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Climate-human-landscape interaction in the eastern foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro (equatorial East Africa) during the last two millennia 2020
A first hint of cereal agriculture (likely sorghum) is observed around 1550 CE, followed by a more robust signature from 1780 CE onwards which likely reflects the start of lowland irrigation agriculture. From 1780 CE we also find the first undisputed appearance of maize, introduced to East Africa about a century earlier.
The foothills and sub-montane forest zone of Mt. Kilimanjaro, between 1100 and 2100 m above sea level (asl), have long been identified as an area of intensive agriculture in East Africa (Stump and Tagseth, 2009), with a long history of human occupation and farming surrounded by a ‘sea’ of lowland savanna relatively untouched by agricultural activity. Although different pastoralist groups have inhabited or migrated through these lowlands over the centuries, undoubtedly it is the Chagga people who have had the most pronounced impact on the Mt. Kilimanjaro landscape (Stump and Tagseth, 2009). Utilizing the plentiful water supply coming from higher up the mountain and an intricate irrigation scheme to distribute it effectively, the Chagga people inhabiting this region practice a traditional form of agroforestry which relies on the cultivation of banana, coffee and cereals in settlements known as homegardens. The start of Chagga society and irrigation agriculture on Mt. Kilimanjaro is still uncertain: it has been estimated to date back at least 400 years (Masao, 1974), but archaeological surveys and charcoal dated to ca 250 CE (1σ range: 110 BCE–650 CE) found in association with pottery (Odner, 1971) indicate that people first arrived at Mt. Kilimanjaro possibly in the early first millennium CE and eventually occupied a substantial part of its southern slopes (Odner, 1971; Tagseth, 2008a, 2008b; Stump and Tagseth, 2009).
During and after the colonial era, the population of Kilimanjaro district increased rapidly, from ca 50,000 in 1899 to 500,000 in 1967 (Odner, 1971) and 1.6 million in 2012 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2013), and local irrigation techniques have continued to develop throughout this time by incorporating modern techniques to ensure farmer access to stream water (de Bont et al., 2019).
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10....59683620981694
A first hint of cereal agriculture (likely sorghum) is observed around 1550 CE, followed by a more robust signature from 1780 CE onwards which likely reflects the start of lowland irrigation agriculture. From 1780 CE we also find the first undisputed appearance of maize, introduced to East Africa about a century earlier.
The foothills and sub-montane forest zone of Mt. Kilimanjaro, between 1100 and 2100 m above sea level (asl), have long been identified as an area of intensive agriculture in East Africa (Stump and Tagseth, 2009), with a long history of human occupation and farming surrounded by a ‘sea’ of lowland savanna relatively untouched by agricultural activity. Although different pastoralist groups have inhabited or migrated through these lowlands over the centuries, undoubtedly it is the Chagga people who have had the most pronounced impact on the Mt. Kilimanjaro landscape (Stump and Tagseth, 2009). Utilizing the plentiful water supply coming from higher up the mountain and an intricate irrigation scheme to distribute it effectively, the Chagga people inhabiting this region practice a traditional form of agroforestry which relies on the cultivation of banana, coffee and cereals in settlements known as homegardens. The start of Chagga society and irrigation agriculture on Mt. Kilimanjaro is still uncertain: it has been estimated to date back at least 400 years (Masao, 1974), but archaeological surveys and charcoal dated to ca 250 CE (1σ range: 110 BCE–650 CE) found in association with pottery (Odner, 1971) indicate that people first arrived at Mt. Kilimanjaro possibly in the early first millennium CE and eventually occupied a substantial part of its southern slopes (Odner, 1971; Tagseth, 2008a, 2008b; Stump and Tagseth, 2009).
During and after the colonial era, the population of Kilimanjaro district increased rapidly, from ca 50,000 in 1899 to 500,000 in 1967 (Odner, 1971) and 1.6 million in 2012 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2013), and local irrigation techniques have continued to develop throughout this time by incorporating modern techniques to ensure farmer access to stream water (de Bont et al., 2019).
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10....59683620981694