Maasai Community Governance of Groundwater Access During Drought in Northern Tanzania

UNPFII Research Brief Submitted to PreventionWeb, March 2026

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

Region: Africa

Associated Platforms: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Abstract

In semi-arid pastoral regions of northern Tanzania, recurring drought and increasing rainfall variability place sustained pressure on groundwater resources, rangeland ecosystems, and pastoral livelihoods. Where centralized water infrastructure is limited or difficult to maintain across large landscapes, drought risk becomes as much a governance challenge as an environmental one. This research brief documents a groundwater access and management system maintained by Maasai pastoral communities in northern Tanzania, in which distributed water points — including shallow wells, seasonal pans, and subsurface catchments — are governed through customary institutions including councils of elders and women’s councils. These structures coordinate livestock movement, water use timing, and pasture recovery, drawing on intergenerational environmental knowledge and continuous ecological observation to adapt resource allocation decisions to changing seasonal and drought conditions. By aligning mobility, water access, and grazing patterns through collective decision-making rather than centralized control, these locally governed systems help sustain household water continuity, reduce pressure on fragile rangeland ecosystems, and stabilize pastoral livelihoods during extended dry periods. The case demonstrates how Indigenous governance systems can function as resilience infrastructure in drought-prone environments, and is analyzed in relation to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, with implications for integrating community-based governance mechanisms into broader drought preparedness and dryland development policy.

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Maasai Community Governance of Groundwater Access During Drought in Northern Tanzania