Indigenous Systems of Distributed Groundwater Access for Family Farming Under Prolonged Drought

Report Submitted to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), January 2026

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

Abstract

This report documents how Maasai family farming systems in semi-arid northern Tanzania sustain household and livestock water access under prolonged drought through distributed, family-managed groundwater practices. In contexts where centralized water infrastructure is absent, communities rely on manually dug wells located in dry riverbeds and former lakebeds where surface water has disappeared due to climate change but groundwater remains accessible. The system functions through spatially distributed extraction, labor-intensive daily management, and coordinated use across households and livestock, enabling continuity of access under extreme and prolonged environmental stress. The observations presented are based on repeated field engagement across multiple drought cycles and are intended to provide practical insight for policymakers and practitioners working on family farming, water access, and climate adaptation in arid and semi-arid regions.

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Indigenous Systems of Distributed Groundwater Access for Family Farming Under Prolonged Drought