Climate information and agro-advisory services are crucial in helping smallholder farmers and pastoralists in East Africa manage climate-related risks and adapt to climate change. However, significant gaps exist in provision of climate information that effectively addresses the needs of farmers and pastoralists. Most farmers and pastoralists, therefore, rely on indigenous knowledge (IK), where local indicators and experiences are used to observe and forecast weather conditions. While IK-based forecasting is inbuilt and established in many communities in East Africa, coordinated research and systematic documentation of IK for weather forecasting, including accuracy and reliability of IK is largely lacking. This paper documents and synthesizes existing IK for weather forecasting in East Africa using case studies from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. The results show that farmers and pastoralists use a combination of meteorological, biological, and astrological indicators to forecast local weather conditions. IK weather forecasting is, therefore, crucial in supporting efforts to improve access to climate information in East Africa, especially in resource-poor and vulnerable communities. The paper draws valuable lessons on how farmers and pastoralists in East Africa use IK weather forecasts for making crop and livestock production decisions and demonstrates that the trust and willingness to apply scientific forecasts by farmers and pastoralists is likely to increase when integrated with IK. Therefore, a systematic documentation of IK, and a framework for integrating IK and scientific weather forecasting from national meteorological agencies can improve accuracy, uptake, and use of weather forecasts.

Assessing the impacts of climate change in cities and their adaptive capacity: Towards transformative approaches to climate change adaptation and poverty reduction in urban areas in a set of developing countries. Science of the Total Environment, 692. pp. 1175-1190.

This article explores farmers' perceptions of the manifestations of climate variability and its effects on the agricultural production in selected highland areas of Ethiopia. Primary Data was collected using group and individual interviews, overt observation and a survey. Temperature and rainfall data was collected from NMSA. The study shows that more that eighty percent of farmers perceived the manifestations and effects of climate variability. The study reveals that sex, age, income and educational level are determinant factors of farmers' perception on the manifestations and effects of climate variability on crop and livestock production. Farmers' perception of change in temperature is cognate with meteorological data analysis. However, their perceptions were found to be in disagreement with meteorological rainfall trends. This research concludes by suggesting realistic and achievable recommendations to enhance the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate extremes and the attendant physical, biological and epidemiological challenges on crop and livestock production so that any shortfalls on farmers adaptive capacity can be leveraged.

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