Indigenous weather and climate forecasting knowledge among Afar pastoralists of north eastern Ethiopia: Role in adaptation to weather and climate variability

Abstract

Traditional weather and climate forecasting is used by many indigenous communities worldwide as a guide in making important decisions that enable them cope and adapt to climate change-induced extreme weather variation. In many pastoral communities in Africa, traditional weather and climate forecasting remains the most accessible and affordable source of weather and climate information. In this study, we used individual interviews and focused group discussions to systematically document indigenous weather and climate forecasting knowledge among Afar pastoralists, with the aim of making such information available, and enhance use of this knowledge in climate change adaptation and explore synergies with modern weather forecasting system. The Afar pastoralists traditionally predict weather and climate variation through the observation of diverse bio-physical entities including livestock, insects, birds, trees and wildlife. No single indicator is taken at face value; weather forecasting is undertaken in a dynamic process where information collected from different sources, including weather information from the modern weather forecasting system, is triangulated to make the safest livelihood decisions. Before any forecasting information is used, it is evaluated through three traditional institutions that collect, share and analyse the information. These institutions include (1) the Edo or range scouting where traditional rangeland scouts are sent on a mission to assess weather and other spatially and temporally variable attributes on rangelands;(2) the Dagu, a traditional secured and reputable network, where weather information is shared among users; and (3) the Adda or the traditional Afar governance system, which analyses traditional weather information before community decisions are made. This first-time systematic documentation of indigenous weather and climate forecasting knowledge among the Afar communities demonstrated the dynamic process of indigenous weather and climate knowledge production, analysis and communication. This shows the value of indigenous knowledge in contemporary pastoral communities, while highlighting synergies with the modern weather and climate knowledge system for co-production of knowledge that serves the objectives of local people.

Indigenous Knowledge and Seasonal Calendar Inform Adaptive Savanna Burning in Northern Australia

“…Indigenous seasonal calendars from around the world have illustrated how Indigenous knowledge and connection to country provide a deep and intimate understanding of the landscape [11,[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. The Yugul Mangi Faiya En Sisen Kelenda adds to this growing collection, and aims to improve the evolving fire management practices of Indigenous land managers, while also providing an effective communication tool to increase awareness of Indigenous savanna burning.…”

“…Indigenous seasonal calendars have been used in the monitoring and adaptive management of natural resources, agricultural systems [42][43][44][45][46], climate change [47][48][49], water [50] and fire regimes [11], and to guide eco-health decision making [51]. In Australia, many Indigenous seasonal calendars have been developed, based on phenological observations of local environments, and are often linked to practices such as harvesting of traditional resources and fire management [52,53].…”

Techniques and skills of indigenous weather and seasonal climate forecast in Northern Ghana

“…The generality and applicability of IK have been studied across the globe (Cabrera et al, 2006;Desbiez et al, 2004) and in Africa (Balehegn et al, 2019;Elia et al, 2014;Gray & Morant, 2003;Orlove et al, 2010). Some scholars have explored the value of indigenous knowledge in natural resource management, water resource management, fisheries and aquatic conservation, risk and disaster management, health, among others (Cabrera et al, 2006;David & Ploeger, 2014;Desbiez et al, 2004;Gray & Morant, 2003).…”

Towards a new generation of climate information systems : information systems and actionable knowledge creation for adaptive decision-making in rice farming systems in Ghana

“…Adapting their decisions means that farmers must observe and attempt to manage uncertainties about future events especially regarding the availability of water. Here, the pursuit of information on weather and seasonal forecasts from both scientific and indigenous sources is of priority to farmers (Balehegn, Balehey, Fu, & Liang, 2019;Kanno et al, 2013;Nyadzi et al, 2019).…”