The contribution of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction activities in Zimbabwe: A big call to practitioners

Abstract

This article examined the contribution of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction activities in Zimbabwe. The current discourse underrates the use of indigenous knowledge of communities by practitioners when dealing with disasters’, as the knowledge is often viewed as outdated and primitive. This study, which was conducted in 2016, sought to examine this problem through analysing the potential contribution of indigenous knowledge as a useful disaster risk reduction intervention. Tsholotsho district in Matabeleland, North province of Zimbabwe, which frequently experiences perennial devastating floods, was used as a case study. Interviews and researcher observations were used to gather data from 40 research participants. The findings were that communities understand weather patterns and could predict imminent flooding after studying trees and clouds, and the behaviours of certain animal species. Local communities also use available local resources to put structural measures in place as part of disaster risk reduction interventions. Despite this important potential, the study found that the indigenous knowledge of disaster risk reduction of the communities is often shunned by practitioners. The practitioners claim that indigenous knowledge lacks documentation, it is not found in all generational classes, it is contextualised to particular communities and the knowledge cannot be scientifically validated. The study concluded that both local communities and disaster risk reduction practitioners can benefit from the indigenous knowledge of communities. This research has the potential to benefit communities, policymakers and disaster risk reduction practitioners.

Women’s Use Of Indigenous Knowledge Systems To Cope With Climate Change

“…These issues hinder women as they try to use indigenous knowledge to cope with climate change. In line with the above, Dube and Munsaka [2018] put forward the following challenges that are faced by rural women, this type of knowledge (indigenous knowledge) is not wholly trusted by many in the community and it lacks documentation.…”

“…Therefore, rural women who are regarded as custodians of this type of knowledge have been seen to be useful in the enhancement of sustainable development through the use of indigenous knowledge. The importance of indigenous knowledge is that it can be transferred and adapted to other communities that are in similar situations, it encourages community participation and empowers community members, and it can provide invaluable information about the local context, Dube and Munsaka [2018].…”

Indigenous Knowledge: Develop Cross-Cultural Literacy and Character of Indonesia in Multicultural Society

“…That is, indigenous knowledge is the result of specific communities through experience and not necessarily experienced by other communities. Indigenous knowledge systems have been a part of human life since the past, and this practice is essential because it has shaped the way people interact with their environment [7]. Melchias suggests Indigenous knowledge is the knowledge that refers to what indigenous people know and do for generations, practices that develop through trial and error and prove to be flexible enough to cope with change [8].…”

Household recovery strategies in Longmen Mountain area, Sichuan, China, following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake disaster

“…Several studies have embraced bottom-up adaptation to save lives and property from various types of natural disasters. For instance, the local wisdom-based recovery model that has been applied followed a volcanic eruption and an earthquake in Indonesia (Hariyono and Liliasari 2018;Kusumasari and Alam 2012), the earthquake in Nepal (Daly et al 2017) and Pakistan (Leersum and Arora 2011), and the floods in Zimbabwe (Dube and Munsaka 2018). At present, little is known about the bottom-up recovery strategies of settlement reconstruction in the Wenchuan earthquake areas subject to ongoing mountain hazards.…”