Indigenous technical knowledge in the face of climate change uncertainties: The case of Nakisunga Sub County, Mukono District, Uganda

Abstract

There have been calls for the use of Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) in disaster vulnerability reduction, particularly in agriculture in the face of climate change. This paper reports on a study of the effectiveness of the use of Indigenous technical knowledge by rural farmers in Nakisunga Sub County in Uganda to cope with uncertainties and variability of extreme weather events. Data on climate change manifestations and farmer responses were collected in 2016 and 2017 through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and oral histories in 3 rural village communities. Recorded temperatures rose about 1ºC and rainfall decreased by approximately 12% over the last 10 years in the area. Farmers in the sub county had established various ways of coping and adapting with weather variability, but are now finding some of their Indigenous practices too labor-intensive, unreliable, inaccurate and ineffective. Many are clamouring for modern technology packages.