IK WORKSHOP Report
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A REPORT ON THE BRAIN STORMING SESSION held on 20.9.2002 And The Workshop held on October 7 to 9, 2002 on Indigenous Knowledge Strategies for Kerala Organised by Tropical Botanic Garden and Researc Institute Pacha-Palode, Thiruvananthapuram Kerala, India-695 562 Supported by IK Programme The World Bank Washigton D.C. 1 A REPORT ON THE BRAIN STORMING SESSION held on 20.9.2002 And The Workshop held on October 7 to 9, 2002 on Indigenous Knowledge Strategies for Kerala Prepared and Edited by Assisted by Dr.V.George Mr. J. Anil John Dr.S.Rajasekharan Ms. V.A. Ajitha Dr. G.M. Nair 2 CONTENTS PREFACE PART I BRAINSTORMING SESSION 1(i) A report 1 1(ii) List of Participants 6 1(iii) Recommendations of the Brainstorming Session 8 PART II WORKSHOP ON INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE STRATEGIES FOR KERALA- A REPORT 2 (i) Introduction 9 2 (ii) Programme of the Workshop 11 2 (iii) List of participants in the Workshop 16 2 (iv) Sectoralwise thrust areas discussed in the Workshop 20 2 (v) Sectoralwise grouping of participants for 28 Group Discussion PART III RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SUBJECTWISE EXPERT GROUPS 3(i) Art and Culture 30 3(ii) Agriculture, Animal husbandry, Fisheries and Food 30 3(iii) Forest and Wildlife Management, Biodiversity 31 Conservation and Utilization & Eco- Tourism 3(iv) Architecture and Rural Technology 31 3(v) Health care 32 3(vi) IPR and benefit sharing 32 PART IV COMMENTS OF PANELISTS 33 PART V RECOMMENDATIONS 38 5(i) Short-term programmes 41 5(ii) Long-term programmes 42 PART VI MODEL CASE STUDIES 43 PART VII MEDIA REPORTS ON THE WORKSHOP 56 PART VIII PHOTOGRAPHS 67 3 PREFACE Indigenous Knowledge (IK) is a community based functional knowledge system, developed, preserved and refined by generations of people through continuous interaction, observation and experimentation with their surrounding environment. It is a dynamic system, ever changing, adapting and adjusting to the local situations and has close links with the culture, civilization and religious practices of the communities. IK covers all spheres of human activity such as art, literature, health, education, agriculture environment etc. The intrinsic value of IK possessed by Traditional Communities, the world over, has been recognized by the exponents of modern science and technology, especially because of the realization that this knowledge system not only withstood the test of time but also, in several cases, have survived strict scientific scrutiny. In Traditional Communities, IK occupies the prime position in problem solving. Normally traditional people look elsewhere for solutions to their problems only when they fail to find a suitable solution using their own knowledge system. Since IK plays an important role in the day-to -day life of Indigenous Communities, it has become necessary to document, conserve and utilize this valuable knowledge system for the benefit of the entire society. Keeping this objective in view, TBGRI, with the active support, advice and financial assistance from the Indigenous Knowledge Group of the World Bank had organized the Workshop on “Indigenous Knowledge Strategies for Kerala” from October 7 to 9, 2002 at Kanakakunnu Palace, Thiruvananthapuram. Sri. Siddhartha Prakash of IK Group, World Bank and Sri. G.K. Pillai IAS, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, were the guiding force behind this venture. Besides, we received abundant support and encouragement from the Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri. A.K. Antony, the Vice chairman of the Kerala 4 State Planning Board, Sri V. Ramachandran and from Sri S.M. Vijayanand , Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs, Government of Kerala in our endeavour. The Workshop was organized with a view to develop concrete Indigenous Knowledge based proposals for submission to the Kerala State Planning Board so that these proposals could be incorporated into the 10 th five- year plan. Specific short-term and long-term proposals put forward by various Groups and Panels during the Workshop are included in this report. The Workshop was attended by about 120 invitees who were experts in their respective areas. Planners, Beurocrats, Scientists, Academicians, Farmers, Media Persons, Technologists, Representatives from Tribal Communities and Traditional Medical Practitioners participated in the Workshop. We intend to bring out a volume comprising of the Proceedings of the Workshop. We hope this report and the recommendations contained herein will be suitably utilized for developing strategies for IK based developmental activities for Kerala. Editors 5 INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE STRATEGIES FOR KERALA PART I BRAIN STORMING SESSION HELD AT THE CHIEF MINISTER’S CONFERENCE HALL GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, INDIA ON 20 TH SEPTEMBER, 2002 A REPORT I (i) A pre-workshop brain storming session on Indigenous Knowledge Strategies for Kerala was organized at Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram on Friday,20th September ,2002. Senior beurocrats of the Government of Kerala, Heads of Departments , Planners , Senior Scientists, Representatives from World Bank IK Group and delegates from Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia participated in the brain storming session. The brain storming session started with a brief welcome address by Dr. V. George, Convenor of the Workshop and introductory remarks by Dr. G.M. Nair, Director, TBGRI. Sri G. K. Pillai IAS, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala threw open the subject for discussion and conducted the proceedings of the brain storming session. Sri. Siddhartha Prakash of the IK Group, World Bank, Washington DC shared his experience in organizing similar workshops in the African continent and in Sri Lanka and he emphasized the need for integrating indigenous knowledge with the developmental programmes of the state of Kerala through incorporation of indigenous knowledge in the 10th Plan Process being implemented from 2002-2007. Mr Siddhartha Prakash highlighted the importance of utilizing traditional wisdom and knowledge in primary health care by making use of the locally available biodiversity resources particularly, the medicinal plants .He also shared the experience of the World Bank in a community-farming programme started in Uttar Pradesh, India. The farmers made the maximum use of traditional knowledge in selecting the cultivars, farm and irrigation management, pest control etc. which helped them in augmenting their income from agricultural operations. He cited case studies from Africa where IK was utilized for combating the dreadful diseases like cancer and 6 AIDS. He highlighted the importance of utilizing classic al systems of medicine such as Ayurveda as well as traditional and oral systems of medicines for combating such diseases in India. He also emphasized the need of protecting the IPR of indigenous communities in a manner similar to the TBGRI Model of Benefit sharing. Mr Siddhartha Prakash stressed the necessity of documenting indigenous knowledge so that it is brought into the public domain, in order to prevent the unscrupulous exploitation of indigenous knowledge by interested parties for generation of personal or corporate gains. He wanted Kerala to take the lead in evolving strategies and programmes for incorporating indigenous knowledge in the developmental process so that it could be duplicated elsewhere in India. Dr. E M Nyiira, Executive Secretary, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Kampala, Uganda shared their experience in the utilization of indigenous knowledge for the developmental process. Dr. Nyiira cited certain specific instances where the indigenous knowledge related to behaviour and movement of animals is utilized for prediction of natural calamities like earthquakes, behaviour of insects and squirrels and their movement towards wet areas for prediction of oncoming dry spells etc. The Secretary, Planning and Economic Affairs, Sri. S .M. Vijayanand IAS said that, so far Kerala did not have any allocation of funds for Indigenous Knowledge in the Plan Process. The Planning Secretary also informed that under the decentralised planning system, one third of the total plan allocation is given to local bodies, and these local self Governments such as panchayats are empowered to formulate their own plan projects and allocate necessary budget provisions. Thus, the local bodies are free to utilize traditional knowledge systems in diverse areas such as organic farming , water conservation , watershed management, traditional industries such as bamboo and coir products, fish farming, revival of traditional food products etc. Sri Vijayanand expressed the hope that during the 10th five year plan, the plan process will be able to support certain prioritized IK based action programmes especially in the field of tribal welfare, healthcare, women’s welfare, low cost rural technology, watershed management etc. Mr. E K Bharath Bhushan, Secretary Kerala State Forest and Wildlife Department, participating in the deliberations said that there are two prime areas, which require immediate attention. The first is the inadequate documentation of IK which is fast disappearing on account of the change in occupation and life styles of 7 traditional communities. Another important area is the standardization of traditional medicines. Traditional knowledge is to be utilized in the collection and utilization of medicinal plants. Mr. K Balachandran Thampi, Chief Conservator of Forests endorsed the view expressed by the Secretary and he also strongly recommended that serious efforts should be initiated to document the IK system related to the forest produce