Abstract
This article describes the indigenous knowledge (IK) that agro-pastoralists in larger Makueni District, Kenya hold and how they use it to monitor, mitigate and adapt to drought. It examines ways of integrating IK into formal monitoring, how to enhance its value and acceptability. Data was collected through target interviews, group discussions and questionnaires covering 127 households in eight villages. Daily rainfall data from 1961–2003 were analysed. Results show that agro-pastoralists hold IK on indicators of rainfall variability; they believe in IK efficacy and they rely on them. Because agro-pastoralists consult additional sources, the authors interpret that IK forms a basic knowledge frame within which agro-pastoralists position and interpret meteorological forecasts. Only a few agro-pastoralists adapt their practices in anticipation of IK-based forecasts partly due to the conditioning of the actors to the high rainfall variability characteristic of the area and partly due to lack of resources. Non-drought factors such as poverty, inadequate resources and lack of preparedness expose agro-pastoralists to drought impacts and limit their adaptive capacity. These factors need to be understood and effectively addressed to increase agro-pastoralists’ decision options and the influence of IK-based forecasts on their decision-making patterns. The limited intergenerational transfer of IK currently threatens its existence in the longer term. One way to ensure its continued existence and use is to integrate IK into the education curriculum and to link IK with formal climate change research through the participation of the local people. However, further studies are necessary to address the reliability and validity of the identified IK indicators of climate variability and change.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ambenje PG (2000) Eastern and Southern Africa Drought Monitoring Centre, Nairobi, Kenya. Proceedings of an expert group meeting held September 5–7, 2000, on early warning systems for drought preparedness and drought management. Lisbon, Portugal (WMO/TD No. 1037)
Berkes F (1999) Sacred ecology: traditional ecological knowledge and management systems. Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia
Berkes F, Jolly D (2001) Adapting to climate change: social–ecological resilience in a Canadian western Arctic community. Conservation Ecology 5(2):18
Boko M, Niang I, Nyong A, Vogel C, Githeko A, Medany M, Osman-Elasha B, Tabo R, Yanda P (2007) Africa. Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In: Parry ML, Canziani ML, Palutikof JP, van der Linden PJ, Hanson CE (eds) Contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, pp 433–467
CETRAD (2004) Makueni drought monitoring project: baseline survey. Centre for Training and Integrated Research in Arid and Semi-arid Lands development. Nanyuki, Kenya
Christensen JH, Hewitson B, Busuioc A, Chen A, Gao X, Held I, Jones R, Kolli RK, Kwon W-T, Laprise R, Magaña Rueda V, Mearns L, Menéndez CG, Räisänen J, Rinke A, Sarr A, Whetton P (2007) Regional climate projections. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Cruikshank J (2001) Glaciers and climate change: perspectives from oral tradition. Arctic 54(4):377–93
Devereux S (2001) Sen’s entitlement approach: critiques and counter-critiques. Oxf Dev Stud 29(3):245–263
Dixon A (2001) Indigenous hydrological knowledge in Southwestern Ethiopia. Indig Knowl Dev Monit 9(3):3–5
Dube OP, Sekhwela MBM (2008) Indigenous knowledge, institutions and practices for coping with variable climate in the Limpopo Basin of Botswana. In: Leary N, Adejuwon J, Barros V, Burton I, Kulkarni J, Lasco R (eds) Climate change and adaptation. Earthscan, London
Gilchrist G, Mallory M, Merkel F (2005) Can local ecological knowledge contribute to wildlife management? Case studies of migratory birds. Ecology and Society 10(1):20, 1–12
Hammer GL, Hansen JW, Phillips JG, Mjelde JW, Hill H, Love A, Potgieter A (2001) Advances in application of climate prediction in agriculture. Agric Syst 70:515–553
Huntington HP (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl 10:1270–1274
Ifejika Speranza C (2006) Drought vulnerability and risk in agro-pastoral areas. An integrative approach and its application in Kenya. Dissertation. University of Berne, Switzerland
Ifejika Speranza C, Kiteme B, Wiesmann U (2008) Droughts and famines: the underlying factors and the causal links among agro-pastoral households in semi-arid Makueni district, Kenya. Glob Environ Change 18(1):220–233
IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. Annex 1—Glossary
Kabanda TA, Jury MR (1999) Inter-annual variability of short rains over northern Tanzania. Clim Res 13:231–241
Leigh Thorpe N (1994) Contributions of Inuit ecological knowledge to understanding the impacts of climate change on the Bathurst Caribou herd in the Kitikmeot region, Nunavut. Masters thesis. Environmental Science and Physical Geography, University of Toronto
Lemos MC, Finan TJ, Fox RW, Nelson DR, Tucker J (2002) The use of seasonal climate forecasting in policymaking: lessons from northeast Brazil. Clim Change 55:479–507
Luseno WK, McPeak JG, Barrett CB, Little PD, Gebru G (2003) Assessing the value of climate forecast information for pastoralists: evidence from southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. World Dev 31(9):1477–1494
Nakashima D, Roué M (2002) Indigenous knowledge, peoples and sustainable practice. In: Timmerman P (ed) Social and economic dimensions of global environmental change, vol 5. Wiley, UK, pp 314–324
Newton J, Paci CDJ, Ogden A (2005) Climate change and natural hazards in northern Canada: integrating indigenous perspectives with government policy. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 10:541–571
Nyong A, Adesina F, Osman Elasha B (2007) The value of indigenous knowledge in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in the African Sahel. Mitig Adapt Strategies Glob Chang 12:787–797
Ogallo LJ (1989) The spatial and temporal patterns of the East African seasonal rainfall derived from principle component analysis. Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 9:145–167
Ogallo LJ (1994) Interannual variability of the East African monsoon wind systems and their impact on East African climate. WMO/TD 619:99–104
Olsson P, Folke C (2001) Local ecological knowledge and institutional dynamics for ecosystem management: a study of Lake Racken watershed, Sweden. Ecosystems 4:85–104
Olsson P, Folke C, Berkes F (2004) Adaptive co-management for building resilience in social–ecological systems. Environ Manag 34(1):75–90
Oludhe C, Ambenje P, Ogallo L (2006) Eastern Africa. In: Shein KA (ed) State of the climate in 2005. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 87:56–57
Phillips JG, Deane D, Unganai L, Chimeli A (2002) Implications of farm-level response to seasonal climate forecasts for aggregate grain production in Zimbabwe. Agric Syst 74:351–369
Pierotti R, Wildcat D (2000) Commentary: traditional ecological knowledge: the third alternative. Ecol Appl 10:1333–1340
Riedlinger D (1999) Climate change and the Inuvialuit of Banks Island, NWT: using traditional environmental knowledge to complement western science. Infonorth (Arctic), pp 430–432
Riedlinger D, Berkes F (2001) Contributions of traditional knowledge to understanding climate change in the Canadian Arctic. Polar Rec 37:315–328
Roncoli C, Kirshen P, Ingram K, Flitcroft I (2000) Opportunities and constraints to using seasonal precipitation forecasting to improve agricultural production systems and livelihood security in the Sahel-Sudan Region: a case study of Burkina Faso, CFAR—Phase 1, IRI Forum on Climate Predictions, Agriculture and Development, New York, 26–28 April
Roncoli MC, Ingram KT, Jost CC, Kirshen PH, Yaka P (2002a) Farmers’ behavioral responses to seasonal rainfall forecasts in the Sahel-Sudan. 17th Symposium of the international farming systems association. November 17–20, 2002. Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
Roncoli MC, Ingram KT, Kirshen PH (2002b) Reading the rains: local knowledge and rainfall forecasting among farmers of Burkina Faso. Soc Nat Resour 15:409–427
Sen A (1981) Poverty and famine: an essay on entitlement and deprivation. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Sivakumar MVK, Das HP, Brunini O (2005) Impacts of present and future climate variability and change on agriculture and forestry in the arid and semi-arid Tropics. Clim Change 70(1–2):31–72
Ziervogel G (2001) Global science, local problems: seasonal forecast use in a Basotho Village’, open meeting of the global environmental change research community, Rio de Janeiro, 6–8 October 2001
Ziervogel G, Downing TE (2004) Stakeholder networks: improving seasonal climate forecasts. Clim Change 65:73–101
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ifejika Speranza, C., Kiteme, B., Ambenje, P. et al. Indigenous knowledge related to climate variability and change: insights from droughts in semi-arid areas of former Makueni District, Kenya. Climatic Change 100, 295–315 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9713-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9713-0