My Heritage, My Pride!
USAID supports locally-led cultural ecotourism among the Ik Indigenous People in Northeastern Uganda
Twenty-two-year-old Joseph Osama is a proud member of a small ethnic tribe of Indigenous people in Uganda known as the Ik. He describes himself as a “conservation warrior,” a nickname he acquired when he became a tour guide after attending a USAID skills training in eco-tourism. Previously, he didn’t care about the environment.
Joseph dropped out of school in 2020 after the COVID-19 lockdown. For a while he had no job until a USAID project came to his community.
“USAID and Kara-Tunga Foundation came to my community as a wonder of God,” Joseph said. “They invited us (Ik community) for a meeting to discuss how they can start an eco-camp near my home. They involved us in the discussions and we helped them to do the research. We asked them to help us to promote and defend our culture.”
Joseph said that before the program, the Ik were not well known. “But now as tour guides, we are promoting our traditional practices including food, language, dressing, medicine, and even predicting the weather pattern.”
The Ik, with an estimated population of just over 10,000 people, live near the slopes of Mount Morungole amidst breathtaking scenery, overlooking the Eastern Rift valley of Kenya and over into South Sudan.
Their home offers untapped and authentic cultural experiences, as well as unparalleled outdoor adventures such as hiking, birdwatching, trekking, and cycling in the surrounding rangelands.
Unfortunately, the Ik’s cultural heritage is being threatened by competing demands from neighboring communities that raid their livestock after droughts and epidemics.
As a result, the Ik abandoned large-scale livestock keeping and became subsistence farmers. Also, the Ik’s unique language is threatened. Only 7,000 of the Ik people can speak their ancestral language and still practice their cultural traditions.
Before participating in the USAID program, Pricilla Lokol, 31, said she didn’t know much about her culture and could not speak her language.
“I had lost my identity,” she explained. “I appreciate the USAID program for helping me learn about my culture. For instance, I now know about the initiation ceremonies and how the elders do weather prediction for good harvests. I am a proud Ik and I want to remain an Ik. I want to benefit from my own culture through cultural tourism.”
The Ik community remains marginalized, according to research by a USAID-supported consortium led by Purdue University, Catholic Relief Services, Indiana University, Makerere University, and the University of Notre Dame. They have limited sources of income and access to social amenities such as health, education, and clean water. They also lack access to transportation, modern communication, and energy, and have limited political participation and representation.
Recognizing these challenges, USAID provided small grants to indigenous Ik-led organizations to implement sustainable community-based cultural ecotourism activities.
The grantees include the Kara-Tunga Foundation, the Ik Agenda Development Initiative, and Eye Opener Initiative, all based in northeastern Uganda. During tourist visits, activities include eco-camps, hiking, and showcasing the Ik history through traditional dances, food, medicine, and clothing. These activities respond to local interests and align with USAID’s localization approach.
Theo Vos, founder of Kara-Tunga Foundation, said his organization promotes eco-tourism through preservation of culture and biodiversity. The program invests in skill development opportunities for youth to get jobs in the ecotourism and hospitality sector. At least 25 participants have been trained in general tour-guiding skills, nature-based tours, and community tours.
He added that, on average, the eco-camp receives about 79 guests per quarter. Accommodation per room ranges between $35 to $60 per night. Ten percent of the lodging fees go to the community to address a social or environmental need determined by the Ik themselves.
“After the eco-camp was established, they needed tour guides, housekeepers, waiters, and security guards to manage the camps,” Joseph said. “They trained us in hospitality skills where we learned to value our environment more than the money.”
“Today, we are conservation warriors,” he says. “Before, we were poachers. We could kill any animal, but now we have stopped because of the sensitization from Kara-Tunga and USAID. We don’t cut trees any more except for dry ones. We are friends of the environment now.”
The program also mobilizes local women into savings and investments groups so they can become economically empowered.
Evaline Nakwang, 43, is the chairperson of her savings group. “I’m very proud to be an Ik… . I have been trained on the executive roles for the chairperson and treasurer; how to save, and how to give loans with an interest of 10%. I have 30 members in my savings group and we are thriving.”
Around the world, indigenous people number over 370 million. They inhabit 20% of the earth’s territory, acting as stewards of a wide range of critical ecosystems. And the Ik people are no exception.
By promoting the Ik cultural heritage through eco-tourism and strengthening their livelihoods through skilling and savings, USAID is advancing a more inclusive, equitable and empowered Ik Indigenous people.
About the Author
Betty Kagoro is a communications specialist at USAID’s Mission in Uganda.
