stephanie midgley: integrating local and indigenous knowledge into river basin management for...
TRANSCRIPT
Integrating local and indigenous knowledge into river basin management for effective
climate change adaptation
Bonty Botumile, James Cumming, Sabrina Chesterman, Stephanie Midgley
10 March 2011AfricaAdapt Conference, Addis Ababa
Outline• What is RCCP?• Vulnerable transboundary regions• Scales: from transboundary river basin to
communities• Objectives of research• Methodology and early results• Lessons learned• Challenges• Way forward
What is the RCCP?
Purpose: To enable transboundary adaptation to climate
change, with equitable access to climate funding, in Southern Africa
Implemented by OneWorld Sustainable Investments
Vulnerable transboundary regions
Zambezi River Basin
Okavango River Basin
Malawi and surrounds
Lower Limpopo River Basin
Scales: from transboundary river basin to communities
• Why Okavango Basin• Interactive Framework - that allows
communities to modify and customise• Giving communities a voice and platform
Okavango River Basin
Objectives
• Gather IK from custodians• Validate findings• Integrate with science• Inform RCCP transboundary adaptation
responses• Replicable and transferable methodologies
and lessons
Methodology
• Study sites• Tools: storytelling, interviews, surveys,
shadowing, focus groups, seasonal calendars, traditional festivals etc
Methodology
• Questions: key focus on water– Sources: surface water, groundwater, rainfall– Perceptions and forecasting– Coping mechanisms– Natural resource protection, harvesting and storage– Livelihoods– Knowledge dissemination
• Gender/youth
Lessons learned
• Tap into existing structures e.g. OKACOM, Basin Wide Forum, Okavango Research Institute
• Hidden vulnerability• Social complexities• Validation / triangulation
Challenges
• Managing Expectations• Handout Mentality• Sample Representivity- Is it reflective of basin
issues• Scaling it up to basin level in line with our
vision (given politics, institutions)• Time and Patience consuming
Way Forward
• Keep research contextualised• Validation of IK• Information Dissemination • Participatory Adaptation Strategy• Engaging with OKACOM on integrating IK,
science, institutions to keep it sustainable
