Indigenous and local knowledge for flood resilience and adaptation in Africa: A systematic review

The study is a systematic review examining Indigenous and local knowledge systems in flood resilience and adaptation across Africa. Flooding remains one of the most recurrent and destructive climate-related hazards affecting African communities, with implications on livelihoods, food security, and socio-ecological systems. Despite growing recognition of the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge-based adaptation and resilience, Indigenous and local knowledge systems remain insufficiently synthesized within African flood adaptation scholarship in the face of escalating climate change impacts. This review seeks to systematically synthesize empirical evidence on how Indigenous and local knowledge systems contribute to flood preparedness, early warning, coping, response, recovery, adaptation, and resilience among flood-prone communities in Africa. The study is guided by the PICo framework, where the population/problem comprises flood-affected communities, the phenomenon of interest concerns Indigenous and local knowledge systems, and the context is African countries. A systematic search strategy combining concepts related to Indigenous/local knowledge, flooding, resilience/adaptation, and African contexts will be implemented. The review follows PRISMA procedures, including a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, structured title and abstract screening, full-text assessment, and thematic synthesis of eligible studies. Screening and review management will be conducted using Rayyan software to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and methodological rigor. The review aims to contribute to climate adaptation scholarship and disaster resilience research by consolidating fragmented evidence on Indigenous and local knowledge-based flood adaptation practices in Africa. It further seeks to identify regional patterns, endogenous technologies, stewardship practices, evidence gaps, and opportunities for weaving Indigenous and local knowledge science with modern climate adaptation and resilience science.