Stop climate change
Nganyi Climate Action SDG Laboratory
97% of climate experts agree.
We humans are causing climate crisis.
Who we are?
In November 2020, Climate Action SDG Laboratory (CASLab) established the Nganyi Climate Action Lab in Nairobi and Vihiga Counties.
In Nairobi county, we wanted to know how COVID-19 was affecting the Informal Settlement women in Waruku Nairobi
To control the spread of coronavirus, the Kenyan Ministry of Health COVID-19 Taskforce implemented initial prevention and mitigation measures. These included encouraging the public to wash their hands, wear face masks and stay home.But not all these women who will be able to adhere to these because they rely on a daily wage and cannot afford to stay home. Many of informal settlement women who live in Nairobi’s low-income settlements which are overcrowded and where sanitation and social distancing measures are near impossible to maintain.
We realized that so far most of the prevention methods are being adopted by most of our targeted women group, but most of them are still struggling: most of them are missing meals, have lost their casual work which has forced the cost of living to rise.When it came to wearing face masks, some women said they had worn one, others said they sometime wore the face mask when they are outside of the home while others don’t wear a face mask because they are unaffordable.
Hand-washing was also a widely adopted practice by this woman, they said most public spaces where they selling their vegetables have hand-washing stations, but there were some barriers to regular handwashing due to the lack of access to water to some home and that they could not to afford extra soap or water.Most of these women said they had had skipped a meal or eaten less during the pandemic period, because they did not have enough money to buy food.
In Vihiga county, we wanted to know how Nganyi rainmakers use their traditional knowledge on weather prediction.
The Nganyi forest tract has been designated a shrine because of its importanceto the community. “Rainmakers” in the Bunyore community observe the flora and fauna in the Nganyi forest shrine to predict weather conditions.The Nganyi Community are renowned for their rare skills, ability and power to monitor,predict and early warn of the impending local climate risks. The Nganyi community inhabit a large area of the rocky BunyoreHills. Living in harmony with the hilly environment has been part of their heritage. The community has developed a unique cultural belief system that allows them to manageexisting natural resources in a sustainable manner and maintain a balanced ecosystem.
For many generations, the Nganyi community has used indigenous knowledge and skillsto predict correctly impending rainfall extremes including floods, droughts and associatedfamines that have ravaged the area in the past. The community has developed andaccumulated skill and knowledge that help them to scan the environment for relevantindicators of rainfall. Nganyi Indigenous Knowledge-IK rainfall prediction is neither mythology nor witchcraft;rather, it is a corpus of ideas that can be studied, understood and protected as a valuableresource. Some of these events have shaped and reinforced the beliefs of the communityin the rituals that are performed as integral component of the rainfall prediction process.
The Nganyi community is a sub-clan of the larger Abasiekwe clan of Bunyore. They arefound largely in West Bunyore Location, Emuhaya sub-county of Vihiga County inwestern Kenya with several smaller sub-clans dispersed in other parts of Bunyore andbeyond, spreading into the neighboring Nyanza region. Wherever they have moved, the Nganyi sub-clans have not abandoned the rain monitoring and prediction practices.
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Capacity building workshop
A group of four scientist from Kenya Meteorological Department visited the Nganyi community in Luanda on 21st December 2020, Bunyore western part of Kenya who happen to the traditional rainmakers. The scientistswere: Zachary Misiani, Zacharia Mwai, Hiram Njunguna And Antonine Sayo.
Introduction of the Nganyi rainmakers
photo taken by Misiani Zachary
Miss Zhang Xiaohan Remote
Video Conference
On arrival we received a warm welcome which was accompanied by flower gallanting. Flower gallanting is a representation of nature since Nganyi people love the nature and it’s the way they usually welcome their visitors.
The History Nganyi community
This story was Narrated byMzee David Owino Ebukoloand was written by Antonine Sayo
Nganyi was an elder. The energy of rain making came to Nganyi through one woman who used to suffer. The lady was a widow and childless, she had walked several homestead seeking for refuge but many didn’t welcome her. The lady thereafter decided to look for her sister who had been married to Bunyore, in her search for her sister, the widow met Nganyi. Nganyi welcomed her as a widow who had suffered.
She was called Imbako married in Itunguu. Nganyi build a cottage for her and also gave her a house girl to serve her. The widow stayed for a long time until it reached a point she was about to die, she called Nganyi and took a stroll with him through the forest. Nganyi carried a matchet with him and while in the forest, the widow instructed him to cut some flowers from three different tree types.
Nganyi Climate Action Carbon Neutral Forest
The Nganyi Community are renowned for their rare skills, ability and power to monitor, predict and early warn of the impending local climate risks. Nganyi Community rainfall experts can make or stop rain, can stop hail storms from destroying farm crops, and can send lightning to strike a location of choice, among other things. Although their ability is grounded on a number of bio-physical, social and astronomical indicators, their approaches also combine metaphysical and spiritual paradigms. The metaphysical angle implies that man can intercede with his creator, “God”, knowing He has ways and powers to intervene in any cosmic events. This explains the influence that Nganyi rainfall forecasting experts has on the community members that rely on their skill.
The Nganyi community is a sub-clan of the larger Abasiekwe clan of Bunyore. They are found largely in West Bunyore Location, Emuhaya sub-county of Vihiga County in western Kenya with several smaller sub-clans dispersed in other parts of Bunyore and beyond, spreading into the neighboring Nyanza region. Wherever they have moved, the Nganyi sub-clans have not abandoned the rain monitoring and prediction practices.
The Nganyi Indigenous Knowledge rain prediction is both an art and science that runs in particular families and is passed on from one generation to the next through oral apprenticeship. The roots and institutionalization are anchored among, for example, the Nganyi sub-clan belief systems. Respective families pass on their indigenous knowledge of rain prediction to the next generation through oral transmission and initiation. The Nganyi community depends heavily on transmission of this knowledgeand its practical applications that are socially and economically beneficial to the family and clan at large, for the continuity of this systems.
Youth Climate Action Team
Team members: Antonine and Susan
‘‘I have been very passionate girl on renewable energy since I was in secondary school, particularly wind energy and its capacity to bring plentiful clean and sustainable energy to millions of people around the world. This energy will help end our reliance on fossil fuels and combat the severe threat that climate change poses to humans, wildlife and biodiversity alike’’.
‘‘We can’t win this combat to save our biodiversity without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well. I can’t imagine anything more important than fresh air, clean water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep all of us alive, so we should take responsibility to protect our environment’’.