How Do Yao Farmers Cope with Extreme Weather Events with Their Indigenous Knowledge? A Case Study of Mo Vang Mountains (Yen Bai, Vietnam) Nguyen An Thinh(1)* (1) VNU University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam * Correspondence: anthinhhus@gmail.com Abstract: This paper addresses the role of Yao indigenous knowledge in extreme weather events management, focus on heavy rainfall and drought It is documented that Yao farmers have used a variety of information sources to manage climate risks in Mo Vang commune, Van Yen district, Yen Bai province Data were obtained from both secondary sources and primary sources The secondary sources are mainly from the reports, the previous researches and the primary sources are from Focus Group Discussion (FGD), key informants through interview and questionaire survey Yao indigenous knowledge in extreme weather events management is neccessary for the climate risk management and health of the natural environment and its inhabitants Some farmers in this area rely on indigenous knowledge that utilise environmental information such as wind formation, cloud formation, insect behavior as climate monitoring tools The Yao people also summary adaptation strategies to extreme weather events of IK in farming production The indigenous knowledge are transferred from one generation to another However, Yao people recently have applied the scientific knowledge in extreme weather events management as well as farming production Keywords: Yao people; extreme weather event; resource management; indigenous knowledge Introduction Indigenous knowledge (IK) is described as the knowledge of an indigenous community, accumulated over generations of living in a particular environment (Masinde and Bagulạ, 2011) It is traditional, cultural knowledge that includes intellectual, technological, ecological, and medical information IK is defined as a body of knowledge built up by a group of people through generations of living in close contact with nature (Ncube, 2018) This knowledge is established where people have survived for a very long time and have become familiarised with their surroundings IK shows its valuation in climate change adaptation at community level nowadays It is now widely accepted that global climate change is happening obviously due to human activities and also partly by natural causes As per the current usage, especially the expression ‘climate change’ often refers only to changes in modern climate It also includes the rise in the average surface air temperature which is also known as ‘Global Warming’ This very phenomenon of climate change is bound to have serious catastrophic consequences These consequences include melting of glaciers, rising sea level and rise in the amount and intensity of climatic extremes These consequences would be so severe that many studies believe that climate change is going to endanger the very existence of human being on the planet Mitiku and Hailu (2017) concluded that disaster management can be applied to managing natural resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disaster A number of studies contribute to IK in climate change adaptation and disaster risk management Sobrevila (2008) suggested that indigenous peoples are distinct populations In the land on which they live and the natural resources on which they depend are inextricably linked to their identities, cultures and livelihood Thus for indigenous peoples, conservation of biodiversity and disaster management is not an isolated, compartmentalized concept but an integrated part of their lives In Vietnam, for the past 50 years, the average annual temperature has increased about 0.5 - 0.7 degree Celsius, sea level has risen about 20 cm (MONRE, 2016) Climate change has made the disaster, especially storms, floods, droughts increasingly The consequences of climate change for Vietnam are serious and present a threat to poverty reduction, the achievement of the MDGs and the sustainable development of the country Vietnam is estimated is one of the five developing countries affected by climate change (ADB, 2013) Climate change adaptation is an emergency management issue for sustainable development for any government, organization, community and individual In Vietnam, IK systems applications vary from region to region However, the affects of climate change recently causes decreasing in economic development of community in this area Because this area did not have identical ecosystem, it is easy to change, the deforestation occurs serious and degradation in land sources, the weather constituents, soil, water, topology and other biology factors, vegetational cover and many animals are affected by unusual changes such as the increasing or decreasing temperature, the unusual storms, and many other heavy rainfall In contrast to developed countries, the majority of the rural populations in Northern mountainous areas of Vietnam are engaged in farming Therefore, understanding about IK systems play an important role to develop a sustainable agriculture to climate change adaptation Northern mountainous areas of Vietnam generally have traditional knowledge and experience in agricultural production that helps them to be more flexible with extreme changes in their living environment Among ethnic minorities living in the area, the Yao ethnic group is quite large, representing the ethnic groups living in upland areas with a tradition of farming on sloping land cultivation The life of this community mainly depends on nature Therefore, the people have accumulated a lot of experience as well as knowledge in agricultural production, resource management and extreme climatic events, etc over time, and from generation to generation They are very knowledgeable about the local environment Thus, the study of understanding indigenous knowledge, especially in climate change management of the Yao ethnic group is essential, from which to combine the promotion of the positive nature of indigenous knowledge with scientific knowledge , in order to contribute significantly to the economic development, improve the quality of life for people, and preserve and promote the ethnic cultural identity in mountainous areas The findings of this paper show that how does a Yao population in the Vietnamese Northern Mountain use their IK to weather forecast and cultivate crops in the contexts of new context of global climate change and emerged natural disasters as heavy rains, flash floods, floods, hot extreme weathers, and drought which are serious climate risks in this area nowadays 2 Methodology 2.1 Study area The selected study area is Mo Vang, which is a remote mountainous commune in Van Yen district (Yen Bai province, Vietnam) The commune located in the western part of the Van Yen district and 30 km from the district center The commune includes 11 hamlets with 852 households and 4,426 inhabitants ethnic groups lived in this commune including Kinh, Thai, Hmong, Tay and Yao groups (61.5%) The total area of the whole commune is 9,986.7 In the commune, there is a district road Mo Vang - An Luong cross over the commune with a length of 18.0 km The study site is area where agro- forestry production is main economic field Growing cinnamon are the majority in Mo Vang with 1,338 Rice cultivation is barely providing trading market but for subsistence mostly due limited agricultural land (162 hectares for 832 households) In addition, farmers also produce different kinds of livestock such as buffalo, pig and cattle Mo Vang commune is often affected to extreme weather events such as drought, heavy rains These impacts affect different dimensions, from human life to agricultural production systems such as altering growing seasons, planting and harvesting calendars, wet, and weed and disease population, agro-climatic conditions, etc 2.2 Questionaires The data sources in this study were qualitative primary and secondary sources Qualitative data is a pool of data obtained from interviews, fieldnotes of observations and analysis of documents This collected information must be organized and interpreted properly to extract the key findings for your research work As a rule of thumb, there is no single “right” way for qualitative data analysis Thus, primary qualitative data were obtained from survey instruments, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with farmers in the areas, key informant interview as well as questionnaire survey The phases of the research undertaken in the Mo Vang are detailed below: Focus group discussion (FGD) In FGD, I formed two groups which contains 6-8 people those have experience concerning topic under investigation One of the formed groups contains farmer where the other contains expert and collect qualitative information about the subject under study The number of male and female is relative equal During course FGD, the researchers facilitated the discussion and taking notes, recording the discussion session In addition I observed some activities and practices that Yao community performed to manage climate change In-depth interview Interview is method to collect information from people is referred to as interview Another precise definition is that any person- to- person interaction between two or more individuals with a specific purpose in mind is called an interview (Kumar, 2001) The interviews with farmers, key informants and stakeholders were undertaken in collaboration with extension officers, agricultural scientists and local community members of the Mo Vang commune Methods for capturing IK were also reviewed and those appropriate were selected for use within the study Participatory research methods were adopted throughout the study, particularly during interactions with the farmers Questionnaire interviewing One of most important techniques of data collection is questionnaire I made a questionnaire to get more information from 60 Yao farmers In that questionnaire, a list of 14 written questions to be answer by 60 respondents of a particular study Most of questions are clear and easy for Yao farmers to understand because respondents need to understand the question clearly before answering There are some open-ended questions for people to express their views on the issues that are researched in their locally The advantage of the questionnaire is that it offers great anonymity between researcher and respondents and these increases the likelihood of obtaining accurate information On the other hand, it is less expensive to be deployed in research as you can save time, human and financial resources, and particularly for population study, it is an inexpensive technique of data collection Sampling: Quota Sampling Characteristics of quota sampling are as follows: (i) Divide the sample population into subgroups; (ii) Figure out the weightages of subgroups; (iii) Select an appropriate sample size; and (iv) Survey while adhering to subgroup population proportions Results 3.1 Indigenous knowledge of Yao people in daily life and farming production According to the survey results, it shows that the 86.7% farmers of studied Yao farmers in Mo Vang commune think using domestic animal behaviors as the best heavy rainfall- monitoring tool, cloud formation and characteristic of plant also are good indications to predict the possible heavy rainfall occurrence When the clouds are clustered and dark, farmers know that rainfall is coming A half of total farmer were interviewed agree that wind formation help them to point heavy rainfall in next few hours 46.7% of interviewed farmers said that if it is very hot at night, this means that a good rain will come to next day and last for some days It is same to case of heavy rainfall management that the major of Yao farmer using cloud formation indicator like a forecast method for hot extreme weather in their region when they see in the sky, white or blue cloud are sign of hot extreme weather The use of plant and tree characteristics as indicators within indigenous climate forecasting systems was indicated by 40% of respondents in the Mo Vang (Tables & 2) Table Evaluate some extreme weather phenomena and their effects in recent years Extreme Time Total area weather (ha) Rice Notes Forest tree (mainly Drought 30/6/2017 125.305 3.5 of seedlings damaged during cinnamon) the nursery period Rice 1.851 Wet rice: 1.661 Upland rice: 0.19 Forest tree (mainly 1044 trees ( years old) 2/8/2015 cinnamon) 10- Rice 0.566 Rice 2.491 Rice 11.881 Forest tree (mainly 34.675 13/7/2017 19- Storm No 20/7/2017 5-6/8/2017 cinnamon) Heavy Houses rainfall Rice 1.946 Forest tree (mainly 0.58 4/10/2017 10 cinnamon) (Source: Report of Mo Vang commune) Table Traditional methods used by Yao to forecast extreme weather Number of respondents Percentage (%) Cloud formation 50 83.3 Wind formation 30 50 Characteristic of plants 42 70 Insect/animal behaviour 52 86.7 Temperature change 28 46.7 Cloud formation 30 50 Wind formation 48 80 Characteristic of plants 48 80 Insect/animal behaviour 24 40 Extreme climactic events (1) heavy rainfall (2) Drought Nevertheless, wind formation was perceived as the best parameter by 80% farmers in the study sites to monitor possible drought occurrence Laos wind with dryness is sign of drought season Seedlings and leaves become withered and drooping downs also an indicator to predict drought And during drought periods, farmers may adjust fertilizer inputs and adopt drought- tolerant crop varieties This knowledge was inherited from their ancestors and grandparents; however, some of Yao people raised concerns about IK becoming less effective due to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events (Figures & 2) Figure Traditional forecast methods used by Yao farmers for heavy rainfall management Figure Traditional forecast methods used by Yao farmers for drought management Table shows that the use of traditional weather/ climate prediction indicators and their use in interpreting extreme weather events (heavy rainfall/ drought condition) Table Traditional climate prediction indicators and their use in interpreting heavy rainfall condition Indicator Indication for weather occurrence Cloud Dark clouds indicate rainfall/ heavy rainfall to occur within a few hours formation Cloud flies very fast Wind High frequency in occurrence of wind swirls indicate heavy rain formation Insect/ animal Appearance of red ants and rapidly increasing size are used to predict heavy behaviors rain/ flood Worm… Cranes fly along the river Domestic animal cries out in the forest Dragonfly fly lowly Sky Other Dark color is a sign of heavy rainfall In the 1st day of Lunar year, he take a bottle of water to compare with the same bottlr of the last day in the last year If it decreases in mass indicating good rain in that year The wet floor is predicted good rain last for long time 3.2 IK and scientific knowledge in managing extreme weather events * Use of forecast information sources of Yao farmers in managing extreme weather events The result which is got from the research survey indicated that the 36.7% of farmers in Yao community are prefer using external indicators only to read the weather and climate to manage disasters They are mainly young people, people who have much knowledge and experiences They usually use external forecast to get information in managing risks and farming production like weather forecast records on the TV, radio and other from agricultural officers While 50% farmer are prefer combining both of traditional forecast method and scientific forecast method, only 6.7% farmers are still prefer tradditional forecast methods to monitor climate risks They said that IK system is easier to understand than scientific knowledge and it is still accurate to farmer Besides, recent cientific knowledge is usually complicate and they can not understand in the short time due to lack of knowledge (Figure 3) Figure Use of various forecast information sources for farm management * Comparison between IK and scientific knowledge in weather forecast as well as farming production This summary provides a good overview on how farmers in the Mo Vang commune using, conserving and also maintaining their IK, and the trends that still remain even with the introduction of scientific knowledge I see that, in Mo Vang commune, Yao community still believe in the relevance of IK in some situations, but general nowadays they using scientific knowledge to cope to climate change as well farm production The table below shows about a comparison of IK systems with scientific knowledge using information collected from farmers and extension officers in 11 hamlets in Mo Vang commune (Table 4) Table IK and scientific knowledge Typology Indigenous knowledge Scientific knowledge Drought indicators/ Wind direction, Cloud formation, temp Weather forecast records Early warning change, Rainfall records indicators Animal behavior, change in plant characteristics Pest management Getting by hand with sampling/ young Add the medication to the trees rag and wipe it on the tree Liming into the stump of tree to kill the pest( for the sampling/ young trees) Animal diseases Make the roof to cover the barn of buffalo Use of modern medicines management Build the cages for livestock and cattle to to vaccinate and treat avoid hot extreme weather animals DO not clear weeds to cinnamon forest Applying fertilizer, for keeping water and nutrient richness protein Soil conservation and into the soil Use organic manure and compost to maintain soil fertility in paddy fields Mixed cropping like corn, cassava to keep water and soil Cinnamon forest Select the indigenous varieties preservation 3.3 Summary of the drought/ heavy rainfall coping and adaptation strategies of IK in farming used by Yao farmers In contrast with developed countries, the majority of rural populations in Northern mountainous in Vietnam are engaged in farming The crops of these farmers are based on their local experiences and knowledge developed over the years The strategies of these farmers and their perceptions of risk, vary across the region Fujisaka (1997) argue that it is necessary to pay attention to local knowledge systems and to analyze their relationship with seasonal predictions Faced with the uncertainties of climate, economy and politics, these farmers have been rendered highly risk averse due to their adaptation strategies, which include indigenous knowledge - Drought coping strategies: planting of crops that require less water, crop diversification, adjustment of fertilizer inputs, and use of local climate indicators, for example cloud formation, wind formation - Heavy rainfall coping strategies: Diversity of crops, prepare sandbags, drainage supplies, harvesting soon, and use of local indicators, for example cloud formation, some of certainly animal behaviors includes white storks, hawks, frog, red ants, etc From survey results in Mo Vang commune, many farmers demonstrated that strategies of cultivating a diversity of crops will able to increase crop yield This method helps to reduce total crop failure due to the varying tolerances of crops to environmental stresses Mixed cropping proved to stabilize yields, conserve soils There are several strategies used by Yao community to minimize disaster including: growing droughtresistant indigenous crop varieties, use of early warning systems For example, farmer listens for the cry of certain bird species to predict drought (hawks) Other IK used by Yao community to predict natural hazards include cloud formation, shape of moon, the behavior of some certain animals such as ant, frog… Conslusions and discussion Indigenous knowledge plays a very important role in climate adaptation strategy development for farmers in northern mountain in Vietnam, including Yao community in the Mo Vang commune in Yen Bai province People in Mo Vang commune finding that it is difficult to use IK alone in their agricultural practices and this is because indigenous knowledge is losing value because of increasing climatic variability and change 50 % of the farmers interviewed argued that it is better to combine IK with scientific knowledge in order to counteract the threats posed by climate change In the Mo Vang commune, farmers were found to use insect/ animals behaviors to monitor possible rainfall occurrence It was noted that 86.7% of surveyed farmers in the Mo Vang are perceived insect/ animals behaviors as the best tool When the crabs come out from the ravine, the appearance of red ants on the ground is used to, for example, farmers can predict good rains More than 60% of interviewed people use cloud formation as the best tool to predict hot extreme weather Almost 80% of respondents in the Mo Vang are used wind formation and plant characteristics as an indicator for possible drought This study noted that several other IK indicators are being used by Yao community to predict weather patterns, such as the moon phase/ star constellation, and the temperature 6.7% of the farmers in Mo Vang are using only indigenous knowledge as a tool to manage climatic risks Mixed cropping, growing drought- resistant indigenous crop varieties, use of early warning systems are strategies that reduce total crop failure due to the varying tolerances of crops to environmental stresses Acknowledgements This study was funded by the Vietnam Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (National Project code CTDT.39.18/16-20) The authors would like to thank the community members of the study area for participating in the research, who were most collaborative in completing the questionnaires, and in providing discussion opportunities on the results References ADB (Asian Development Bank) (2013) Vietnam: Environment and Climate Change Assessment Technique Report 58 pages Fujisaka, S (1997) Research: Help of hindrance to good farmers in high- risk systems? Agricultural systems 54: 137-152 Kumar, R (2001) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners Los Angeles: SAGE 415 pages Masinde, M., Bagula, A (2011) ITIKI: bridge between African indigenous knowledge and modern science of drought prediction Knowledge Management for Development Journal, 7:3, 274-290 Mitiku, T., Hailu, W (2017) The Role of Oromo Indigenous Knowledge in Disaster Management and Protection: the Case of Kuttaayee in Ambo District International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 4(5), 16-28 MONRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) (2016) Climate change and sea level rise scenarios for Vietnam NARECA Publisher, Vietnam 170 pages Ncube, B (2018) Insights into indigenous knowledge strategies for coping and adapting to drought in agriculture : a Karoo scenario, South Africa - research Indilinga African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, 17(1), 92-108 Sobrevila, C (2008) The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation The Natural but Often Forgotten Partners World Bank 84 pages ... used by Yao farmers for heavy rainfall management Figure Traditional forecast methods used by Yao farmers for drought management Table shows that the use of traditional weather/ climate prediction... 60 Yao farmers In that questionnaire, a list of 14 written questions to be answer by 60 respondents of a particular study Most of questions are clear and easy for Yao farmers to understand because... disasters as heavy rains, flash floods, floods, hot extreme weathers, and drought which are serious climate risks in this area nowadays 2 Methodology 2.1 Study area The selected study area is Mo Vang,