INDIGENOUS ABALUHYIA WORLDVIEW IN COMMUNICATING CLIMATE CHANGE DATA RELATED TO CONSERVATION OF KAKAMEGA FOREST

Abstract

Communicating climate change data that is related to forest conservation is increasingly becoming a topical issue of discussion. The efforts to communicate climate change data that is related to conservation of Kakamega forest narrowly focus on western scientific data without considering the input of indigenous Abaluhyia worldview. Thus, the communicated scientific information has not elicited the expected change in behaviour by the targeted audience with regards to conservation of Kakamega Forest and mitigating climate change. The study purposed to evaluate integrating the indigenous Abaluhyia worldview into communicating scientific data on climate change that is related to conservation of Kakamega forest. To do this, the study sought to establish the scientific approaches used in communicating climate change data that is related to conservation of the forest in general, to examine ways through which indigenous Abaluhya worldview communicates conservation of the forest in general, to assess how the indigenous Abaluhya worldview is used in the conservation of Kakamega Forest and to evaluate the integration of indigenous Abaluhya worldview with scientific approaches in communicating climate change data that is related to the conservation of Kakamega Forest. The study was guided by the Worldview Intercultural Communication theory which states that worldview is a basic interpretation schema in communication and can unlock the deepest ideas of the cosmos. The study adopted a descriptive survey design in order to describe the attitudes, values and perceptions of the participants. Purposive sampling techniques were used to select key respondents, the Mwileshi Community Forest Association and participants of Focus Group Discussions. Simple random sampling was used to select respondents from the registered members of Mwileshi Community Forest Association. Quantitative data was collected using questionnaires for the forest officers, forest rangers and workers of agencies that have a concern for climate change. Qualitative data was collected using interview schedules for the key respondents and participants from the Community Forest Association. Focus group discussion guides were used for the FGD participants. Qualitative data from the oral interviews was analyzed thematically while quantitative data from questionnaires was analyzed using tables and graphs generated by the statiscal package for social sciences. This study endeavored to help policy makers in recognizing the significance of the indigenous Abaluhyia worldview in communicating climate change related to conservation of Kakamega forest. Results of the study indicated that indigenous Abaluhyia worldview is not formally incorporated in communicating climate change. The study concluded that the attitude and response of the community that lives adjacent to the forest showed lack of comprehension and conceptualization of the communicated data, thus the need to change the approach of communicating. The study recommends that integrating indigenous Abaluhyia worldview with the scientific approaches in communicating climate change data related to the conservation of Kakamega Forest would enhance understanding of the communication, the community would relate with it and it would then elicit the desired behavior.