IK Notes Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program Two Years Down the Road KNOWLEDGE AS A VEHICLE FOR DEVEL- Two years down the road, its time to OPMENT IS UNDER-USED. In the past, review the Bank’s progress in achieving most African nations adopted eco- these goals. Has the IK Development nomic policies with a view to moderniz- Initiative been effective in disseminat- ing society and transforming the pro- ing information; facilitating informa- ductive sectors. Indigenous knowledge tion exchange among developing com- that could have supported this process, munities; applying Indigenous Knowl- or in some cases, offered an alternative edge in the development process; es- perspective, was often relegated to the tablishing partnerships? backwaters. However, the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, through the notion of Disseminating information sustainable development, catapulted these practices to the forefront of the Since its inception, the initiative has development discourse. Policymakers developed a database of indigenous worldwide, through conferences and knowledge and practices with over 100 workshops, have begun to highlight the case studies on the web. Each one critical role of indigenous knowledge in draws upon the lessons learned from the development process. The first of the experiences of a particular commu- these was the Global Knowledge Con- nity in dealing with an aspect of devel- ference held in Toronto in June 1997. opment. The case studies are not Under the auspices of the Partner- meant to be a repository of knowledge, ship for Information and Communica- but a referral database on IK. They tion Technology for Africa (PICTA), the cover a wide range of activities— in- World Bank was encouraged to lead the cluding indigenous financial practices No. 21 Indigenous Knowledge (IK) for Devel- among farming communities in Nige- June 2000 opment Initiative in collaboration with other organizations such as UNESCO, ITU and WIPO. The Initiative aims to IK Notes reports periodically on Indig- enous Knowledge (IK) initiatives in facilitate a multilateral dialogue be- Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by tween indigenous communities, NGOs, the Africa Region’s Knowledge and Learning Center as part of an evolving governments, civil society and the pri- IK partnership between the World vate sector. The objective is to main- Bank, communities, NGOs, develop- stream indigenous knowledge into de- ment institutions and multilateral orga- nizations. The views expressed in this velopment activities and optimize the article are those of the authors and World Bank benefits of development assistance, es- should not be attributed to the World Bank Group or its partners in this ini- pecially to the poor. The Bank adopted tiative. A webpage on IK is available at a framework for action, which is being http://www.worldbank.org/aftdr/ik/ implemented in conjunction with its default.htm partner organizations. 2 ment. In cases, where international agencies such as Unicef IK Practice No: 12 have assisted, they have merely provided backup support via Country: NIGERIA Domain: Rural Finance financial assistance and international recognition. In each Technology: Savings and Loans case, the initiative is always “home grown” and locally owned. Application: Indigenous financial practices among farming This has in turn strengthened local institutions and led to communities Summary: Farming communities in Nigeria have devel- some cutting edge work in areas such as education and oped various systems of saving and lending. Normally Koranic literacy in West Africa. farmers would form savings associations with an emphasis on savings and access to the resources on a rotational ba- The IK Notes have shown that “individuals without any for- sis. Some of the associations would formulate regulations mal education, from villages with minimal resources, can im- and by-laws while the majority has strong but undocu- prove their lives and environment through a solid program mented formal rules and regulations. Once a member, sav- ing is compulsory and expected on a regular basis, usually leading to greater autonomy and self sufficiency”. These suc- related to market days. The loans are used for non- cess stories endorse the universality of indigenous knowl- consumables, but also for payment of school fees or farm labor. Repayment is ensured through social control. Usually edge, which can play a key role in the process of empowering members do not receive interest on deposits, loans are local communities, at the regional, national and global level. granted on favorable terms. No mention is made of deal- ing with defaulters; it is assumed that social control is suffi- cient to ensure a sustainable S/L association. However, the Facilitating exchange savings base is too small for accumulation or for credits to The World Bank has supported eight IK Resource Centers in finance major investments. So far there has been little rec- Africa, by improving their capacity to share information. This ognition by the formal credit institutions of the existing in- digenous financial practices. has taken many forms. In Cameroon, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Lesson: Existing indigenous rural savings and loan associa- Zimbabwe, the project facilitated the capturing of IK through tions are yet to be recognized by the formal credit sector. Collaboration on an equitable basis would increase the stimulating research into IK practices by local centers. In impact of formal institutions and increase the investment Burkina Faso and Uganda, the project improved the connec- potential in rural areas. tivity and networking capacity of local telecommunications. Source: Nweze, N.J. IK Monitor 2(2) August 1994 External Link: IK Monitor As a result, rural community Telecenters are now being used to obtain information from local communities and dissemi- nate the knowledge generated to other regions. ria, AIDs prevention through involving traditional healers in awareness campaigns, reintroducing local architecture in Applying Indigenous Knowledge Egypt, common water resource management in Burkina One of the greatest achievements of the IK Initiative has been Faso, and indigenous healing of war-affected children else- its initial success in mainstreaming the use of IK in develop- where in Africa. ment programs and projects. It supported Uganda in formu- The range and complexity of subjects that can be effectively lating a national policy on IK, Ghana in the use of IK to im- dealt with through the application of indigenous knowledge prove agricultural practices, Burkina Faso in highlighting the and practices are being documented in a series of IK Notes. role of traditional hunters in natural resource management. These are published electronically and in print in three lan- In July 1999, the Bank initiated a study in collaboration with guages, reaching over 20,000 readers. Each of the 19 IK UNCST to explore the diversity of IK in Uganda in relation to Notes to date explores in some detail sensitive issues, such as agriculture, health sciences and technology. This formed the female circumcision, and describes locally driven solutions. basis of a national strategy that would include all the stake- These range from the efforts of indigenous women’s NGOs holders, from indigenous healers to civil society, as well as that have successfully campaigned against such practices to policy makers. lobbying the government to introduce new laws. Each case reinforces the success of a bottom-up approach to develop- 3 Six months later, a national workshop involving these key tive has begun to engage local communities and learn from players was held to draft a national strategy and framework their experiences. By supporting NGOs and institutions such for action. This was the genesis of the Kampala Declaration as UNCST, the Bank has played an enabling role in bringing on IK for sustainable development. The Declaration urges the together traditional healers, academics, ministers, civil soci- government to support the development of IK and planners ety and the church. As a result, indigenous organizations to include IK in the national planning process. This is being such as Traditional Herbalists Associations are able to pursue implemented in several ways, such as including IK into a two-way dialogue, with government institutions on a level Uganda’s Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), playing field. By creating channels for local communities to led by the Ministry of Planning. This is a joint partnership be- voice their concerns at the regional and international level, tween donors and governments aimed at accelerating the the project has made significant progress towards pace of growth in Africa. In Uganda, one of the goals is rais- mainstreaming IK into the development process in Africa. ing agricultural productivity. The IK Initiative has played a fa- cilitating role by establishing a Steering Committee to moni- Next steps tor the implementation process and a Secretariat to coordi- nate activities specifically related to IK. The challenges ahead include- The IK Initiative is moving beyond policy making into · intensified efforts to mainstream IK into the development project management. It has begun advising the Ugandan Na- process tional Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) on the · greater donor involvement and active participation use of IK in Bank supported Agriculture, Research and Train- · facilitating interactive exchanges through establishing ing Projects (ARTP). The second phase of the ongoing ARTP communities of practice (through various fora e.g. Develop- (II) project is aimed at supporting long term technology de- ment Marketplace) velopment and dissemination. The IK Initiative’s role is to · forming local alliances around topics such as IPRs to facili- provide the methodological input to transfer relevant tech- tate enablement and empowerment. nologies and IK and improved cultural practices to farmers’ fields and promote their adoption. Examples of such prac- tices include the improved cultural management of Matoke to reduce the harmful effects of the Sigatoka disease and This Note was written by Siddhartha Prakash, Consultant, Af- small farm implements designed for the smaller cattle of rica Region, World Bank. Uganda such as the improved Ugandan plow. Although, the project is still in its infancy, it is hoped that its success can be used to mainstream and replicate the use of IK in the devel- opment of new projects. Establishing partnerships The project has expanded its support base by establishing close partnerships with several development organizations, NGOs and IK Centers. More than 75% of the best practices disseminated on the web were provided by these partners. The initiative is growing beyond PICTA members. It has for instance, begun to work with WIPO to address the intellec- tual property rights aspect of IK. At the grass roots, the Initia- 4 IK Notes would be of interest to: Name Institution Address Letters, comments, and requests for publications should be addressed to: Editor: IK Notes Knowledge and Learning Center Africa Region, World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Room J5-055 Washington, D.C. 20433 E-mail: pmohan@worldbank.org