Adaptation to climate change using indigenous weather forecasting systems in Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Indigenous weather forecasting systems of Borana pastoralists are among the core elements of a Gada system that existed half a million years back and still serving as a powerful natural intelligence on adaptation to climatic hazards. The study was aimed to investigate the types of indigenous weather forecasting systems, mechanisms of climate information exchange, and how traditional forecasts have been integrated with contemporary forecasts to strengthen adaptation to climatic hazards in Borana pastoralists of southern Ethiopia. Conventional survey methods including participatory rural appraisal tools and factorial scoring technique were used for data collection and interpretation. This study indicated that four major indigenous weather forecasting systems were used by Borana pastoralists for centuries. These include Ayantu, Uchu, Waragu, and Arga-Dhageti. They varied in the kind of indicator used to predict weather events. Forecasting was mainly based on observation and unique analysis of celestial bodies, atmospheric variables, and biological features. Respondents indicated that Uchu and Ayantu systems were the most trusted and reliable sources of local climate information. Indigenous and contemporary forecasts are just different and could complement each other. Our results indicated that integrating indigenous and contemporary forecasting systems can foster the prediction efficiency and applicability of climate information. Borana pastoralists had established coping mechanisms that were performed in three phases: pre, during and post occurrence of predicted weather events; mainly aimed at improving their resilience to climatic shocks. Therefore, sustaining such sacred indigenous knowledge bank is vital, as it directly supports community-based disaster risk reduction programmes.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous knowledge
• weather forecasting
• climate change
• climate information
• pastoralism and livestock
• adaptation
• Gada system

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Birhanu Iticha studied BSc degree in Land Resource Management and Environmental Protection and his MSc degree in Soil Science. He worked in international non-governmental organizations as Technical Specialist on natural resource management and climate change adaptation. He also worked as Researcher in Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research. Now, he is working in Wollega University as Lecturer and Head, Department of Soil Resources and Watershed Management. He has published many original research articles in reputable journals.

Abdulaziz Husen was born in 1989 in Arsi zone of Oromia regional state. After his school education, he joined Wollega University and graduated with BSc Degree in Water Resources and Irrigation Management. Thereafter, he studied his MSc in Irrigation Engineering from Haramaya University. Currently, he is working in Wollega University as lecturer and Dean of faculty of Resource Management and Economics.

ORCID

Birhanu Iticha http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1737-0764

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.