Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa

Climate information and agro-advisory services are crucial in helping smallholder farmers and pastoralists in East Africa manage climate-related risks and adapt to climate change. However, significant gaps exist in provision of climate information that effectively addresses the needs of farmers and...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Radeny, Maren A.O., Desalegn, Ayal, Mubiru, Drake, Kyazze, Florence Birungi, Mahoo, Henry, Recha, John W.M., Kimeli, Philip, Solomon, Dawit
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103231
_version_ 1855522688659881984
author Radeny, Maren A.O.
Desalegn, Ayal
Mubiru, Drake
Kyazze, Florence Birungi
Mahoo, Henry
Recha, John W.M.
Kimeli, Philip
Solomon, Dawit
author_browse Desalegn, Ayal
Kimeli, Philip
Kyazze, Florence Birungi
Mahoo, Henry
Mubiru, Drake
Radeny, Maren A.O.
Recha, John W.M.
Solomon, Dawit
author_facet Radeny, Maren A.O.
Desalegn, Ayal
Mubiru, Drake
Kyazze, Florence Birungi
Mahoo, Henry
Recha, John W.M.
Kimeli, Philip
Solomon, Dawit
author_sort Radeny, Maren A.O.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate information and agro-advisory services are crucial in helping smallholder farmers and pastoralists in East Africa manage climate-related risks and adapt to climate change. However, significant gaps exist in provision of climate information that effectively addresses the needs of farmers and pastoralists. Most farmers and pastoralists, therefore, rely on indigenous knowledge (IK), where local indicators and experiences are used to observe and forecast weather conditions. While IK-based forecasting is inbuilt and established in many communities in East Africa, coordinated research and systematic documentation of IK for weather forecasting, including accuracy and reliability of IK is largely lacking. This paper documents and synthesizes existing IK for weather forecasting in East Africa using case studies from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. The results show that farmers and pastoralists use a combination of meteorological, biological, and astrological indicators to forecast local weather conditions. IK weather forecasting is, therefore, crucial in supporting efforts to improve access to climate information in East Africa, especially in resource-poor and vulnerable communities. The paper draws valuable lessons on how farmers and pastoralists in East Africa use IK weather forecasts for making crop and livestock production decisions and demonstrates that the trust and willingness to apply scientific forecasts by farmers and pastoralists is likely to increase when integrated with IK. Therefore, a systematic documentation of IK, and a framework for integrating IK and scientific weather forecasting from national meteorological agencies can improve accuracy, uptake, and use of weather forecasts.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace103231
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Springer
publisherStr Springer
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1032312025-02-19T13:42:17Z Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa Radeny, Maren A.O. Desalegn, Ayal Mubiru, Drake Kyazze, Florence Birungi Mahoo, Henry Recha, John W.M. Kimeli, Philip Solomon, Dawit climate change agriculture food security forecasting indigenous knowledge gender Climate information and agro-advisory services are crucial in helping smallholder farmers and pastoralists in East Africa manage climate-related risks and adapt to climate change. However, significant gaps exist in provision of climate information that effectively addresses the needs of farmers and pastoralists. Most farmers and pastoralists, therefore, rely on indigenous knowledge (IK), where local indicators and experiences are used to observe and forecast weather conditions. While IK-based forecasting is inbuilt and established in many communities in East Africa, coordinated research and systematic documentation of IK for weather forecasting, including accuracy and reliability of IK is largely lacking. This paper documents and synthesizes existing IK for weather forecasting in East Africa using case studies from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. The results show that farmers and pastoralists use a combination of meteorological, biological, and astrological indicators to forecast local weather conditions. IK weather forecasting is, therefore, crucial in supporting efforts to improve access to climate information in East Africa, especially in resource-poor and vulnerable communities. The paper draws valuable lessons on how farmers and pastoralists in East Africa use IK weather forecasts for making crop and livestock production decisions and demonstrates that the trust and willingness to apply scientific forecasts by farmers and pastoralists is likely to increase when integrated with IK. Therefore, a systematic documentation of IK, and a framework for integrating IK and scientific weather forecasting from national meteorological agencies can improve accuracy, uptake, and use of weather forecasts. 2019-10 2019-08-20T13:14:32Z 2019-08-20T13:14:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103231 en Open Access Springer Radeny M, Desalegn A, Mubiru D, Kyazze F, Mahoo H, Recha J, Kimeli P, Solomon D. 2019. Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa. Climatic Change 156(4):509-526.
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
food security
forecasting
indigenous knowledge
gender
Radeny, Maren A.O.
Desalegn, Ayal
Mubiru, Drake
Kyazze, Florence Birungi
Mahoo, Henry
Recha, John W.M.
Kimeli, Philip
Solomon, Dawit
Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title_full Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title_fullStr Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title_full_unstemmed Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title_short Indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across East Africa
title_sort indigenous knowledge for seasonal weather and climate forecasting across east africa
topic climate change
agriculture
food security
forecasting
indigenous knowledge
gender
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/103231
work_keys_str_mv AT radenymarenao indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT desalegnayal indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT mubirudrake indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT kyazzeflorencebirungi indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT mahoohenry indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT rechajohnwm indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT kimeliphilip indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica
AT solomondawit indigenousknowledgeforseasonalweatherandclimateforecastingacrosseastafrica