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- Convenor:
-
Gabriel Tati
(University of the Western Cape)
Send message to Convenor
- Discussant:
-
Gabriel Tati
(University of the Western Cape)
- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Climate change
- Location:
- Room 1199
- Sessions:
- Thursday 9 June, -
Time zone: Europe/Berlin
Short Abstract:
The impacts of climate change are being felt at different geographical levels across Africa. The panel discusses the role of the indigenous knowledge systems and that of the climate science in the generation of needed information for action in Africa.
Long Abstract:
Climate change affects the planet with different impacts. It is arguably one of the biggest challenges Africa, whichever the sub-region under consideration, has ever faced. African societies have traditionally relied on culturally and naturally embedded knowledge, learnt over centuries, to carry out pro-climate agricultural practices, protection of ancestral forests and rivers, limited deforestation, sea walling, dam construction, coastal marine protection and sustainable marine resources extraction. In the traditional societies, the reliance on indigenous knowledge contributed a symbiosis between mankind and nature.
Climate change occurs in a context of increasing consumption and production patterns that generate multifaceted vulnerabilities (food, water, health systems) that are central to the impacts that Africa currently experiences (cyclones, heating, flooding, rising sea level, to name a few). Such vulnerabilities are to be guided by knowledge brought about by either climate science or by indigenous knowledge systems or a combination of both to meet the demands for information. The panel addresses the following inter-related questions.
1) How is the warming climate experienced at the local level from a cultural lens?
2) What are the interventions being locally led, and what are the systems of knowledge production guiding these interventions?
'3) Is information about the climate change from the climate science complementary to indigenous knowledge , and how is this used in local production (farming, fisheries, urban planningand health services)?
Abstracts of about 250 words are solicited for this panel. The proposed contributions must be preferably built on empirical case studies.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 9 June, 2022, -Ronald Reagan Gyimah (University of Ghana)
Paper short abstract:
Urban heat is a significant environmental issue facing African cities. This panel discusses the debate surrounding urban heat effect in tropical Africa.
Paper long abstract:
Global warming and rapid population increase are two of the most pressing issues in today world. There is a lot of evidence to support rising temperatures. The urban heat island effect is a significant environmental issue facing cities today. Though this issue has gained much attention in research articles from developed countries, emerging countries like tropical Africa have yet to grapple with it on a significant scale. This paper examines the rising research dimensions and major techniques in studying urban heat effects. Scholarly publications were culled through the use of a systematic review procedure. This study looked at 37 papers in total. According to the findings, quantitative research approaches such as remote sensing are more commonly used to analyze the impact of urban heat than ground use technology, which has a limited application in Africa. Various urban heat effects are caused by urbanization and other human factors, and this has an impact on many elements of life, including morbidity, mortality, birth weight decrease, and social strife. It is recommended that research into the urban heat effect in Africa should be prioritized.
Idrissa Cisse (université Paris Nanterre)
Paper short abstract:
Les études sur les changements climatiques se basent sur des analyses de données statistiques d'une zones géographique donnée: pays, région etc.Ces études prennent rarement en compte les perceptions sociétales sur de petites échelles d'étude. Notre étude portera sur une confrontation de données.
Paper long abstract:
Dans les sociétés agricoles et rurales de la zone de Bakel, le changement climatique se réfère au changement qui affecte la pluviométrie dont dépendent les grands domaines d’activités que sont l’agriculture, l’élevage, la pêche et la chasse. Cette zone frontalière de la Mauritanie qui en fait la porte du désert a survécu jusqu’à la fin des années 60 grâce aux activités agricoles qui rythment les saisons et la division du temps chez les soninkés. Les années 1970 constituent un tournant décisif dans l’accélération du changement climatique avec la grande sécheresse qui inaugure, de manière durable (structurelle), la diminution du volume des pluies et l’écourtement de l’hivernage. De mémoire d’homme, la zone n’a jamais connu une telle sécheresse qui va entraîner des bouleversements notables au niveau du calendrier. Le calendrier Soninké est divisé en trois saisons que sont: le Xaaxo (l’hivernage), le Mulle (la saison froide), le Kineyi (la saison sèche).
Notre communication se portera sur une analyse juxtaposée des données pluviométriques modélisées et des perceptions locales sur les changements climatiques basées sur des enquêtes de terrain
Desmond Klu (University of Health and Allied Sciences)
Paper short abstract:
Using Community-based Risk Screening Tool-Adaptation and Livelihoods tool This study sought to explore the perspectives of community stakeholders on the impact of climate-related hazard on the health and livelihood of vulnerable population at risk to the incidence of malaria.
Paper long abstract:
Malaria as a vector-borne disease has over the years morphed from being a health crisis to a development crisis over the past decade. A multifaceted and comprehensive approach is therefore required in dealing with this issue that affects human growth and development as well as productivity in the long run.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has argued that expected changes in temperature and precipitation will impact the natural habitats of mosquitoes, altering the prevalence of the vector in some areas and potentially exposing new areas and populations to malaria and other vector-borne diseases. However, there is sparse research on climatic related interventions (bottom up approach) aimed at reducing the incidence of malaria in the sub-region. This study sought to explore the perspectives of community stakeholders on the impact of climate-related hazard on the health and livelihood of vulnerable population at risk to the incidence of malaria in malaria endemic communities using Community-based Risk Screening Tool-Adaptation and Livelihoods (CRiSTAL) tool. This study will use a mixed methods approach, using a combination of participatory methods such as focus group discussions (FGDs), transect walks, and key informants’ interviews (KIIs).
This study is expected to contribute to existing malaria-climate change literature to help reduce the high incidence of malaria in endemic communities. The findings of this study will highlight the impact of climatic conditions on malaria on different vulnerable population on their health and livelihood at the community level. This study is expected to examine community livelihood resources that are most affected.