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Indigenous knowledge is now recognised as a powerful tool for compiling evidence of climate change over time, and is beginning to be seen as a tool for forecasting seasonal climate information. In places such as sub-Saharan Africa where the technical infrastructure available for climate observation and forecasting is limited, this may offer an important resource for a wide range of stakeholders, from researchers to communities themselves. There is also considerable interest in integrating indigenous and scientific forecasting to improve its accuracy and uptake at local scales. This integration, being piloted in Kenya (as described in the Nganyi Community video linked below), Tanzania and Benin among other countries. It offers benefits both in terms of the accuracy of forecasting (as scientific forecasting is often not available at a sufficiently localised scale) and in the uptake of forecasts (as communities often place greater trust in traditional forecasting than those of meteorological agencies). In Kenya in particular, the co-production of “consensus forecasts” by both indigenous and scientific authorities, offers a compelling model of how these two knowledge sets may come into dialogue.
