Abstract:
Indigenous knowledge is knowledge that is unique to a given society. It is the foundation for local-level
decision-making in various situations such as in weather forecasting, agriculture, health care, food
preparation, education, natural resource management, etc. The main aim of this study was to explore the
indigenous knowledge practices of Borana community in predicting weather and managing drought
disasters. Tools such as interview questions, focus group discussion and observation checklist were used.
In selecting the study site, the researchers used purposive sampling technique and hence selected two
kebeles: Did-Yabello from Yabello woreda and Haro Bakke from Gomole woreda. The result revealed
that Borana people make forecasts by using the readings of intestines of slaughtered animals, observation
of celestial bodies and changes of part of plants and animal body languages which indicate the
occurrence of drought. The finding also showed that biological, atmospheric and astronomic indigenous
weather forecasting practices which indicate the coming of drought are very important knowledge for the
Borana community as weather information is vital information in preparation and prevention of disaster
which is caused due to drought. Based on the information, they use coping strategies to reduce its
damage. Problems of unreliability, poor documentation, oral-based knowledge transfer system, the
influence of religion and modern education, ageing and extinction of traditional experts were identified
as the challenges of Borana traditional weather forecast. Documenting the indigenous knowledge of
weather forecasting and integrating it with the meteorology data is recommended in order to reduce the
disaster that a drought causes.
