Indigenous Knowledge Development Research Articles

Condescension or collaboration? Local people’s perspectives on the incorporation of indigenous knowledge in tourism development, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe

The incorporation of indigenous knowledge in development projects has been promoted worldwide as a way of preserving the knowledge of indigenous people. Yet, there is a dearth of research on the perspectives of indigenous people on the incorporation of indigenous knowledge in tourism development. This study examines the potential of tourism incorporating indigenous knowledge systems in the rural communities of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. In-depth interviews were conducted with 43 local people in the four districts of the case study area as well as 22 key informants from different government departments involved with community-based tourism development in the country to enrich the data. Other qualitative research methods, including observations and informal conversations, were also used to collect data. Data was analysed through a six-phase thematic analysis. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that tourism development does incorporate indigenous knowledge systems in rural communities of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. The results indicate that traditional leaders are recognized while local traditions and protocols are followed, and sacred sites are respected. Recommendations are given and areas for future research are suggested.

How the Pengobeng Continues to Exist in the Batik Industry? Field Notes from the Sangiran Archeological Site

ABSTRACT Food, a result of local production and consumption, influences by culture, race, and ethnicity. It provides multisensory experiences that can be observed, expressed, smelled, tasted, and touched. However, this study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the batik industry and its practitioners in Sangiran Regency. Batik, an historic fabric of Indonesia, is an integral part of Sangiran, an Indonesian World Heritage site highlighting its origins. Drawing on the theory of Briggs (2005. The use of indigenous knowledge in development: Problems and challenges. Progress in Development Studies, 5 (2), 99–114) on indigenous knowledge, this field note explores the significance of batik filling, specifically within the daily lives of batik crafters. This study, conducted in Indonesia, has provided valuable insights from the perspectives of these individuals. Through a three-month ethnographic work, it was discovered that batik filling symbolizes not only an artistic element but also the culinary traditions of the Javanese community. Additionally, it emphasizes the pivotal role of pengobeng, who are predominantly women, in forming a profound connection to daily life through their memories. The results showed that batik filling serves as a medium for food nostalgia in women, asserting their presence and importance within the batik industry.

Preservation and Use of Indigenous Knowledge Practices in Public Libraries in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Indigenous knowledge (IK), a key component of knowledge, is considered crucial in any country’s knowledge system. However, despite the importance of indigenous knowledge in promoting the knowledge economy, it has been observed that many indigenous knowledge systems in developing countries such as Nigeria are gradually becoming extinct due to cultural, educational and economic developments. This paper investigated the preservation and use of indigenous knowledge in public libraries in Southwest Nigeria. A survey method anchored on the positivism paradigm was employed for the study. Based on this, copies of the questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. One hundred and fifty (150) library personnel were randomly selected from the five (5) purposely chosen public libraries in Southwest Nigeria. The study’s findings revealed that educational purposes were the primary reason for using the indigenous knowledge in the libraries. It was also revealed that video and audio recordings were significant sources of preserving IK in public libraries. Access to IK resources by the users was through the use of ICT tools such as computers and compact discs, while inadequate funding was identified as the major challenge facing the development of IK. The study recommends, among others, increased budgetary allocation to public libraries for the management of IK resources; and that practical steps should be taken to create awareness on the need to preserve IK activities in video or audio formats. This study contributes to knowledge in IK development by providing new data and information relevant to policymaking and IK research.

Indigenous Knowledge Management in the Modern Day Library and Information Services

Indigenous knowledge (IK) is the knowledge which exists among the people in a given community and its beneficial towards sustainable development cannot be over-emphasized because of its importance in every society .It has been observed and supported by Greyling, (2010) that academic libraries in Nigeria are not playing the leading role in the promotion of IK in the country by organizing tours to collect cultural ideas of the people for management. This paper examines Indigenous knowledge management process in four academic libraries in Lagos, Nigeria. Purposive sampling method was used to select four government owned tertiary institutional libraries in Lagos State. Cochran (1963) sample size table formula was used to determine sample size of 115 respondents from the total population (135) of the study. This study adopted descriptive survey design which make used of questionnaire and interview for data collection. The finding revealed that IK was available in the selected academic libraries and health information was the main reason for using IK in the selected academic libraries. It was also revealed that all the four academic libraries have no IK policy. The challenges facing the management of IK in the selected academic libraries are the lack of relevant ICT resources that can be used to preserve Indigenous knowledge in the libraries. The study recommended that library management should make fund available for the libraries to acquaire necessary ICT tools that can be used to preserve IK and there is urgent need for IK policy, this will serve as white papers in the promotion of IK use in the selected academic library. This study has joined in the discussion in the promotion of IK in Nigeria and it has also contributed to literature on IK development.

Development and the Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge: Good Intentions in Bad Company?

There appears to be an increasing interest within library and information studies (LIS) in so-called indigenous or traditional knowledge. Discussions on usefulness and applicability of indigenous knowledge in development seem to be motivating electronic documentation and the creation of databases. Often, definitions provided by international organisations are drawn on unquestioningly, while power structures embedded in descriptions provided by such organisations are ignored. This article aims at drawing attention to the ways in which international organisations define and talk about indigenous knowledge in relation to development. This is achieved by critical, close reading of six publications issued between 1998 and 2008 by the following organisations: WIPO, UNESCO, ICSU, UNDP, the World Bank, and IFLA. The critical reflections are also intended to shed light on how documentation practises can be understood as extensions of power. For this the authors draw on Foucauldian notions of power and discourse as well as on post-development and postcolonial perspectives. Relationships and discursive procedures for statements on science, development discourse and intellectual property rights, are shown to be influential in the creation of the concept indigenous knowledge. Relating indigenous knowledge to post-colonial and post-development studies reveals how indigenous knowledge is created and kept marginalized within the discursive structure of development. The analysis concludes by showing how knowledge named indigenous knowledge is trapped and created in a circular flow which legitimises international aid organizations, development discourse and the intellectual property rights system. The article concludes by demanding greater awareness among LIS researchers and practitioners regarding the culturally embedded character of knowledge practices and of the power of classifying and defining.

Indigenous Knowledge in Development

This is an introduction to indigenous or local knowledge (IK) in development. After discussing problems of definition, various models to represent relations between, and structure enquiries into, different knowledge traditions are outlined, including the continuum and sphere representations. This discussion includes a summary of points that justify why agencies should seek better to incorporate consideration of local knowledge into development programmes; and sketches the several methodological issues that we have to address to take this work forwards. Finally, this introduction concludes with some comments on the work of the Durham Anthropology in Development (AID) group.

Indigenous knowledge for development: Bringing research and practice together

Information and knowledge are an increasingly important part of trade in today's knowledge society. The concept of access to this information and knowledge is at the heart of such a society. Basically, this access depends on two types of factors, technological and cultural. The technological factors determine the physical requirements for disseminating information including communications, transportation, printing, and the technology of organizing information. The cultural factors determine to what extent the people who possess the knowledge are willing to share it and place it in social domain. (Adapted from Mokyr, J. [(2002). The Knowledge society: Theoretical and historical underpinnings. Retrieved May 22, 2005, from http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan011602.pdf]).To make effective use of information/knowledge, it has to be shared and distributed, and its transmission through learning is essential. The world vision of a truly global knowledge partnership becomes possible only when the people of the developing countries participate as both contributors and users of knowledge. There is, therefore, a need not only to bring global knowledge to the developing countries, but also to learn about indigenous knowledge (IK) from these countries, paying particular attention to the knowledge base of the poor.

Indigenous knowledge for development: Bringing research and practice together

Information and knowledge are an increasingly important part of trade in today's knowledge society. The concept of access to this information and knowledge is at the heart of such a society. Basically, this access depends on two types of factors, technological and cultural. The technological factors determine the physical requirements for disseminating information including communications, transportation, printing, and the technology of organizing information. The cultural factors determine to what extent the people who possess the knowledge are willing to share it and place it in social domain. (Adapted from Mokyr, J. [(2002). The Knowledge society: Theoretical and historical underpinnings. Retrieved May 22, 2005, from http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan011602.pdf]).To make effective use of information/knowledge, it has to be shared and distributed, and its transmission through learning is essential. The world vision of a truly global knowledge partnership becomes possible only...

The use of indigenous knowledge in development: problems and challenges

The use of indigenous knowledge has been seen by many as an alternative way of promoting development in poor rural communities in many parts of the world. By reviewing much of the recent work on indigenous knowledge, the paper suggests that a number of problems and tensions has resulted in indigenous knowledge not being as useful as hoped for or supposed. These include problems emanating from a focus on the (arte)factual; binary tensions between western science and indigenous knowledge systems; the problem of differentiation and power relations; the romanticization of indigenous knowledge; and the all too frequent decontextualization of indigenous knowledge.

Interdisciplinary experiences: working with indigenous knowledge in development

The problems of poverty are complex, and tackling them demands cooperation between specialists with diverse backgrounds in both the natural and social sciences.Calls for interdisciplinary research in development are therefore siren. Yet facilitating such interdisciplinary work, by for example the current sustainable livelihoods approach, has proved difficult. This paper reflects on personal experiences working with research teams in development contexts in Asia and the Pacific, seasoned with some comments on the British higher education environment from my position as head of a university department, in an attempt to locate problems in interdisciplinary research and suggest ways forward. It eschews talk of solutions, since the forces at work appear simultaneously both to promote and hinder interdisciplinary research. It is more appropriate instead to think in terms of a balancing act – of accommodating different perspectives while facilitating interpenetration, of challenging narrow disciplinary views without threatening intellectual tumult. The emerging approach of indigenous knowledge research, which is evolving from the relatively new participatory approaches to development, is put forward as a promising context in which to advance interdisciplinary research. This is an approach with roots in anthropology, which itself has a long tradition of working in an interdisciplinary way – but in common with other broadbased disciplines, such as geography, it also therefore experiences problems of disciplinary integrity. The discussion concludes by asking why such disciplines have been more effective as engines of interdisciplinary research, and suggests that they encounter problems of squaring depth with breadth. I argue that by focusing on indigenous knowledge, that is by allowing local perspectives to play a prominent role in any project, interdisciplinary research should be facilitated, since such knowledge is inherently holistic in perspective. Even so, problems remain, many of them apparently inescapable given the paradoxes characterising interdisciplinary research, compounded by the conundrums of crosscultural communication.

Whose Knowledge?: Epistemological Collisions in Solomon Islands Community Development

We show in this article how modernization, disguised as "community development," continues to fail rural villages in Solomon Islands despite the supposed movement toward a more people-centered, bottom-up philosophy in development education and practice. We focus on the case study of a Kwara'ae (Malaita island) rural, locally owned and operated project aimed at giving unemployed male youth a stake in the community and preventing their off-island migration. Successful for a decade, the project was destroyed by the intervention of a retired government official who, because of his education, training, and work with outside development agencies, imposed a modernization framework, including centralization of leadership and the valuing of Anglo-European knowledge over indigenous knowledge. While agreeing with the theoretical argument for indigenous knowledge in development, we argue that it is equally important that development be guided by people's indigenous epistemology/ies and indigenous critical praxis for (re)constructing and applying knowledge.

Dismantling the Divide Between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge

ABSTRACTIn the past few years scholarly discussions have characterized indigenous knowledge as a significant resource for development. This article interrogates the concept of indigenous knowledge and the strategies its advocates present to promote development. The article suggests that both the concept of indigenous knowledge, and its role in development, are problematic issues as currently conceptualized. To productively engage indigenous knowledge in development, we must go beyond the dichotomy of indigenous vs. scientific, and work towards greater autonomy for ‘indigenous’ peoples.