Abstract:
How can indigenous and western scientific knowledge engage climate
change dynamics collectively? The study addressed the question through
the analysis of primary and secondary data. The primary data was
sourced from key informant interviews, group discussion and
questionnaire administered to 90 indigenes while the secondary data,
which comprised statistics on temperature and rainfall, was obtained
from the Wa weather station. The results revealed increasing temperature
from 27.5oC in 1970 to 28.6 oC in 2010, an increase ranging between
1.1oC – 1.6oC, and compatible outcomes from the two knowledge claims.
Other findings included increasing wet rains and decreasing dry rains.
The net effect on rainfall showed a generally decreasing trend over the
period 1961- 2011 at the rate of y = -0.8685x + 1067.5. However,
indigenous indicators revealed increasing rainfall, confirming
incompatible outcomes from the two knowledge sources. The two
knowledge sources know climate and any change thereof from
accumulated historical information. Indigenous knowledge does this
through lived experiences in a repetitive process stored in oral tradition
and symbols. Western scientific knowledge does the same through
observation, measurement and analysis, of which reports are stored in
hard form (paper copies) or soft form (digital copies). Therefore,incompatible outcomes raise questions about intrinsic values and
weaknesses embedded in the separate methods.