Kajiado County has integrated traditional and scientific knowledge on weather to predict the weather, especially during the March to May long rainy season.
In a two-day participatory climate scenario planning workshop organized by the county, the Kenya Climate Change Working Group, Kenya Meteorological Department, Christian Aid and Amref Kenya, traditional weather experts and officers from the Kenya Meteorological Department were given a chance to predict the weather for the next three months.
The traditional weather experts slaughtered a goat and were able to determine that the county will receive above-average rainfall, a finding that was in agreement with that from the Kenya Meteorological Department.
“The goat’s intestines have shown that there will be average rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms from the end of March. The stars alignment has also shown the same,” said Mzee Sakimba Mbuyu, a traditional weather expert.
On his part, the Kajiado County Director of Meteorology, Benson Lubanga, said that the purpose of participatory scenario planning is to integrate the indigenous and the scientific knowledge, and the conclusion of the forecast is the same: Kajiado County will receive near-average to above-average rainfall.
“We are on common ground. The three forecasts, namely the goat’s intestine examination, the stars, and the scientific, have forecasted that Kajiado is going to experience near-average to above-average rainfall,” said Lubanga.
Former Meteorological Officer Francis Nguatah said that weather forecasting has been happening ever since ancient times, though people have mostly been doubting what the scientists predict.
He remarked that incorporating the traditional and scientific weather forecast is good, as those who doubt the scientific way of forecasting will believe the traditional forecast and plan ahead.
Dr. Leina Mpoke, the acting county secretary, said that participatory scenario planning is a process that has been going as it supports modulated pastoralism, which is one of the county government’s pillars.
“As a county government, we are very happy that we have a blend of local knowledge systems and practices with the experts. The main objective is to be able to develop advisories for livestock and crop farmers to be able to use that weather prediction to inform their practices in livestock and crop production,” said Mpoke.
Michael Semera, the County Executive Committee Member for Water, Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, noted that the information from the forecasting will help them plan on how to harvest rainwater and how to tackle the ipomoea menace in the county.
He revealed that the county will help farmers with grass seedlings to grow once they have uprooted the ipomoea weed as soon as the rains commence.
By Diana Meneto
