Hello listeners, and welcome to the Culture and Climate Nexus.
I am Misumi Owolavi and it's podcast host.
Before we dive into the content, I want to share a thought that has been the guiding
star of this podcast.
Just as a bird's beak can adapt to its environment, humans can transform in response to a changing
climate.
This thought of mine was inspired by Charles Darwin's book, The Origin of Species, which
discusses how species have evolved over time due to changes in their environment and I
pondered that maybe human cultures can function the same way.
This episode introduces the complexity of climate change's effects on southern and
northern Africa and will later and more explicitly explore two small communities within.
These stories demonstrate adaptation, resilience and the intersection between human cultures
and their environments.
But first, here's a little about me.
I'm a current student at Germantown Academy and a part of my school's unique Academy
Scholars Program.
According to the course description, the Academy Scholars Program, or ASP, is an opportunity
for students to research a subject that interests them and apply their knowledge to an original
final project.
It begins their sophomore year and ends their senior year.
I have chosen to research climate change's effects on culture mainly by conducting a
deep dive into the southern people of Africa and the Egyptian Nubians of northern Africa.
From the bustling streets of Cairo to the vast expanse of the Kalahari Desert, the effects
of climate change have left nowhere untouched and amidst these challenges lie resilience,
adaptability and the endurance spirit of humanity.
I aim to explore how climate change has altered these communities' cultures, for example,
inherited through traditions' customs and investigate how it has affected their social
dynamics as well, such as gender, occupation and class.
This podcast is my final project and it will feature in-depth conversations with experts
in these communities and explore their relationship to climate change.
Through this podcast, I hope to engage listeners in these conversations and shed light on overlooked
aspects of climate change's effects to better understand and address the challenges being
posed.
My motivation behind this project is that climate change continues to be a multifaceted
challenge for the world.
This podcast aims to explore three main talking points, culture, social dynamics and adaptation.
I use a variety of sources including journals, articles, knowledge of experts and individuals
directly affected to comprehensively understand how human cultures continue to evolve as a
response to climate change.
Examining different aspects of climate change and how they interact with human beings'
social-cultural lives teaches how climate change will affect the human way of life,
and how humans specify the challenge and evolve and how particular countries have already
started to do so.
For culture, a book I want to highlight was Camila Tolman's Climate Change in Africa.
Tolman's is an economist with expertise in Africa, agriculture and climate change.
She wrote a chapter called Water, where she argues for water significance in the culture
of Africa and how it is essential to the continent's success.
I found it interesting how the source utilizes numerical data, graphs and charts to effectively
provide evidence for water's impacts on multiple aspects of people's livelihoods.
The author considers water relevant in researching climate change, and I feel it ties back to
the influence on culture and social dynamics as water is a fundamental component of many
African cultures.
Many problems affecting the continent involve water quality and quantity.
This research further led me to acknowledge how water affects Egypt, specifically the
Nile, which becomes a primary talk point when discussing climate change effects on Egypt.
I'm specifically referring to the article by Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Egypt
and the Nile, which discusses how annual floods provide water and silt.
The Nile has been a pivotal point for Egypt since ancient history and has continued to
provide food, resources, land and for agriculture and means for transportation of material and
travel.
Something that intrigued me was how it holds religious significance with its association
with deities like happy.
This article proved relevant when exploring how the Nile and therefore water shaped Egyptian
society.
I also felt it helpful because climate change can challenge traditional practices in groups
surrounding the Nile.
Moving on to discuss a bit about Southern Africa, I used climate change epistemologies
in Southern Africa, social and cultural dimensions, which features Michael Sheridan's When Brain
is a Person, which examines the significance of African rainmaking practices in climate
change, adaptation in Africa.
The author discusses rainmaking practices and how rain is viewed with some reverence
in Southern Africa.
Although contemporary Sahn people don't typically engage in these rituals, other groups such
as the Koi Koi often call upon them to participate in rainmaking ceremonies.
This opened my eyes to how rainmaking can provide insights into how Africans view rain and how
their practices are impacted.
Since rain can be considered a blessing from the divine or ancestral spirits in many African
cultures, it is seen as a life-giving force that can sustain livelihoods.
However with climate change, changing weather patterns such as erratic rainfall and prolonged
droughts can disrupt some of these practices as they alter the timing intensity of rainfall.
Seeing though these factors influence how Africans view climate change is clear, how
important water remains to their environment, and how climate change impacts that.
My next section is a discussion of social dynamics with a focus on gender dynamics and
occupational dynamics.
My research on gender dynamics began with a group called the Minority Rights Groups
and they wrote an article titled Kenya.
The impact of climate change is worsening child marriage situation among the messiah.
This source is relevant because it discusses the influence of climate change on Kenyan
culture, focusing on droughts and rainfall.
It adds a layer of the disproportionate impacts climate change impacts on women and girls
due to drying rivers exposing them to sexual abuse and unwanted practices.
The article also discusses how droughts compelled families to offer their daughters as brides
in exchange for cattle and leading to increased female genital mutilation, FGF, and child
marriages.
Although this article centers on Kenya and that's not the group I want to focus on,
it does advance my research to include not only gender dynamics but also the concept
of intersectionality and nuances in how climate change affects different individuals.
This source led me to another book titled Gender and Climate Change, South Africa Case
Study.
This book gives me a crucial perspective on the gendered impacts of climate change asserting
that climate change is not gender neutral.
The source acknowledges that it cannot generalize a particular experience among other gender
however still provides specific insights into how some people feel from their experience.
For example, climate change has had an impact on agriculture in southern Africa.
Currently women in these communities are responsible for tasks such as tilling the land and harvesting
crops.
However, as weather patterns change and the frequency of droughts increases, farming becomes
much more difficult.
For instance, let's say a woman living in rural area in southern Africa relies on agriculture
to feed her family.
However, prolonged droughts make it difficult for crops to grow.
This woman therefore struggles to reduce enough crops to sustain her and her family's
livelihood.
This places additional pressure on her as she may have to travel farther distances to
find water or seek alternative sources of income.
Since women are often excluded from decision making processes related to climate change
adaptation, despite being disproportionately affected, their voices are frequently marginalized
in discussions about environmental policy.
This discussion on gender made me wonder what other social dynamics are being affected by
climate change.
This made me interested in occupational dynamics which led me to a source by Greenpeace.
This nonprofit organization highlighted how productivity and earnings are affected by
this environmental shift which gave me a stepping stone into providing context.
Lastly, I want to look at adaptation.
This appealed to me because it showed me the numerous ways in which African countries
have already resisted climate change.
I looked at Africa, published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, also known as IPCC.
This was authored by different climate scientists and experts from various African cultures
and countries to discuss Africa and its response to the climate crisis.
This source touches on multiple aspects including food security, water resources, and cultural
heritage.
The author also emphasizes the importance of cultural heritage and provides examples
of affected traditions and cultural sites such as rock art sites under water heritage
sites and rituals and indigenous engineering systems.
Through analyzing many sources, my research identified key themes and trends such as the
importance of water and African cultures and their lives, rituals, practices, and social
dynamics including gender and occupation.
These patterns inform how African communities approach resilience and adaptation.
Overall, my research has seriously evolved since its beginning and I can now dive deeper
into the intricacies of how these communities navigate environmental challenges and how
cultural identities are maintained or altered in the face of shifting climates.
I am very excited to engage with experts, community members, and listeners through foster
dialogue and awareness about intersecting dynamics of climate change and African cultures.
Through these collaborative efforts and knowledge sharing, building more resilient and sustainable
communities in the face of climate change is possible.
Before we begin, I would like to thank the Academy Scholars Program for allowing me
to conduct research under their guidance and support.
I also want to thank my IT School mentor, Dr. Rosemann, for guiding me during this research
project and helping me understand where I like to take this project.
Finally, I am grateful to the experts and scholars who shared their knowledge and experiences
to enrich my research and this podcast.
Thank you for taking the time to join me in exploring climate change's effects.
I hope you tune in as we dive deeper into the stories of the southern people and the
Egyptian Nubians, featuring Professor Robert Hitchcock and Professor James McCann.