Maasai musician turns traditional sounds into a voice for climate justice

From the rhythms of Maasai traditional music to the international climate stage, Leshao Sopia Leshao is using his art to tell a story that goes beyond entertainment.

The Maasai musician, popularly known as Leshao Leshao, is turning Maa music into a platform for conversations on climate change, Indigenous rights and the challenges confronting pastoralist communities.

Raised around the Maasai Mara, Leshao grew up observing the close relationship between communities, livestock, wildlife and the environment.

Traditional songs and oral storytelling were part of his upbringing, a cultural system through which generations have preserved history, knowledge and identity.

Today, he is using that same tradition to speak about a changing environment.

Leshao says the effects of climate change are increasingly visible in pastoralist communities, where prolonged droughts, changing rainfall patterns and floods can disrupt access to water and pasture and threaten livestock-dependent livelihoods.