Exploring the Role of Traditional Knowledge in Climate Change Adaptation Among RuralCommunities in Kogi State: Implications for Climate Communication and Policy

The environmental and economic difficulties arising from climate change affect developing world rural populations with increasing intensity. However, the traditional knowledge serves as a major means for understanding climate change adaptation processes in Kogi State’s rural populace while contributing to policy frameworks and climate messaging strategies. Correspondingly, this study examines how traditional knowledge supports rural communities during climate change adaptation and it examines the performance of communication methods for weaving indigenous understanding into adaptation procedures. The study was anchored on the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Theory according to which the knowledge of indigenous people is considered to be valid and culturally grounded and sustainable instrument of environmental adaptation. It employed surveys by obtaining data from 246 participants in nine (three each from the senatorial districts) rural communities of Kogi State. The analysis focused on 246 responses collected during this research. The finding showed that local weather predictions systems, agricultural traditions, as well as traditional soil preservation methods, are popular and applied by the rural population with high confidence rates to overcome changes in climate. These are community practices, and are still part of the local adaptation strategies. It is also revealed in the study that conventional forms of communication-storytelling, use of indigenous languages, and incorporation of traditional leaders are moderately useful in persuasion of climate adaptation, although there is little reparation of government when it comes to development of communication tactics. The respondents confirmed that it is important to combine the traditional knowledge with suitable formal policy.The study concludes that to become effective and culturally responsive, climate policies and related communication strategies should include participatory approaches of traditional knowledge systems. Its outcomes can be used significantly by policymakers, development practitioners, and climate communication professionals to establish resilient and inclusive adaptation channels in Nigeria and other related settings.