The Documentary Podcast — Shepherd's Eye In The Sky

Host: Bola Mosuro (BBC World Service)
Date: January 28, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores the lives of pastoralists across Africa’s drylands, focusing on how traditional herding communities are blending their ancestral knowledge with modern technology to adapt to challenges such as climate change, social exclusion, and conflicts over land. Through personal stories and expert interviews, it reveals how innovations like mobile apps and renewable energy are transforming herding, highlighting both the resilience and struggles of these often-marginalized communities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Centrality of Cattle to Pastoralist Life

• [01:13-02:59] Joshua Liza (Maasai pastoralist, Tanzania) details how cattle are the backbone of socioeconomic and cultural life for millions:
  • "To us, cattle is everything. We depend on them to feed our kids, to take our kid to school, to take our patient to the hostels. It is our economy. It is our backbone of our survival." — Joshua Liza [02:59]
• The dry seasons force nomadic movement in search of scarce grazing and water, impacting herd health.

2. Scope and Importance of Pastoralism in Africa

• [07:00-10:53] Dr. Tahira Mohammed (Jameel Observatory) provides context:
  • Pastoralists are the primary food producers for over 250 million people in Africa’s drylands, which cover 60% of the continent.
  • Pastoralism contributes up to 40% of GDP in some countries, but investment in the sector is disproportionately low (as little as 5-10%).
  • "Pastoralism is contributing largely to GDP. But because of the limited investment in pastoral infrastructure ... it is undermined. This is basically structural neglect." — Dr. Tahira Mohammed [10:13]

3. Drought, Uncertainty, and Environmental Challenges

• [11:49-14:31]
  • Recurring droughts shake pastoralist economies. Joshua Liza describes how recent droughts have forced his community to slaughter cattle prematurely and supplement feed, risking their livelihood’s collapse if rains don’t arrive.
  • Loss of biodiversity, disease outbreaks, movement restrictions, and labor-intensive herding heighten the unpredictability of their lives.
  • "For pastoralists, it is not just risk, it is uncertainty. The overall lack of knowledge about the future. They are always in action mode ..." — Dr. Tahira Mohammed [13:38]

4. Conflict, Marginalization, and Negative Perceptions

• [14:58-22:45]
  • Pastoralists are often scapegoated for violence and banditry, particularly in Nigeria, despite supplying most of the beef for urban populations.
  • "The public image of the herder is that the herder is terrorist and is a kidnapper and is very uncivilized. But they don't think about the livestock ... that are produced by these herders." — Sali Sadhonana [16:30]
  • Conflicts with crop farmers arise due to unclear land rights, government policy failures, and resource competition, especially during dry seasons.
  • Government pressures to settle herders have undermined traditional grazing patterns, worsening land degradation.

5. Tech Innovations: From Mobile Phones to ‘Shepherd’s Eye in the Sky’

• [27:30-33:04]
  • Mobile phones are now essential tools for communication, market access, and resource tracking.
  • The Afriscout app provides real-time satellite data on grazing and water locations, drastically reducing time spent searching for pasture:
    • "Afriscout is ... kind of guiding cattle where to graze. It's mostly like the Google map for cattle." — Joshua Liza [29:10]
    • App usage reduced scouting time from days to minutes [32:05].
    • Enables alerts for disease outbreaks, conflicts, and even recovery of stolen cattle.
    • Technology adoption is tailored to rugged, affordable feature phones suitable for remote, off-grid conditions.
    • "There's so much resilience in the fact that they're able to keep their heritage ... while adapting and adopting modernity." — Mark Kaigwa [05:00; 35:38]

6. Economic and Social Empowerment, Especially for Women

• [36:10-39:50]
  • Dr. Doris Agol highlights pastoralist women leveraging mobile phones for trade and economic independence. Women now participate in livestock trading, market intelligence, and collective bargaining:
    • "I've seen women ... hanging their little mobile phones on their neck trying to negotiate deals on the phone. It’s so amazing." — Doris Agol [37:16]
    • Market transparency via mobile phones helps counter traditional power imbalances within pastoralist households.

7. Pastoralism and Environmental Stewardship

• [40:31-41:48]
  • Apps enable sustainable grazing patterns, aiding land recovery and biodiversity:
    • Rotational grazing guided by real-time data improves soil fertility and seed germination.
    • Returning wild species observed in areas where sustainable practices are adopted.
    • "We are using cattle to do one important thing ... by concentrating a number of animals in a small piece of land, manure concentrations will be higher ... we have seen in 70 area that we are working in Ethiopia, we've seen it, even the biodiversity." — Joshua Liza [40:31]

8. Renewable Energy and New Economic Models

• [42:31-45:33]
  • Aminu Nyako’s off-grid, solar-powered dairy business in Nigeria shows how tech boosts pastoralist incomes:
    • Milk collection centers allow sales even in remote areas with unreliable power, while also reducing conflict.
    • "Every single community has a solar powered collection center ... there has been almost zero clashes around our area, the incidence of banditry ... diminished." — Aminu Nyako [44:43]
  • Selling carbon credits from rangeland restoration offers another income stream and fosters sustainability [46:09].

9. Rediscovering Indigenous Knowledge and Its Value

• [47:08-49:04]
  • Experts advocate for blending traditional ecological wisdom—such as weather prediction by reading goat entrails—with new technologies for holistic resilience.
  • "It is only recently that people like us are realizing that indigenous knowledge is not nostalgia ... it is based on experiences and culture and social norms and the local economy." — Doris Agol [47:08]

10. Vision for the Future

• [50:34-51:34]
  • Joshua Liza closes with a call for recognition of pastoralists as environmental stewards and for political representation:
    • "Pastoralists are never the enemies of our environment ... We are nature and nature is us. We really want to see that the contribution that we are making, the credit be given to the pastoral communities, particularly the indigenous people and their rightful rights on their lands." — Joshua Liza [50:34]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We move without knowing where we are going because we are looking to get pasture, the best resource for our cattle." — Joshua Liza, describing the uncertainty before digital mapping [29:45]
• "People like the products, people like the livestock food chain, but they don't like the people who are producing it, and they never ask." — Sali Sadhonana [16:30]
• "It is not that the pastoral communities are inherently evil or inherently criminal. It is that they are trying to preserve a way of earning income." — Aminu Nyako [19:50]
• "I've seen women ... with their phones; they say this is our life ... they already connected to some other markets ... so you cannot lie to them." — Doris Agol [39:15]
• "It is only recently ... we are embracing it [indigenous knowledge] in the early warning system ... NGOs now are engaging more with the community." — Doris Agol [47:08]

Important Timestamps

• [01:13] Introduction from a Tanzanian Maasai herder (Joshua Liza)
• [05:10] The power of satellite technology as “the shepherd’s eye in the sky”
• [07:37] Links between rural pastoralists and Africa’s expanding cities
• [16:30] Media stigmatization and misperceptions of herders
• [27:30] Mark Kaigwa on social media, mobile use, and resilience in the drylands
• [29:10/32:05] Joshua Liza explains Afriscout app; impact on search time
• [36:10] Empowerment of women through mobile technology (Doris Agol)
• [42:31] Solar-powered dairy innovation in Nigeria (Aminu Nyako)
• [46:09] Carbon credits and sustainable rangeland investment
• [47:08] Indigenous weather forecasting and renewed respect for traditional knowledge
• [50:34] Joshua Liza’s final call for recognition and political inclusion

Tone and Language

The episode maintains a warm, respectful, and often admiring tone towards Africa’s pastoralists, illustrating both struggle and ingenuity. Spoken testimonies are woven with factual context, policy critique, and hopeful explorations of innovation and collaboration.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In

This episode offers an energetic, accessible journey through the world of Africa’s pastoralists—a vital but often overlooked community facing both crisis and opportunity. You’ll come away with a new understanding of how herders combine tradition and tech to feed millions, tend landscapes, adapt to change, and claim their futures, all against daunting odds.