Role of indigenous knowledge in managing floods projects

Turi Ali,Haloul Khalifa,Mushtaq Ahmad

doi:10.5937/jouproman7-21018

Abstract

Climate change is increasing the frequency of disasters in the world. Accordingly, disaster management strategies are also changing. The UN has focused on acknowledging the Indigenous Knowledge in disaster management strategies. In this study, the village Khursheed in District Sargodha has been focused due to facing frequent floods since decades. They have developed some methods to counter floods. The study was qualitative containing three focus group discussions and thirty interviews, reveals that villagers have devised their own flood forecast and early warning systems. The indigenous methods of constructions of buildings and agricultural techniques have rendered the village more resilient. The elevated spiritual level has enhanced their immune system to face floods. The government needs to devise local level disaster management strategies which should incorporate indigenous and modern knowledge.

Highlights

Pakistan is one of the badly affected countries by climate change as stated by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Abid et al, 2016(a); Abid et al, 2016(b))
The UN has focused on acknowledging the Indigenous Knowledge in disaster management strategies
Diverse disasters are hampering the pace of socio-economic development of Pakistan

Summary

Introduction

Pakistan is one of the badly affected countries by climate change as stated by The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Abid et al, 2016(a); Abid et al, 2016(b)). Diverse disasters are hampering the pace of socio-economic development of Pakistan. Pakistan is a disaster-prone country which faces diverse disasters. The flood is the major disaster which Pakistan has faced in recent years and likely to bear more frequently in the future (S.Chaudhury, et al, 2016). Pakistan has established National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) to counter disasters. They are unable to control the disasters and advancement up to the mark would need high budget where country is under developing model. Diverse strategies and techniques have been adopted to counter floods in Pakistan. This paper established the local techniques and knowledge to cater for better from the catastrophic situations

Research Questions

Literature Review

Research Methodology

Findings

Conclusion