KENYA: Scientists in rare project with rainmakers

At first they were described as backward and their shrines dismissed as laboratories of black magic. But like the proverbial cornerstone rejected by builders, traditional African rain-makers are slowly gaining recognition, reports the Daily Nation. A plan has been mooted for researchers from local universities, the Kenya Meteorological Department, Kenya Industrial Property Institute and National Museums of Kenya to join forces with the legendary rain making Nganyi community in Emuhaya constituency of Western Province.

In the Sh18.8 million venture, the wealth of knowledge from rainmakers' traditional weather forecasting is to be married with Western scientific forecasts to help local communities adapt to climate change. As part of the two-year project, funded by the International Development Research Centre, a disaster management institution, a museum will be set up at Nganyi shrine.

The project's team leader, Professor Laban Ogallo, who is also the head of the Climate Prediction and Application Centre run by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, says that the aim of the project is to demystify the knowledge of the Nganyi community as rainmakers. "This will enrich Western methods to improve local communities' adaptation to climate change," he adds.
Full report on the Daily Nation site