Application of African indigenous knowledge systems and practices for climate change and disaster risk management for policy formulation

This paper assessed the application of the African indigenous knowledge of and practices for climate change and disaster risk management by African governments in policy formulation and implementation. Indigenous knowledge of and practices for climate change and disaster risk management have been used to respond to climate and disaster risk since antiquity. These indigenous practices have continuously been evolving with the change in human societies and their environment.

This paper concludes that in Africa, dominance of contemporary science, sometimes refer to as the 'Western version of science' or global science, has greatly led to the abandoning of the African Indigenous Knowledge (AIK) systems in formal decision-making process. However, recent years have witnessed increasing references to indigenous knowledge systems in policy documents.