ABSTRACT
In 1980, Karamoja came to world attention when pictures of emaciated children dying from famine hit the Western media. Estimates of deaths in 1979–80 range from 20,000 to 30,000 people, to as much as 21 per cent of the population. When colonial officials demarcated the boundaries of Karamoja District, they included within it different ecological zones and at least ten distinct social groups or ‘tribes’. ‘Modernisation’ has meant severe pressure on resources, environmental degradation and an increasingly precarious food supply, while providing few compensating new alternatives. The history and social life of Karamojans cannot be understood apart from the physical environment. Most of Karamoja district consists of plains that rise gently to the east then fall abruptly some 2000 feet to the desert plains of northern Kenya. Rinderpest hit Karamoja about 1894, wiping out cattle that had survived the earlier epidemics, and large game.
