Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge in weather and climate forecast for planning farm activities by farmers in Imo State, Nigeria
Date
2018-12-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Juniper Publishers
Abstract
The study assessed the relevance of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) on weather and climate forecasting for planning farm activities by farmers in Southeast, Nigeria. Questionnaire was used to elicit information from a total of 360 farmers, complement with oral interview. Mean (M) was used to analyze data. Results showed that IK indicators commonly used for weather and climate forecasting fall into 3 categories namely trees, animals and atmospheric indicators. The IK indicators used to predict the dry season and harmattan were-fruits drying/falling off from trees, increase occurrence of termites, shedding of tree (M=2.40), appearance of rainbows (M=2.53) among others. The indicators for onset of the rains included flowering of trees (M=304), heavy budding of acacia tree species (M=300), dormancy breaking in certain tree/fruit species, Others were appearances of large number of ants, frequent sounds of frogs, appearance of ant hill, appearance of millipedes, appearances of army worms, dark clouds appearance, body feels heat at night, increased body pain, mist covering hilly areas among other signs. As a recommendation, the knowledge of indigenous peoples should be included when designing climate change adaptation strategies in SSA.
Description
A journal article on Indigenous Knowledge in weather and climate forecast for planning farm activities with tables. The work is licensed under Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Keywords
Weather, Climate change, Planning, Forecast, Indigenous knowledge, Department of Agricultural Extension
Citation
Chikaire, J. U., Ajaero, J. O., Ibe M. N., Orusha, J. O. & Onogu, B. (2018). Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge in weather and climate forecast for planning farm activities by farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Agricultural Research & Technology, Open Access. Vol. 19(1): pp. 001-005