Artisanal Fishers' Resilience to Cyclones in the Indian Ocean Region: Articulating Digital and Ancestral Knowledge

Chantal Fuhrer () and Buhora Zakiya ()
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Chantal Fuhrer: IAE La Réunion - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - La Réunion - UR - Université de La Réunion
Buhora Zakiya: CEMOI - Centre d'Économie et de Management de l'Océan Indien - UR - Université de La Réunion

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Abstract: This qualitative study explores the articulation between digital technologies and ancestral knowledge in artisanal fishers' resilience to cyclones in the Southwest Indian Ocean. Based on 39 semi-structured interviews conducted between February 2024 and January 2026 in Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, and Seychelles, the analysis reveals that digital uses (RQ1) vary significantly across territories and cyclone phases (before-during-after). The articulation of ancestral and digital knowledge (RQ2) operates through complementary hybridization rather than substitution. Three distinct territorial typologies emerge: Integrated High-Tech, Digital Bricolage, and Constrained Transition. These findings demonstrate that digital resilience emerges from complex interactions between the infrastructure, governance, and cultural legitimacy of traditional knowledge, challenging one-size-fits-all approaches that impose digital solutions without considering local capacities and existing knowledge systems.

Date: 2026-05-20
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05789290v1
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Published in AIM 2026 : 31e conférence de l'Association Information et Management, Haute École spécialisée de Suisse occidentale = HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland = Fachhochschule Westschweiz [Schweiz] [HES-SO], May 2026, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

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