“Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Call for Institutional and Policy Changes”. The Case of Dande Valley in Zimbabwe

The projected impacts of climate change are expected to be adverse and particularly severe for the majority of Africans who currently rely heavily on climate-sensitive natural resources for their livelihoods and do not have the means to withstand shocks and multi-dimensional changes in their societies and ecosystems. Africans are, therefore, justifiably looking to their developed counterparts to assist them with technological options for adapting to climate change. In this quest, it is usually forgotten that indigenous knowledge systems can significantly contribute to location-specific sustainable climate change adaptation. This study used structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, participatory workshop techniques and literature reviews to explore the potential role of traditional knowledge and practices in climate change adaptation in Zambia. It was found that agricultural practices which embedded both scientific know-how and indigenous knowledge practices were by far superior in providing resilience to droughts and floods. Imported technologies that neglected ecological compatibility only served to provide improved short-term productivity but plunged communities into long-term livelihood hardships as they stripped the environment of its ecological sustainability. It was also found that local people used the phenology of plants and insects to forecast rainfall in the next season. The reliability and accuracy of this traditional knowledge has yet to be scientifically proven. It was concluded that the viability and utility value of indigenous knowledge can only be enhanced when integrated with scientific approaches and know-how.

Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge Systems (ITKS) represent cumulative, community - based bodies of knowledge developed through long-term interaction between human societies and their natural, social, and cultural environments. These systems encompass ecological understanding, agricultural practices, healthcare traditions, governance structures, ethical principles, and cultural expressions that emphasize sustainability, reciprocity, and collective well-being. Historically marginalized by colonial and modern scientific paradigms, indigenous knowledge systems are now receiving renewed global attention due to their relevance in addressing pressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, disaster risk, and cultural erosion. This article provides a comprehensive examination of indigenous and traditional knowledge systems, exploring their conceptual foundations, defining characteristics, major domains, ethical dimensions, gender roles, challenges, and contemporary significance. It further discusses the importance of protecting indigenous knowledge through legal, educational, and policy frameworks and argues for respectful integration between indigenous knowledge and modern science. The article concludes that recognizing indigenous peoples as equal knowledge holders is essential for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development in the twenty-first century.

Forest conservation is important in climate change mitigation. The Indigenous Knowledge (IK) or Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) has recently been recognised in forest conservation for climate change mitigation. The potential use of IKS in climate change management in Sub-Saharan Africa including Kenya is unknown. Numerous analytical postulations detailing how to integrate IKS in climate change management have been formulated. However, this information is fragmented and mostly lost in sociology literature. This paper briefly reviews the indigenous knowledge related to different aspects of forest resource management. This review delves at in-depth information on the IKS and climate change management in Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing Kenya. For this review, the scooping review methodology was used to describe the state of knowledge and map the available evidence of the role of IKS for forest conservation and climate change adaptation. It discusses the role of IKS in climate change management in Sub-Saharan Africa and the potential application of the IKS in preventing adverse climate change effects. The integration of IKS to guide the climate change management have been evaluated and the threats to IKS and their conservation deliberated. It is generally observed that in many rural communities in Kenya, IKS is useful for enhanced food production, forest conservation and natural disaster management. But being culture-specific, IKS can be adopted across communities in SSA for real time management of climate change.

This article focuses on drought risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategies adopted by rural households to sustain their livelihood activities. The overall objective was to understand the local household’s responses to the changing climate especially drought. The study was carried out in Chirumhanzu district in Zimbabwe and used a mixed methods approach combining 217 household surveys, targeted focus group discussions, participatory learning actions methods, key informant interviews and a document review. Household data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and thematic content analysis was used for the qualitative data. We found that the majority of households showed awareness of several risk reduction and adaptation strategies to implement during and/or when drought was predicted, with 56% of the respondents stating stocking of grain as initial strategy. Other strategies adopted at household level included early planting (at first rains), conservation farming, planting small grains and dry planting. Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems and practices, including local people’s holistic view of the community and environment, were a major resource for adapting to climate change and drought risks. However, these indigenous knowledge systems and practices had not been consistently used in the existing adaptation and risk-reduction efforts. Indigenous knowledge was not sufficiently acknowledged and integrated into formal risk reduction and adaptation strategies, which resulted in limited success for external interventions. There is need for integration of local and indigenous knowledge systems and external interventions to build household livelihoods that are resilient to climate risks.

Indigenous rights, knowledge, and value systems are linked inextricably to the lands, waters, and non-human beings that form the environments of Indigenous Peoples. Across the globe, the rights of Indigenous peoples are being formally recognized and as a result, efforts are being made to include Indigenous Knowledge and value systems in environmental policy and decision making. Scientists and decision makers must not only recognize this reality, but also operationalize these efforts through meaningful changes to create space for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous values, and sovereignty within the current methods for scientific enquiry and the development of environmental policies. Professionals in the environmental field have a responsibility to ensure that their work has a positive impact on Indigenous Peoples and their environments. In this study, we explore the concept of consultation and informed consent through the lens of the development of environmental policy and decision making. We will discuss these concepts in the context of ecological risk assessment related to a case study focused on contaminated sediment in a harbor within the Great Lakes. We will demonstrate a process that deconstructs the current protocols for risk assessments at sites with localized pollutants in sediment and rebuilds them with elements that recognize both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. This process includes collaborative fieldwork, relationship building, and informal and formal interviews with participants and community members. By utilizing such approaches, we were able to develop a risk assessment framework that recognizes the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and promotes effective Nation-to-Nation decision making.

Scientific knowledge systems have received increasing criticism within the social science literature while indigenous knowledge systems are often over-optimistically presented as viable alternative ways of knowing. This paper argues that we need to search for more effective and creative interactions between indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge systems. I discuss the strengths and the weaknesses of both scientific and indigenous knowledge systems, then use three examples to illustrate the strengths and limitations of indigenous knowledge systems. I then draw on these examples to indicate in what situations we should look for guidance and ideas from indigenous knowledge systems. The paper closes with a discussion of how scientists, social scientists and people with local knowledge can better work together to improve agricultural and natural resource management systems.

This article was poised to unravel the merits of integrating IKS and the demerits of its exclusion in climate change programmes and policies. The harrowing impacts of climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa make adaptation and mitigation unescapable discourses. As such, climate change policies demonstrate governments’ commitment to fostering adaptation and mitigating climate change impacts evident in every sector of society. The effectiveness of climate policies is measured by their responsiveness to the different needs, aspirations and circumstances of populations plagued by climate change. In the absence of technoscience-based adaptation and mitigation mechanisms, African communities still rely on the repository of indigenous knowledge systems as a source of information, decision-making, and prediction tools for predicting weather changes. For this reason, in formulating climate change mitigation and adaptation endeavours at policy level, it is critical to identify specific strategies where IKS has been used as a warrant towards its usage. This study was qualitative and operated within the traditional descriptive, analytical and interpretive approaches. It relied on a desktop review of journal articles on climate change and IKS, and climate change policies of South Africa and Zimbabwe. These were purposively sampled based on their relevance to the aim of the study. The Discourse Content Analysis was utilised to analyse data from which the findings were derived. The article established that despite the wide recognition of the role played by IKS in climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction, IKS has not featured predominantly South Africa’s climate change policies as compared to Zimbabwe’s climate policies. Notably, disregarding IKS in climate change policies makes them bereft of effectiveness in vulnerability reduction, fostering adaptation and resilience building for African communities that rely on IKS, among other capitals essential in fostering mitigation and adaptation in the face of climate change.

There is currently a debate on the role of modern and indigenous knowledge systems in the smallholder farming sector. While the modern knowledge systems have been viewed as superior and are being touted as key towards meeting sustainable development goals, especially goal two of eradicating hunger, the performance of smallholder farmers utilising modern systems remains below expectations. The performance of farmers using indigenous knowledge systems has not resulted in better outcomes either. There are growing calls for an integration of the two knowledge systems to co-produce solutions relevant to smallholder farmers. However, not much is known about the extent to which this is already happening, how the integration is happening, and welfare effects of this integration. This paper assessed the extent to which smallholder irrigators integrate indigenous and modern knowledge; and whether this integration has resulted in improvements in cost reduction, productivity, and welfare levels. A sample size of 392 farmers in four irrigation schemes of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape were interviewed. The results showed that the majority (52%) of the farmers integrated knowledge systems, while 10% and 38% relied on indigenous and modern systems, respectively. Farmers actively incorporated modern knowledge to enhance their traditional practices in their production methods in response to local challenges or opportunities. The results indicate that high maize yields attained by modern users were eroded by high inputs cost, while integrators were able to significantly reduce input costs (such as fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide costs) and the money saved was used to purchase more food, hence improving household food security. The results suggest that government, private institutions and NGOs should build on farmers’ agencies to plug-in modern knowledge into the indigenous knowledge systems through appropriate research and innovations rather than completely replacing indigenous systems with modern farming systems. Extension officers should change their mindset and acknowledge the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into their training so that what is relevant to farmers may be adopted, thus enhancing sustainability and resilience of development efforts in developing countries.

This special issue addressing the theme of “Indigenous and Trans-Systemic Knowledge Systems” seeks to expand the existing methods, approaches, and conceptual understandings of Indigenous Knowledges to create new awareness, new explorations, and new inspirations across other knowledge systems. Typically, these have arisen and have been published through the western disciplinary traditions in interaction and engagement with diverse Indigenous Knowledge systems. Written by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, and in collaborations, the contributions to this issue feature the research, study, or active exploration of applied methods or approaches from and with Indigenous Knowledge systems as scholarly inquiry, as well as practical communally-activated knowledge. These engagements between Eurocentric and Indigenous Knowledges have generated unique advancements dealing with dynamic systems that are constantly being animated and reformulated in various fields of life and experiences. While these varied applications abound, the essays in this issue explore the theme largely through scholarly research or applied pedagogies within conventional schools and universities. The engagement of these distinct knowledge systems has also generated reflective, immersive, and transactional explorations of how to foster well-being and recovery from colonialism in Indigenous community contexts.

This study aims to bridge the ethical gap in integrating indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and scientific knowledge systems (WSK) to enable sustainable mitigation of environmental and climate change challenges. Indigenous knowledge and belief systems have been used to guide nature conservation in sub-Saharan Africa for many years. Traditional knowledge is passed down from generation to generation, leading to resource management practices that promote environmental protection and sustainable development. Many indigenous communities in Asia, Australia and Africa just as globally have developed conservation plans that incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and community participation to protect habitats, animals, and ecosystems. However, there are ethical issues surrounding the integration of IKS and WSK that may weaken efforts to combat environmental and climate change challenges. To analyze many case studies from Asia, Australia, and sub-Saharan Africa (including Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast, and Zambia) that have investigated the integration of IKS and WSK for environmental and climate change mitigation, this study used a qualitative research method through the combination of document and content analyses. The study uses consequentialism and utilitarianism as environmental ethics theories to guide the integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge systems for sustainable mitigation strategies. Ethical issues encountered during the integration include proprietary rights for IKS, distortion and loss of traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs, and unequal recognition of IKS. The study advocates for broad and meaningful participation of indigenous and local knowledge in the international assessment process to promote effective environmental and climate change initiatives across diverse knowledge systems and perspectives.

ABSTRACTClimate change is considered by many to be one of the greatest challenges to humanity, with Africa seen as one of the most affected continents. There is a growing recognition that purely scientific and modern approaches alone are not enough to mitigate the “multiple stresses” of climate change in Africa. Nonetheless, the dominant thinking in climate change science appears to treat indigenous approaches to climate change impact mitigation as primitive or backward. Even though the debate around indigenous knowledge systems is a contentious one, some scholars have acknowledged that, if well harnessed, indigenous knowledge systems can help in empowering local communities to mitigate climate change impacts. This paper is based on findings from a study of climate change awareness and adaptation strategies in rural and peri-urban communities in East London and Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Based on empirical research with 140 respondents, the study found that indigenous knowledge plays an important role in the ways local residents adapt to, and in some ways curb, the adverse impacts of climate change. The paper highlights the relevance of indigenous African knowledge in climate change impact mitigation and the need to combine modern global approaches with indigenous knowledge to better handle climate change-related challenges.

Although the school natural sciences curricula in South Africa ask for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems in the classroom, it is either done very superficially by providing an example or two, or ignored completely by teachers (Cronje, De Beer & Ankiewicz, 2015). This mixed-methods study (with emphasis on the qualitative inquiry) into the status of indigenous knowledge in the natural- and life sciences classroom in Gauteng, NorthWest, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces in South Africa, once again echoes what Rogan and Grayson (2003) reported: in South Africa the curriculum process focuses too much on the what (the curriculum itself), at the expense of the how (the implementation of the curriculum). Although the progressive curriculum makes it clear that indigenous knowledge should be addressed, it provides very little guidance to teachers on how this should be done. Two problems are specifically highlighted in this chapter: teachers’ lack of pedagogical and content knowledge in addressing indigenous knowledge systems, and their poor understanding of the nature of science (and how indigenous knowledge should be incorporated within this scientific framework). To effectively infuse indigenous knowledge in the school curriculum, effective epistemological border-crossing between indigenous knowledge and Western science is needed in terms of epistemological and ontological considerations, which places demands on teachers’ knowledge and pedagogies. Too often “Western” science and indigenous knowledge are seen as conflicting epistemologies, disregarding the notion of border crossing, or Odora-Hoppers’s (2002) idea of a “postmodern integrative paradigm shift” where indigenous knowledge and Western knowledge systems are seen as complimentary epistemologies. This chapter will elicit the value of indigenous knowledge in the life or natural sciences curricula from the perspective of embodied, situated, and distributed cognition (ESDC). Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) will be used as a research lens (linked to the theoretical framework of social constructivism), in looking at a funded research project, in which natural and life sciences teachers were trained in facilitating border-crossing between indigenous knowledge and “Western” science. This chapter also sheds light on interventions such as Ogunniyi’s course based on contiguity argumentation theory (Ogunniyi & Hewson, 2008), and how such interventions can enhance teachers’ understanding of how the nature of science and indigenous knowledge systems can be better integrated.

The global concern that Africa’s strong economic dependency on climate-related activities makes it vulnerable is troubling as the continent is lagging in embracing scientific techniques for adapting to the changing global environment. However, challenges exist where the application of ‘modern scientific’ knowledge to addressing climate change appears to disregard resilient ‘indigenous knowledge systems.’ This study situates the praxes and experiences of peasant farmers in Ghana to explore the indigenous knowledge systems they use to navigate climate change’s impact on their livelihoods. The study adopts the theoretical framework of Bruchac’s ‘indigenous knowledge theory’ in unpacking the socio-cultural ways peasant farmers in Ghana create unique ways of ‘knowing’ and understanding climate change. Utilising Focus Group Discussion and interviews, the views of peasant farmers on climate change and its impact on their livelihood were explored. The study found that the transferability of indigenous knowledge passed down to participants by their ancestors has shaped their ontological reality of changing climate patterns and its impact on their livelihoods. However, challenges exist in contemporary times in applying this knowledge to their farming practices. The study pushes for synthesising indigenous knowledge systems with modern scientific knowledge systems for institutional and behavioural change regarding climate change in Ghana.

The indigenous knowledge systems are a significant resource which would contribute to the increased efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability in environmental conservation among rural communities of developing countries in particular. They form the basis for community-level decision making in areas pertaining to food security, human and animal health, education and more important in natural resource management. However, despite their critical role in the conservation of the bio-physical environment, these practices and technologies are being marginalized or even forgotten among rural communities in different parts of the world. To ascertain the role played by these traditional practises on the bio-physical environment, this paper identified and established the Teso community indigenous environmental practices and assessed changes in these knowledge systems from the time of Kenya’s pre-independence to the 2000s era. Data were collected using various social science methods such as the questionnaire and focused group discussions. The results showed that the use of totems, protection of sacred places, prohibitions and gender and age restraints declined by 41.3, 68, 41.8 and 38.2%, respectively. The evident decline in the use of the indigenous environmental knowledge systems has negatively impacted on the state of the bio-physical environment exemplified by the Chi-square Pearson (P) values of 0.00 between decline in the use of age and gender restraints and the deterioration in land fertility and only a few elders using the knowledge systems and reduction in the number of rivers, streams and wetlands as exemplified by the Chi-square Pearson (P) value of 0.02. In view of the above, it is recommended that rekindling, recording and preservation of indigenous environmental best practices among local communities such as the Teso for sustainable natural resources management be re-invigorated and integrated in conventional environmental management plans. This also calls for participatory decision-making between policy makers, implementers and actual resource users. Key words: Indigenous knowledge systems, conservation, bio-physical environment.

Indigenous knowledge (IK) has played an important role in adaptation to climate change in traditional agricultural communities. These approaches have been shown to be more effective when integrated with scientifically developed strategies. In this study, a perception survey questionnaire was used to find out whether there is a nexus between IK systems and the uptake of modern Climate Change Adaptation Strategies (CCAS) among farmers in Kajiado County, Kenya. A mixed research approach that involved the use of household questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and observations was used to obtain data. The two theories, namely the Situated Learning Theory (SLT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), formed the basis for illustrating the relationship between variables, while the Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change (MPPACC) was the key theoretical model employed. A total of 382 small-scale rural household representatives randomly selected from 3 Kajiado sub-counties were the principal respondents. The key informants included officers in the departments of agriculture, environment, meteorology, trade, and industry, as well as local administration and village elders. Statistical tools such as chi-square, correlation, and binary logistic regression analysis were used to determine associations. Thematic analysis of data collected from key informants and focus group discussions (FGD) was conducted to triangulate the survey results. Farmers' awareness of climate change, risk perceptions of impacts, existing locally developed approaches to climate change adaptation, and perceptions of CCAS were the main areas of investigation. The majority of farmers (85%) indicated that prolonged drought was the main extreme event that affected their farming activities. Of the indicators observed, drought (X2 = 13.861, p =.000) was perceived as the greatest risk associated with climate change to their agricultural productivity. Their IK adaptation strategies resulted from their interactions with the effects of drought on their livelihoods over the years. Farmers who were nomadic (IK practitioners) were not willing to apply for CCAS. For example, they were 72% less likely to increase their irrigated cropped area and 79% less likely to increase the number of better livestock breeds. Among the CCAS approaches, water resource management was the only preferred strategy. This particular finding shows that climate change policies can be easily adopted by indigenous farming communities if they are developed around an issue that matches their socio-ecological priorities. Without taking into account the prevailing social, cultural, and geo-environmental context of specific communities, the adoption of CCAS by farmers would be significantly affected. The study recommends that integrating indigenous agricultural knowledge into climate change adaptation policies enhances community resilience. Aligning adaptation strategies with local responses enriches farmer knowledge and boosts resilience against climate change impacts. Effective climate change adaptation plans should incorporate local weather prediction, environmental conservation, and proven community-based strategies, especially in water resource management for arid and semi-arid pastoralist communities.