Change in vegetation has altered indigenous knowledge which is central to pastoralists ‘coping and adaptation strategies. In some areas, trees that flowered at particular seasons have disappeared, making it difficult for people to predict when the rains would come.  For example, ‘oltepesi’ or the acacia tree no longer flowers at the end of the dry season to predict rain. This makes weather patterns increasingly unpredictable. Local people can no longer predict rainy and dry seasons, and can no longer respond to on-setting calamities  of drought, floods or livestock diseases. This shrinking resource base makes daily and seasonal movement of pastoralists and their livestock more difficult, resulting in restricted access to land, pasture, water and salt licks.

In its integrated development programme, PILIDO works with local communities in enhancing climate change resilience and adaptation; the programme addresses the following core components:

1) Early Warning Systems that focus on gathering, interpreting and disseminating information on climatic hazards especially drought, erratic rains and floods as well as long term climate change

2) Empowering pastoral communities to revive indigenous knowledge on climate change, and enhance indigenous coping/adaptive climate strategies

3) Working with social institutions, communities and organisations to enhance capacities to mitigate climate change

4) Enhance peoples’ capabilities through  development processes while reducing their vulnerabilities

5) Research the relationship between resilience, adaptation and sustainable development within the context of climate change in a pastoralist setting. Well informed local communities can make decisions and respond to weather related threats. Integrating their indigenous and new scientific knowledge, people can ensure that appropriate mitigation measures are identified and developed.