IK Notes Sustainable Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Agriculture in Zimbabwe’s Rural Areas of Matabelel and North and South Provinces Zimbabwe Case Study T his study researched Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in agri- Resource Utilization In the Binga District, the men control culture in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, fo- the family resources and they must see cusing on crop farming in the Tonga of that these resources are distributed Binga District in Matebeleland’s North and used well. These resources include Province, and livestock in the Kalanga land, water, vegetation, livestock, and tribe of the Plumtree District in family labor. Land is distributed to new Matebeleland’s South Province. The families by the chief of the area who, in study aimed to uncover some of the consultation with other elders, distrib- knowledge that indigenous people used utes the land for settlement and farm- to survive under the harsh climatic and ing. The management of the land re- physical conditions of the region. sources in the Binga district is done by Specific goals in both the Binga and the Village Development Committees Plumtree Districts were: (i) to uncover set up by the government in the 1980s. the socio-political, religious, economic People in the Plumtree District are and environmental implications of IKS mainly engaged in subsistence farming in farming; (ii) to identify and analyze and animal husbandry. While timber is the methods of natural resources man- abundant, the residents feel that these agement; and (iii) to assess the value resources are not being used effectively and limitations of IKS in agriculture. to generate employment and provide a source of income. It is used primarily Methodology for firewood and the construction of No. 2 Information was collected through lit- houses and fences. erature review, personal interviews with November 1998 farmers, site visits, group discussions, IK Notes reports periodically on Indig- and the use of Village-Based Research- enous Knowledge (IK) initiatives in ers (VBR). The VBRs prepared the com- Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by the Africa Region’s Knowledge and munity for the field study and facili- Learning Center as part of an evolving tated discussions. The field study in IK partnership between the World Binga District at Kamaziyo visited Bank, communities, NGOs, develop- ment institutions and multilateral or- about 40 homes; in Plumtree, about ganizations. The views expressed in this 100 homes were covered. article are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World World Bank Bank Group or its partners in this ini- tiative. A webpage on IK is available at http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/ik/ default.htm IKS Practices Letters, comments, and requests for publications should be addressed to: IKS exist in both areas and are still sustaining local people in crop farming—including land preparation, grain selection, Editor: IK Notes planting, harvesting, as well as grain storage and livestock Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank management. Typical of Kalanga IKS practice was their indig- 1818 H Street, N.W., Room J5-171 enous knowledge of grasses and soils to allocate grazing pas- Washington, D.C. 20433 tures. Family heads converged at the chief’s place every E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org spring to discuss grazing arrangements for that season. The beginning and ending dates of grazing in specified pastures were also established. Headmen and kraal-heads then moni- One of the major limiting factors of IKS is its lack of docu- tored villager compliance with these rules. mentation. African knowledge of indigenous plants and their Both the Binga and Plumtree communities placed three African names is declining rapidly. IKS is also limited by its values on IKS. First, knowledge is power. People who have lack of proven scientific procedural explanations. One only stayed in Plumtree for a number of years knew the rainfall hears that it is taboo to do certain things. IKS is also in a pre- patterns and when to plant crops to produce better yields. carious position because it depends on those who have the The second value of IKS was that of a knowledge base that knowledge sharing it with others. It is also viewed by many determines the supply and distribution of food, as well as the young people as obsolete and out of date compared with division of labor. The third importance of IKS was attributable Western cultural knowledge and practices. to the continuous supply of resources for sustainable life. The study recommends the following: Conclusions During his field research, the author discovered the value • Build strong awareness programs to appreciate IKS and that indigenous communities place on IKS. Both the Tongas its role in resources utilization management. and Kalangas value IKS as a knowledge base and for determin- • Research, document, and disseminate detailed informa- ing food production and labor division between gender and tion on IKS. age groups, and as part of community survival. He recom- • Promote and transfer IKS to areas with similar character- mends that IKS should complement, rather than compete istics. Exchange visits between groups working on similar with Western kowledge systems in the implementation of projects are one way of achieving this, as are workshops on projects. The lesson for development agencies should be to important IKS issues. investigate first what indigenous people know and have, then • Publish literature on IKS, particularly in the local lan- develop and improve upon indigenous technologies. guage of the targeted communities. In the Plumtree District, the people indicated that the re- • Train development agency staff, especially those that work current droughts—and lack of grass in grazing lands—have directly with the indigenous communities. made it difficult to rotate grazing as is the traditional prac- • Capacity building and empowerment of local people to tice. Westernization was also threatening IKS. The Binga Dis- recognize the value of IKS andpromote these systems trict pointed out that indigenous farming methods have been through: traditional community gatherings; training in substituted with Western methods of farming; crops they tra- research, documentation and the dissemination of IKS; and ditionally grew have been replaced by cash crops. support from the formal sector, for the indigenous commu- nities to develop IKS themselves. This article was written by Harold Sibanda, Corporate Planner at the Organization of Rural Associations for Progress in Bulwayo, Zimbabwe. It is reproduced in its original form from the publication, Perspectives on Indigenous Knowl- edge Systems in Southern Africa by Jeri Larson, April 1998, Discussion Paper No. 3, Environment Group, Africa Region, World Bank,in collaboration with the World Conservation Union (IUCN). For more information, please contact Jeri Larson, Rm. J8-120, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington D.C., 20433. Tel. no. : (202) 4734333; e-mail address: jlarson@worldbank.org