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Traditional and Local Knowledge Practices for Disaster Risk Reduction in Northern Ghana

Nsioh Macnight Ngwese,O. Saito,Akiko Sato,Y. Boafo,G. S. Jasaw

Published 2018 in Sustainability

ABSTRACT

In order to deal with recurrent disasters, like floods and droughts coupled with the limited adaptive capacity, in the semiarid regions of Northern Ghana, local communities have no choice but to apply traditional and local knowledge practices. This study seeks to identify such practices employed in selected rural communities in Northern Ghana and to investigate their effectiveness. Data were collected through key informant interviews, household questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions, and participant observations. The findings indicated that although diverse practices were applied to predict and manage local disaster events, skepticism prevailed among locals toward these practices regarding their effectiveness. Due to the lack of science-based tools and systems for disaster prediction and management, local communities continually depended on these knowledge systems and practices. Integrating local and traditional disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts into modern scientific knowledge should be encouraged in order to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to disasters with thorough effectiveness evaluation protocols.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2018

  • Venue

    Sustainability

  • Publication date

    2018-03-15

  • Fields of study

    Sociology, Geography, Economics, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.3390/SU10030825
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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