The shift from flood protection to flood risk management, together with recent arguments on incorporating culture in managing risk, underscores the application of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in managing disasters from flood hazards. Yet, documentation and incorporation of TEK into practice remains a challenge. This article contributes to addressing this challenge by exploring the existence of TEK to flooding in the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda. Using semi-structured interviews, data were collected from residents of the Nyamwamba watershed where intense flash floods caused deadly impacts in May 2013. Collected data were analysed using content, thematic and interpretive analysis techniques. Results indicate that TEK is exhibited through various traditional ecological approaches (TEAs). Although endangered, TEAs (conducted through collective action for a communally accepted end) are framed in three main activities: (1) assessment and prediction of rainfall and flood by the traditional hydro-meteorologist (
With the increasing emphasis on building resilience to natural hazards (UNISDR
Through interactions with their hydrological systems, indigenous people accumulate intimate perceptions and experiences through observation, sharing, monitoring and evaluation of how flood hazards progress into disasters (Iloka
Flood risk management is the contemporary paradigm in hazard and disaster risk management. It emerged after realisation of (1) the historic and inexorable utilisation of the precious riverine ecosystem resources for socio-economic development (Hyndman & Hyndman
The concept of resilience to flood disaster(s) underscores the application of TEK. Linked with TEK are the various traditional ecological approaches (TEAs), which are creative practices employed by communities-at-risk to deal with flood disaster. The motive to devise TEAs to flooding underscores, firstly, the awareness or perception of flood risk by the communities-at-risk and, secondly, the belief in their abilities to manage and/or reduce the risk and so is the possibility to implement measures (Iloka
This study contributes to the documentation of and the ongoing scholarly debate on incorporating TEK in FRM. More specifically, the study was conducted (1) to explore the existence of TEK and (2) to highlight TEAs that might be relevant to flood risk science and effective FRM in the Nyamwamba watershed (Rwenzori Mountain Region, Uganda). In this watershed (
Location of Nyamwamba River in south-western Uganda (Africa).
Sample damages caused by floods in the Nyamwamba watershed; pictures are from the Nyamwamba catchment on the Nyamwamba watershed. (a) Destruction of bridges, (b) cows trapped in flood, (c) destruction of live lines and (d) destruction of residential buildings.
This study was carried out along the Nyamwamba watershed, the hotspot in the Rwenzori Mountain Region, Uganda. The watershed covers 326 km2 and lies within the Lake Victoria Basin (Eggermont, Van Damme & Russell
Two annual rainfall seasons (August to December and March to May) trigger landslides and floods (Eggermont et al.
Whereas the severest (01 May 2013) flood event in this watershed was reported as unprecedented (Jacobs et al.
To achieve the objective of this study, which was to investigate the existence of TEK to flooding in the Rwenzori, a qualitative research approach was employed. Although this approach allows for small purposive samples (Clifford et al.
Selection of the purposive sample was guided by the Ministry in Charge of ‘Ethics, Integrity, Disasters and Regional Recovery’ in the local cultural institution, ‘Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu’ (De Hontheim
As this study required the most knowledgeable participants, some inclusion criteria were further added. Participants were included based on a twofold criterion: (1) being a resident of the community-at-risk of flooding (Nyamwamba watershed in particular) from the time of birth (till the time the study was conducted) and (2) minimum age of 50 years. In both, it was to ensure that the participants are those with adequate historic account of flood dynamics and traditional practices in the area. Based on these criteria, 10 participants were selected for the interviews.
Between 08 March 2017 and 30 March 2017, an interview guide was administered to the 10 participants. The guide included questions on four main themes: (1) the historic practices employed by the communities-at-risk to address flood disasters, (2) the historic practices which are still practised, (3) the historic practices which are no longer practised and (4) understanding the reasons for those that are no longer practised. Field noting and audio recording were used to capture the data during interviews. After that, the collected data were transcribed, coded and sorted for analysis.
The content, thematic and interpretive analyses were used to analyse the data. Working through the transcribed data, codes were assigned to the various homogenous categories in the text. These guided the creation of themes for the interpretive analysis. The analysis of the results was guided by the question: ‘Which TEAs, in the Rwenzori, could be further studied, fine-tuned and incorporated into the modern FRM?’
Consistent with the themes derived from the analysis, the TEK to flooding in the Rwenzori is arranged under four main categories of TEAs: firstly, the historic TEAs to flood events (including the rituals and the planting of cultural flood-immunising indigenous plants); secondly, the TEAs in practice; thirdly, TEAs no longer practiced; and fourthly, understanding reasons for (not) practising some TEAs (
Status of traditional ecological responses.
Practice | Details |
---|---|
Done, to a limited extent, by some spiritual media [ |
|
No longer practised, but the cultural institution (Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu) plans to revitalise it. | |
Planting indigenous plants | Still practised by some individuals along the Nyamwamba River. |
Verbatim description of factors that could have threatened traditional ecological approaches to flooding in the Rwenzori.
Factor | Description (verbatim) |
---|---|
(Christian) religion | ‘Religion has monopolized the whole system; people feel shy to talk about these practices as they do not wish to be identified as against the God of Christianity [who is taken to be superior to the other gods that traditional religions used to revere]’. (Interviewee C, personal interview, 13 March 2017) |
Gazetting of the Rwenzori Mountains National Park | ‘Most of the practices were done deep in[side] the forest [Rwenzori Mountain]; it is now gazetted and under the park [Rwenzori Mountains National Park]; anybody found there is thought to have broken the law, and some people have been shot dead because of this’. (Interviewee J, personal interview, 28 March 2017). ‘Even when they permit some cultural practices inside the park, they want to know what the practice is about, yet some rituals do not allow for informing anybody’. (Interviewee C, personal interview, 13 March 2017) |
Death of some practitioners | ‘Some people who used to carry out these activities, such as |
Destabilisation of the cultural institutions | ‘The cultural institutions were abolished [destabilised] during the regime of Obote; [therefore] the traditional practitioners laid down their tools’. (Interviewee F, personal interview, 17 March 2017) |
According to the participants,
The activity of traditional rain-making, according to participants, is one where the
The acts by
Participants defined the term
In the
According to the participants, during mountain cleansing, the ridge leader (a chieftain, [
‘The practice [used to] start in the hills up, with slaughtering of certain animals and preparing some concoctions.’ (Interviewee D, personal interview, 13 March 2017)
‘…blood from slaughtered animals is also sprinkled along the way; some of the meats from the slaughtered animals are eaten by the participants and others are thrown along the way in the procession, and the practice ends down in the low land, chanting songs specific to the calamity.’ (Interviewee G, personal interview., 23 March 2017)
‘… to chase away the bad spirits that cause it’. (Interviewee C, personal interview., 13 March 2017)
According to the participants, in addition to the rituals, some indigenous plants are identified and planted along the river and watershed as flood immunisers. The frequently mentioned indigenous plants were:
Participants frequently mentioned that all TEAs are threatened and are at a standstill (
Data from the participants agreed to the view, in general, that most of the TEAs are not being practised (
Furthermore, regarding subjective opinions on whether revitalisation of some measures would contribute to FRM, participants frequently mentioned:
‘[…] they [TEAs] can still help […] we have changed to a religion alien to ours; we are now practicing their [missionaries’] culture (Interviewee J, personal interview, 28 March 2017)
‘… we have moved away from our culture to their culture […] our culture can still work for us’. (Interviewee C, personal interview, 13 March 2017)
This study focused on exhibiting the existence of TEK to reducing the impact and risk of flooding, and highlighting the TEAs linked to it that might be relevant for effective FRM in the Rwenzori Mountain Region. The analysis and interpretation of responses from the participants reveal the two cleansing rituals (
While most of the TEAs to flooding are at standstill (and threatened), (1) interest and/or tribute is still paid to them, and (2) they can be reconstructed by some members in the community. This means that in case they are found to effectively reduce the risk of flooding, they would easily be revitalised and incorporated into both the modern flood risk science and the modern measures to address (adverse) impacts of flood events. Of course, the question remains on how these TEAs can be proven to be effective when they appear as beliefs. As belief systems indicate what communities are likely to adopt (Cannon
The interest in and the reconstruction of the TEK observed reveal the persistence of and the importance TEAs could still have within the Rwenzori: despite the campaigns (and other cited factors) against them, TEAs are still of interest to the people that hold belief in them. Such is the role that culture can play in disaster risk management (Cannon
In general, the described TEAs indicate a clear mode of traditional FRM which can be relevant for scientific FRM. In the scientific perspective, FRM constitutes of three main strands: (1) risk assessment, which involves assessing the hazard and the capacity of those exposed; (2) risk reduction, which involves identifying and implementing certain measures; and (3) response and recovery, which involves the rescue and relief during and after disasters, respectively – overall, FRM aims at reducing the risks and/or threats and maximising any benefits related to hazards (Smith & Petley
A socio-cultural attachment to water resources (and socio-cultural practices to manage those resources) is eminent. The motive seems not only managing the flood hazard but also ensuring that the water resources are not exploited by extremes in environmental conditions. This motive is exemplified in the hierarchical framework linked to the cultural institutional administration of the water resources. This cultural administration is recognised as an arbitrating authority for any deviant behaviour to the management of hydrological resources (e.g. for cutting or not planting cultural flooding immunising plants). This manifests the value that the community attached to the hydrological resources. Such a socio-hydrological orientation to addressing flooding is highlighted by various scholars (Fuchs et al.
The described traditional resilience to hazards through the TEAs seems a score on the part of this community. However, it also underscores the readiness of the community to appreciate measures that hardly compromise this status quo. More specifically, resistance from such a community might arise if such traditional abilities are confronted (Kottak
All identified TEAs manifest the fact of using context-specific environment resources to come to terms with environmental events. In the rituals and the planting of cultural flood-immunising indigenous plants, it is noted that certain types of plants and animals are referred to (as used in the process of remedying or preventing the flood disasters). This exemplifies the continuous co-evolution and interaction between nature and humans. This co-evolution and interaction constitutes the local ecologies which explain the spatial relations of humans with their particular environment (Arms
The use of environmental resources (and the entire related practices) to come to terms with nature is accustomed to a Bantu (of which the Nyamwamba community in the Rwenzori is part). Referring to the Bantu, Tempels (
The rituals and the planting of cultural plants illustrate how the traditional community has strong attachment to the invisible world. From the science point of view, the invisible world is hard to comprehend, especially when linked with traditional (African) religions which involve a place attachment (as it seems the case for the Rwenzori). It is argued that religious place attachment seems incapable of enhancing preparedness (Mishra, Mazumdar & Suar
Belief in the invisible or religious explanation of the hazards (and consequent disasters) would mean belief in fatalism or determinism and most likely doing nothing, as the spirits would have more power than humans (Smith & Petley
Apparently, whether or not the spirits that are referred to in the rituals (or in the immunising cultural plants) exist, is a question of what they actually mean by ‘spirit’ and the practice of appeasing spirits. Framed from the viewpoint of Tempels (
Indigenous species (among which is bamboo plants) have been cited to have more incentive for the local [bio]diversity in various indigenous communities. The study of the impact of deforestation on flood risk in developing countries by Bradshaw et al. (
The preceding sections illustrated that TEAs in the Rwenzori could enhance approaches for addressing impact and risk posed by flood hazards. Moreover, the practice of planting indigenous plants is found much consonant with contemporary flood risk science (where planting of trees and preservation of wetlands is now being emphasised). However, religion and conservation of the Rwenzori Mountains ecosystems seems to have continuously provided a setback to the traditional practices.
Various scholars frequently attribute the occurrence of extreme environmental events (in Africa) on the disappearance of traditional approaches that used to address them (Iloka
What has the practice of a Christian region to do with TEAs? This study shows that TEAs are not about the practice of a religion in the perspective of the modern religion. It is noted that the ‘
Related to the religious issue is the view that
Human population increase is echoed as a seed for environmental degradation. Quite famous regarding this aspect is the concept of the ‘
Even though further investigations are required, it can be inferred that TEK (and the linked TEAs) are
In the Rwenzori, the existence of the TEK is framed in various TEAs. An interpretation is proposed to link TEAs to effective FRM in the Nyamwamba watershed (Rwenzori Mountains) where on 01 May 2013 floods caused deadly impacts. More specifically, this study has (1) documented the TEAs to flooding that were used in the past, (2) highlighted those that are still relevant to contemporary flood risk science and (3) illustrated their relevance to effectively manage flooding in the Rwenzori. From the TEAs, the most relevant to contemporary flood science include (1) the planting of culturally immunising indigenous species and (2) the ritual of mountain cleansing practice which appears to have been used as an awareness-raising platform. Indigenous species are important for improving hydrological and riparian systems, thereby reduce the chances of flooding (compared to species that are alien to riverine catchments). Although the ritual practices were found difficult to understand from a scientific epistemic point of view, it is noted that there might exist some undiscovered science(s) because of the seeming pattern behind them; for instance, the diviner and rainmaker seem related to hydrological prediction and weather forecasting respectively. Considering that this study only confirms the existence of TEAs to flooding in Rwenzori, a full-scale study of each TEA will be relevant to effective FRM in the Rwenzori in particular and to flood risk science in general. In the full-scale study of the TEAs, it will be interesting to involve the religious and conservationists. More specifically, an epistemic illustration is relevant to indicate how the TEAs and their associated spirits are not religious, but rather ecological and that they compromise neither religious doctrine nor conservation (at least in the primary sense).
The authors thank the field participants for their time spent in interviews. They also thank the editor(s) and anonymous reviewers for the constructive feedback that improved this article. Courses leading to the writing of this article received partial financial support from the project on Institutional Strengthening of Post-Graduate Training at Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Gulu University (RU-2016 NG-49).
The authors declare that there are no financial or personal relationship(s) that have inappropriately influenced the writing of this article.
B.B. initiated and shared the research idea, drafted the concept, coordinated the data collection and analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. M.M. and M.N. assessed the draft concept of the manuscript, made conceptual guidance to collect right data and made critical intellectual adjustments on the first manuscript to make it a clear scientifically and logically drafted manuscript. All authors assessed and approved the final copy of the manuscript for submission.
Indigenous knowledge is that body of