A Societal Knowledge Management System: Harnessing Indigenous Wisdom to Build Sustainable Predictors for Adaptation to Climate Change

Traditional prediction of drought under weather and climate uncertainty: analyzing the challenges and opportunities for small-scale farmers in Gaza province, southern region of Mozambique

“…Nonetheless, even in other parts of the world, the interpretation of the wind is still quite diverse. Some examples are the similar findings from Mengistu (2011) of the interpretation of the wind blowing in one direction as a sign of drought, and the opposing findings from Santha et al (2010). Nonetheless, much of this confusion related to the interpretation of the direction, presence, or absence of the wind as a sign of drought came from those under 45 years old.…”

“…However, the way communities observe, read, and interpret the indicators may vary according to their culture and the surrounding environment. For instance, while Mengistu (2011) found that farmers in Adiha, Ethiopia, interpret winds blowing in one direction close to the time of land preparation as a sign of drought, Santha et al (2010) found that farmers in India consider windy periods which occur near to the agricultural season as a sign of good rains coming. Moreover, farmers in Tlaxcala, Mexico, reported that the inclined angle of the moon is an indication that rain will fall within 5 days (Eakin 1999), while Tanzanian farmers view this as a sign of erratic rainfall to come (Chang'a et al 2010).…”

“…Conversely, some studies have registered a decline in the use of traditional prediction methods due to an increase in modernization and cultural homogenization, a reduction in the number of elders using such techniques, and a lack, or poor documentation of them (Boven and Morohashi 2002;Chang'a et al 2010;Muyambo et al 2017). Additionally, some researchers have registered a decline in the richness of, and some contradiction in, the interpretation of diverse traditional indicators by farmers (Manyanhaire 2015;Mengistu 2011;Santha et al 2010). Notwithstanding this, Ziervogel (2001) argued that as the interpretation of environmental indicators is a part of personal knowledge and experience, inconsistencies are expected, even within the same community.…”

“…According to these farmers, the main signs of forthcoming drought are: when there are no clouds; or when the clouds are clear and dispersed in the sky during the rainy season; or when they have been showing this behavior over a long period during the year; or when during the morning the clouds are dark and showing signs of rain, but then they start to clear during the day until the sky becomes completely clear and no rain falls. The appearance of the clouds was also reported as being used in different parts of the world as a short-time predictor of rainfall, such as in India and Mexico (Eakin 1999;Santha et al 2010).…”

Designing agrometeorological information services in Ghana by combining local and scientific forecasting knowledge

“…Documentation of local foresting knowledge dataRespondents for documenting of LFK were selected through purposeful non-random sampling which is the most adapted sampling method for collecting data from experienced targeted people as in this context(Santha et al, 2010). The sub-category snowball sampling(Quinn Patton, 2002) was adopted and focused on farmers that had local knowledge and experience in weather and climate forecasts across five communities of Ada East district (Figure4.2), namely, Balekope, Amlakpo, Bedeku, Kasseh, and Korlekope (see demographic information in Figure4.3a).…”