USING SCIENTIFIC AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE WEATHER FORECASTING PARALLELLY: DIALOGUE.
Submitted by Website Officer on 28 October 2021 - 8:10pm
Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF) conducted a workshop that brought together the Indigenous knowledge groups, Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), and Researchers to share experiences on traditional weather forecasts both scientifically and traditionally. The one-day workshop took place at Flom Hotel in Morogoro on 18th October 2021 setting ground for a discussion on how the traditional forecast can be integrated into the TMA forecasting.
Indigenous groups supported by the research findings conducted on Gendered Climate Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (GCVCA) by Dr. MadakaTumbo from the University of Dar es salaam, and Use of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) on Weather Forecasting conducted by Prof. Henry Mahoo from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) explained the benefits of the weather forecast especially for planning farming and livestock keeping activities. Given the climate change impacts, it is important to gather as much weather information as possible for resilient livelihoods. The expert from TMA informed that currently the Agency seldom engages with the traditional groups before releasing the weather forecast. However, the traditional forecast needs to be integrated with the scientific ones regularly.
The meeting deliberated that there is a need to use existing platforms for climate change and traditional knowledge platforms to gather information on climate issues and share indigenous forecasting information. It was suggested to document traditional forecasting, produce and disseminate through booklets, brochures, and other materials to share the knowledge. The use of radios especially at the national levels was highly recommended to facilitate indigenous knowledge flow of information.
Relevance:
Undefined