Under this heading the international network presents news of the activities of the various global, regional and national indigenous knowledge centres. Please see for the addresses of the various centres: Addresses IK Resource centres.
CIKARD
Dr Anthony Willet, CIKARD Research Associate, has accepted the position of senior conservation analyst
with the Biodiversity Support Program, World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.. CIKARD has welcomed
the director of VERSIK, Dr Consuelo Quiroz, for a 12-month sabbatical funded by the Kellogg Foundation.
She is continuing her work on gender and indigenous knowledge, farmer experimentation, and the
translation of key documents into Spanish. Dr Robert Fisher, of the University of Western Sydney
(Australia), is spending the fall semester of 1994 at CIKARD, where he is writing up a wealth of material
on indigenous organizations and knowledge systems as these relate to community forestry in Nepal and
elsewhere. Dr Siaka Kroma of Sierra Leone, our third visiting scholar, is an expert in educational policy
and applied linguistics.
CIKARD continues to abstract the 4,000 documents in its library. Fifteen graduate and undergraduate
students are currently working on this onerous task with support from the Center for Global and Regional
Environmental Research. The effort will bear fruit in the near future, when the electronic link with the
global network of indigenous knowledge resource centres has been established. CIKARD is working on this
link together with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) in Saginaw
(Michigan, USA). The electronic communications capability will make it quicker, easier and cheaper to
transfer documents.
CIKARD has recently signed agreements for several new activities. Drs. Willet, Fisher and Warren are
currently working with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Switzerland to
draft policy and guidelines on indigenous peoples and sustainability. The resulting IUCN document will be a
very important guide to the role of indigenous knowledge in sustainable approaches to development for the
benefit of indigenous peoples.
CIKARD has entered into an agreement by which the United States Information Agency will fund a new
project on conflict management/resolution in Africa. The project will be conducted in collaboration with
KENRIK and ARCIK and several US-based institutes. It will involve an effort to understand indigenous
African approaches to resolving conflict. Training materials that combine African and Western approaches
to conflict resolution will be prepared for use in Africa. Co-directors of the project are Dr Warren and Dr
Noa Zanolli Davenport, supported by Mr Chudi Okafor. (See
section Communications, Calls.)
CIKARD has welcomed the addition of Dr Cornelia Flora and Dr Jan Flora to the Iowa State
University faculty. This enables CIKARD to function as a sub-contractor on USAID's Sustainable
Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Project (SANREM). CIKARD's project activities will focus
on gender, indigenous knowledge, participatory approaches to decision-making, and the role of indigenous
organizations in sustainable approaches to development. The Flora's and Dr Warren will coordinate these
activities with SANREM's activities in Burkina Faso and Ecuador. The other CIKARD research associates
involved include Margaret Kroma, Darci Thelaner and Penny Rechkemmer.
During the summer holidays, Dr Warren had the opportunity to visit colleagues at the Venezuela and Ghana
Resource Centres, and to participate in the West Africa Conference on 'IK and sustainable development'
sponsored by IDRC and hosted by ARCIK. He also presented research work on the cultural and biological
diversity of the Nigerian rainforest at meetings in Stockholm of the Beijer International Institute of
Ecological Economics, of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The USAID-funded Iowa-Nigeria University Development Linkages Project continues. Activities are focused
on Nigerian educational policy to incorporate indigenous knowledge components into the curricula of
Nigerian schools, and on the relationship between indigenous Nigerian agricultural knowledge and
agricultural biotechnology.
The CIKARD annual lectures were held on 14-15 November with lectures on indigenous agricultural
systems in Venezuela by Dr Consuelo Quiroz, on community forestry in Nepal by Dr Robert Fisher, and on
the indigenous Berber agricultural calendar in Morocco by Ms Peggy Petrelka.
Finally, the CIKARD director has worked with the leaders of an important ILO initiative known as the Inter-Regional Programme to Support Self-
Reliance of Indigenous and Tribal Communities through Cooperatives and other Self-Help
Organizations. He will also take part in the sub-regional meeting of pilot project managers that will be held
in December in Chiang Mai (Thailand).
CIRAN
Dr Hüseyn Polat, Coordinator of ILO's Inter-Regional Programme to Support Self-Reliance of
Indigenous and Tribal Communities through Cooperatives and other Self-Help Organisations (INDISCO) visited CIRAN in August. One of the subjects discussed
was how INDSICO might cooperate with the international network for indigenous knowledge and
development and use the expertise of the national and regional IK resource centres in the implementation of
the INDISCO programme. Initial contacts have already been established with REPPIKA and ARCIK. At the
INDISCO sub-regional technical review meeting in Chiang Mai (Thailand), to be held on 13-16 December
1994, Dr D.M. Warren (CIKARD) will represent the international IK network and present a paper entitled
'The use of indigenous knowledge systems and practices in agriculture in various countries'. (For
more information on INDISCO see section Communications,
Networks.)
The director of CIRAN participated in the first meeting of the Information Steering Committee of
the Consortium for International Earth Sciences Information Network. The meeting was held on 3-5 October
1994 at the CIESIN headquarters in Saginaw (Michigan, USA). The Information Cooperative was launched
by CIESIN as a distributed archive that allows user communities in countries around the world to catalogue
and share information electronically in cooperation with major international data archives and resource
centres. (See section Communications, Networks.)
The directors of CIKARD and CIRAN presented the international IK network that is now being
recognized as a substantial resource base for information on indigenous knowledge systems as it relates to
sustainable development. The meeting was very timely and useful. It has speeded up the cooperation
between CIESIN and CIRAN as the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor will be electronically
accessible and available through the CIESIN Kiosk in due course. CIESIN is providing the support and the
infrastructure for this initiative. In particular Dr B. Rajasekaran and Dr Bharathi Rajasekaran are giving us
support. At the moment a trial is underway with the latest issue of the Monitor (2(2). If there are no
unexpected technical problems, CIRAN and CIESIN will publish all back volumes and all coming issues in
the CIESIN Kiosk.
At present CIRAN is exploring with Dr B. Rajasekaran of CIESIN the possibilities for making unpublished
papers available in the CIESIN Kiosk, and for making CIRAN's database on 'Indigenous knowledge
expertise', which has over 3500 records, electronically accessible through CIESIN Catalogue. This
cooperation between CIRAN and CIESIN will make CIESIN Kiosk and Catalogue into a major resource for
the global research community that is investigating the potential contribution of indigenous knowledge
systems to sustainable development.
The director of CIRAN was offered an opportunity to publicize the international IK network during a
programme of Radio Mundo on 11 October 1994. Radio Mundo is a local station operating from
Amsterdam in The Netherlands. The programme dealt with access to information through the fast-growing
web of electronic highways.
On 20 October 1994 the director of CIRAN presented a short introduction to the international IK network at
a meeting of the Directorate-General for International Cooperation, of The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. The meeting was attended by members of the ministry staff who are working in the areas of
'indigenous peoples' and 'culture and development'.
On 1 November 1994 the director of CIRAN visited the Swedish Agency for Developing Cooperation with
Developing Countries (SAREC) and the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) in Stockholm
(Sweden). He informed both agencies about the growing role of indigenous knowledge systems in
sustainable approaches to development, and about the potential contribution of the national and regional
centres as resource bases for information and expertise.
LEAD
Many positive reactions resulted from the recent call for information on indigenous agricultural knowledge
systems. This call was made in connection with the project entitled 'Indigenous knowledge systems for
sustainable agriculture in developing countries: towards an alternative approach to food shortage reduction in
Kenya and Indonesia'. The literature survey has now been completed, and the bibliography on indigenous
agricultural knowledge systems (INDAKS)--jointly prepared by the counterparts in Nairobi, Bandung,
Chania and Leiden--is in press. The first edition of the bibliography will contain more than 1500 titles of
books, articles and reports on indigenous agricultural knowledge and practice. Readers around the globe are
asked to kindly keep sending information in this field. Also, preparations have been made for tutorial
courses to train junior staff members of counterpart institutions in Kenya and Indonesia. These courses are
part of the project and will take place in Leiden and Chania in December 1994 and January 1995.
A new two-year project entitled 'Traditional fishery knowledge and practice for sustainable marine resources
management in Northwestern Europe: a comparative study of fisheries in Ireland and the Netherlands' will
soon get underway. Funds for it have been awarded to LEAD by the Human Capacity and Mobility
Programme of the European Commission in Brussels (Belgium). Dr Brendan Connolly from Ireland will be
the principal researcher. He will examine traditional fishery methods and practices in Northwestern Europe
in relation to the sustainable use of maritime resources.
Drs Wina Erwina, a member of the junior staff of Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung (Indonesia), has
received a two-and-a-half-year fellowship from the Asian Development Bank in Jakarta. She will come to
Leiden to study in association with the LEAD programme, and under the auspices of Nuffic. Drs Erwina,
who is specialized in anthropology, library sciences and communication, hopes to combine her contribution
to the INDAKS/LEAD project, which is supported by the European Commission, with her postgraduate
studies in anthropology at the Institute of Cultural and Social Studies.
LEAD and the Centre for Non-Western Studies (CNWS) are preparing an international seminar on
'Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development', which will be held in Leiden in the summer of 1995.
The seminar will focus mainly on agriculture and ecology in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Further
information will be provided in the next issue of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor.
ARCIK
An international workshop entitled 'Building indigenous capacity in West Africa' was held at ARCIK on 13-
16 June 1994. Participants were invited from Mali, Senegal, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone.
The topics discussed at the workshop included the following: an overview of IK; methodologies for the
recording of IK; Participatory Research Methodology (PRM); experience in establishing IK centres; the
design of strategies to integrate IK into training institutes; IK, natural resources planning and bio-diversity;
IK and farming systems development; and indigenous organizations and participatory community
development.
The participants took decisions on the use of IK for development in West Africa. IDRC (West Africa)
supported the workshop financially. This has been greatly appreciated by ARCIK.
INRIK
Currently INRIK is studying the indigenous population of the village of Sirnarasa--some 25 kilometres from
the southern coast of West Java Province, near Palabuhan Ratu (Indonesia). Of particular interest is this
population's interaction with the surrounding forest in the Gunung Halimun (Mt. Halimun) area of
Sukabumi District, West Java. A team from UPT Inrik-Unpad conducted the first series of field
observations on 15-29 September 1994, on the site where the Kasepuhan community resides. The team
consisted of Professor Kusnaka Adimihardja (team leader/human ecologist), Professor H.R. Sidik
(ethnopharmacologist), Dr Ade M. Kramadibrata (resource engineer), Drs Opan S. Suwartapradja, MSi.
(social anthropologist), Drs B. Sediadi Adi Purwanto (anthropologist), Dr Oekan S. Abdullah
(biologist/human ecologist), and three senior students of anthropology (Hikmat Nasrullah, Hario Harimurti
and Budhi Bakti).
The study will take three to four years. The result will be a collection of up-to-date information that can
serve as the basis for developing human resources and a system of forest management that does not conflict
with the traditional approach of the Kasepuhan community. The people of this community have shown that
their traditional way of life is based on sustained, harmonious relations with the surrounding environment.
The forest in the Halimun area remains untouched while the community is self-sufficient, able to meet all
kinds of basic needs. To city people this is remarkable. The results of the study could be a body of
traditional knowledge of forest management that can be adapted for use in other communities that live under
similar environmental conditions as well.
INRIK has changed its address. Indonesian Resource Center for Indigenous
Knowledge, UPT Inrik-Unpad, Ruang K-3, Jl. Dipati Ukur 35 Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia. Tel:
+62-22-2503271 ext. 111 or 2508592. Fax: +62-22-2501977/237416. The job of corresponding editor has
been taken over by Ade M. Kramadibrata.
NIRCIK
Since NIRCIK's Action Committee held its inaugural meeting in August 1993, Nigeria has gone through a
period of political turbulence. As a result the meeting scheduled for November 1993 was postponed until 21
April 1994.
Five zonal IKS (Indigenous Knowledge Systems) workshops have been held in Nigeria: at the National Root
Crops Research Institute (Umudike), the Lake Chad Research Institute (Maiduguri), the National Cereals
Research Institute (Badeggi), the Institute for Agricultural Research and Training (Ibadan), and the Institute
for Agricultural Research (Samaru). The workshops were co-sponsored by the National Farming Systems
Research Network (NFSRN). On 10-16 April 1994, NIRCIK participated in the international training
workshop on IKS and PRA, which was organized by the West African Farming Systems Research Network
(WAFSRN) for the benefit of both Francophone and Anglophone West Africa.
Volumes 10 and 11 of the NFSRN Newsletter were devoted principally to IKS and PRA. These issues
contain articles about the zonal workshops and summaries of the lectures. Reports on several practices are
also included. NIRCIK has contacted Dr B.E. Dialla, the coordinator of the Burkina Faso Resource Centre
for Indigenous Knowledge (BURCIK), and invited him to the West African training workshop held in April
in Zaria (Nigeria). NIRCIK also participated in the IKS training workshop organized by the African
Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (ARCIK) and conducted for the West African Francophone
countries on 13-16 June 1994.
At the April meeting, the Action Committee asked each sector coordinator to come up with sound proposals
on what they intend to do and to make appropriate budgets. These proposals will be compiled into a national
proposal. The Action Committee also amended the NIRCIK brochure. The objectives of NIRCIK, for
example, should read as follows:
PHIRCDISK
PHIRCDISK participated in a national conference on Philippine Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC's),
which was held at the Supreme Hotel in Baguio City (The Philippines) on 23-25 November 1994. Reports
were given on the latest developments in Philippine ICC's; concerns shared by managers of cooperatives
were also discussed, such as the need to simplify procedures and reduce the requirements for paperwork.
The conference examined International Labour Organization Convention 169, which deals with indigenous
and tribal peoples in independent countries. Discussion in workshop sessions centred around how to improve
the by-laws for cooperatives, and how to prepare action plans. The conference was attended by 19 tribal
'readers' representing 13 ethnic groups from all over the Philippines, and by 12 officers of government
agencies, including the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Office of Northern Cultural
Communities (ONCC), Office of Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC), Office of Muslim Affairs
(OMA), and International Labour Office (INDISCO-ILO). The conference was sponsored by CDA and
INDISCO-ILO.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva has engaged the partnership of the Philippine
Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development (PHIRCDISK) and the
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). Together they are undertaking a project that relates indigenous
knowledge systems and practices to the promotion of rural cooperatives. The objective of the national
survey is to collect and analyze information about indigenous knowledge systems and practices of the major
Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC's) in The Philippines, and to assess the viability of these groups'
rural cooperatives. Legal structures based on indigenous cooperatives could be an appropriate alternative
that fosters sustainable development.
The ICC's to be studied during the four-month project (October 1994 to January 1995) include the Ifugaos
of Northern Luzon, the Atis of Fanay Island in Visayas, and the Badjaos of Tawi-tawi in Mindanao. The
project is undertaken with the cooperation of other government agencies, including the Office of Northern
Cultural Communities (ONCC), Office of Southern Cultural Communities (OSCC), Office of Muslim
Affairs (OMA), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Field-based non-
government organizations are called upon to undertake the field surveys.
The areas covered by the study include farming systems, natural resource management, community forest
management, mining, handicrafts, fishing, livestock farming, traditional medicine and health care, soil
fertility management, biodiversity conservation, indigenous organization and leadership patterns.
The results of the project will be presented in a national workshop, to beld in the middle of February 1995.
REPPIKA
Reppika coordinator Dr E. Mathias has been the IK resource person in four training courses:
RIDSCA
The programme to develop indigenous rural communities in the State of Puebla is still going on. The
programme represents an effort to alleviate poverty and improve living conditions in these communities. The
components of the programme are the following: agricultural credit, agricultural production services,
support for rural women, infrastructure for small-scale irrigation, conservation of natural resources, and the
management, organization and evaluation of projects.
CEICADAR has been responsible for the agricultural production services component, the main elements of
which are training, research and extension. The topics of research on indigenous knowledge include local
techniques for raising various crops and livestock (e.g., corn, beans, fruit, coffee, goats and sheep).
The training programme in 1993 included 70 courses, workshops and seminars on topics proposed by
farmers and the leaders of local organizations. The goal for 1994 is to conduct 104 such events. Topics
include agricultural production, marketing, and the design, implementation and evaluation of projects in
rural areas. The programme of research and extension, which is based on local farming technologies, is
conducted on site. Local farmers participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of the project,
which covers 108 counties and involves 2500 communities and around a half million people.
SARCIK
SARCIK has been engaged almost exclusively in organizing the Indaba on 'Indigenous knowledge and
Practice', which was held on 24 November 1994. The proceedings of the Indaba and other articles of merit
will be published in paperback form.
In the continuing process of updating and expanding its database on indigenous knowledge, SARCIK has
begun collaborating with TRAMED (Traditional Medicines Programme), which is also expanding its
database. TRAMED's documentation is very extensive, and specialized in the area of traditional healing,
and the cultivation and use of plants in traditional medicine. Collaboration will enhance SARCIK's database
at the same time that TRAMED receives help with digitalizing its documentation and making it more readily
accessible. (See section Communications, Networks; and section Communications, Databases.)
SLARCIK
The Executive Committee of SLARCIK met several times in the past few months. All the Sectoral
Committees are now operational except for the one on natural resources management. The proceedings of
the seminar are in press, and a newsletter is being planned.
Mr Fergus Sinclair gave a lecture on the use of indigenous ecological knowledge for agro-forestry research,
and Dr Ranasinghe gave a guest lecture in the Department of Indigenous Medicine. SLARCIK conducted a
discussion in Kurunegala on 22-23 October for schoolchildren, farmers and parents. Similar activities are
planned for Hambantota, Anuradapura and Buttala.
Another series of guest lectures is planned for the Public Library Hall in Colombo. SLARCIK sent a
questionnaire to many institutions and individuals to obtain information about the available knowledge and
how this can be put to use. The replies are coming in now.
URURCIK
Last year URURCIK was involved in development activities for rural women who are members
of agrarian cooperatives. The object of the programme was to promote the practical interests of women in
their roles as community leaders, agricultural producers, and preservers of the environment; to enhance
their productive capacities; and to help them to achieve the goal of shared responsibilities in the home. As a
result of this programme, a state fair was organized for selling goods made by rural women. The fair was
held in the city of Pan de Azucar (Department of Maldonado) on 4-5 December 1993. It brought together
some 100 rural women and drew 3000 visitors. The coordinator and director of the programme was Dr
Rosario García y Santos. One of the fair's results was the creation of a network of rural women's
groups.
In addition to conducting this programme, CEDESUR recently published a booklet entitled 'Rural extension
for women on small farms'. The booklet was written by Kirai De León. She is a widely known
specialist with practical as well as research experience in women issues. She has worked as a consultant in
this area for several international organizations, including FAO, as well as for local NGOs. The booklet is
in Spanish. A translation into English is being considered but funds are needed. The Spanish version is
distributed free of charge. For more information, please contact: Bib. María del Carmen Fernandez,
CEDRA, Cerrito 318, Montevideo, Uruguay. Ask for 'La extensión hacia la mujer rural de
las unidades familiares de producción' written by Kirau De León (C20-
1150).
CEDESUR/URURCIK currently is enjoying the presence of one Fulbright scholar. Marta Chiappe, who
earned her doctoral degree in the agricultural education department of the University of Minnesota, joined
CEDESUR/URURCIK as coordinator of women's programmes. She is giving lectures on the topic of her
doctoral dissertation: 'Women in sustainable agriculture: a study of
Minnesota family farms'. Dr Chiappe is also writing a proposal for a programme of action-oriented
participatory research on the role of women in sustainable agriculture. One of her main areas of interest is
the development of a gender-based framework for project planning and evaluation. Dr Chiappe would like
to come into contact with people who are working on similar projects and topics. The aim would be to share
experiences. Dr Chiappe can be reached at URURCIK.
Although there is increased awareness of women's issues in Latin America, much remains to be done to
advance the status of women. However, we believe that if the efforts of many individual women are
combined with our own, Latin American women can achieve their own advancement.
CEDESUR/URURCIK has prepared a research proposal. The aim is to use a systems approach to studying
the role IK plays in the complex process which has become known as the 'small farmer rationality'. There
are plans to create a common market: the Southern Cone Common Market/Mercado Común del Sur
(MERCOSUR), which will remove trade barriers between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. This
will severely affect the poor farmers of these countries. Those who cannot keep up, especially in peripheral
regions, will be squeezed out. To address the problem, researchers will explore the possibilities of
establishing IK as the basis for new programmes that support small farming systems in these regions. The
proposal was written by Dr Miguel Vassallo and submitted for funding to the IDRC office in Uruguay. Dr
Vassallo has joined CEDESUR/URURCIK as an associate, bringing with him a wealth of international
development experience.
VERSIK
VERSIK coordinator Dr C. Quiroz is on sabbatical at CIKARD. She gave one of the annual CIKARD
lectures. Its title was 'Indigenous agricultural systems in Venezuela'.