Africa's Rainmakers Face Growing Violence as Climate Change Deepens Farmers' Weather Fears

Farmers in parts of sub-Saharan Africa are increasingly turning against traditional rainmakers when rainfall fails to meet expectations, with climate change adding to uncertainty for communities dependent on agriculture. Rainmakers have long served as spiritual figures who perform rituals intended to bring or stop rain, but their perceived ability to influence weather can create intense expectations among farmers.

When those expectations are not met, rainmakers can face threats, physical attacks and, in the most extreme cases, death. In South Sudan, which borders Uganda to the north, at least two rainmakers have been killed over the past two years, highlighting the dangers faced by people who are blamed for weather conditions beyond their control.

David Nabutsilili, a rainmaker in eastern Uganda, knows those dangers personally. Sixteen years ago, farmers who had paid him to summon rain became angry after heavy rainfall flooded their vegetable gardens. The farmers chased him through the hills as they blamed him for the excessive rain. Nabutsilili eventually fell onto a rock and broke his femur, bringing the pursuit to an end.

The injury continues to cause him pain more than a decade later. Despite the attack, many of the same people who once pursued him still seek his spiritual assistance when they want rain, particularly during planting season. They may also approach him when they want rainfall to stop.

Nabutsilili said the relationship between rainmakers and farmers can become dangerous when expectations are not fulfilled. He told The Associated Press during an interview in his village that he sometimes has to temporarily leave his home when people become angry with him. “People beat us because sometimes the rain is too much, or there is no rain,” he said. His experience illustrates the difficult position occupied by rainmakers in some rural communities, where they may be relied upon for spiritual intervention while simultaneously being held responsible when weather conditions do not match what farmers expect.

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Rainmakers have traditionally occupied an important place in some African communities, where they are regarded as spiritual leaders capable of communicating with deities or ancestral forces through rituals. Their practices are often linked to agricultural cycles because rainfall is essential for planting and crop growth. Farmers who depend heavily on seasonal rains can therefore place considerable importance on traditional practices intended to influence weather.

However, the belief that a rainmaker can summon or stop rain can also create a direct link between the individual and the success or failure of crops. When rainfall becomes excessive, insufficient or arrives at the wrong time, the rainmaker may become a target for anger.

Climate change has made that situation more difficult in communities already vulnerable to unpredictable weather. Changes in rainfall patterns can complicate decisions about when to plant crops and how to prepare for periods of drought or heavy precipitation. For farmers whose livelihoods depend on reliable rainfall, such uncertainty can create frustration and anxiety.

In communities where rainmakers are believed to influence weather, those pressures can be directed toward spiritual figures rather than being understood solely as part of changing environmental conditions. As weather patterns become harder to predict, rainmakers can consequently face greater pressure to deliver results that are beyond their control.

The violence faced by rainmakers reflects the potentially dangerous consequences of combining traditional beliefs with increasing climate uncertainty. Nabutsilili's experience shows how quickly expectations can turn into punishment when rainfall produces results that farmers consider harmful. In South Sudan, the reported killings of at least two rainmakers over the past two years demonstrate the most severe consequences of that dynamic.

While rainmakers continue to be sought out for spiritual assistance in some communities, they can also be blamed when rain does not arrive or arrives in damaging quantities. As climate change continues to complicate weather patterns, the pressure on these traditional figures may intensify, leaving some vulnerable to threats and violence for conditions they cannot control.

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