CIRAN
In January 1995 CIRAN introduced a system of paid subscriptions for readers of the Indigenous Knowledge
and Development Monitor in Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Readers in
developing countries continue to receive the Monitor free of charge. This requires additional funding, but
we are happy to announce that the Directorate General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has donated Dfl 36,783 to the Monitor to help to cover the costs of distributing
it free in the South. Unfortunately, however, as of mid-July 1995, 82 readers in Europe, the USA, Canada
and Australia have informed CIRAN that they are not able or willing to pay for a subscription. The next
issue will contain more definite figures. In the meantime CIRAN is still trying hard to find external funding
for the Monitor that will safeguard the continued service to the international network of persons and
institutions that are active in the field of indigenous knowledge and development.
Also unfortunate is the long time it is taking to publish an electronic version of the Monitor (via FTP,
Gopher and WWW). We are nevertheless extremely grateful for the major support we are receiving from
CIESIN, IITAP and OASIS/University of Leiden. We hope that with their invaluable help, and with the
development of Nuffic's own electronic networking facilities, we will soon be able to offer the Monitor,
including all the back issues, over the Internet. At the moment, however, we cannot announce much more
than the intention to do so. The electronic version will be a useful alternative for those who cannot afford a
paid subscription but who do have Internet access through their institution or via their own PC. In this way
the exchange of information can be guaranteed at the same level, and the Monitor will continue to function
as an indispensable mechanism for active networking.
Drs G.W. von Liebenstein visited Washington to attend a workshop
(25-26 April) on traditional and modern approaches to natural resource management in Latin
America, which was organized by the World Bank, Environment Unit, Technical Department, Latin
America and the Caribbean Region.
In May 1995, Dr Evelyn Mathias and Dr Paul Mundy visited CIRAN while they were on home leave in
Europe. They described the situation at REPPIKA and IIRR, and spoke of the need for substantial external
support if their activities are to be continued at an acceptable level.
In July, CIRAN was visited by Dr Ngwasiri and Dr Ambe Tumanteh (CIKO, Cameroon), Dr Chandrakanth
(India), Dr Mike Warren (CIKARD, USA), Dr Miguel Altieri (Chile), Dr David Atte (Nigeria), Dr Darell
Posey (UK) and Dr Poswal (South Africa). All were in The Hague (the Netherlands) to deliver papers and
present posters at the Indigenous Knowledge Symposium of the 13th
International Plant Protection Conference, which was convened by Prof. Dr H.A.M. de Kruijf
(National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, the Netherlands ) and Drs G.W. von
Liebenstein (Nuffic-CIRAN). The overseas visitors came to CIRAN's offices to exchange ideas on the best
way to start activities that will integrate indigenous knowledge with Western science and technology in a
complementary and sustainable way. Also participating in the discussion were Dr Clive Lightfoot, Dr Maria
Fernández and Dr Mia Kooistra (all from ILEIA in Leusden, the Netherlands). The meeting
continued at the International Agricultural Centre, Wageningen (the Netherlands), where the group was
joined by Dr Paul Richards (Wageningen Agricultural University) and Dr Richard Hawkins (ICRA). An
action plan will be drafted for discussion with the donor community.
LEAD
Two comparative pilot studies are currently being completed. These are part of the EU project
'Indigenous knowledge systems for sustainable agriculture in developing countries: towards an alternative
approach to food shortage reduction in Kenya and Indonesia' (INDAKS). Both fieldwork phases, in Kitui
District of eastern Kenya and on Mount Halimun in West Java, have been concluded and the pilot study
reports are in the process of finalization.
At the moment, the results of the pilot studies are being evaluated. Where necessary, they are being adapted
and revised for inclusion in the main comparative anthropological/ethnoscientific and agro-ecological
research project envisaged for the second half of 1995.
A preliminary baseline report with a wealth of information on the interrelationships between community and
forest in Mount Halimum, West Java, has in the meantime been completed by INRIK in Bandung
(Indonesia). It encompasses the results of the first six months of database documentation in the research area
(June-December 1994). The report is in Bahasa Indonesia with a summary in English.
Meanwhile, at LEAD preparations are being made to expand the alphabetical bibliography on indigenous
agricultural knowledge systems in developing countries into a complete annotated bibliography. The present
bibliography was published jointly by the INDAKS counterpart institutions in Nairobi, Bandung, Chanai and
Leiden. It appeared as Volume 1 of Studies in Indigenous Knowledge Systems Research &
Development. Further contributions and suggestions concerning the compilation of the annotated
bibliography on indigenous agricultural knowledge system are welcome at LEAD. Address: Leiden
Ethnosystems And Development Programme, Institute of Cultural and Social Studies, University of Leiden,
P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-71-273469/273472. Fax: +31-71-273619. E-
mail: decherin@rulfsw.LeidenUniv.nl
ARCIK
ARCIK is currently undertaking a study entitled 'Baseline study on indigenous and tribal peoples in West
Africa'. A survey is being conducted together with other national NGOs in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana,
Burkina Faso and possibly Senegal.
A workshop on indigenous knowledge and conflict resolution was held on 11-12 July. A report will be
published in the next issue of the Monitor.
REPPIKA
Together with Paul Mundy, Evelyn Mathias conducted a session called 'Indigenous knowledge and
indigenous communication' during the Regional Course on Development Communication held at IIRR from
13 February to 10 March 1995.
In April and May Dr Mathias visited organizations in Europe, including the Centre for Development
Cooperation Services (Amsterdam), Nuffic-CIRAN (The Hague), and ITDG (London). She presented a
lunch seminar on ethnoveterinary medicine at the Centre of Tropical Veterinary Medicine of the University
of Edinburgh.
Dr Mathias also wrote a unit called 'Indigenous knowledge for environmental education' for inclusion in the
training module that IIRR is preparing in collaboration with FAO.
CARIKS
Soon after its establishment in November 1993, CARIKS welcomed the Netherlands Ambassador to India,
H.E. Herman du Marchie Servaas. The ambassador showed great interest in the Centre's research and
development activities. He sees its innovative approach as a very promising way out of the impasse in which
development research finds itself today.
On 4 April 1994, CARIKS conducted an international seminar on indigenous knowledge and sustainable
development, with participants from Denmark, India, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden. The seminar met
with an overwhelming response from various research institutions, state officials and NGO extension
workers. A report on the seminar will come out soon.
At the same time CARIKS also held a regional seminar on indigenous knowledge and sustainable
development. This resulted in the identification of research centres involved in indigenous knowledge studies
at regional, national and international levels. CARIKS is now in the process of drawing up a list of scholars
working on indigenous knowledge systems in a variety of institutions in the region and at national and
international levels. Once these resource persons have been identified, CARIKS will establish a national
database containing descriptions of their skills. In December 1994, Dr Jan Brouwer (director of CARIKS)
was introduced to Drs G.W. von Liebenstein (director of Nuffic-CIRAN) by Dr L.J. Slikkerveer (director
of LEAD). Drs Von Liebenstein asked Dr Brouwer to nominate a corresponding editor for the Indigenous
Knowledge and Development Monitor. CARIKS's officer for training and development, Mrs S.L. Meenu,
has gladly accepted the task.
On 24 February 1995, CARIKS held the first memorial lecture in honour of Dr S.P. Tewari. Dr S.P.
Tewari was one of the founders of CARIKS and an eminent epigraphist. He was a strong advocate of the
study of indigenous knowledge systems. His profound knowledge of Sanskrit inscriptions made him to
appreciate written and oral accounts of indigenous knowledge as sources of information invaluable for
development. The lecture was delivered by the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India, who
is also its director of epigraphy. It was well attended by people studying and working on various aspects of
indigenous knowledge systems.
The editing unit at CARIKS is now preparing to publish the proceedings of the 1994
seminar and the lecture.
On 27 March 1995, Dr Brouwer had a meeting with Professor R. Radhakrishna, member and secretary of
the Indian Council of Social Science Research. They discussed, among other things, the strategy of
incorporating the study of indigenous knowledge systems into social science curricula in India, and
possibilities for storing indigenous knowledge in the National Social Science Documentation Centre
(NASSDOC).
Recently CARIKS expanded its activities to include systematic programmes of research and development.
CARIKS will promote and conduct such programmes, and offer a variety of related services. The basic idea
is to integrate indigenous knowledge, scientific knowledge, people's participation, local conditions and the
formal development strategy.
CARIKS has two main sources of inspiration for its research agenda. First, the staff's own research
activities lead automatically to the formulation of new research. This is particularly true in the case of
studies of artisans and multiple health care systems. Secondly, from various local authorities, CARIKS
regularly receives requests for help with urgent local problems. The management of solid waste in medium-
sized cities is an example of such a problem area. Many cities in Karnataka State (South India) have
approached the Centre for help with the design and implementation of research-based action programmes for
solid waste management.
On the basis of fieldwork data, the Centre's research unit compares indigenous
knowledge systems with the global knowledge system. The results of comparison are incorporated into the
design, implementation and monitoring of development projects. Research may take the form of a pilot
study, fundamental scientific research, a sample survey, a base-line survey, creation of a database, or
validation of development strategies prior to implementation.
During the current year CARIKS has taken new research initiatives. The research unit is promoting three
projects: the impact of satellite television on world view and lifestyle in urban areas (in collaboration with
CNRS, Paris), practices and concepts of management and resource mobilization in small rural units of
production, and indigenous knowledge and innovation for the sustainable management of urban solid waste.
The development unit is pursuing a 'time-bound' action plan for a development
programme. It is also monitoring sustainability indices in 'real time', sharpening ways of measuring
people's participation, and preparing and conducting teaching and training modules. The unit also makes and
analyzes databases, and provides projects with specific technical input that is needed during
implementation.
The development unit has initiated three projects: a research-based action programme on solid waste
management in medium-sized cities of South India, an integrated rural development project based on
indigenous knowledge (in collaboration with the National Council for Development Communication
(Varanasi), and a study of training needs and communication in small-scale industry.
The professional services provided by CARIKS support project efforts at all stages:
during planning, implementation and evaluation. The service unit offers a management planning service, and
can conduct feasibility studies, risk assessments, and analyses of sustainability and impact. It provides
project guidance when and where it is needed. The unit also conducts field research to verify methods of
planning development projects.
The Centre maintains a permanent staff of dedicated professionals including specialists in environmental
engineering, training and development, and the social sciences, in addition to the support staff. Over a
period of time, the Centre has built up a vast network of professionals, scientists, extension workers and
field assistants. These resource persons are called upon to contribute to a wide range of development
projects as and when required.
The expertise available within the Centre can be applied to in-house and affiliated projects as long as these
have specifically defined objectives and meet clearly identified needs. As an activity of the Foundation for
the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge Based Development (IKDF), the Centre shares the foundation's
Board of Trustees. It is now also assisted by an Advisory Board, which is made up of Prof. Dr Veena Das
(Delhi School of Economics, Delhi), Prof. Dr S.C. Dube (New Delhi), Prof. Dr Jean-Claude Galey (Ecole
des hautes Etudes et Sciences sociales, CNRS, Paris), Prof. Dr Adam Kuper (Brunel University, London),
Prof. Dr T.N. Madan (Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi), Prof. Dr Roland Posner (Technical
University, Berlin), Dr L.J. Slikkerveer (University of Leiden), Prof. Dr Burton Stein (School of Oriental
and African Studies, London), Prof. Dr T.K.N. Unnithan (University of Rajasthan, Jaipur), and Dr Kapila
Vatsyayan (Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi).
Recently CARIKS was asked to start up a network for research collaboration by the Central Institute of
Indian Languages, Mysore, and the PPST Foundation, Madras.
CIKO
The Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organisation has been very busy recently attending a number of
meetings where indigenous knowledge figured prominently. Apart from a workshop on Cassava plant protection, which was organized in
January 1995, three seminars were held in May and June 1995.
The first was an international seminar on environmental conflicts, organized by Cameroon's newly created
Ministry of the Environment and Forestry and held in Douala on 25-27 May. It was attended by delegates
from the neighbouring countries of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and by a UNEP representative from
Kenya. Professor Ngwasiri, Director of CIKO, presented a paper at the seminar entitled 'The importance of
indigenous knowledge in natural resources management'.
The second seminar, which followed a few days later (29-31 May) in Kribi, was organized and funded by
the WWF Cameroon. The theme of the seminar was environmental protection. The third seminar took place
at Sa'a near Yaounde on 22-25 June 1995. It was organized by a consortium of Cameroonian and foreign
NGOs, called NGO-PVO/NRMS, a body which provides training in rural areas on the sustainable
management of natural resources, and manages the UNDP Global Environment Facility Programme in
Cameroon. The seminar was directed towards sustainable natural resources management. Professor
Ngwasiri also presented a paper entitled 'The implications of land use practices on natural resources
management'. The role of indigenous knowledge in the sustainable management of natural resources was the
subject of lengthy and lively debate at the seminar, where a resolution was passed calling for more research
on the general potential of indigenous knowledge for development.
CIKO is currently writing a report on a study of indigenous practices among the inhabitants of the Mount
Cameroon Region. The study was commissioned and financed by INDISCO/ILO as part of a wider project
now being carried out in a number of selected West African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and
Burkina Faso.
GHARCIK
In recent months GHARCIK has been active collecting information on indigenous soil management in
Ghana. Financial constraints limit the investigation to farming communities around Cape Coast in the
Central Region of Ghana. GHARCIK has embarked on intensive surveys to collect this information.
Six professors from Hanover College in Indiana (USA) visited GHARCIK from 25 to 27 June. The various
topics discussed included African literature; the changing roles of women in Africa; ethnic heterogeneity as
a potential source of tension and a threat to the stability of politics in Africa; indigenous medical care
delivery systems in rural areas of Ghana; the use of plant communities for food, medicine, religion and
environmental modification; the care of plants in monoculture agriculture, mixed agriculture and
intercropping; and systems of traditional healing.
INRIK
The proceedings of the international conference on indigenous knowledge entitled 'Adaptation and
development: interdisciplinary perspectives on subsistence and sustainability in developing countries', which
was held in Bandung (Indonesia) from 11 to 14 July 1994, are being published by UPT INRIK UNPAD in
August 1995.
The proceedings contain working papers that were presented at the conference by over 50 speakers
representing different disciplines. They included governmental officials, staff members of educational
institutions, and professionals from non-governmental agencies.
The specific topics of the papers include various aspects of environmental and natural resource management,
agro-ecology, human ecology, and medical ecology.
The proceedings can be ordered at cost: US $ 55.00 (including shipment). The amount is payable by cheque
or bank draft addressed to: UPT INRIK UNPAD, Account No. 41-17-01968-9, PT Bank Utama, Jl.
Lombok, Bandung, Indonesia.
SARCIK
SARCIK is embarking on a reassessment of its programme activities. This action is necessary in response to
changing patterns in the criteria used by donor organizations. Existing services will not be affected, but new
programme activities will need to include more community participation and to provide more direct services
to recipient communities.
The major focus of SARCIK's activities in the past few months has been the preparation of two workshops
on indigenization in social and community work education, to be held in Cape Town and Johannesburg in
October 1995. By drawing on the experiential indigenous knowledge of non-professionals, these workshops
aim to expand the pool of people available to offer care in the community. The workshops will also promote
a career path for them within the traditional care professions and human service organizations.
These objectives involve changing the qualifications required to enter professional practice, and changing the
content of training and school curricula to accommodate indigenous knowledge and knowledge acquired
through experience. This is seen as a process of 'contextualization' and 'indigenization' that entails
acknowledgement for the role and contribution of experiential and indigenous knowledge. The traditional
education and role of current professional helpers would continue to provide a source of specialized
expertise and advice for care professionals, and would complement this process.
This approach has already been tried in other countries, particularly in the United Kingdom. Speakers from
these countries will present the current models available in their countries.
VERSIK
After finishing her sabbatical at CIKARD in August, Prof. Consuelo Quiroz, VERSIK's coordinator,
returned to Venezuela. She would like to thank the Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela) and the Kellogg
Foundation (USA) for their financial support during the year. She (and her children) would also like to
thank Dr Michael Warren, his wife Mary, and CIKARD's staff for the kind and valuable support they
provided during the stay in Iowa.
There are several new activities at VERSIK. Professor Ana Maria Allievi (VERSIK-CATADI) recently
began to study the knowledge of local farmers in Trujillo State (Venezuela) regarding the management and
classification of soils. This project is being financed by the Council for the Development of Humanistic,
Scientific and Technological Research (CDCHT) of the Universidad de Los Andes. Other research is
examining experimentation among farmers, and the role of gender in indigenous knowledge. VERSIK has
made several attempts to obtain funds so that it can continue and expand its activities, but so far these
efforts have been unsuccessful. Professor Quiroz would appreciate any information regarding potential
sources of funding for projects related to local knowledge systems in
Latin America.