Linkages between local knowledge drought forecasting indicators and scientific drought forecasting parameters in the Limpopo River Basin in Southern Africa

Chisadza, Bright; Tumbare, M.J.; Nyabeze, Washington R.; Nhapi, Innocent

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.01.007

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Bio-physical entities in the environment such as migration patterns of birds (Richardson 1990), changes in the reproduction behaviours of insects, characteristics of winds and constellation of celestial bodies all provide practical proxies for weather and climate (Acharya 2011). Though Afar pastoralists cannot directly measure the weather variables, they can directly observe the bio-physical manifestations with their senses (Chisadza et al 2015). The interpretation of these bio-physical variables is therefore used as a proxy for weather change and variation (Fig.…”

Section: A Theoretical Framework For Understanding Indigenous Weathermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(4) Understanding day-to-day climate conditions is very important to the pastoralists as it guides their daily activities; this makes it important at all levels, that is, at the villages, districts, rangeland and urban centres. Therefore, even when it is accessible, affordable and correctly interpretable, conventional weather forecasting information is seldom relevant to the daily decision-making of pastoralists (Chisadza et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of the challenges of applying modern climate knowledge systems, indigenous knowledge on climate and weather forecasting not only is relevant but also continues to be the only accessible and affordable alternative source of climatic information among many pastoral communities in Africa (Chisadza et al 2015;Green et al 2010). Indigenous climate and weather forecasting knowledge provides information and insights that can be used for successful adaptation to climate change at the local level (Chisadza et al 2015). Many studies comparing indigenous and modern weather and climate forecasting knowledge have found a positive correlation between indicators used by indigenous and modern science (Chisadza et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indigenous climate and weather forecasting knowledge provides information and insights that can be used for successful adaptation to climate change at the local level (Chisadza et al 2015). Many studies comparing indigenous and modern weather and climate forecasting knowledge have found a positive correlation between indicators used by indigenous and modern science (Chisadza et al 2015). These studies inevitably recommend the co-production of weather and climate knowledge by the two knowledge systems (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Balehegn¹,

Balehey²,

Fu³

et al. 2019

Pastoralism

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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.

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Section: A Theoretical Framework For Understanding Indigenous Weathermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

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

Balehegn¹,

Balehey²,

Fu³

et al. 2019

Pastoralism

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“…In this connection, operational approaches on global-and continental-scale drought monitoring [6,[17][18][19][20] as well as remote sensing-based studies on droughts in Africa focussing on selected regions and/or periods are to be mentioned. Here, topics of current interest are the ongoing debate on the Sahelian "greening" [21][22][23], drought during 2010/2011 in the Horn of Africa [13,[24][25][26], rainfall and vegetation-related drought dynamics in southern Africa [27][28][29][30], continental-scale drought assessment [12,31,32] as well as the relation between droughts in Africa and ENSO [9,[33][34][35][36]. However, either studies accounted for drought assessment on rather small regional scales and did not assess the continental level or little attention was paid to drought affecting agriculturally relevant areas and time periods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Droughts Affecting Agriculture in Africa Based on Remote Sensing Time Series between 2000–2016: Rainfall Anomalies and Vegetation Condition in the Context of ENSO

2017

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Droughts are amongst the most destructive natural disasters in the world. In large regions of Africa, where water is a limiting factor and people strongly rely on rain-fed agriculture, droughts have frequently led to crop failure, food shortages and even humanitarian crises. In eastern and southern Africa, major drought episodes have been linked to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. In this context and with limited in-situ data available, remote sensing provides valuable opportunities for continent-wide assessment of droughts with high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study aimed to monitor agriculturally relevant droughts over Africa between 2000–2016 with a specific focus on growing seasons using remote sensing-based drought indices. Special attention was paid to the observation of drought dynamics during major ENSO episodes to illuminate the connection between ENSO and droughts in eastern and southern Africa. We utilized Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)-based Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) with 0 . 25 ∘ resolution and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) with 500 m resolution as indices for analysing the spatio-temporal patterns of droughts. We combined the drought indices with information on the timing of site-specific growing seasons derived from MODIS-based multi-annual average of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We proved the applicability of SPI-3 and VCI as indices for a comprehensive continental-scale monitoring of agriculturally relevant droughts. The years 2009 and 2011 could be revealed as major drought years in eastern Africa, whereas southern Africa was affected by severe droughts in 2003 and 2015/2016. Drought episodes occurred over large parts of southern Africa during strong El Niño events. We observed a mixed drought pattern in eastern Africa, where areas with two growing seasons were frequently affected by droughts during La Niña and zones of unimodal rainfall regimes showed droughts during the onset of El Niño. During La Niña 2010/2011, large parts of cropland areas in Somalia (88%), Sudan (64%) and South Sudan (51%) were affected by severe to extreme droughts during the growing seasons. However, no universal El Niño- or La Niña-related response pattern of droughts could be deduced for the observation period of 16 years. In this regard, we discussed multi-year atmospheric fluctuations and characteristics of ENSO variants as further influences on the interconnection between ENSO and droughts. By utilizing remote sensing-based drought indices focussed on agricultural zones and periods, this study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of spatio-temporal patterns of droughts affecting agriculture in Africa, which can be essential for implementing strategies of drought hazard mitigation.

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Impact of African traditional worldviews on climate change adaptation

Sanganyado

Teta

Masiri

2018

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Recent studies show cultural worldviews are a key determinant of environmental risk perceptions; thus, they could influence climate change adaptation strategies. African traditional worldviews encourage harmony between humans and the environment through a complex metaphysical belief system transmitted through folklore, taboos, and traditional knowledge. However, African traditional worldviews hold a belief in traditional gods that was shown to have a low connectedness to nature and a low willingness to change. In Makueni District, Kenya, 45% of agropastoralists surveyed believed drought was god's plan and could not be changed. In contrast, traditional knowledge, which is shaped by African traditional worldviews, is often used to frame adaptive strategies such as migration, changing modes of production, and planting different crop varieties. Furthermore, traditional knowledge has been used as a complement to science in areas where meteorological data was unavailable. However, the role of African traditional worldviews on climate change adaption remains understudied. Hence, there is a need to systematically establish the influence of African traditional worldviews on climate change risk perception, development of adaptive strategies, and policy formulation and implementation. In this commentary, we discuss the potential impacts of African traditional worldviews on climate change adaptation. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:189-193. © 2018 SETAC.

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Linkages between local knowledge drought forecasting indicators and scientific drought forecasting parameters in the Limpopo River Basin in Southern Africa

Cited by 32 publications

References 23 publications

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

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

Identifying Droughts Affecting Agriculture in Africa Based on Remote Sensing Time Series between 2000–2016: Rainfall Anomalies and Vegetation Condition in the Context of ENSO

Impact of African traditional worldviews on climate change adaptation

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