Facilitating Local and Indigenous Ownership of Water Ecosystems and Health (FLOW): centring Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge (ITEK) in solutions identification and implementation

The FLOW project expands community-led research on the health impacts of climate change and extractive industries on Indigenous Peoples (IPs) in East Africa and the Niger Delta. Building on Phase I findings, Phase II focuses on Lake Turkana, Lake Bogoria, the Omo River Basin and Niger’s Niger Delta—regions experiencing severe ecological degradation due to damming, oil drilling, deforestation, and climate change. FLOW integrates Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) with scientific methods using a community-based participatory research approach. It empowers IPs—including the Turkana, El Molo, Daasanach, Endorois, and Ogoni—to co-create research questions, define key concepts like “health” and “livelihood,” and identify local solutions to water-related health issues. Key objectives include documenting ecosystem changes, analyzing their causes, assessing impacts on health and cultural heritage, and facilitating locally driven solutions. Key activities include partner training, regional workshops, ITEK knowledge exchange sessions, community storytelling, and policy dialogues. The project will generate research documentation, advocacy briefings, and ITEK preservation outputs (e.g., toolkits, reports). Advocacy efforts will target sub-national, national, and international platforms. Keywords: Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, participatory research, water ecosystems, climate change, extractive industries, Lake Turkana, Lake Bogoria, Niger Delta, health equity, environmental justice, community-led adaptation, East Africa, biodiversity, displacement.