“COCK-A-DOODLE-DO!” A CLIMATE CHANGE ALARM

Abstract

This study inquires: What are lived climate change experiences of Rai people of Champe? How are their health, their domestic animals’ health and crops’ yield affected by warming of temperature? Has there been any threat to farmers; subsistence or cash crops? What are the impacts of climate change on other socio cultural and ecological units of Rai society? How does indigenous knowledge system of food security support Rai people to build climate resilience? I soaked into lived experiences of Rai people and interpreted those experiences for better understanding of interrelationship among climate change, Rai people, their socio-cultural and ecological entities and indigenous knowledge for food security. Using hermeneutic phenomenology I began problematizing the issue of climate change in indigenous Rai people along with my autobiographical experiences. Using narrative inquiry I collected and generated my data. Also, I used various metaphors like Khola, Rato Bhale, tiger, khetala, bhakari, koseli et cetera for metaphorical discourse. Guided by anthropogenic global warming theory and Habermas’ practical interest, I reflected my own experiences and understandings of various climate change phenomena. I attempted to portray lived experiences of Rai people to perceive climate change fundamentally based on their lifeworld. Finally, I discussed the existing indigenous knowledge of food cultivation, harvesting, storing and preserving together with the environmental ethics orally transmitted through folktales