Peoples claiming to be indigenous in Africa are mostly those who have been living by hunting and gathering or by transhumant (migratory nomadic) pastoralism. These are distinct peoples who’s economies and cultures are different from the national dominant cultures. They are reliant on the sustainable use natural resources. Their cultures are closely linked to the special environmental conditions under which they have survived – for example deserts, savannah drylands and equatorial rainforests.

The legal concept of ‘indigenous’ rights in Africa is a new one. Evidently, all Africans are indigenous in the literal sense of the word. The rise of an organised civil society claiming rights as indigenous peoples is tied to major changes in Africa which are putting nomadic, transhumant, hunting and herding peoples at risk. The main risk is land alienation and the loss of biodiversity caused by agricultural settlers and new industries such as logging and mining. Colonialism entrenched the power of agricultural elite within the State structure. The State in Africa often works in concert with international capital and multinational corporations to alienate valuable natural resources which place both biodiversity and cultural diversity in jeopardy.

In November 2003, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted a report of its working group recognising that there are indigenous peoples in Africa whose rights are being violated. In September 2007, all but three African states voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Three states abstained and non-voted against. Legal mechanisms to protect indigenous rights are being adopted in Burundi, Congo Republic, South Africa and Ethiopia. Policy dialogue is taking place in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Burundi, Gabon, Angola and Namibia.

The claims to being indigenous in Africa are related to a cluster of characteristics:

* political and economic marginalisation rooted in colonialism;

* de facto discrimination based often on the dominance of agricultural peoples in the State system (e.g. lack of access to education and health care by hunters and herders);

* the particularities of culture, identity, economy and territoriality that link hunting and herding peoples to their home environments in deserts and forests (e.g. nomadism, diet, knowledge systems);

* some indigenous peoples, such as the San and Pygmy peoples are physically distinct, which makes them subject to specific forms of discrimination.

Read more from the IPACC Site