The Indigenous Knowledge of African Traditional Health Practitioners and the South African Science Curriculum

Application of African indigenous knowledge systems and practices for climate change and disaster risk management for policy formulation

Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education

This open access book analyzes the limitations of top-down intervention programs designed by the state to address the problem of unemployment among marginalized communities in Africa and foregrounds the centrality of IKS in fostering entrepreneurship. Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba, Inocent Moyo, and Lethiwe Zondo examine the solutions to these problems within the ongoing debate on decolonization of knowledge and epistemic justice. The contributors argue that when the voices of the marginalized communities are taken into consideration in the design of employment and entrepreneurship policies, such policies would be more effective, affirming the agency and rights within these communities. Using case studies and theoretical research, this book investigates how a better engagement with marginalized communities and indigenous knowledges in the design of entrepreneurship and employment policies could foster more positive outcomes in Africa. This book recenters the voices of Indigenous youth within entrepreneurship programs to highlight the interests, priorities, and challenges of these communities. This edited volume was produced in the context of the African Indigenous Knowledge Research Network (AIKRN) in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. This was a two-year initiative that ran between 2023 and 2025 to uncover and promote sustainable and scalable opportunities for youth employment grounded in Indigenous African knowledge systems and values. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Mastercard Foundation, its staff, or its Board of Directors. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access provided in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

Background: A significant number of patients suffering from hypertension, a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity, are said to access traditional medicine (TM) for their disease management. Traditional medicine, originating from indigenous knowledge that has been passed on from generation to generation, has remained largely under-researched. There is paucity of information on the efficacy and toxicity of these remedies. Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) as utilised in healthcare provision in primary care settings have remained largely understudied in Zambia.
 Objectives: The study aimed to determine the knowledge of aetiology, risk factors, diagnosis, mode of treatment and complications of hypertension among Traditional Health Practitioners (THP) in Lusaka.
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted of THPs registered with the Traditional Healers & Practitioners Association of Zambia (THPAZ) operating from within Lusaka district who provided treatment for hypertension using indigenous TM. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was utilised to gather quantitative and qualitative data. A total of twelve (12) THPs were interviewed.
 Results: Majority (11/12) of THPs had limited basic knowledge of some causes of hypertension although three (3) of them mentioned bewitchment as one of the causes. Divination was the preferred method of diagnosis for 6 (50%) of them. Most of them described and identified common risk factors and complications of hypertension. In this study, all THPs (100%) used indigenous traditional herbal remedies, usually mixtures of various plants and/or different parts of plants to treat hypertension. There were no unified modes of monitoring efficacy and safety of the medicaments administered to patients.
 Conclusion: This study reveals severe gaps in the knowledge, perception and practice of THPs who still rely largely on spiritual divination to make the diagnosis of hypertension, with a few of them ascribing the pathophysiology to witchcraft. Use of indigenous traditional herbal remedies by THPs was widely practiced. There is need to subject the available remedies to more scientific evaluation to determine their possible efficacy and safety for managing hypertension.

Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge Systems (ITKS) represent cumulative, community - based bodies of knowledge developed through long-term interaction between human societies and their natural, social, and cultural environments. These systems encompass ecological understanding, agricultural practices, healthcare traditions, governance structures, ethical principles, and cultural expressions that emphasize sustainability, reciprocity, and collective well-being. Historically marginalized by colonial and modern scientific paradigms, indigenous knowledge systems are now receiving renewed global attention due to their relevance in addressing pressing challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, disaster risk, and cultural erosion. This article provides a comprehensive examination of indigenous and traditional knowledge systems, exploring their conceptual foundations, defining characteristics, major domains, ethical dimensions, gender roles, challenges, and contemporary significance. It further discusses the importance of protecting indigenous knowledge through legal, educational, and policy frameworks and argues for respectful integration between indigenous knowledge and modern science. The article concludes that recognizing indigenous peoples as equal knowledge holders is essential for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development in the twenty-first century.

Indigenous rights, knowledge, and value systems are linked inextricably to the lands, waters, and non-human beings that form the environments of Indigenous Peoples. Across the globe, the rights of Indigenous peoples are being formally recognized and as a result, efforts are being made to include Indigenous Knowledge and value systems in environmental policy and decision making. Scientists and decision makers must not only recognize this reality, but also operationalize these efforts through meaningful changes to create space for the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous values, and sovereignty within the current methods for scientific enquiry and the development of environmental policies. Professionals in the environmental field have a responsibility to ensure that their work has a positive impact on Indigenous Peoples and their environments. In this study, we explore the concept of consultation and informed consent through the lens of the development of environmental policy and decision making. We will discuss these concepts in the context of ecological risk assessment related to a case study focused on contaminated sediment in a harbor within the Great Lakes. We will demonstrate a process that deconstructs the current protocols for risk assessments at sites with localized pollutants in sediment and rebuilds them with elements that recognize both Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. This process includes collaborative fieldwork, relationship building, and informal and formal interviews with participants and community members. By utilizing such approaches, we were able to develop a risk assessment framework that recognizes the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and promotes effective Nation-to-Nation decision making.

The effect of traditional healer intervention prior to allopathic care on pediatric burn mortality in Malawi

Indigenous African knowledge systems are concerned with local knowledge. But the question that this raises is how valid is such local knowledge? Can such local knowledge be generalized and claim universal validity? Or stated differently, what is the epistemic foundation of local knowledge? This article sets out to reflect critically on the epistemic status of local knowledge and concludes with a defence of local knowledge based on work done in the anthropology of science. Keywords: Indigenous knowledge systems, local knowledge, anthropology of science.Indilinga Vol. 5 (2) 2006: pp. 1-11

There is currently a debate on the role of modern and indigenous knowledge systems in the smallholder farming sector. While the modern knowledge systems have been viewed as superior and are being touted as key towards meeting sustainable development goals, especially goal two of eradicating hunger, the performance of smallholder farmers utilising modern systems remains below expectations. The performance of farmers using indigenous knowledge systems has not resulted in better outcomes either. There are growing calls for an integration of the two knowledge systems to co-produce solutions relevant to smallholder farmers. However, not much is known about the extent to which this is already happening, how the integration is happening, and welfare effects of this integration. This paper assessed the extent to which smallholder irrigators integrate indigenous and modern knowledge; and whether this integration has resulted in improvements in cost reduction, productivity, and welfare levels. A sample size of 392 farmers in four irrigation schemes of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape were interviewed. The results showed that the majority (52%) of the farmers integrated knowledge systems, while 10% and 38% relied on indigenous and modern systems, respectively. Farmers actively incorporated modern knowledge to enhance their traditional practices in their production methods in response to local challenges or opportunities. The results indicate that high maize yields attained by modern users were eroded by high inputs cost, while integrators were able to significantly reduce input costs (such as fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide costs) and the money saved was used to purchase more food, hence improving household food security. The results suggest that government, private institutions and NGOs should build on farmers’ agencies to plug-in modern knowledge into the indigenous knowledge systems through appropriate research and innovations rather than completely replacing indigenous systems with modern farming systems. Extension officers should change their mindset and acknowledge the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into their training so that what is relevant to farmers may be adopted, thus enhancing sustainability and resilience of development efforts in developing countries.

This special issue addressing the theme of “Indigenous and Trans-Systemic Knowledge Systems” seeks to expand the existing methods, approaches, and conceptual understandings of Indigenous Knowledges to create new awareness, new explorations, and new inspirations across other knowledge systems. Typically, these have arisen and have been published through the western disciplinary traditions in interaction and engagement with diverse Indigenous Knowledge systems. Written by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, and in collaborations, the contributions to this issue feature the research, study, or active exploration of applied methods or approaches from and with Indigenous Knowledge systems as scholarly inquiry, as well as practical communally-activated knowledge. These engagements between Eurocentric and Indigenous Knowledges have generated unique advancements dealing with dynamic systems that are constantly being animated and reformulated in various fields of life and experiences. While these varied applications abound, the essays in this issue explore the theme largely through scholarly research or applied pedagogies within conventional schools and universities. The engagement of these distinct knowledge systems has also generated reflective, immersive, and transactional explorations of how to foster well-being and recovery from colonialism in Indigenous community contexts.

Although the school natural sciences curricula in South Africa ask for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems in the classroom, it is either done very superficially by providing an example or two, or ignored completely by teachers (Cronje, De Beer & Ankiewicz, 2015). This mixed-methods study (with emphasis on the qualitative inquiry) into the status of indigenous knowledge in the natural- and life sciences classroom in Gauteng, NorthWest, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces in South Africa, once again echoes what Rogan and Grayson (2003) reported: in South Africa the curriculum process focuses too much on the what (the curriculum itself), at the expense of the how (the implementation of the curriculum). Although the progressive curriculum makes it clear that indigenous knowledge should be addressed, it provides very little guidance to teachers on how this should be done. Two problems are specifically highlighted in this chapter: teachers’ lack of pedagogical and content knowledge in addressing indigenous knowledge systems, and their poor understanding of the nature of science (and how indigenous knowledge should be incorporated within this scientific framework). To effectively infuse indigenous knowledge in the school curriculum, effective epistemological border-crossing between indigenous knowledge and Western science is needed in terms of epistemological and ontological considerations, which places demands on teachers’ knowledge and pedagogies. Too often “Western” science and indigenous knowledge are seen as conflicting epistemologies, disregarding the notion of border crossing, or Odora-Hoppers’s (2002) idea of a “postmodern integrative paradigm shift” where indigenous knowledge and Western knowledge systems are seen as complimentary epistemologies. This chapter will elicit the value of indigenous knowledge in the life or natural sciences curricula from the perspective of embodied, situated, and distributed cognition (ESDC). Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) will be used as a research lens (linked to the theoretical framework of social constructivism), in looking at a funded research project, in which natural and life sciences teachers were trained in facilitating border-crossing between indigenous knowledge and “Western” science. This chapter also sheds light on interventions such as Ogunniyi’s course based on contiguity argumentation theory (Ogunniyi & Hewson, 2008), and how such interventions can enhance teachers’ understanding of how the nature of science and indigenous knowledge systems can be better integrated.

This article focuses on drought risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategies adopted by rural households to sustain their livelihood activities. The overall objective was to understand the local household’s responses to the changing climate especially drought. The study was carried out in Chirumhanzu district in Zimbabwe and used a mixed methods approach combining 217 household surveys, targeted focus group discussions, participatory learning actions methods, key informant interviews and a document review. Household data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and thematic content analysis was used for the qualitative data. We found that the majority of households showed awareness of several risk reduction and adaptation strategies to implement during and/or when drought was predicted, with 56% of the respondents stating stocking of grain as initial strategy. Other strategies adopted at household level included early planting (at first rains), conservation farming, planting small grains and dry planting. Indigenous and traditional knowledge systems and practices, including local people’s holistic view of the community and environment, were a major resource for adapting to climate change and drought risks. However, these indigenous knowledge systems and practices had not been consistently used in the existing adaptation and risk-reduction efforts. Indigenous knowledge was not sufficiently acknowledged and integrated into formal risk reduction and adaptation strategies, which resulted in limited success for external interventions. There is need for integration of local and indigenous knowledge systems and external interventions to build household livelihoods that are resilient to climate risks.

The study investigates a framework for the transformation of colonised African mindsets towards the promotion of indigenous knowledge practices. The study relied on existing literature to analyse the African mindset towards indigenous knowledge practices. It was discovered that African countries undermine their indigenous knowledge systems and practices, and prefer those initiated by others, especially from European nations. African indigenous knowledge systems and practices are often under-looked, undervalued, negatively viewed, and spoken badly of by Africans, especially by those of younger generations. This disregard for indigenous knowledge systems and practices is predominantly seen in healthcare systems and practices, even after it has been recorded that, through scientific studies founded on participatory observation and interviews, many areas of the Western healthcare system were developed from the same indigenous knowledge practices that are now being disregarded. The study concluded that Africans should view their indigenous knowledge systems positively, promote them globally and preserve them for future generations to come. To do this, it is suggested that some practices be enhanced through technological changes to enable them to compete or be integrated with Western practices.

The debate on African Indigenous knowledge systems and their link with African cultural practices and belief systems has elicited serious debates. The colonial administrators and their Christian missionary associates viewed African traditional or Indigenous knowledge and educational systems as unscientific, illogical, anti-development, and ungodly. This jaundiced view of African knowledge systems must have informed the apparent neglect of research on African education and cultural belief systems. This is in spite of the fact that the 1997 Global Knowledge Conference in Toronto, Canada, urged people to urgently learn, preserve, and exchange Indigenous knowledge. In Africa, Indigenous education is culture based on the methods and means of instruction used by different societies to impart their values and mores with the aim of attaining their societal/culturally specific visions, goals, and aspirations. For the Igbo, the latter statement is very true as evident in some of the proverbs, witticisms, aphorisms, and adages about education and culture. These bodies of knowledge emphasize conscious and refined methods of acquisition, and dissemination of knowledge of societal values, philosophy, and hermeneutics. Given these merits, it would be germane for serious scholarly research to be conducted among the Igbo, who of all in current context appear to be more “Catholic than the Pope” among other ethnic groups of equal standing in Africa. Anchored on the qualitative method of research, and field investigations, the present study intends to interrogate the nexus between cultural practices, belief systems, and education in traditional African society using Igboland as a case study. Questions to be addressed include but are not limited to, how was knowledge transmitted in preliterate Igbo societies, are those strategies still relevant, if not what are the options available? If relevant, how do we incorporate them to suit present realities?

This paper explores the Indigenous knowledge, cultural values, and sustainability through the experiences of the Baram and Kumal peoples in Gorkha, Nepal. It examines how their languages, customary practices, and cultural values inform ecological governance, sustainable resource management, and community solidarity. These Indigenous knowledge systems are deeply embedded in language, rituals, and oral traditions, and reflect principles of reciprocity, cooperation, and collective responsibility that sustain both society and environment. Practices such as Parma (labor exchange) and customary forest management demonstrate how cultural values shape sustainable livelihoods. However, state policies, economic changes, and dominant socio-cultural forces such as Hinduization, Sanskritization, and formal education systems have marginalized these knowledge systems, threatening linguistic diversity and traditional ecological practices. Language, as a key repository of Indigenous epistemologies, plays a critical role in shaping concepts of sustainability and environmental ethics. The erosion of the Baram and Kumal languages due to modernization and assimilationist policies risks the loss of invaluable cultural and ecological knowledge. By centering Indigenous perspectives, this paper underscores the need to recognize, protect, and revitalize Indigenous languages and knowledge systems as essential to sustainable development and social equity. It highlights the interdependence between cultural identity, language, and environmental stewardship in the ongoing struggle for Indigenous survival and sustainability.