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Students
Criminology student joins Tanzania field school, gains new perspectives on food systems and human-wildlife conflicts
Criminology student, Tammy Bosch, took a chance and joined 丁香园AV鈥檚 School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM)鈥檚 Climate Resilient Food Systems and Sustainable Development Field School in Tanzania.
Born in South Africa, Bosch spent her early years exploring Southern African countries, getting to encounter much of the iconic wildlife that is often synonymous with the continent. Since moving to Canada, she has kept that close connection with nature, watching wildlife documentaries with her family, spending time outdoors and now focusing her studies on wildlife crimes in East and Southern Africa, like poaching and trafficking, in in the School of Criminology.
Bosch first heard about the field school in a REM class taught by Scott Harrison but initially wrote it off because she believed it didn't align with her interests in wildlife crime and human-wildlife conflict.
鈥淏eing a criminology student and the field school focusing on food systems, I thought, 鈥業 have nothing to do with that', " she says. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until I was talking with Scott about his experience in the area and he mentioned how much the field school would relate to my interests in human-wildlife conflicts, and how people and animals are learning to coexist, that I realized it may actually be for me.鈥�
Students spent two weeks in Tanzania where they stayed at Aga Khan University鈥檚 Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre (ACER). Here, they learned about the ecological importance of the area and visited the campus鈥檚 demonstration gardens to learn about local permaculture solutions for adapting to a changing climate, the importance of resilient food systems and more.
The group also ventured off campus, visiting local communities to learn about the development of resilient and Indigenous food systems throughout Tanzania. They stayed with the Maasai in eco bomas and lent their skills to support a community-led cultural preservation project for the development of the Maasai Cultural Heritage Centre.
In conversations with these communities, Bosch learned just how prevalent human-wildlife conflicts are and reflects on how impactful it was to witness these dynamics in person.
鈥淓very community we spoke with brought up human-wildlife conflict without me even asking about it,鈥� she says. 鈥淔or example, at the Maasai eco bomas, they told us how hyenas had just taken out five of their goats the night before we arrived. They also shared how elephants eat their sweet potatoes and maize and have even trampled through their dam. Being there, rather than reading research papers about these conflicts and the tactics they鈥檙e using to try and coexist, it really hits you how this is someone's everyday lived experience.鈥�
Bosch says that she didn鈥檛 realize how much her interests in wildlife would connect with the topic of food systems and climate change.
鈥淐limate change affects the dry seasons, making them longer and forcing animals to search farther for water 鈥� meaning they are going to encounter people more frequently. We saw this first-hand. Another example is, when we went to Tarangire National Park, we saw zebras and antelopes leaving the park to look for better pastures,鈥� she says.
After experiencing the very tangible impacts that climate change is having on communities and their food systems throughout Tanzania, Bosch notes that it has reaffirmed just how key Indigenous knowledge is to finding solutions for these global challenges.
鈥淭hey have so much knowledge about the land, and they are incredibly skilled at working with it rather than against it. There is a need for this Indigenous knowledge and voices to be heard,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 kind of knew this going into the trip, but being able to see it first-hand was really powerful.鈥�