Hadza seek to meet PM over Yaeda invasion

The long and sprawling Yaeda Valley striding Mbulu and Kipamba districts in Manyara and Singida regions respectively is reportedly under serious invasion by destructive aliens. 

Bush and baobab trees dotted large gorge, which has been home to indigenous Hadza Bushmen is said to be facing threats from mass cattle grazers, land tilling farmers and illegal hunters and these are among grievances that the endangered tribe wants to present before the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa.

“Yaeda Valley has remained a virgin land since creation and the Hadza community used it as their undisturbed garden of Eden, but of late, large herds of cattle from as far as the Lake Zone and Arusha Region have invaded the valley, threatening the lives of the already endangered Hadzabe minority,” stated Mr Naftali Ntandu Zengu.

Mr Zengu a representative of the Hadza community, who is also a Ward Counselor for Yaeda Chini, said the invasion by aliens has destroyed the environment in the vast valley, destroying the trees, fruits, natural herbs and small animals that used to provide food to the Bushmen for ages.

Mr Zengu said the Hadza predicament will be tabled today (Monday) during Prime Minister’s meeting in Haydom section of Mbulu, shortly before the Premier addresses another big rally at Mbulu Township.

Hadza (singulary Hadzabe) are an indigenous ethnic group whose number is currently less than 1000, who thrive only on wild berries, herbs, baobab fruits and small animals, not being able to digest sophisticated food or meat from kept livestock.

“The valley is full of livestock that devour all natural vegetation, while the other wave of alien invasion has brought farmers who clear the land using fire and chop trees to create arable land, this has chased away animals, reduced our hunting ground and annihilated the trees that used to provide fruits and shelter for the Hadza,” complained Zengu.

Hadza survive as huntergatherers, in the Yaeda Valley, a vast gorge measuring nearly 21,000 hectares, whose large part lies in Mbulu District of Manyara. For tens of thousands of years, the Bushmen have been among the last huntergatherers in the world who are not closely genetically related to any other people. The Hadza neither grow crops nor keep livestock and haven’t modified their existence since creation.

These indigenous people have been surviving by eating wild fruits, roots, honey and hunting small bush animals. Their paradise way of life remained unperturbed for thousands of years until now; with the global warming caused effects of climate change, suddenly things in the rather cool Yaeda Valley are heating up.

Mr Athumani Magandula a Hadzabe of Mongo-wa-Mono Village has stated earlier on; “a number of people have been flocking into our valley destroying the environment and threatening our sole existence,” he said.

Another resident, Mr Endeko Siendeko said; “We have never had farms here, but now you can see maize farms, sunflowers and chopped trees ready for new cultivation by people who come from Karatu in Arusha, Mbulu (Manyara) and as far as Mwanza (Lake Zone).

” They all complained that the natural vegetation; bushes and indigenous trees are disappearing at alarming rate and since they depend on honey, roots and small animals, the tribe is soon to be decimated.

They want the Prime Minister, Mr Majaliwa to help them save the valley because Yaeda as a precinct and green belt will perish alongside the Hadza who have been living here and keeping things in their natural form since time in history.