Indigenous knowledge system

1. INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS
By Netsai Risinamhodzi
0775 220 826

2. DEFINITIONS
• Indigenous knowledge systems are a body of knowledge, or bodies of
knowledge of the indigenous people of particular geographical areas that
they have survived on for a very long time (Mapara, 2009).
• The http://www.sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu website defines IKS as local
knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society.
• Indigenous knowledge (IK) is, broadly speaking, the knowledge used by
local people to make a living in a particular environment (Warren, 1991).
• “A body of knowledge built up by a group of people through generations of
living in close contact with nature” (Johnson, 1992).

3. IKS
• IKS involve unique webs of belief and practice within a specific ecological context,
usually located within the same geographical region and associated with traditional
ways of life of particular groups.
• Like all systems, IKS are adaptable. The skills and problem-solving techniques of an IKS
change over time, in response to changes in the social and physical environments
• Each IKS has unique terms, rules and relationships, with local content and meaning.
• Each also has established customs and responsibilities for acquiring, processing and
sharing different kinds of knowledge.
• People apply their collective skills, experiences and insights to maintain or improve
their livelihoods.
• This collective social capital can be used as a resource for survival and
development.

4. IKS CNTD…
• African IKS encompass distinct traditions, which share a communitarian
worldview that cherishes wholeness, harmony and the interdependency of
people (living and dead); deems life to be sacred; and regards spiritual well-
being as a necessary complement to the cycle of human life
• Adversity is seen to arise from broken relationships and other imbalances in
the system. Rituals play a crucial role in correcting such imbalances and in
nurturing the spiritual well-being of communities and their members.
• On this worldview, interdependence forms the basis for collective
responsibility

5. IKS CNTD…
• They are knowledge forms that have failed to die despite the racial and colonial onslaught
that they have suffered at the hands of Western imperialism and arrogance (Mapara, 2009).
• IKS are forms of knowledge that have originated locally and naturally (Altieri 1995:114).
• According to Ermine (cited in Hammersmith 2007:2), they are linked to the communities that
produce them. He observes: Those natural communities are characterised by complex
kinship systems of relationships among people, animals, the earth, the cosmos, etc. from
which knowing emanates.
• These knowledge forms are known by other names, and among them are indigenous ways
of knowing (Nyota and Mapara 2008), traditional knowledge, indigenous technical
knowledge, rural knowledge as well as ethno-science (or people’s science) (Altieri 1995:114).
• Indigenous knowledge systems manifest themselves through different dimensions. Among
these are agriculture, medicine, security, botany, zoology, craft skills and linguistics.

6. IKS CNTD…
• In matters relating to security, especially of properties like homes and livestock, the indigenous
people developed some mechanisms that are still used in some rural areas to monitor their
properties.
• They have also developed traditional ways of weather forecasting that helped them to plan
their activities for at least two to three days in advance. This knowledge was very useful
especially in summer and immediately after harvesting when crops like finger millet would be in
need of thrashing and winnowing.
• Indigenous ways of knowing have also brought forth useful knowledge on medicine and health.
In fact, their resilience in this area led to the recognition that traditional healers or alternative
medical practitioners got in Zimbabwe in 1980. They were formally recognised and an
association to register practitioners called the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’
Association (ZINATHA) was formed.
• The use of for example, proverbs is another case of ethno-knowledge that has been used in
both judicial and governance matters. In short, IKS are those forms of knowledge that the
people of the formerly colonised countries survived on before the advent of colonialism

7. IKS CNTD…
• They are knowledge that was swept aside, denigrated by the colonialists and their
sciences as empirical and superstitious as they sought to give themselves some form of
justification on why they had to colonise other people’s lands.
• As they occupied these countries, they did not only subject the indigenes to inhuman
treatment.
• They also took away their lands and renamed these using names from the metropolis,
and added insult to injury by claiming that the indigenes were in the dark and were
backward.
• Hammersmith (2007: iii) points out that the study of IKS is aimed at as part of the struggle
for the indigenous people’s reclamation, revitalisation as well as the renewal of their
knowledge systems.
Mapara (2009)

8. IKS CNTD…
• As a response to the western view that the promoters of African indigenous knowledge have not
been able to provide a clear definition and conceptualisation of their own as to what
constitutes “knowledge”, a number of scholars such as Lander (2000) and Chavunduka (1995)
have argued that western worldview of “knowledge” has since its introduction in Africa and
other non-western societies, lacked an understanding of the holistic nature and approach of
non-western ways of knowing and knowledge production.
• Nkondo (2012) argues that the western perception of African indigenous knowledge as mere
repetition of practices without any theory to explain them is a depiction of western cultural and
intellectual arrogance.
• In the perception of African scholars, a traditional healer who is able to cure a particular
disease using specific herbs has the knowledge and theory of the plant species and their
characteristics.
• Mazrui (1978) elaborates further the limited western conceptualisation of scholarship and
education that stresses that to be scholarly and scientific implies being free from external
interference, especially community engagement and political demands.

9. IKS CNTD…
• However, in spite of the extraversion and disarticulation of African indigenous knowledge
systems, there is still great potentiality in the continent for promotion of African indigenous
knowledge systems for sustainable community livelihood and development.
• The unfortunate history of the continent (slavery, colonisation and Apartheid) has not
completely destroyed the African intellectual, cultural and spiritual heritage.
• Indigenous institutions of knowledge production, conservation and sharing such as
initiation schools, indigenous games, agricultural systems, dances and songs, storytelling,
proverbs, et cetera, still remain pillars of indigenous African ways of knowing.
• The wealth of knowledge that still exists among the elders and other knowledge holders
in African local communities demonstrates the vibrant intellectualism to which African
researchers and intellectuals should turn. It needs to be documented and shared with the
youth for sustainability (McNeely, 1999)

10. IKS CNTD…
• African intellectuals should help Africa close the gap created by over four
hundred years of domination and marginalisation of African people’s
knowledge systems, by rejecting the utilisation of dominant western world
view of knowing and knowledge production as the only way of knowing.
• This concern was well articulated by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1986) in his seminal
work on: “Decolonizing the mind”. African indigenous knowledge should not
only be seen as an “alternative” knowledge but as one domain of
knowledge among others.
Kaya and Seleti (2013)

11. IKS CNTD…
• The value of indigenous knowledge is that it is indeed culturally and
economically situated within the communities in which it is found, as it is
produced through practices which are spatially and materially relational
(McFarlane, 2006).
• indigenous knowledge runs the risk of following a path similar to that of
modern scientific knowledge in the sense that its acceptance has less to do
with its indigenous scientific power, and more to do with how it can serve the
needs of capitalism.
• co-option of indigenous knowledge can only go so far, in that it must remain
compliant with the existing dominant discourse of neoliberalism, and it cannot
be seen ultimately to threaten the dominance of modern science which both
underpins that discourse and the nature of the current development ‘industry’

12. IKS CNTD…
• While IK research originally emphasized indigenous technical knowledge of the
environment, it is now accepted that the concept of IK goes beyond this narrow
interpretation.
• IK is now considered to be cultural knowledge in its broadest sense, including all
of the social, political, economic and spiritual aspects of a local way of life.
• Sustainable development researchers, however, have found the following
categories of IK to be of particular interest: resource management knowledge
and the tools, techniques, practices and rules related to pastoralism, agriculture,
agroforestry, water management and the gathering of wild food; classification
systems for plants, animals, soils, water and weather; empirical knowledge about
flora, fauna and inanimate resources and their practical uses; and the worldview
or way the local group perceives its relationship to the natural world (Emery, 1996)

13. IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE
• First and foremost, incorporating IK into research projects can contribute to local empowerment
and development, increasing self-sufficiency and strengthening self-determination (Thrupp, 1989).
• Utilizing IK in research projects and management plans gives it legitimacy and credibility in the
eyes of both local people and outside scientists, increasing cultural pride and thus motivation to
solve local problems with local ingenuity and resources (ibid.).
• Local capacity-building is a crucial aspect of sustainable development, and researchers and
development specialists should design approaches which support and strengthen appropriate
indigenous knowledge and institutions.
• indigenous people can provide valuable input about the local environment and how to
effectively manage its natural resources.
• IK technologies and know-how have an advantage over introduced forms in that they rely on
locally available skills and materials and are thus often more cost-effective than introducing
exotic technologies from outside sources (IIRR, 1996a). As well, local people are familiar with
them and so do not need any specialized training (ibid.).

14. IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE CNTD…
• The following are some of the features of IK which have relevance to
conservation and sustainable development:
• locally appropriate: IK represents a way of life that has evolved with the
local environment, so it is specifically adapted to the requirements of local
conditions.
• restraint in resource exploitation: production is for subsistence needs only;
only what is needed for immediate survival is taken from the environment.
• diversified production systems: there is no overexploitation of a single
resource; risk is often spread out by utilizing a number of subsistence strategies.

15. IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE CNTD…
• respect for nature: a ‘conservation ethic’ often exists. The land is considered
sacred, humans are dependent on nature for survival, all species are
interconnected.
• flexible: IK is able to adapt to new conditions and incorporate outside
knowledge.
• social responsibility: there are strong family and community ties, and with
them feelings of obligation and responsibility to preserve the land for future
generations.
(Source: Dewalt, 1994)

16. LIMITATIONS OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE
• There is historical and contemporary evidence that indigenous peoples have
also committed environmental ‘sins’ through over-grazing, over-hunting, or over-
cultivation of the land. It is misleading to think of IK as always being ‘good,’
‘right’ or ‘sustainable’.
• Indigenous knowledge can also be eroded by wider economic and social
forces. Pressure on indigenous peoples to integrate with larger societies is often
great, and as they become more integrated, the social structures which
generate indigenous knowledge and practices can break down. The growth of
national and international markets, the imposition of educational and religious
systems and the impact of various development processes are leading more
and more to the ‘homogenization’ of the world`s cultures (Grenier, 1998).
Consequently, indigenous beliefs, values, customs, know-how and practices
may be altered and the resulting knowledge base incomplete

17. LIMITATIONS OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE CNTD…
• Sometimes IK that was once well-adapted and effective for securing a
livelihood in a particular environment becomes inappropriate under conditions
of environmental degradation (Thrupp, 1989). Although IK systems have a
certain amount of flexibility in adapting to ecological change, when change is
particularly rapid or drastic, the knowledge associated with them may be
rendered unsuitable and possibly damaging in the altered conditions (Grenier,
1998).
• Finally, an often overlooked feature of IK which needs to be taken into account
is that, like scientific knowledge, sometimes the knowledge which local people
rely on is wrong or even harmful (Thrupp, 1989). Practices based on, for
example, mistaken beliefs, faulty experimentation, or inaccurate information
can be dangerous and may even be a barrier to improving the well-being of
indigenous people.

18. INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
CHALLENGES
• Lack of adequate documentation of local practices.
• Lack of documentation and promotion of adaptations and improvements in
traditional systems which increase productivity and efficiency.
• Decreasing faith of many people in their own knowledge and practices in
the face of aggressive promotion of modern methods by both commercial
interests, as well as the government systems.
• Increasing competition from heavily subsidized external inputs.
(Resource: Emery 1996)

19. THE LOSS OF INDIGENOUS
KNOWLEDGE
• With the rapid environmental, social, economic and political changes
occurring in many areas inhabited by indigenous people comes the danger
that the IK they possess will be overwhelmed and lost forever.
• Younger generations are acquiring different values and lifestyles as a result
of exposure to global and national influences, and traditional
communication networks are breaking down, meaning that Elders are dying
without passing their knowledge on to children.
• In some cases, the actual existence of indigenous people themselves is
threatened.

20. PRESERVING IK
• Researchers can assist in preserving IK through the following:
• record and use IK: document IK so that both the scientific and local community
have access to it and can utilize it in the formulation of sustainable development
plans.
• raise awareness in the community about the value of IK: record and share IK
success stories in songs, plays, story-telling, videos and other traditional or modern
means of communication. Encourage people to take pride in their knowledge.
• help communities record and document their local practices: Get local people
involved in recording their IK by training them as researchers and providing means of
documentation. (computers, video equipment, etc.)
• make IK available: disseminate IK back to the community through newsletters,
videos, books and other media.
• observe intellectual property rights: have agreements so that IK is not misused and
benefits return to the community from which it originates.
(Source: IIRR, 1996a)

21. INDIGENOUS/ TRADITIONAL
KNOWLEDGE FIELDS
• Agriculture, knowledge related to crop selection, intercropping, planting times.
• Animal's husbandry and ethnic veterinary medicine, knowledge of breeding strategies,
livestock characteristics and requirements, plant uses to treat common illnesses.
• Pastoral systems — herd movement; range evaluation and monitoring; animal breeding
and production; traditional fodder and forage species and their specific uses; animal
diseases and traditional ethno-veterinary medicine.
• Use and management of nature resources , knowledge of soil fertility management,
sustainable management of wild species.
• Health care, knowledge of plant properties for medicinal purposes.
• Community development, common or shared knowledge provides links between
community members and generations; and
• Poverty elevation, knowledge of survival strategies based on local resources.

22. INDIGENOUS/ TRADITIONAL
KNOWLEDGE FIELDS CNTD…
• Conservational approaches
• Water: traditional water-management and water conservation systems; traditional
techniques for irrigation; and use of specific species for water conservation.
• Soil: soil conservation practices; the use of specific species for soil conservation; and soil
fertility enhancement practices.
• Plants: as a source of wild food, building material, household tools, personal uses (dyes,
perfumes, soaps), fuel wood and charcoal, medicinal purposes.
• Wildlife: animal behavior, habitats, uses.
• Worldview: views of the universe and humanity`s place within it, relationship between
humans and nature, myths, beliefs, customs.
(Source: adapted from Grenier, 1998; and Matowanyika, 1994

23. CRITIQUE
• Despite all the continuing excellent and scholarly work being undertaken on
indigenous knowledge systems, there remains still a pervading sense of
disappointment and frustration, best expressed by Sillitoe (2010), and which
worries many indigenous knowledge researchers, that ‘the indigenous
knowledge in development initiative’ has not succeeded, that indigenous
knowledge research has indeed been nothing more than a false dawn for
development theory and practice
• Indigenous knowledge has not succeeded in making the leap from a set of
conceptual and empirical propositions to a position where it is deployed as
a matter of course in development interventions, nor has it succeeded in
becoming mainstream in development practice despite all the optimism
(Briggs, 2013).

24. CRITIQUE CNTD…
• indigenous knowledge cannot be easily extracted from its local context- there is still
left the challenge of how such knowledge can be used more widely, beyond that
immediate study area. For development practitioners, it still leaves unanswered the
question of how to ‘scale up’ effectively. The enduring, perhaps intractable,
challenge is how to use ideas, concepts, thinking and results derived from one
specific local area in another, perhaps quite different, area. There is a clear problem
of universality here, or, to put it in development practice terms, and to use one of the
practitioners’ current buzz-phrases, the challenge of scaling up from the specific
‘local’ to the more general ‘regional/national’. Without being able to do that,
indigenous knowledge may well remain at the periphery of practice, and continue
to disappoint.
• legitimization by formal science may be a useful tactical device to give indigenous
knowledge greater currency among both development academics/researchers and
development practitioners

25. CRITIQUE CNTD…
• The problem has been that we may have spent rather too much time
focusing in one direction, content, to the relative neglect of another,
process or epistemology- traditional knowledge, should focus less on its
continuing interest on content, and instead focus rather on process.
• There remains the challenge of how to effect a change in the mindset of
development practitioners, many of whom remain committed, quite
understandably, to the hegemony of Western science and technology as a
means of reducing poverty
• real progress in poverty reduction can be achieved only when people from
communities in the South fully participate as both contributors as well as
users (Sen, 2005).

26. CRITIQUE CNTD…
• Indigenous knowledge requires grounded, time-consuming work to understand
the logic and reality of every day practices of communities at the local level,
the level at which development actually means something (Escobar, 1995).
• But this deep, ‘slow-burn’ approach is something which sits uneasily with much
contemporary development practice.
• The development ‘industry’ is driven by short-term, measurable outcomes to
demonstrate effectiveness and value for money, or, as Sillitoe and Marzano
(2009: 15) capture it, the use of indigenous knowledge ‘presents a problem in
development contexts with politically driven, short-term demands for quick
results’.
• This leads to inevitable tensions between a results-driven approach to
development, as promoted by politically driven development agencies, and
the rather more ‘slow-burn’ but deeper research implicit in indigenous
knowledge research.

27. CRITIQUE CNTD…
• if indigenous knowledge is to contribute to successful development
interventions, then it cannot be a last-minute add-on, however well-
meaning. It must be central, grounded and integrated into the intervention
programme from the start. However, as we have seen, this is not always a
realistic proposition for development agencies with political pressure from
above to deliver positive outcomes, preferably quantifiable ones, in the
shortest time possible