The purpose of the paper is to encourage policymakers not only to focus on scientific knowledge for adaptation to climate change but to bring in local and traditional knowledge. For generations and centuries, local and indigenous people have been using their knowledge to adapt to changes in their environment. These people should be used in policymaking, and their knowledge should be built upon & integrated with scientific knowledge to improve adaptation practices.

In the regions studied, the agricultural sector is greatly being impacted by climate change. Many climate-related issues are affecting the production of staple crops and the food security of the region. Using local/indigenous knowledge, farmers are striving to solve these climate related issues in their own ways:

• Changing weather affects the life cycles and behaviors of armyworms, which now come in large numbers and eat much of the crop. Eradicating them is not easy due to their numbers. Rather than relying on the government, local people are using their own traditional methods and medicines.
• A long drought over 2018/19 was very impactful on crops- the people resorted to their old way of farming, planting crops next to long-rooted trees called Msango trees that can reach water deep in the soil. Experience and research have shown that crops that are grown near or under these trees tend to do well in drought spells as compared to those not grown near or under these trees.
• In drought conditions, no-till farming techniques such as the digging of holes for planting rather than a complete disturbance of the soil help to conserve moisture in the soil and also plays a role in sequestering carbon in the soil.
• Diversifying of income sources and crops is yet another effective adaptation practice that is being carried out in these regions. As climate change intensifies some crops will do well while others won’t, this is why this practice has been seen to be an effective adaptation technique to a changing climate. in the event that climate change events make it harder to engage in farming some farmers have resorted to diversifying their income sources by engaging in other income-generating activities such as fishing and charcoal burning which has proven to help them cope with a changing climate.
• These are only a few examples, communities in different regions have developed other adaptation techniques that they are using to adapt to climate shocks.

With support from NGOs and governments, these techniques could be used on a larger scale. We know how climate change is affecting these people, and there are scientific methods being used for adaptation, but better adaptation methods could be devised by using local methods and building on them, climate change is constant and in time their current methods may not be effective, so they need to be improved upon in the long run, but these methods are proven to be viable and practical.