Bridging the Knowledge Gap through Documenting Indigenous Early warning indicators in areas prone to climate-induced natural disasters in Zimbabwe

This proposed study is a follow-on project to a just ended project whose aim was to inventory the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) assets affected by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Chipinge and Buhera districts in Zimbabwe. One of the findings of the ICH project was that there were a number of indigenous early warning indicators which were witnessed in the affected communities just prior to the cyclone, but unfortunately no one took heed, they inadvertently ignored the signals or as the narratives portray, some of them failed to interpret the warning that nature was sending them. The main reason for ignoring the indigenous warnings or signals was lack of understanding of the indigenous early warning indicators. This study therefore proposes to investigate further the indigenous early warning indicators in areas prone to climate-induced natural disasters in Zimbabwe. The areas that will be the study sites for the project, which have been observed to be vulnerable over the years, are Chimanimani, Chipinge and Buhera, which are districts prone to cyclones and Muzarabani, Mbire, and Binga districts, which are prone to droughts.

Nature has been reported to send signals or warnings before a disaster strikes as attested in literature on indigenous knowledge and early warning systems in different regions of the world, that is, Howell (2003) on Bangladesh; Oluchiri (2019) on Kenya; UNEP (2007) on Eswatini, Kenya, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, among other examples. There is therefore ample evidence in the literature that there are indigenous early warning indicators which vary across geographical zones. The proposed study seeks to document early warning indicators in the identified areas in Zimbabwe with the aim of providing valuable insights into early warning indicators as well as building capacity by bridging the knowledge gap in the local areas in early warning so that the local communities are able to interpret them and take appropriate action. These localised early warning indicators will be mainstreamed into policy and curricula at primary, secondary and tertiary level.

The proposed research will be implemented through four (4) work packages, which are linked to the four (4) objectives outlined in the objectives section. The work packages include; (i) inventorying indigenous early warning indicators in six districts (Buhera, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Mbire, Binga, and Muzarabani) prone to climate-induced natural disasters in Zimbabwe, (ii) development of a learning module, including producing a documentary video, using the identified indigenous early warning indicators for climate-induced natural disasters and facilitate the incorporation of the module into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula in Zimbabwe, (iii) development of a mobile or electronic application to help disseminate and sensitisation of communities on the identified indigenous early warning indicators for climate-induced natural disasters in Zimbabwe, and (iv) facilitation of the incorporation of indigenous early warning indicators for climate-induced natural disasters into the risk reduction framework (SENDAI Framework) used in Zimbabwe.

The study will use qualitative enquiry and data collection through gender-separated focus group
discussions, key informant interviews with identified knowledgeable members of the community, stakeholder workshops and consultative meetings. All discussions and interviews will be conducted in the local language, recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated to English. Data analysis will employ a thematic analysis. A documentary will be produced.