Improving Information Uptake for Climate Change Adaptation by Integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems with Climate Information Services

Abstract: Subsistence farmers in the developing world are one of the most vulnerable groups to the impacts of climate change. Strengthening their adaptive capacity requires information to inform their climate and agricultural-related decisions. Climate information services offer great potential to inform farmers’ decision-making, enabling households to strengthen their ability to manage climate-related risks and to increase their agricultural productivity. However, climate information services often fail to build upon existing local capacities, e.g. indigenous knowledge systems, reducing the uptake of information, and subsequently the potential for enhancing resilience. Accordingly, the aim of this thesis was to: increase the knowledge about the potential to improve information uptake for climate change adaptation by integrating indigenous knowledge systems with climate information services. This was achieved through the application of two methods: 1) scoping study of the scientific literature, and 2) case study focusing on the Karamoja Sub-region of Northeast Uganda. Through the scoping study interrelated factors influencing information uptake were identified, they were: 1) access to information, 2) source of information, 3) utilisation of information, and 4) perceived usefulness of information source. The extent to which these factors were evident in Karamoja was subsequently examined through the analysis of household-level questionnaire data collected by the World Food Programme. It was discovered that farmers in Karamoja have low levels of access to information and that often the information is not tailored appropriately, reducing its utilisation. Furthermore, it was revealed that farmers rely upon indigenous knowledge systems for agricultural and climate information and that they perceive indigenous sources and modern sources as equally useful. These findings demonstrate that there is potential to improve information uptake for climate change adaptation in the region by integrating indigenous knowledge systems with climate information services. This thesis contributes to the existing knowledge on information uptake for climate change adaptation from indigenous knowledge systems and climate information systems by providing an extensive review of the scientific literature and a detailed analysis of a context specific case study. Importantly, issues were identified that can be addressed by policy and decision makers to improve information uptake for climate change adaptation through the integration of indigenous knowledge systems with climate information systems.