Which peoples may have introduced food production and cattle keeping to parts of East Africa?

Food production and the keeping of cattle in East Africa are believed to have been introduced by peoples who were likely southern Cushites originating from Ethiopia.1

These practices began in the highland and Rift Valley regions of Kenya and northern Tanzania during the 1st millennium BCE. Evidence of these early agriculturalists persists among groups such as the Iraqw of Tanzania, and it is possible that the region's traditional irrigation systems also trace their origins to this period. While agriculture was established during this time, hunting and gathering remained a significant component of the domestic economy until the later introduction of iron smelting.1