[Kictanet] African choices...critical voices...crossing borders...African stories... harnessing local knowledge in Africa
alice at apc.org
alice at apc.org
Wed Oct 25 13:39:48 EAT 2006
This issue of The Soul Beat looks at the role of communication in harnessing
local knowledge in Africa. The edition covers a range of project
descriptions, strategic thinking documents and materials related to local
knowledge specifically in the fields of agriculture, sustainable development
and health.
>From the SOUL BEAT AFRICA partnership - Soul City and The Communication
Initiative
...African choices...critical voices...crossing borders...African stories...
***
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EXPERIENCES
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences.html
1. LinKS Project
This project is a regional programme working in Mozambique, Tanzania,
Zimbabwe and Swaziland, that aims to enhance rural people's food security
and promote sustainable management of agrobiodiversity. The project is
called LinKS, because it explores the linkages between the crucial issues of
local knowledge systems, gender roles and relationships, food provision, and
the conservation and management of agrobiodiversity. LinKS aims to
strengthen the capacity of institutions in the agricultural sector to apply
approaches that recognise men and women farmers' knowledge in their
programmes and policies. It does this through training, research and
communication and advocacy. LinKS is administered by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/Pds82006/experiences-3950.html
Contact Dr. Sachin Das linkstz at africaonline.co.tz OR Estevão Filimão
Estevao.Filimao at fao.org OR Dr. Patricia Musi faolinks at agric.uniswa.sz
2. Traditional Knowledge and Community Healthcare - Nigeria
Organised by the Fantsuam Foundation, this programme involves drawing and
building on the health knowledge possessed by local people, especially
women. Specifically, the project works with women in rural Nigerian
communities in order to understand various traditional healthcare practices
and introduce best practices and safer techniques for selected treatments.
The purpose of the project is to produce a written catalogue of traditional
medical wisdom, the content of which is largely generated by local people.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2447.html
Contact John Dada johndada at fantsuam.com
3. Sahel Oral History Project - Africa
This project by the UK-based SOS Sahel is an oral history project that took
place in eight African countries in an effort to record the culture,
history, and environment of the Sahel through the recollections,
experiences, and perceptions of its people. The aim was not only to record
indigenous knowledge but also to develop a practical methodology which could
then be incorporated into development planning, project implementation, and
evaluation. By talking with - mostly ageing - farmers, pastoralists,
refugees, and others, researchers hoped to gain a better understanding of
traditional land-use practice, land tenure, farming and pastoral systems,
the causes of desertification, and other aspects of Sahelian life.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds092003/experiences-2134.html
Contact Siobhan Warrington Siobhan.warrington at panos.org.uk AND
otp at panos.org.uk OR Risha Chande risha.chande at panos.org.uk
4. Desertification 2002 - Southern Africa
Organised by the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN), this regional
network works to halt the spread of southern African deserts and enhance
rural livelihoods. The purpose of the project is to provide a forum for the
exchange of knowledge between scientists, development practitioners, and
dryland community members; to generate an understanding of the value of
linking local knowledge with scientific research; to interpret and
disseminate information; and to offer working examples of community action.
It does this by linking communities, field practitioners, governments, and
scientists through a website, conferences, workshops, training, and
community exchanges.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2291.html
Contact info at drfn.org.na
5. Community Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge - Kenya
Implemented by the Kyanika Adult Women Group (KAWG), this two-year project
aimed to conserve the diversity of Kitete - a bottle gourd that is found in
virtually every aspect of the Kamba people's traditional and cultural life -
and its associated indigenous knowledge. The project involved the collection
and sharing of knowledge about the Kitete through resource centres. Here,
recorded materials, documents, and a collection of Kitete samples and seeds
are available for use by members of the local community and others. Other
activities include storytelling by elders - sharing myths, songs, dances,
riddles, poems, and drama as well as listening to taped materials, looking
at photographs, watching videos and reading written reports.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2282.html
Contact Yasuyuki Morimoto y.morimoto at cgiar.org
6. Indigenous Knowledge Program - Sub-saharan Africa
The World Bank's Indigenous Knowledge (IK) programme aims to facilitate
dialogue between local communities, NGOs, governments, donors, civil
society, and the private sector. This dialogue is intended to help bring
indigenous/traditional knowledge into the activities of development partners
and to optimise the benefits of development assistance, especially for the
poor. The programme works primarily through a website that provides
resources on IK such as a database on indigenous/ traditional knowledge and
practices with over 200 case studies, a report on IK for development and
videos, which document success stories in applying indigenous practices. The
programme also supports over 15 resource centres across Africa that focus on
the identification and dissemination of indigenous/traditional knowledge and
practices.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2331.html
Contact Nicolas Gorjestani ngorjestani at worldbank.org OR Reinhard Woytek
rwoytek at worldbank.org
7. Aang Serian - Tanzania
Aang Serian, which means "House of Peace" in the Kiarusha language, is a
non-profit cultural organisation that aims to promote and protect indigenous
knowledge. It focuses on education in an effort to raise the self-esteem of
young people, to empower them to work together for a peaceful future, and to
promote environmentally and socially sustainable development. The
organisation has established a community college with a curriculum covering
indigenous knowledge. They also undertake research in collaboration with
other NGOs and have formed an international network of organisations that
work to improve education for indigenous peoples while simultaneously
preserving and promoting indigenous knowledge.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2233.html
Contact aang_serian at hotmail.com OR Gemma Enolengila enolengila at yahoo.co.uk
OR Yunus Rafiq mrafiq at indiana.edu OR Bob Webzell bob at webzell.co.uk
STRATEGIC THINKING
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking.html
8. Grandmothers Promote Maternal and Child Health: The Role of Indigenous
Knowledge Systems' Managers
by Judi Aubel
This article looks at the importance of community elders as knowledge
providers in the context of child health. The results of experiences in Asia
and Africa illustrate how change can be brought about from within indigenous
knowledge systems when key actors in those systems, i.e. the indigenous
knowledge managers, are involved in deciding if and how to combine global
knowledge with traditional knowledge.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1846.html
9. The Utilization of Indigenous Knowledge in Range Management and Forage
Plants for Improving Livestock Productivity and Food Security in the Maasai
and Bargaig Communities of Kibaha
by Nelson Kilongozi, Zabron Kengera and Samwel Leshongo
By examining how the Maasai and Barbaig communities have traditionally cared
for their livestock and environment, the report suggests ways to sustain
indigenous knowledge and incorporate this with conventional, 'scientific'
techniques of livestock care and land management. The authors recommend that
policymakers and development workers should continue to recognise, identify,
validate and document indigenous pastoral techniques and integrate them into
conventional management approaches for pastoral land and should encourage
knowledge sharing among the pastoral communities to allow them to expand
their existing knowledge.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1902.html
10. Gender, Local Knowledge, and Lessons Learnt in Documenting and
Conserving Agrobiodiversity
Research Paper No. 2006/69
by Yianna Lambrou and Regina Laub
This paper explores the linkages between gender, local knowledge systems,
and agrobiodiversity for food security by using the case study of LinKS, a
regional FAO project in Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania over a
period of eight years. The project aimed to raise awareness on how rural men
and women use and manage agrobiodiversity, and to promote the importance of
local knowledge for food security and sustainable agrobiodiversity at local,
institutional, and policy levels. They did this by working with a diverse
range of stakeholders to strengthen their ability to recognise and value
farmers' knowledge and to use gender-sensitive and participatory approaches
in their work.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1828.html
11. Indigenous Management of Wetlands: Experiences in Ethiopia
by Alan Dixon
Using the case study of a wetlands project in Ethopia, this study discusses
how the stability of wetlands has been undermined by development initiatives
that ignore indigenous knowledge. The study states that while neither
indigenous nor scientific knowledge alone can solve the problems of
development, they can be complementary sources of wisdom in wetland
management. The research recommends that maintaining an effective network
for sharing local knowledge and experimenting with new techniques should be
a key principle of sustainable wetland management. In addition
non-governmental organisations and donors should introduce reviews of
varying local knowledge, to support these networks. For example, they could
organise meetings between members of the wetland farming community to assess
the strengths and weaknesses of different management techniques.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1390.html
12. ICTs in Namibia's Communal Area Conservancies
by Carol Murphy and Sandra Slater-Jones
This article describes the use of participatory GIS (Geographic Information
Systems) in Namibia's Communal Area Conservancies. The approach used by the
Conservancy Programme, according to the authors, is innovative in not only
capturing local knowledge of an area through participation of local
residents, but in improving the spatial accuracy of maps through a
geo-referencing procedure. The procedure involves village mapping workshops
and careful recording to capture indigenous knowledge with regard to local
area names, the spatial location of resources such as grazing, cropping and
useful plant species, as well as wildlife sightings and movements.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1400.html
MATERIALS
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials.html
13. Toolkit I: Capitalising on Local Knowledge - Methodological Overview &
Case Studies
by Noel Oettle and Bettina Koelle
This Toolkit is designed to give decision-makers in government and donor
agencies an overview of the concept of community-to-community knowledge
exchanges, as well as practical approaches to their use in developmental
processes and programmes. The volume contains case studies from Africa that
aim to illustrate the successes achieved with the approach as well as the
challenges faced during implementation.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2006/materials-3054.html
14. Toolkit 2: Capitalising on Local Knowledge - Guidelines for
Implementation
by Noel Oettle and Bettina Koelle
This Toolkit is designed to provide practical guidance in designing and
implementing community-to-community exchange visits. It is intended for
practitioners and service providers who wish to implement knowledge exchange
processes. It is also aimed at students and development professionals who
would like to better understand how the methodology is implemented.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2006/materials-3055.html
15. Unleashing the Power of Knowledge for Meeting MDGs and Sustainable
Development in Africa
Fundamental Issues for Governance
by Jacques L Hamel
The paper critically reflects on the notion of knowledge, African knowledge,
African knowledge economies (AKEs), African knowledge societies (AKSs) and
African knowledge policies for sustainable development. Its purpose is to
contribute to sustainable development thinking in the African region and
open a new front in the development discourse.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2005/materials-2534.html
LINKS
http://www.comminit.com/africa/links.html
16. Tanzania Indigenous Knowledge Database
This is a database that has been established to enhance sharing and
dissemination of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) information, experiences and
practices in Tanzania.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/links/linksngos/links-1645.html
17. Creating & Exchange of Local Agriculture Content (CELAC)
This Ugandan organisation aims to develop agricultural content from rural
farmers for dissemination through digital technologies, radio, and print.
http://www.comminit.com/africa/links/linksngos/links-1709.html
***
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A. Wanjira Munyua
National Coordinator, Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA)
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
alice at apc.org
http://www.apc.org
http://www.catia.ws
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