Indigenous Knowledge and Community Development in Africa: A Framework to Explore the Approaches, Philosophies and Practices in Ghana

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge (IK) and contemporary development approaches, philosophies and practice are often weaved together in indigenously-driven development programmes in Africa and Ghana is no exception. IK ideals are deeply rooted in informal governance and relational structures, norms, values and other cultural realities in most indigenous societies. IK is often unfolded within the indigenous settings but is not fully operationalised, understood and constructed. Nonetheless, the scope of IK values in community-based development activities are often vague and remain contested. Thus, it is appropriate to have a broader understanding of the approaches, philosophies and practices used in community development activities in Ghana. Employing a qualitative analysis approach, 31 traditional and community development leaders were interviewed through in-depth and semi-structured interviews to examine the indigenous epistemological values of community development activities. The efficacy of indigenous knowledge was established as an opportunity after several tangible and intangible indigenous values, methods and practices including consensus building, collective decision making, dialogues, relational stakeholders, social accountability, transparency, and other cultural realities were proved to be useful in community-based development. The study concludes that without a shared construct of what truly constitute the methods, concepts and practices, there can be no shared commitment towards the utility of cultural values in community-based development.