Indigenous knowledge and community-led approaches to climate adaptation in East Africa

Climate change poses significant and uneven risks across the globe, with East Africa experiencing some of the most severe impacts due to its high dependence on climate-sensitive ecosystems and livelihoods. In response, indigenous knowledge (IK) and community-led adaptation (CLA) have gained increasing attention as viable pathways for building climate resilience. However, these approaches remain weakly theorized, fragmented in practice, and marginalized within dominant climate governance and finance systems. This paper critically examines how IK and CLA interact to shape climate adaptation outcomes in East Africa. Using a desk-based methodology, the study synthesizes insights from peer-reviewed literature and policy-oriented scholarship to develop an integrative framework that links IK, community leadership, governance structures, and resource access. Empirical evidence from agricultural, pastoralist, forest, urban, and ecosystem-based contexts across East Africa demonstrates that locally grounded knowledge systems and collective leadership enable flexible, context-sensitive, and socially legitimate adaptation responses. The analysis reveals that while IK enhances climate risk understanding and ecosystem stewardship, community-led governance structures translate this knowledge into collective action. However, persistent power asymmetries, limited access to climate finance, and top-down policy frameworks continue to constrain the transformative potential of locally led adaptation. The paper argues that effective climate adaptation requires reconfiguring governance and finance systems to recognize IK and community leadership as foundational pillars of climate governance rather than supplementary inputs. By advancing a theoretically grounded IK–community leadership nexus, this study contributes to adaptation scholarship and policy debates on locally led adaptation (LLA). It offers practical insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to design equitable, legitimate, and sustainable adaptation pathways in climate-vulnerable regions.