Social Capital, Indigenous Knowledge, and Institutional Integration for Climate Change Adaptation among Pastoral and Agropastoral Communities in Borana Zone, Southern Ethiopia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20372/mwu.jessd.2026.1602Keywords:
Climate adaptation, Indigenous knowledge, Institutional integration, Pastoralism and Agropastoral community, social capitalAbstract
This study evaluates the role of indigenous knowledge, institutional integration, and social capital in climate change adaptation by pastoral and agropastoral livelihoods in the Borana zone. A multistage sampling method was employed to select the respondents within the study zone. Borana zone was purposively selected and then the zone was stratified into pastoral and agropastoral livelihoods. From these categories, two districts per livelihood activities were selected. Within the districts households were randomly selected. A mixed-methods that integrated household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and social network analysis was used to address the objectives set. Data was collected through a household survey on 365 households. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, structural equation modelling, Tobit regression, and social network analysis. The findings revealed that social capital was the main factor for participating in indigenous institutions (97.5% of households). Similarly, herd mobility was the most widely adopted climate change adaptation strategy by 87.7% of the households. These were followed by indigenous weather forecasting (83.6%) and herd diversification (77.8%). Livestock ownership, household size, wealth status, and education positively influenced the Social Capital Index, whereas these factors negatively affected pastoralism. Structural equation modelling showed that indigenous knowledge significantly improved adaptation to climate change through both direct and indirect pathways along social capital and institutional integration. Social networks are shown by high clustering and high density of 0.74 and 0.68, respectively. Therefore, the result showed that incorporating indigenous knowledge in social networks needs partnerships, and institutional collaboration between formal governance systems and customary law that can strengthen resilience and adaptation to climate change.
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