Are communities still reliant on indigenous weather forecasting?

Vincent Gono, Features Editor
BEFORE the advent of meteorological science and the accompanying instruments to measure wind speed, direction, density as well as atmospheric pressure and other weather phenomena, Africa had no shortage of information on weather patterns.

The indigenous people had a way of telling the seasons and would often do so perfectly well courtesy of their ability to read the language of nature. As a result, their timing for farming was always informed by the signs from animal behaviour, vegetation, the cosmos, the atmosphere and even humans. And they wouldn’t miss it.

Each community had its ways of weather forecasting and this is still the case in most rural African communities although it is slowly being overtaken by technology and a generation that doesn’t pay attention to indigenous knowledge systems.

Weather forecasting therefore, remains one of the remaining forms of knowledge systems that has refused to be swept under the veneer of globalisation that has continued to threaten the remaining vestiges of indigenous ways of life.

This is particularly so because the science of weather is almost universal and is informed by nature. By definition Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are knowledge forms that have originated locally and naturally and have survived for a very long time through the processes of acculturation and through kinship relationships.

They are handed down to posterity through oral tradition and so many other cultural practices forming adhesives that bind society as they constitute communicative processes through which knowledge is transmitted, preserved, and acquired by humans in their different geographical areas.

IKS lecturer at Great Zimbabwe University Dr Faith Sibanda says he has a strong conviction that rural communities not only in Zimbabwe but in Africa and other geographic regions still rely on IKS methods of weather forecasting and it’s working well for them.

He said most rural communities have no access to modern technology such as TVs or weather stations where they could access information on weather patterns with those who have TVs now watching foreign programs through dstv where they do not have access to local predictions.

“Being very traditional as they are, local people especially in rural communities would not surely sit in darkness and not use the knowledge that they have, so yes, they still rely on IKS.

The use of what happens in the sky like when the sun has a yellowish circle, they interpret it to suggest that rains are plenty in the coming season, the use of certain birds and the sounds they make, for instance Inkanku a rarely seen bird among the Ndebele is a sure sign that the rains are fast approaching,” noted Dr Sibanda.

He added that local people have a way of predicting weather using the density of the air and the wind, the direction and the speed could help them make their interpretations.

“Just like in the traditional past, behaviour of certain animals such as baboons if they visit homesteads it is interpreted to symbolise famine. It’s interesting to suggest that few people wait for the weather bulletin which on its own is a sign that modern methods have never been popular among locals. They, according to my research, have always relied on their own IKS when it comes to weather issues,” he highlighted.

IKS, he posits, unlike modern knowledge, is not owned by a single person. Basically, there is no big brother attitude in IKS where one claims to know everything. The knowledge is co-owned because it is for the benefit of everyone.

Experience counts more in IKS, and it is usually the experience of the whole community not of one person.

He said here and there, there may be diviners who have the gift of foretelling weather patterns, but, even in that case, ancestors would be the ones who imbue that person with the gift so that it benefits the whole community. Otherwise, the common day-to-day weather predictions are just general knowledge by every member of the community. It’s community knowledge.

IKS, Dr Sibanda offered, is community owned so no one can resist what the community believes in. He said even those in churches start to pray for rains after they have been informed by IKS that the weather is not good, it needs prayers.

Historian and cultural activist Mr Pathisa Nyathi indigenous knowledge systems were informed by observation, memory, repetition and conclusion. He said the understanding of the language of nature was important in the interpretation of meaning which communities have been relying on.

“Summer announces itself in winter while winter announces itself in summer. So, we are saying nature speaks clearly and it’s up to humans to extract meaning from the signs offered by nature.

“We have insects such as amatheza that announce the rains in the immediate term. We can also observe birds and how they build their nests along the river or water sources.

The height of the nests predict the amount of rains to be received that season with low nests meaning low rainfall. Some trees also shed off fruits as a sign that there will be low rainfall so they will be left with fruits that they can sustain,” said Mr Nyathi.

He said people have lost the language of nature meant to be made use of so that there would be choice of seed in time for better preparation for the agriculture season although there were communities still relying on it.

He also talked about things such as umbumbulu, a wild fruit whose abundance is a precursor to a drought season and further said people with fractures and those who delivered through caesarian section would often foretell weather through their bodies.

Mr Nyathi however, emphasised the need for Africans to remain African through use of their knowledge systems and indigenous crops that do not require too much chemicals as part of solutions to their food insecurity problems.
He said the science of meteorology was not very far divorced from the indigenous ways of predicting weather except that there are particular averages and a little numerical since there is use of measuring tools to tell even the length of the season and advise on variety of crops to grow.

Mr Sam Sibanda a communal farmer in Matobo district confirmed the use of IKS in weather forecasting saying they rely on what had been passed to them by their forefathers.

He said in some communities a fire would be seen in certain mountains and people would know that the rains are not very far. He noted that although there was a geological explanation to it, the trend had a different meaning to the locals especially that it happens at a particular time of the year.