A Calculated Risk: How Indigenous Knowledge and Social Networks Mediate Climate Migration in Waghimra Zone, Ethiopia

This study investigates the intersections of climate-induced migration and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in agrarian communities of Waghimra Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions with forty participants, the research stress how communities perceive and respond to recurrent drought, erratic rainfall, and land degradation. Findings reveal that migration is not a passive reaction but a deliberate, calculated strategy shaped by social networks, cultural memory, and livelihood shocks. Indigenous coping mechanisms—such as traditional weather forecasting, drought-resistant seed preservation, intercropping, and communal labor systems (debo and wenfel)—remain central to resilience, though their effectiveness is increasingly challenged by unprecedented climate extremes. Displacement entails both cultural continuity, maintained through rituals and storytelling, and social ruptures, particularly in leadership structures and relations with host communities. The study concludes that hybrid knowledge systems, which integrate indigenous practices with scientific and policy interventions, are essential for strengthening resilience. By foregrounding local agency and cultural identity, this research contributes an anthropological perspective to climate migration debates and calls for development policies that recognize indigenous knowledge as a vital component of adaptive strategies in vulnerable regions.