Public Disclosure Authorized Indigenous Knowledge Local Pathways to Global Development Public Disclosure Authorized Marking Five Years of the World Bank Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized i © 2004 Knowledge and Learning Group Africa Region The World Bank IK Notes reports periodically on indigenous knowledge (IK) initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally on such initiatives outside the Region. It is published by the Africa Region’s Knowledge and Learning Group as part of an evolving IK partnership between the World Bank, communities, NGOs, development institutions, and multilateral organizations. For information, please e-mail: [email protected]. The Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program can be found on the web at http://worldbank.org/afr/ik/default.htm The views and opinions expressed within are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the World Bank or any of its affiliated organizations. iii Contents Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................................ vii Preface ................................................................................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................................ x Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................. xi PART ONE: LEAD ARTICLES 1. Indigenous Knowledge—a Local Pathway to Global Development ................................................................................ 1 2. Indigenous Capacity Enhancement: Developing Community Knowledge ..................................................................... 4 3. Education and Indigenous Knowledge ........................................................................................................................... 9 4. Women’s Indigenous Knowledge: Building Bridges Between the Traditional and the Modern ................................... 13 5. Indigenous Responses to AIDS in Africa ..................................................................................................................... 18 6. Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods: Local Knowledge Innovations in Development................................ 24 7. Indigenous Knowledge and Natural Resource Management ....................................................................................... 30 8. Indigenous Knowledge and Science and Technology: Conflict, Contradiction or Concurrence? .................................. 34 9. Indigenous Approaches to Conflict Resolution in Africa .............................................................................................. 39 10. Indigenous Knowledge: The Way Forward .................................................................................................................. 45 References .................................................................................................................................................................... 56 Authors of the Lead Articles ........................................................................................................................................ 61 PART TWO: IK NOTES IK Notes Summaries ......................................................................................................................................................... 66 The IK Notes 1. Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview ....................................................................... 72 2. Zimbabwe: Sustainable Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Agriculture .................................................................... 76 3. Senegalese Women Remake their Culture .................................................................................................................. 78 4. Ghana: From“ Sacrilege ” to Sustainability—Reforestation and Organic Farming.................................................... 81 5. Burkina Faso: Literacy for the “Little Ones” in Nomgana ......................................................................................... 84 6. Senegal: Village Bankers: The Experience of Fandène ............................................................................................... 87 7. Ghana: Literacy and Local Governance in a Rural Community................................................................................. 90 8. Nurturing the Environment on Senegal’s West Coast ................................................................................................ 93 9. Mali: The Development of an Agricultural Union: Increasing Levels of Local Empowerment ................................... 95 10. Indigenous Healing of War-Affected Children in Africa .............................................................................................. 98 11. Education and Koranic Literacy in West Africa ....................................................................................................... 102 12. Mali: Cultural Resources and Maternal Health ........................................................................................................ 107 iv 13. Sahelian Languages, Indigenous Knowledge and Self-Management ......................................................................... 110 14. Grassroots Dissemination of Research in Africa: Collecting and Connecting ........................................................... 114 15. Health: Indigenous Knowledge, Equitable Benefits ................................................................................................... 117 16. Senegal: Grassroots Democracy in Action................................................................................................................. 121 17. Regional Planning, Local Visions: Participatory Futuring in West Africa ............................................................... 124 18. Participatory Management and Local Culture: Proverbs and Paradigms ................................................................ 128 19. Indigenous Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights .......................................................................................... 132 20. Reinventing Apprenticeship and Rites of Passage ..................................................................................................... 135 21. Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program: Two Years Down the Road......................................................... 139 22. Indigenous Knowledge Goes to School: Potential and Perils of Community Education in the Western Sahel........................................................................................................................................... 142 23. Seeds of Life: Women and Agricultural Biodiversity in Africa .................................................................................. 146 24. Strengthening Traditional Technical Knowledge: the Sugar Cane Wine Example .................................................. 149 25. Mali: Indigenous Knowledge—Blending the New and the Old .................................................................................. 152 26. Traditional Medicine and AIDS ................................................................................................................................. 156 27. Uganda: Information Technology and Rural Development: The Nakaseke Multi-Purpose Telecenter ............................................................................................................ 158 28. Indigenous Knowledge and Local Power: Negotiating Change in West Africa ......................................................... 161 29. West African Languages: Medium and Message ....................................................................................................... 164 30. Ghana and Zambia: Indigenous Knowledge and HIV/AIDS ..................................................................................... 168 31. Malicounda-Bambara: the Sequel .............................................................................................................................. 171 32. African Traditional Healers: The Economics of Healing ........................................................................................... 175 33. Repairing the Ravages of War in Mozambique .......................................................................................................... 178 34. Tanzania: Communicating Local Farming Knowledge ............................................................................................. 181 35. Ethiopia: Traditional Medicine and the Bridge to Better Health .............................................................................. 184 36. Eritrea: The Process of Capturing Indigenous Knowledge ........................................................................................ 187 37. HIV/AIDS: Traditional Healers, Community Self-assessment, and Empowerment ................................................. 190 38. Senegal: Indigenous Language and Literature as a Non-profit Business ................................................................