Objective 4 forms part of the sociological component of the study.
This objective focuses on the ways communities cope with malaria and schistosomiasis and whether indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are used to address malaria and schistosomiasis challenges. Assessing these community adaptation strategies will be done through focus group discussions, participatory rural appraisal workshops, key informant interviews, questionnaires and direct observations.
The intended outcomes of this objective are:
- To identify the indicators communities use to determine whether people have malaria.
- To develop an early warning framework based on these indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).
- To find out what herbs are used to prevent and treat malaria and schistosomiasis.
- To determine the coping strategies that communities use to reduce their vulnerability to malaria and schistosomiasis.