Integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems into Climate Change Interpretation: Perspectives Relevant To Zimbabwe

The theoretical paper argues for the Integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) with modern climate change science as a basis for sustainable comprehensive community based response to the impacts of climate change. Climate change is a long-term change in weather patterns resulting from natural and human activity. Human beings have a rich history of oral interpretation of climate change and variability through observing changes in behaviour of living organisms within their localities. Such knowledge could be used in determining timing of important agricultural activities, predicting disasters and in the interpretation of climate change. Climate change erodes global environmental sustainability and the repository of IKS. This paper recognizes the power of IKS and proposes a strategy to incorporate it into climate interpretation. Whilst the indicators of climate change like changes in precipitation, temperature, runoff, biodiversity and ecosystems, water resources, oceanic circulations and others are generally understood in modern climate change science literature there is limited research and integration with IKS. In the short to medium term comprehensive documentation of IKS is required as a basis for a national framework policy on climate change and its impacts.