Awareness of the value of indigenous knowledge (IK) — particularly its potential contribution to sustainable development and poverty alleviation — is growing at a time when such knowledge is being threatened as never before. And while links are being established between IK and science, important questions remain. Who owns IK and who may use it? Who decides how to use IK and for what purpose? And how should its owners be compensated?
However prominent it may be in industrialised societies, Western-based formal knowledge remains just one knowledge system among many. In many countries, it exists alongside non-formal indigenous (local, traditional or ecological) knowledge systems.
'Formal knowledge' refers to knowledge systems developed within predominantly Western-based education systems. It is formal because it tends to be supported by written documents, rules and regulations, and technological infrastructure.
In contrast, the concept of indigenous or local knowledge (IK) refers to the complete bodies of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations that are maintained and developed by peoples with long histories of close interaction with the natural environment. These sets of understandings, interpretations and meanings are part of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, ways of using resources, rituals, spirituality and a worldview.
Such knowledge provides the basis for local decision-making about many fundamental aspects of day-to-day life in these societies, such as hunting and gathering, fishing, agriculture and animal husbandry, food production, water, health, and adaptation to environmental or social change. Furthermore, non-formal knowledge — in contrast to formal knowledge — is transferred orally from generation to generation and is seldom, if ever, documented.
Non-formal knowledge systems should not be lost simply because Western attitudes tend to dominate most thinking about development policy. Nor should Western thinking exclude local communities from participation in the development process. Yet all too often, 'development' is defined only in terms of unfamiliar, sometimes not even appropriate, Western concepts.
Analysis of attempts to tackle poverty reduction tells us that development interventions have often failed. Even worse, they may sometimes have a detrimental effect on peoples' livelihoods. Western solutions have been used in situations where IK could have provided a better response but, for one reason or another, was not even considered to be an option.
Although IK has proven its value in many cases it cannot, and should not, be promoted without first being critically assessed. Not all IK offers sustainable solutions to today's pressing problems. Furthermore, most local solutions are very context-specific.
Grouping together all other forms of knowledge uncritically as 'indigenous knowledge' and separating them from their context, makes it nearly impossible to avoid generalisation and oversimplification. Such generalisation jeopardises the potentially unique and important contribution that local knowledge can make to development. It is the way that IK is embedded in the local situation that makes it so valuable.
It is ironic that an awareness of the value of indigenous knowledge — particularly its potential contribution to sustainable development and poverty alleviation — is growing precisely at a time when such knowledge has never been under greater threat. It is in danger of disappearing not only under influence of global processes of rapid change, but also because the capacity and facilities needed to document, evaluate, validate, protect and disseminate such knowledge are lacking in the South.
This situation must change. But it will need instruments, facilities, research, and financial resources. It will also require moral support, as local knowledge is usually given a lower status in both development and scientific circles than Western-based science and technology.
More research needs to be done on IK systems, and methods need to be developed for dealing with it. Only then can claims of solutions to specific problems by certain IK systems be backed up, and attempts made to improve or adapt those systems. This research must of course be done together with the people who possess the IK, and with the local communities involved.
Importance of indigenous knowledge
Indigenous knowledge has made, and can still make, a significant contribution to resolving local problems. In recent years there has been a growing flow of information from developing countries about the role that IK is playing in the South in a range of sectors: agriculture (intercropping techniques, animal production, pest control, crop diversity, animal healthcare, seed varieties), biology (botany, fish breeding techniques), human healthcare (through traditional medicine), the use and management of natural resources (soil conservation, irrigation and other forms of water management), education (oral traditions, local languages), and poverty alleviation in general.
As a result of this increased flow of information, academics, policymakers and development practitioners have shown increasing interest in IK. Over the last two decades they have established links between IK and science, and acknowledged the relevance of IK to education systems and development issues.
Furthermore, through modern ethno-botanical research, IK is contributing to science in many fields relevant to natural resource management. In particular, IK is helping scientists to understand issues of biodiversity and natural forest management. IK is also providing science with insights into crop domestication, breeding and management, and giving scientists a new appreciation of the principles and practices of 'slash-and-burn' agriculture, agro-ecology, agro-forestry, crop rotation, pest and soil management, and other areas of agricultural science. Additionally, scientists are often adapting IK and re-applying it in projects of development cooperation and other contemporary contexts.
In such contexts, however, it must be remembered that IK has originated quite independently of (and not in competition with) science, and generally also quite independently of Western culture. Indeed, IK and modern science should be seen as two systems of knowledge that can supplement, rather than compete with, each other.
It is also important to address ways of linking global and local knowledge (while avoiding the tendency to try to turn local into global knowledge). With regard to this, there are signs of a growing demand for education systems in the South tailored to local needs. These efforts are also giving increased attention to knowledge systems that are based in local traditions and cultures, and to the need to revalidate these systems from an educational point of view.
Research conducted in various parts of Asia to identify the obstacles preventing indigenous populations from taking part in formal secondary and higher education has already generated several new insights that have led to new curricula and teaching methods. Thailand, Vietnam, India and Indonesia are all developing innovative new curricula and new approaches to the transfer of knowledge that take local knowledge systems into account.
This growing interest in IK is reflected in statements made by governments and non-governmental organisations in many countries. They, as well as international organisations such as the World Bank, International Labour Office, United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (Unesco) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation, are explicitly acknowledging the contribution that local knowledge can make to sustainable development. As a result, the policies and programmes of several national governments — Uganda, South Africa and the Philippines are just three examples — are also reflecting a growing interest in IK.
On the basis of all of this, it seems safe to conclude that there is growing appreciation for IK. Before IK can be put into practice, however, there are sensitive issues to consider — for example issues related to intellectual property rights and the value of IK.
As mentioned above, IK is already being adapted and re-applied. It is also being integrated into curricula and teaching methods. Before this happens, however, a number of important questions need to be addressed. Who owns the knowledge? Who decides how to use the knowledge and for what purpose? Who may use it? And how should its owners be compensated?
These issues are already the subjects of occasionally heated debate (see SciDev.Net's Intellectual Property Rights dossier). Some critics, for example, state that the documentation of IK, instead of protecting it against misuse by outsiders, actually facilitates (bio)piracy and heralds a new era of neo-colonialism and imperialism at the expense of developing countries. IK databases and publications, they say, gives everyone carte blanche to use the knowledge in any way that they wish, without respecting the local context or compensating the people who originally generated the knowledge.
Anyone involved in IK must think about these fundamental issues if they are to define proper guidelines and appropriate methodologies for the collection, use and dissemination of IK. In practice, the way these issues are addressed differs from one context to the next, a fact that is also reflected in this dossier on IK.
Overview of the indigenous knowledge dossier
This dossier is intended to contribute to the exchange of information on IK by providing relevant annotated links to external websites, offering access to discussion groups and to electronic versions of key reports and documents within the field of IK.
The dossier also critically addresses key issues relating to the possible contribution of IK to development and science. It does this by presenting the experiences and perspectives of people who are working in the field through analytical policy briefs and topical opinion articles.
One of the major prerequisites for the entire process of collecting, applying and disseminating IK is the full participation of the local people involved. Full participation can be achieved only when the local communities are able to participate on an equal level. Capacity building is therefore a key issue, and vital if traditional knowledge systems are to receive the active support to sustain them.
Capacity building must include training to better equip indigenous people and young scientists to carry out research on traditional knowledge, and to promote and develop research to better appreciate traditional knowledge. It can be achieved through collaborations between national governments and international organisations, and by placing IK on the agenda of science for development in general.
We hope that this dossier on IK will provoke further critical thinking on these issues as well as elicit further development and appreciation of indigenous knowledge.
© SciDev.Net, August 2002