Indigenous Methods of Drought Risk Reduction and Challenges of Integrating it with Scientific Methods

Abstract Today, a new approach in managing and reducing the vulnerability of disasters, especially in the case of drought, is to take advantage of local residents’ experiences in each region. To make the impact of disaster management more effective, it is better to use the experiences of communities involved in natural disasters. This knowledge and experiences can be combined with scientific knowledge and increase its effectiveness. The new strategies which have been emerged in reducing the vulnerability of local communities against natural disaster risks are based on local people’s participation and using their empirical knowledge accompanied by modern scientific knowledge. In this regard, about 34 percent of rural people of the total country population due to limited abilities, insufficient necessary services, and less access to infrastructural possibilities have encountered huge vulnerabilities in dealing with disasters. Consequently, these limitations have forced rural people to already apply actions and experiences which in most cases played an effective role in reducing the impacts of these disasters. Therefore, by relying on indigenous knowledge along with modern knowledge, better management can be done to reduce the effects of disasters. In this regards, the present article by using library studies intends to define indigenous knowledge, to state the contribution and importance of indigenous knowledge in reducing environmental damage, especially drought, and to illustrate some of the experiences that exist in this field, and to examine the challenges of integrating indigenous and modern knowledge. Key Words: Drought, Copping Strategies, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Solutions