Use of Indigenous knowledge in seasonal weather forecasting in semi-arid central Tanzania

Elia, Emmanuel Frank; Mutula, Stephen M.; Stilwell, Christine

doi:10.7553/80-1-1395

Cited by 27 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 13 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…The Afar make an observation of changes in the pattern and constellations of different celestial bodies including the sky, the sun, the moon and different stars to extract information about the upcoming weather. Such observations of celestial bodies in search of clues on weather and climate are very common among indigenous people (Shoko and Shoko 2013;Speranza et al 2010;Elia et al 2014).…”

Section: Observation Of Celestial Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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: Observation Of Celestial Bodiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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“…These mechanisms are complex, developed and used within cultures [11] and imply greater dependability on the use of indigenous knowledge to carry on production of subsistence crops [21]. Production of subsistence crops in the era of climate change is planned in terms of the people's knowledge of the seasons, soil fertility and texture, and crop variations which enhance sustainable production of crops [21]. Small-scale farmers sustain the production of crops [1,22,23] through knowledge of environmental conditions and seasonal change without access to modern scientific knowledge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adaptation to drought, scarcity of rain, decreased production of crops is accomplished through community-based measures to sustain human livelihoods [20]. These mechanisms are complex, developed and used within cultures [11] and imply greater dependability on the use of indigenous knowledge to carry on production of subsistence crops [21]. Production of subsistence crops in the era of climate change is planned in terms of the people's knowledge of the seasons, soil fertility and texture, and crop variations which enhance sustainable production of crops [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Climate Change and the Potential for Adaptation in a Rural Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Rankoana

2016

Sustainability

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Perceptions of climate change by rural communities are centered on observations of variations in temperature and rainfall patterns supported by observations and projections on climate alterations in the form of increased temperatures and scarce rainfall by scientists worldwide. The present study documented perceptions of climate variation and the community's ability to adapt to climate change hazards threatening the production of subsistence crops. Data were collected through interactions with 100 participants. In the study, climate change is explained as variations in temperature and rainfall patterns which resulted in excessive heat, erratic rainfall patterns and drought negatively impacting on subsistence crop production. Community members have the potential to limit the impacts of climate hazards on subsistence crop production. The negative impacts of climate hazards are limited by community members' indigenous knowledge of rainfall prediction, the seasons, crop diversification and mixed cropping. Mulching and the application of kraal manure improve the soil structure and fertility to reduce crop failure. These adaptation measures are resilient to the negative impact of climate hazards and may be helpful in the development of adaptation policies to assist rural communities vulnerable to climate change hazards.

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“…Mengistu (2011) argues that there is need for early warning system to disseminate climate change coping strategies to farmers and other actors. Such systems will complement the indigenous knowledge that is already being in used by farmers in developing countries (Elia, Mutula, & Stilwell, 2014). Furthermore, findings show that UshauriKilimo is offering advisories to farmers who seek information related to climate change adaptation.…”

Section: Limitations Of Studymentioning

confidence: 92%

Exploring Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers’ in Information Related to Climate Change Adaptation Through ICT (CHAI)

Tumbo¹,

Mwalukasa

Fue

et al. 2018

IRRODL

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In Tanzania, agriculture sector is known for employing more than 70% of the total population. Agriculture sector faces many challenges including climate change. Climate change causes low productivity in agriculture; low productivity is caused due to poor implementation of agricultural policies and strategies. This poor implementation of policies has also caused many farmers to be not competent in climate change adaptation. Over the years, provisions of agricultural advice and extension were provided by various approaches, including training and visit extension, participatory approaches, and farmers’ field schools. However, provision of agricultural advisory and extension service is inefficient. Also, in most cases the usage of most agricultural innovations and technologies developed is limited. A literature review indicates that the main reasons given by Tanzanian farmers for not using improved technology are not lack of knowledge or skill, but rather that the technologies do not contribute towards improvements (e.g., the technologies are not profitable or they imply to high risk). Thus, agricultural extension service needs to be geared towards teaching farmers how to develop innovative and cost effective technologies that are contextualized. Limited numbers of agricultural extension staff and less interactivity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as radio and television, have been mentioned to be among the factors limiting the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to the majority of farmers in Tanzania. The advancements in ICTs have brought new opportunities for enhancing access to agricultural advisory and extension service for climate change adaptation. In Tanzania, farmers and other actors access agricultural information from various sources such as agricultural extension workers and use of various databases from Internet Services Providers. Also there are different web – and mobile – based farmers’ advisory information systems to support conventional agricultural extension service. These systems are producing bulk amounts of data which makes it difficult for different stakeholders to make an informed decision after data analysis. This calls for the need to develop a tool for data visualization in order to understand hidden patterns from massive data. In this study, a semi-automated text classification was developed to determine the frequently asked keywords from a web and mobile based farmers’ advisory system called UshauriKilimo after being in use for more than 2 years by more than 700 farmers.

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Use of Indigenous knowledge in seasonal weather forecasting in semi-arid central Tanzania

Abstract: This paper is based on part of the findings of a PhD study that was carried out to determine how farmers have used indigenous knowledge (IK) to

Cited by 27 publications

References 13 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

Perceptions of Climate Change and the Potential for Adaptation in a Rural Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Exploring Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers’ in Information Related to Climate Change Adaptation Through ICT (CHAI)

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