Abstract
This article examines adaptation measures used to sustain indigenous practices and the use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to adapt to climate change in Mutoko rural district of Zimbabwe. Community-based adaptation is able to reduce the vulnerability as well as improve the resilience of the local people to climatic variability and change. Subsistence farmers have always adopted adaptive strategies to some of these changes over the years. As such, the adoption of indigenous practices will significantly help rural community members to adapt to climate change. This study employed a qualitative method and an exploratory design, and the results are derived from 30 purposively selected in-depth interviews. The study discovered that there are numerous measures used to adapt to climate change and subsequently to sustain indigenous practices. The study also found that the community no longer grows maize in large quantities, having shifted to millet and sorghum in order to adapt to climate change. The community also provided various strategies to adapt to climate change. These strategies include mulching, creating large storage houses for produce and creating temporary walls on riverbanks in order to store water when the rivers dry up. This study concludes that climate change adaptation measures employed by the community have significantly helped them to sustain their indigenous practices in many ways. Also, the use of IKS, through activities such as crop type change from maize to traditional millet and sorghum (which facilitates traditional lifestyle and activities), re-establishes the community’s indigenous practices since they are made to observe the practices of yesteryear.
Highlights
This article examines the adaptation measures used to sustain indigenous practices and the use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to adapt to climate change in Mutoko rural district of Zimbabwe
The study has established that climate change adaptation measures employed by the community of Mutoko rural district have significantly helped them to sustain their indigenous practices in many spheres of life
Even though climate change adaptation is not directly meant to sustain indigenous practices, it is apparent that the unintended outcome of adaptation in the community is sustaining indigenous practices
Summary
This article examines the adaptation measures used to sustain indigenous practices and the use of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to adapt to climate change in Mutoko rural district of Zimbabwe. People in rural communities have established culture-based mechanisms of adaptation to harsh weather conditions over the years As a result, such mechanisms play a significant role as adaptation measures which are employed to sustain indigenous practices and to adapt to the effects of climate change. Madzwamuse (2010) asserts that small-scale farmers produce crops through a knowledge of environmental conditions, without the use of modern scientific knowledge These adaptation methods are a product of the http://www.jamba.org.za. Given the use of communitybased strategies used by rural communities, as presented by other writers, this study seeks to establish community-based measures to sustain human livelihoods and the use of IKS to adapt to climate change particular to the Mutoko community. Understanding indigenous adaptation methods employed by the community will significantly help in the moderation and mitigation of climate change impacts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
