Indigenous and
traditional knowledge
for adaptationAddressing gender and other guiding principles of NAPs
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim
AFPAT Coordinator
July 2016
How indigenous traditional knowledge
(ITK) can contribute to adaptation
Indigenous people are deeply
connected to their environment.
Traditional knowledge are used
to anticipate the changes in
weather patters
Traditional knowledge can
provide a very accurate mapping
of natural resources
All these knowledges :
Are threaten by climate change
But can also be shared to helps
local communities to adapt
The Case of the Mbororo People
Nomadic and semi-nomadic herders
living in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria
250.000 in Chad (1993 estimation of national statistic)
This community developed a large array of indigenous traditional practices based on their interactions in their living environment and their empirical experiments in their attempts to improve the quality of their lives.
building on traditional knowledge systems to cope with seasonal weather patterns and sustainably manage meagre resources
Challenges for M’bororo people facing
climate change
Seasonal migration challengesWhere the Mbororo Peoples and
Official Science Meet
Climate science uses modern monitoring and forecasting systems to generate and provide a wide range of information on past, present and future
Local decision making: information & other factors e.g. social networks, local loyalties, cultural values, intuition, beliefs and age-old trust in traditional predictive systems.
Ordinary people experience great difficulties in making their voice heard by scientists.
Communications challenges are found along a continuum
Long
• Mobility over more than 1000 Km (up to DRC)
Medium • Mobility up to 700 km (Nord to
South Chad)
Short
• Mobility up to 100 km (in one Region)
3-D participatory mapping – an example of
indigenous peoples knowledge mobilization
Using ICT methodology
Workshop with men and women from the community
Participants associated to the map creation
Workshop to implement the outcome of the project with the communities
Mapping of all natural resources in one area:
Water
Pasture
Soils
Plants and crops
A positive impacts for adaptation
Conflict resolution:
climate change will increase the tensions for natural resources. 3D Mapping and ITK helps to share the resources and to use it more efficiently
Agriculture adaptation :
ITK can helps farmers to identify crops resistant to droughts or floods
ITK can help to identify by anticipating changes in weather patters.
Health :
ITK can helps to identify and protect plants and trees used by traditional medicine
Traditional medicine provide access to health services to
the poorest, and basis for scientific research
The Paris Agreement encourages the use of
indigenous peoples traditional knowledge
Paris Agreement Article 7 :
10 key principles for ITK inclusions in
NAPs
1. Community control, a rights-based approach & an ethical framework will build trust and cooperation
2. An intersectoral approach will create greater coherence
3. Facilitate interaction of science and ITK
4. Conserve wild resources and ecosystems
5. Conflict-sensitive adaptation and ITK need to be linked
6. Security of tenure and legal considerations of customary land management will influence long-term sustainability
7. Customary natural resource governance is part of ITK approaches to adaptation
8. Technology can be a useful bridge between oral ITK and the need for data and physical planning tools
9. Gender-sensitive approach
10. Involve the schools to facilitate linkages between ITK, skills development and formal schooling
How to mobilize Indigenous Peoples
Knowledges in National Adaptation Plans
Key Principles Examples of implementation
Participation /
Inclusiveness
Organized workshop with IP representatives and communities for NAPs
definition & implementation
Gender Create specific dialogue to mobilize women’ knowledge
Funding Allow direct access to civil society organization and indigenous
communities to climate finance, in particular for small-scale projects