Learning Event No 7, Session 1, From Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) 2011

Where the Mbororo Peoples and Official Science Meet

Knowledge Systems and Climate Change Adaptation

By Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim AFPAT Coordinator IPACC Sahel Region Represent Mbororo From Chad hindououmar@gmail.com

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� The value of grassroots involvement in climate-related decision-making has received attention in several official climate policy documents

� Nonetheless minority groups including indigenous people (e.g. mobile people / pastoralists) are still largely excluded from climate-related decision-making.

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Introduction

� Climate science and related information can be used to great advantage to avoid and manage climatic risks and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from changed climate conditions.

� IPACC delegates in partnership with the WMO’s WCC3, IPACC, AFPAT, CTA and ASISO implement the the project “Influencing regional policy processes in Climate Change Adaptation through the merger of African pastoralist traditional knowledge and atmospheric science”

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Introduction (cont.)

Traditional knowledge systems and climate change

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�  Climate change impacts on local ecosystems and livelihood patterns

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The Case of the Mbororo People

About the Mbororo

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�  Nomadic and semi-nomadic herders

�  living in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria

�  250.000 in Chad (1993 census)

�  building on traditional knowledge systems to cope with seasonal weather patterns and sustainably manage meagre resources

Challenges

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�  Climate change & increasing restrictions on mobility

�  Increasing distances �  Loss of livestock �  Change of lifestyle �  Distinctive needs rarely

addressed

Bridging knowledge systems

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�  Climate science uses modern monitoring and forecasting systems to generate and provide a wide range of information on past, present and future

�  Local decision making: information & other factors e.g. social networks, local loyalties, cultural values, intuition, beliefs and age-old trust in traditional predictive systems.

�  Ordinary people experience great difficulties in making their voice heard by scientists.

�  Communications challenges are found along a continuum.

Way forward

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�  Participatory use of tested ICTs to document Traditional Knowledge

Way forward

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�  Multi-stakeholder dialogue and exchange

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THANK YOU

www.afpattchad.org www.ipacc.org.za

www.cta.int