The toughest place to be a ...

Following the series on page 69 from our coursebook, you can have a look . The second programme in the series sees Richard Gibson, a dairy farmer from Devon, travelling to northern Kenya, one of the most arid regions in the world, as he joins the Samburu tribe to live the life of a cattle herder.

Back in Devon, Richard treats his 120 Holstein cows like finely tuned athletes and in return they reward him with an incredible 2 million pints of milk a year.

As no crops grow in northern Kenya, for centuries local tribes have herded cattle, but in recent years more severe and longer droughts have started to threaten the lifestyle of these semi-nomadic herders.

Richard will experience the constant battle for food and water. Most days his host village elder Lemerigichen must dig down into the earth to find water for his cows. It’s exhausting work in the baking heat, yet these herders survive only on a little maize and milk, while some days there’s no food at all.

Richard also learns that as drought pushes tribes closer together in search of ever-dwindling water supplies, they stray onto each other’s territory. Traditional enemies, they now fight with guns that have come over the border from Sudan and Somalia.