 Hi, I'm Patrick. Around here, they call me the Peacemaker. I work for the district participatory land use management team. We help develop a joint village land use planning process to help pastoral and farming communities agree on how to use land together peacefully. Let me show you how it works. See this community? They are productive, manage the land well, and are investing in the future. But it wasn't always so. You see, in some areas where livestock keepers and crop farmers live side by side, there can be tension. In this community, it was bad. Farmers were farming in grazing lands, cows were grazing in farmers' crops, people were turning wood from trees into charcoal, they were fighting each other for access to resources, people, animals, and the land were suffering. So I said, whoa everyone, let's find a peaceful solution. My team and I met with the community leaders and discovered there were four villagers sharing common grazing land and water points. We suggested that joint village land use planning could protect these shared resources. They invited us to help and a local NGO and research organization joined us. And so the process began. Leaders and community members from all four connected villages met with our team, district officials, officials from the National Land Use Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development. It was agreed that the villagers would produce their individual village land use plans together, talking to each other so that the shared grazing land remains joined up. A few days later, we helped the communities from all four villages to map out their land and resources on the ground. Everyone joined in. Women, men, young and old. People used leaves, corn, ashes, grass, branches, and stones to mark village boundaries, croplands, mountains, rivers, livestock routes, and other landmarks. Importantly, they showed the grazing lands and water points shared across village boundaries. It was a long day and when everyone was happy, the land use committee from each village redrew their village map onto paper. Next, the leaders came together to negotiate which lands to keep for cropping, grazing, conservation, and so on. They didn't always agree, but with the peacemaker around, an agreement was finally reached. The village assemblies, all the people in the villages, approved the maps and plans, and a joint village land use agreement was drawn up that formalized a sharing of grazing lands and other resources by all four villages. Local bylaws were established to define the rules for using the land. The plan was adopted and bylaws approved by the district council. The plan was gazetted by the NLUPC and the designated shared grazing land gazetted by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development. Signboards were put up to show the boundaries of grazing land just in case anyone forgot what was agreed. We also supported the communities to establish a livestock keepers association and help them to acquire group certificates of customary rights of occupancy from their village councils. The district livestock officer now helps the communities improve the productivity of grazing lands through activities like clearing invasive species and reseeding grasses. Now, grazing boundaries are respected. Land health has improved, livestock are healthier and fetching better prices at markets and there are more wildlife, insects and birds. Working together has benefited the people and the environment and peace has been restored to the communities of these four villages. Quaheri! You know, I have a feeling that if I keep going, whoa everyone, let's find a peaceful solution!