Abstract
Developing countries are vulnerable to negative impacts of climate change due to over reliance on climate-sensitive sectors, mainly agriculture. Limited adaptive capacity makes them vulnerable to climate-induced hazards. However, over the years, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) have proven effective in promoting sustainable development particularly for those in subsistence agriculture. For example, in Lake Victoria basin, local communities have coped and adapted to climate-induced hazards using traditional systems and IKS. This chapter presents findings of a cross-sectional survey on the use of IKS in subsistence agriculture to enhance climate risk management and mitigation of community vulnerability in a changing climate. Data were collected by household questionnaires, key informants’ interviews, and focus group discussions. Results showed overall, significantly high community awareness levels prevail in study area, implicating climate change as the main challenge facing agricultural sector. Nevertheless, as climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, local communities use myriad of IKS to improve resilience and productivity. They use IKS in soil conservation, weather/climate forecasting, selection of planting seeds, and preservation of seeds/crops. This study, therefore, recommends incorporating IKS into scientific knowledge systems to promote climate change adaptation and mitigation among vulnerable communities dependent on climate-sensitive resources.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aly O, Hamado S (2005) Indigenous innovation in farmer-to-farmer extension in Burkina Faso, IK Notes No. 77.http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/iknt77.htm
Andama M, Lejju JB, Tolo CU, Grace KR, Ssemmanda I, Ayebare J (2012) Late holocene environmental history of lake victoria basin: evidence from geochemical proxies. David Publishing, J Environ Sci Engineer B1:1054–1063
Byaruhanga KM (2005) Challenges in the implementation of the universal primary education (UPE) programme: the case study of mbarara municipality. MA thesis Uganda Management Institute (UMI), Kampala
Choi H, Coughenour CM (1979) Socioeconomic aspects of no-tillage ariculture: a case study of farmers in Christian County, Kentucky. Kentucky Agriculture Experiment Station, Lexington (Rural Sociology Bulletin 63)
Conway D (1993) The development of grid-based hydrologic model of the Blue Nile and the sensitivity of Nile river discharge to climate change. PhD dissertation, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences
COWI Consulting Engineers (2002) Integrated Water Quality/ Limnology Study for Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project, Part II Technical Report
Crul RCM (1995) Limnology and hydrology of Lake Victoria. Ver Inter Ver Limno 25:39–48
CSOPP (Civil Society Organisations and Participation Programme) (2001) Conserving indigenous knowledge: integrating new systems of integration. http://www.undp.org/csopp/CSO/NewFiles/dociknowledge.html
Curran LM, Caniago I, Paoli GD, Astianti D, Kusneti M, Leighton M, Nirarita CE, Haeruman H (1999) Impact of El Niño and logging on canopy tree recruitment in Borneo. Science 286:2184–2188
Dazé A, Ambrose K, Ehrhart C (2009) Climate vulnerability and capacity analysis handbook. 1st Edn, Care International, USA
Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (1994) Introduction: entering the field of qualitative research. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (eds) Handbook of qualitative research. Sage, London, pp 17
Dewalt B R (1994) Using indigenous knowledge to improve agriculture and natural resource management. Soc Appl Anthropol 53:123–131
Flavier JM, de Jusus A, Navarro C (1995) The regional program for the promotion of indigenous knowledge in Asia. In: Warren DM, Sikkerveer LJ, Brokensha D (eds) The cultural dimension of development: indigenous knowledge systems. London, pp 479–487
Hassan IH (2010) A study on local coping strategies for climate change around two marine protected areas in Zanzibar. A final consultancy report prepared for UNESCO-Dar es salaam Office, Tanzania, p 57
IISD (2007) Community-based risk screening-adaptation and livelihoods (CRiSTAL) User’s Manual, Version 3.0
IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: the scientific basis. contribution of the working group I to the third assessment report of the IPCC. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
IPCC (2007) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. In: Annex I, Parry ML, Canziani OF, 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, p 976 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Irvine D (1987) Resource management by the Runa Indians of the Ecuadorian Amazon. PhD dissertation, Stanford University
Kangalawe R, Mwakalila S, Masolwa P (2011) Climate change impacts, local knowledge and coping strategies in the great Ruhaha River catchment area. SciRP Nat Resour 2:212–223
Kloppenburg J (1991) Social theory and the de/reconstruction of agricultural science: local knowledge for an alternative agriculture. Rural Sociol 56:519–48
Krejcie RV, Morgan DW (1970) Determining sample size for research activities. Edu Psychol Measure 30:607–610
Krueger RA (1998) Developing questions for focus groups. Sage, Thousand Oaks
Lejju JB (2012) The influence of climate change and human-induced environmental degradation on Lake Victoria. OSSREA, Addis Ababa
Liechti F (2006) Birds: blowing by the wind? J. Ornith 147(2):202–211
Makara M (2002) Management of indigenous knowledge in Lesotho. In: Snyman R (eds) CECSAL (2002): From Africa to the World—the globalization of indigenous knowledge systems. Proceedings of the 25th Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African library and Information Association. 15–19 April, Caesars Gauteng Conference Centre, South Africa. Pretoria LIASA: 37–47
Mpeta EJ (2009) Expected climatic changes in tanzania, Proceedings of project workshop on impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture- and adaptation strategies in Vietnam and Tanzania-(CLIVET), Dar es Salaam
Morgan DL (1996) Focus groups. Annu Rev Sociol 22:129–152
Mugenda A, Mugenda O (1999) Research methods: quantitative and qualitative approach. ACTS, Nairobi
Nelson GC, Rosegrant MW, Koo J, Robertson R, Sulser T, Zhu T, Ringler C, Msangi S, Palazzo A, Batka M, Magalhaes M, Valmonte-Santos R, Ewing M, Lee D (2009) Climate change: impact on agriculture and costs of adaptation. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), USA
NEMA (2010) State of the environment report for Uganda 2010. National environment management authority (NEMA), Kampala, Uganda
Ngulube P (2002) Strategies for managing and preserving indigenous knowledge in the knowledge management era: challenges and opportunities for information professionals. Inf Dev 18(2):95–100
Njiru M, Kazungu J, Ngugi CC, Gichuki J, Muhoozi L (2008) An overview of the current status of Lake Victoria fishery: opportunities, challenges and management strategies. Lakes & Reservoirs: Res and Manage 13:1–12
Odada O, Olago D, Kulindwa K, Ntiba M, Wandiga S (2004) Mitigation of environmental problems in Lake Victoria, East Africa. Ambio 33:13–23
Phillips SH, Young HM (1973) No-tillage farming. Reiman Associates, Milwaukee
Phoon SY, Shamseldin AY, Vairavamoorthy K (2004) Assessing impacts of climate change on Lake Victoria Basin, Africa: people-centred approaches to water and environmental sanitation. 30th WEDC International Conference Proceedings, Vientiane, Lao PDR, pp 392–397
Reardon T, Taylor JE (1996) Agroclimatic shock, income inequality, and poverty: evidence from Burkina Faso. World Dev 24(5):901–914
Roncoli C, Ingram K, Kirshen PH (2002) Reading the rains: local knowledge and rainfall forecasting in Burkina Faso. Soc Nat Resour 15:409–427
Roncoli C, Orlove B, Kabugo, M (2010) Indigenous Knowledge in Southern Uganda: the multiple components of a dynamic regional system. Climate Change 100:243–265
Roncoli C, Benjamin S, Orlove B, Kabugo M, Waiswa M (2011) Cultural styles of participation in farmers’ discussions of seasonal climate forecasts in Uganda. Agric Hum Values 28:123–138
Rouse J (1999) Global dissemination of indigenous knowledge. Contradiction, or the way forward? http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/global_ik990615.htm
Rubaihayo EB (2002) The contribution of indigenous vegetables to household food security. IK Notes 44. http://www.worldbank.org/afr/ik/index.htm
Schoenhoff DM (1993) The barefoot expert: the interface of computerized knowledge systems and indigenous knowledge systems. Greenwood press, Westport
Sida (2004) Strategy for Swedish support to the Lake Victoria Basin 2004–2006, Regeringskansliet
Ssemmanda I, Vincens A (2002) Vegetation changes and their climatic implications for the Lake Victoria region during the late Holocene. In: Odada EO, Olago, DO (eds) The East African Great Lakes: Limnology, Palaeolimnology and Biodiversity. Kluwer Academic, Netherlands, pp 509–523
Tolo UC (2010) Potentials and challenges of decentralized environmental education and management for poverty reduction in Uganda: the case of Mbarara District. Social Science Research Report Series No. 34, ISSN 1608–628. OSSREA, Addis Ababa, pp 1–85
Tolo CU, Majule AE, Perfect J (2012) Changing trends of natural resources degradation in Kagera Basin: case study of Kagera Sub-Basin, Uganda. SciRP Nat Resour 3:95–106
UNISDR (2009) Terminology: basic terms of disaster risk reduction
Ulluwishewa R (1993) Indigenous knowledge, national IK Resource Centres and Sustainable Development. Indig Knowl Dev Monit 1(3):11–13
Vanek E (1989) Enhancing resource management in developing nations through improved attitudes towards indigenous knowledge systems: the case of the world bank. In: Michael D, Warren L, Slikkerveer J, Oguntunji ST (eds) Indigenous knowledge systems: implications for agriculture and international development. Ames: studies in technology and social change. Iowa State University, pp 162–170
Verschuren D, Johnson TC, Kling HJ, Edgington DN, Leavitt PR, Brown ET, Talbot MR, Hecky RE (2002) History and timing of human impact on Lake Victoria, East Africa. Proceedings of Royal Society of London, pp 269, 289–294
Warren DM (1991) Using indigenous knowledge in agricultural development; World Bank discussion paper No. 127. Washington, DC, The World Bank
Warren DM (1991) Indigenous knowledge systems and development. Agriculture and Human Values 8 (Special Issue)
West CT, Roncoli C, Ouattara F (2008) Local perceptions and regional climate trends on the central plateau of Burkina Faso. Land Degrad Develop. Published online in Wiley InterScience, doi:10.1002/Idr.842
World Bank (1998) Knowledge for development world bank. Washington, D.C.
World Bank (1999) What is indigenous knowledge http://www.Worldbank.org/afr/ik/basic.htm
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge financial support from African Climate Change Fellowship Programme (ACCFP) that was extended to Dr. Casim Umba Tolo to undertake a post-doctoral fellowship (Adaptation Science Fellowship). ACCFP is supported by a grant from Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA), funded jointly by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID). The International SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) secretariat, USA is the implementing agency in collaboration with the Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA) of the University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). We also acknowledge support from the Institute of Resource Assessment (IRA) of the University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania as the ACCFP Host Institution for the post-doctoral fellow, and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) as the ACCFP Home Institution. Special thanks go to Prof. Enock Amos Majule of IRA, University of Dar es salaam and Prof. Julius Bunny Lejju of Biology Department, MUST, Uganda for their tireless efforts in mentoring and guiding the post-doctoral fellow throughout the fellowship period. We are further grateful to the administrations of our respective universities for granting us time to do this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tolo, C., Majule, E., Lejju, J. (2014). Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Subsistence Agriculture, Climate Risk Management, and Mitigation of Community Vulnerability in Changing Climate, Lake Victoria Basin: A Case Study of Rakai and Isingiro Districts, Uganda. In: Melesse, A., Abtew, W., Setegn, S. (eds) Nile River Basin. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02720-3_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02720-3_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02719-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02720-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)