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In African communities, the responses to climate change have been complex and guided by diverse epistemology. Climate change projections indicate increasing agricultural water scarcity, declining crop productivity, lack of livestock feed, and animal health challenges with changes in disease distribution, range, prevalence, incidence, and seasonality. Indigenous knowledge systems and rituals are a part of the African community’s totality of knowledge including skills, information, conceptions, and practices. Such practices are rooted in local cultures and are generally associated with the community’s interaction with their natural environments. It tends to differ from scholarly theoretical and methodological approaches. Across all cultures in Africa, climate fluctuations have been attributed to the action of invisible spirit beings. It is also believed that rituals when done under the guidance of knowledgeable specialists have power to manage weather. The main agricultural ritual performed by most African communities is the rain requisition ceremony (mukwerera in Zimbabwean Shona language). From the rain requesting ceremonies also comes the information that the season will be good or bad. This form of knowledge is usually strongly believed and sometimes better than western knowledge which leads to scientific early warning systems. Is it epistemologically sound then for the African communities to rely on universal approaches to climate change, solely? The relativity of knowledge and its basis on social and cultural processes is argued for. Through transmitted knowledge, experiential knowledge, an interpretivist, constructivist, and epistemic relativist lens, it is investigated how different knowledge systems interact, influence, and contest each other in the context of climate change. It is believed that a deeper understanding of these contested knowledges can foster more effective climate change adaptation strategies. This can contribute to a more inclusive and contextualized understanding in African communities of their adaptation practices and responses to climate change.

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Indigenous Knowledge Versus Western Knowledge in African Communities: Exploring Climate Change Adaptation Through an Epistemological Lens

  • 动态工具书词条

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Norah Rumbidzai Gopo,
  • Christopher Gadzirayi,
  • Friday Nguvayasvika Mudondo Kubiku,
  • Never Mafuse,
  • Ronald Mandumbu

摘要

In African communities, the responses to climate change have been complex and guided by diverse epistemology. Climate change projections indicate increasing agricultural water scarcity, declining crop productivity, lack of livestock feed, and animal health challenges with changes in disease distribution, range, prevalence, incidence, and seasonality. Indigenous knowledge systems and rituals are a part of the African community’s totality of knowledge including skills, information, conceptions, and practices. Such practices are rooted in local cultures and are generally associated with the community’s interaction with their natural environments. It tends to differ from scholarly theoretical and methodological approaches. Across all cultures in Africa, climate fluctuations have been attributed to the action of invisible spirit beings. It is also believed that rituals when done under the guidance of knowledgeable specialists have power to manage weather. The main agricultural ritual performed by most African communities is the rain requisition ceremony (mukwerera in Zimbabwean Shona language). From the rain requesting ceremonies also comes the information that the season will be good or bad. This form of knowledge is usually strongly believed and sometimes better than western knowledge which leads to scientific early warning systems. Is it epistemologically sound then for the African communities to rely on universal approaches to climate change, solely? The relativity of knowledge and its basis on social and cultural processes is argued for. Through transmitted knowledge, experiential knowledge, an interpretivist, constructivist, and epistemic relativist lens, it is investigated how different knowledge systems interact, influence, and contest each other in the context of climate change. It is believed that a deeper understanding of these contested knowledges can foster more effective climate change adaptation strategies. This can contribute to a more inclusive and contextualized understanding in African communities of their adaptation practices and responses to climate change.