In semi-arid regions of East Africa, these pressures are no longer episodic but structurally recurrent, requiring governance systems capable of managing prolonged scarcity rather than short-term shocks.

This Working Paper presents a practice-grounded analysis of Indigenous systems of governance among Maasai communities in northern Tanzania, examining how water, food, land, and mobility are coordinated under conditions of extended environmental stress. Drawing on repeated field observation across multiple drought cycles (2017, 2022, and 2025), alongside extensive interviews and sustained discussions with Indigenous leaders and community members, the paper documents how distributed authority, enforced role hierarchies, and collective decision-making operate in real time.

The analysis focuses on operational mechanisms rather than cultural interpretation, demonstrating how Indigenous governance systems embed conflict prevention and peacekeeping within everyday resource management. The paper concludes that aligning climate adaptation and development interventions with existing Indigenous governance systems can strengthen resilience, sustain livelihoods and education access, and reduce conflict risk without introducing additional institutional complexity.

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Climate Stress on Indigenous Systems: Water, Food, and Governance as Integrated Peace Infrastructure