Managing Climate Change In Africa: Challenges To Traditional Knowledge Systems And Human Values

Despite prolonged scientific research in Western Europe on the subject-matter of climate change and green-house emissions, a big gap in knowledge and understanding of what constitutes climate change and how to combat the phenomenon still exists in Africa. This gap creates uncertainty in the continent coupled with the tragic conclusion that Africa may be the worst hit continent in terms of the negative impact of climate change to sustainable livelihood. Climate changes will affect regional climatic processes and ecosystems in thecontinent. The position of this article is that a greater understanding of climate change could be enhanced and a more sustainable adaptive and combative solution evolved by an expanded knowledge, and inquiry drawn from Africa’s traditional knowledge systems within the context of Sathya Sai’s Education in Human Values (SSEHV, 2012). The article will use axiological and collaborative research components to make the case for a paradigm shift in the methodology and to present critical areas in which African traditional knowl- edge systems could complement current scientific approaches to understanding climate change in Africa.