Community Location Map
📍 Location: Karamoja Sub-region, Northeastern Uganda
Overview & Cultural Background
The Karamojong are an agro-pastoral Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting the semi-arid plateau of northeastern Uganda. Organized around a clan system and age-set governance (akiriket), Karamojong society revolves around cattle, which serve as the primary source of food (milk and blood), social currency, dowry, and cultural identity.
During dry seasons, young herders move cattle from permanent homesteads (manyattas) to temporary mobile cattle camps (kraals) near distant river basins. Pastoralist development organizations actively support Karamojong communities to strengthen mobile veterinary services, rainwater harvesting, and customary conflict-resolution mechanisms.
Key facts
- Estimated Population: Approximately 1.2 million agro-pastoralists
- Primary Livestock Herded: Zebu cattle, goats, fat-tailed sheep, and donkeys
- ️ Contemporary Challenges: Severe recurrent multi-year droughts causing water and forage exhaustion, regional cattle rustling and disarmament friction, land acquisition for commercial mining and conservation, and high rates of poverty.
Featured Films in the Festival Program
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Cowherds of the Savannah ⏱ 26 min | 🌍 Uganda | 🎬 Mark Michel & Neue Celluloid Fabrik