Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor,
December 1997 Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor,
December 1997
Resource Centres
CIRAN
The international network for indigenous knowledge (IK network) is active and growing. At
the CIRAN office, we receive interesting letters and messages every day by regular mail
and e-mail. Unfortunately, because of the small size of our staff, we are not always able
to react promptly to the proposals of often laudable initiatives within our emerging
network, or to respond to news about specific organizations, or to the requests we receive
for help with finding funds or establishing new IK resource centres.
This active communication is mainly the result of our widely distributed journal. The electronic version of the Monitor and CIRAN's initiative to set up IK pages on the Internet also help to sustain the IK network. The IK pages were improved in April 1997, as we reported in the August 1997 issue of the Monitor. We would now like to request your assistance again, to help us make the IK pages even more relevant and useful. Please send us any recent information you have on primary or secondary sources of indigenous knowledge on the Internet so that we can make this information accessible via the IK pages. Kindly use the request page at (http://www.nuffic.nl/ik-pages) or send a regular e-mail to CIRAN.
We would like to share the following information about recent efforts and initiatives from various parts of the world.
The Science and Technology Policy Research Institute of the Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is exploring the possibility of becoming the third IK resource centre in Ghana, alongside GHARCIK in Cape Coast, and CECIK in Tamale.
In July 1997, Dr Gil Bok Lee and Dr Sung-Hwan Wee of the Research Coordination Division of the Rural Development Administration in Suwon (Korea), paid a visit to CIRAN in The Hague (the Netherlands) to discuss methods for collecting data on indigenous knowledge in their own country.
In September 1997, Dr N.C. Shah informed CIRAN of the newly established Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian Herbal Resources (CIKIHR) in Lucknow (India). (For more information about CIKIHR, see under Networks/International organizations.)
Mr Paul de Guchteneire, coordinator of UNESCO-MOST (Management of Science and Technology) Clearing House, showed vivid interest in the IK network. At present, Mr De Guchteneire and Mr Guus von Liebenstein, director of CIRAN, are exploring ways to use the expertise accessible via the IK network in order to embark on a joint project concerning the evaluation of recorded 'best practices' regarding indigenous knowledge.
In October 1997, Ms Kalpana Das, executive director of the Intercultural Institute of Montreal (Canada), paid a visit to the CIRAN office in The Hague and also showed a keen interest in the IK network and in the prospect of active cooperation.
In September/October 1997, CIRAN director Mr Guus von Liebenstein had two meetings in the Netherlands with Mr Wilfred Z. Sadomba to explore the possibility of establishing an IK resource centre in Harare (Zimbabwe).
In November, the director of CIRAN took part in the ILO-INDISCO donor workshop in New
Delhi (India). (See report under conferences.)
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CIKARD
The research reports are directly available at CIKARD.
The Annual CIKARD Lectures, October 29-30, consisted of presentations by the faculty and students involved in the l997 summer research in Nigeria.
Dr Warren's work in the field of indigenous knowledge was rewarded by his promotion to the rank of University Professor at the beginning of August l997. Dr Warren was one of seven professors to receive this university-wide recognition.
CIKARD was host to two visiting scholars in August-September 1997. Amy Craver from the Alaska Native Science Commission spent several weeks at CIKARD, and Viet Anh Hoang, a Cochran Program Fellow through the US Department of Agriculture, visited for six weeks as a representative of the Forest Ecology and Environment Research Centre of the Forest Science Institute of Vietnam, in Hanoi.
Dr Wolanle Wahab is continuing in his role as visiting scholar at CIKARD, and visiting professor in the Department of Community and Regional Planning at Iowa State University. En route to Iowa, Dr Wahab defended his PhD dissertation at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh (Scotland). Its title is The traditional compound and sustainable housing in Yorubaland, Nigeria: a case study of Iseyin. This study combines indigenous knowledge with both architecture and town planning. Dr Wahab will return to Nigeria in mid-December. A copy of his dissertation is in the CIKARD Library.
Ms Solskin Gomez Krogh, one of the MIRT participants in Nigeria in the summer of l997, has joined CIKARD as a Research Associate funded through the Culture Corps Program at Iowa State University.
Dr Deborah Muenchrath, a CIKARD Research Associate funded by the US National Science Foundation, is continuing her work with (her husband) Dr Jon Sandor, Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University. They are conducting an agro-ecological study of the traditional run-off agricultural system of the Zuni Pueblo of New Mexico.
CIKARD Associate Steven Roach completed his MA thesis on Land degradation and indigenous knowledge in a Swazi community, and has left for a second Peace Corps assignment in Guatamala.
Associate director of CIKARD, Dr Norma Wolff, is continuing her research project on the
classification of Yoruba traditional textiles. She has also completed the manuscript with
Dr Judith Perani of Ohio University on indigenous practices of art patronage in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
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LEAD
At the end of August 1997, Dr B. Connolly of LEAD published the final report of the
project Traditional fishery knowledge and practice for sustainable marine resources
management in northwestern Europe: a comparative study in Ireland and the Netherlands.
The report is the result of two years of research funded by the European Commission in
Brussels.
On 22-23 September 1997, an international workshop took place at Leiden University (the Netherlands) under the title 'Peer review on cultural and spiritual values of biodiversity'. It was the result of collaboration between LEAD and the Nairobi (Kenya) chapter of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The workshop, which was chaired by Professor V.H. Heywood of the University of Reading (UK), reviewed the articles on this subject which have been contributed for publication in a volume that will be edited by Professor D.A. Posey of Oxford University (UK).
With the help of LEAD's mediation, Mr P. Maundu from KENRIK in Nairobi was admitted to the international course on agriculture and rural development that began in October, 1997, at MAICH in Chania (Greece).
With an address entitled 'Ethnocosmetics', LEAD director Dr L.J. Slikkerveer had the honour of opening the Third International Cosmetics Symposium, which was held on 2 October 1997 at the Faculty of Pharmacology at Anadolu University in Eskisehir (Turkey).
On 12-14 October 1997, Dr Slikkerveer took part in the meeting of the MEDUSA Steering Committee that was held at MAICH in Chania.
The INDAKS project on indigenous agricultural knowledge and practice in Indonesia and
Kenya has reached its final stages. The various members of the Consortium are putting the
finishing touches on it.
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BARCIK
Information about the establishment of BARCIK that was published in the August 1997 issue
of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor prompted Mr Julian J.F. Barr of
the Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research, University of Newcastle (UK), to go
to Bangladesh and discuss possible joint projects with the coordinator of BARCIK. They
agreed to work together to organize a workshop on indigenous knowledge in Bangladesh,
which will be held in Dhaka in March 1998. The title of the workshop is not yet finalized.
Dr Wajed Ali Shah is a member of the International Advisory Board of CIKARD, Iowa (USA)
on behalf of BARCIK. Together with BARCIK associate advisor Mr Philip Townsley, he has
conducted a study of an indigenous aquaculture system in Bangladesh. The report has been
submitted to the Monitor for publication, and is presently undergoing the usual round of
peer review and editing.
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BURCIK
The research institute within which BURCIK is located has changed its name from IRSSH to
INSS. The name change is a consequence of a general reorganization of the Burkina Faso
National Center for Scientific Research so that it can take on new activities called for
in the National strategic plan for scientific research. But as yet, money to
implement the strategic plan has not been available, and BURCIK does not have its own
budget.
Director Dr Basga E. Dialla and his colleagues at BURCIK have been preparing several research projects on indigenous knowledge and are interested in receiving the addresses of potential donors to whom they could submit project proposals.
The telephone number of BURCIK has also changed: +226-360 746.
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CARIKS
The Research Unit at CARIKS has welcomed Professor Rameshvari Varma as director of the
research project entitled 'Impact of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on
women'. This project focuses on the relationship between the indigenous form of
household organization and the modern form of employment. The SAP is part of the new
economic policy introduced by the Government of India in 1991. The macro-economic policies
have different impacts on women depending on where they live, and on their household
organization, caste and class. The fast-growing electronic and computer industries in
Bangalore and Mysore employ a growing number of women of diverse backgrounds. This sector
thus offers an ideal opportunity for studying the impact of a developing industry on the
employment opportunities of women. The project is funded by the Government of India,
Ministry of Human Resources Development, Department of Women and Welfare, New Delhi.
The ongoing activities of CARIKS concern:
-the problems of exchanging and disseminating knowledge and initiating socio-cultural
activities within the context of an indigenous economy;
-the conflict between modern and indigenous perceptions that is experienced at the
workplace of the small enterprise.
The first reports on these activities may be expected in February, 1998.
Research findings are disseminated widely through publications. The latest is
'Trees for timber and trees for the forest' by CARIKS director Dr Jan Brouwer.
The paper has been published in: Seeland, Klaus and Franz Schmithüssen (eds) (1997) Local
knowledge of forests and forest uses among tribal communities in India.
Forstwissenschaftliche Beiträge 19. It can be purchased directly from the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology, Dept. of Forest and Wood Research, ETH-Zentrum. CH 8092 Zurich,
Switzerland.
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New centre in Nigeria
August 1997 saw the formal establishment of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge in Farm
and Infrastructure Management (CIKFIM), in Makurdi (Nigeria). This fourth Nigerian IK
resource centre (the first being ARCIK, established in September 1991; the second NIRCIK,
August 1993; and the third CIKPREM, December 1994) concentrates on analyzing the relevance
of the management of indigenous knowledge (IK), particularly the management of IK in
agricultural development projects. The centre is institutionally backed by the University
of Agriculture in Makurdi, and is headed by Dr G.B. Ayoola, who is head of the
university's Agricultural Economics Department and director of its Centre for Food
and Agricultural Strategy. Dr Ayoola took the initiative to establish CIKFIM following his
academic visit to CIKARD in Ames, Iowa (USA) in the summer of 1996. CIKARD director Dr D.
Michael Warren played an instrumental role in establishing the centre.
The primary reason for establishing a centre that focusses on the management component was the experience of two decades of agricultural development projects in Nigeria, many of which failed to achieve sustainability. New farm technology was adopted and then abandoned, for example. Roads were constructed which after a few rains became impassible; and borehole wells were dug that soon failed to yield enough water or even went dry. Experts analyze these problems and conclude that they are caused mainly by neglect of the management factor, which, all the experts agree, must provide the basis for sustained development of farm technology and infrastructure.
In practical terms, it is interesting to observe how government service centres made of building blocks soon become dilapidated while traditional mud houses remain without cracks for many years. Similarly, age-old village wells serve the community better than the sophisticated boreholes. Such differences can be seen in all forms of infrastructure in Nigeria—physical, social and institutional, which makes it clear that the role of management cannot be overemphasized.
The mission statement of CIKFIM calls for long-term research and development activities aimed at increasing appreciation for the role that local knowledge should play in the management of farms and infrastructure.
Over the short to medium term, CIKFIM will be engaged in the following activities:
CIKFIM
Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy
University of Agriculture
Private Mail Bag 2373
Makurdi, Nigeria
Fax: +234-44-310 20.
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CIKIB
On 23 August 1997, Professor P. Sensarma, sectoral coordinator for the study of classical
literature as a source of indigenous knowledge, represented CIKIB at a seminar organized
by the Institute of Indology in Calcutta (India) to discuss Kautiliya's relevance
in modern times. Professor Sensarma presented data under the title
'Ethnobiological information in Kautilya Arthasastra'. All scholars present at
the seminar agreed that Professor Sensarma has opened up an interesting new area of
research.
CIKIB is still heavily involved with research on ethnoveterinary medicine. Thus far, about 25 research papers on this subject have been published, describing practices in different parts of India. It is an important subject, given the fact that India is a predominantly agricultural country, with about 80 per cent of its population residing in rural areas. People keep domestic animals for milk, meat, traction and trade. Because there are only a limited number of veterinary hospitals, people treat their animals with the herbal medicines available locally.
Among tribal peoples in the Surguja district of Central India, CIKIB recently recorded information regarding the indigenous uses of 150 plants for treating animals—how the remedies are prepared, what the dosages are, etc. More fieldwork is planned for later this year.
CIKIB presented a paper at the international conference Ethnoveterinary medicines: alternatives for livestock development, which was held in Puna (India), 4-6 November 1997. The paper compared Indian and Latin American uses of plants for veterinary purposes, and will be published as part of the conference proceedings.
CIKIB's ethnobiological studies comparing India and Latin America also involve compiling data on the indigenous uses of plants into a computerized database. Thus far information on the uses of some 250 plants has been derived from more than 100 sources and processed. This work is continuing.
Five tribal women who depended on forests for meeting their daily fuel needs, among
other things, were brought to CIKIB under a Rain Forest Alliance project and trained in
how to plant and grow plants for economic and medicinal purposes. The women now raise
vegetables, flowers, and other crops in Karguan, at Jhansi in Central India, and are
partly self-employed.
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ICIK
The 1997 meeting of the Society for Nutrition Education was held in Montreal (Canada) in
July 1997. One of the meeting's most exciting sessions was organized by ICIK's
associate director, Ms Audrey Maretzki. The objective of the session was to highlight
problems facing indigenous peoples of the circumpolar region in their efforts to maintain
their traditional 'foodways' in the face of environmental contamination of the
food chain. The native peoples most seriously affected are those who traditionally eat the
large fish that have, in turn, concentrated hydrocarbon compounds from smaller fish into
their tissues.
The keynote speaker at the session was Dr Harriet Kuhnlein, director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment (CINE), which is located within the School of Dietetics and Nutrition at McGill University (Canada). CINE is an independent centre that undertakes participatory, community-based research and education related to traditional food systems. The empirical knowledge of the environment that is inherent in indigenous societies is incorporated into all of its efforts.
CINE has a governing board consisting of representatives of the Assembly of First Nations, the Council for Yukon Indians, the Dene Nation, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, and the Metis Nation of the Northwest Territories. CINE is hosted by the Mohawk community of Kahnawake.
Dr Kuhnlein, a graduate of Penn State University (USA), can be contacted at
CINE
21,111 Lakeshore
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
Quebec H9X 3V9, Canada
Tel.: +1-514-398 7544
Fax: +1-514-398 1020
E-mail: kuhnlein@agradm.lan.mcgill.ca
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INRIK
The INRIK team has conducted site surveys in Cilembu, a village in Sumedang District, some
45 kilometres east of Bandung (Indonesia). This work was part of efforts to reintroduce
the organic farming system traditionally used by local farmers, which has become less
common over the last two decades under increasing pressure from 'modern' farming
practices. Earlier, INRIK had conducted research on the system which Cilembu has developed
for cultivating sweet potato. The very special, honey-sweet taste of this particular sweet
potato is widely known in West Java. Not only is it a favourite snack locally, but it is
also frequently served as an appetizer in reputable hotels in Bandung. INRIK's study
has therefore also explored the possibilities for commercially developing this cultivation
system. The written report of the study will be available sometime in the first half of
1998.
The INRIK team presented a paper at the national seminar entitled 'The empowerment of informal institutions in the development of rural communities'. The seminar was organized by the National Consortium of Mount Gede, Mount Patuha, Mount Halimun—of which INRIK is a member—and held on 27-29 September 1997 at the Cikaniki research station in the Mt Halimun Protected Area. The consortium has sole responsibility for protecting the mountain chain from the excesses of those who would develop the surrounding region economically.
On 22 October 1997 INRIK, in its capacity as consortium member, conducted a workshop in cooperation with KEHATI, a local NGO concerned with sustaining the region's natural biodiversity. The purpose of the workshop was to redefine the development efforts planned for the protected area of Mt Gede--Mt Patuha--Mt Halimum. Since the workshop, INRIK has taken on three additional tasks:
to reconstruct the boundary lines between traditional and non-traditional zones of land utilization;
to reconstruct and map a particularly difficult boundary;
to establish a separate region where people can carry on their traditional way of life.
Currently, INRIK is compiling information on various aspects of local knowledge and technology as practised all over the Indonesian archipelago. This will be published next year.
In January 1998, INRIK will begin with a study of the importance of traditional social institutions in West Java, together with West Java's Governmental Development Planning Office. This study is part of efforts to develop West Java by empowering informal social institutions.
INRIK's plans for the future also include a study of the way that West Java's home gardens have changed in terms of structure and function over the last two decades. The findings will be used to predict the role of the home garden in providing family income at the local level after the year 2000.
INRIK is currently looking for funding that would enable it to carry out two studies in
the Mount Halimun area: one devoted to indigenous knowledge and technology related to the
cultivation and development of herbal medicines, and the other focusing on the development
of agroforestry. The proposal for the agroforestry study involves two developed
countries--Greece and the Netherlands--and three developing countries: Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Kenya.
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KENRIK
On 19 June 1997, KENRIK was proud to have Dr Ladi Semali, director of ICIK, Pennsylvania
State University (USA), visit briefly. Dr Semali held talks with KENRIK director Bernard
I. Lavusa on how to make indigenous knowledge (IK) a valid and necessary part of the
formal education process. They also discussed how to make IK a part of the mainstream
activities and policies of development agencies, universities, governments and NGOs now
that IK is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in community and national
development. Both Dr Semali and Mr Lavusa felt that these were just two of the areas in
which collaboration between IK centres could be of major benefit.
In August 1997, KENRIK moved into new but temporary offices on the grounds of the National Museums of Kenya. This marked KENRIK's long-delayed separation from the Kenya Herbarium, where it has been housed since its inception five years ago. The offices add weight to the new-found semi-autonomy of KENRIK.
KENRIK acquired a full-time secretary (Ms Barbara Owuor) who joins Mr Lavusa, Mr Patrick Maundu and Ms Grace Ngugi as the centre's permanent staff members. Efforts are underway to recruit more senior staff in the areas of training, research and documentation. This will serve KENRIK's aim to broaden, strengthen and expand its activities.
Ms Ngugi is still undergoing training in botanical methods in South Africa, where she has been since the beginnning of the year. Mr Maundu has left for Greece to participate in a nine-month graduate course at MAICH, Chania. (See also the report on LEAD's activities.)
Mr Lavusa chaired an important regional workshop held in July/August at the National Museums of Kenya and sponsored by the Research Programme on Sustainable Use of Dryland Biodiversity. The theme of the workshop was 'Management of dryland biodiversity'. There were over 80 participants--mostly from the three East African countries of Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania--but also from Sweden, which provided funding.
The workshop aimed to identify ways in which the dryland biodiveristy resources of the region could be better utilized for the purpose of eventually drafting a plan for sustainable management, development and conservation. Dr David Western, director of the Kenya Wildlife Service, presented the keynote address. One of the four subtopics was 'Culture, tradition and the use of local knowledge in the management of dryland resources'.
KENRIK is currently engaged in preliminary field surveys for a project entitled 'Traditional forests and sacred groves of Kenya'. The project, funded by UNESCO through its People and Plants initiative, will study the sacred forest and woodland areas of the various ethnic groups of Kenya. Through the community-centred conservation of bio-resources, these areas might be rehabilitated and preserved as a link between the past and the future.
Mr Lavusa is involved with two new initiatives at the National Museums of Kenya: the
design and layout of the new botanic garden, and the proposed community-based conservation
project. In both cases the wealth of indigenous plant information at KENRIK, coupled with
Mr Lavusa's specific expertise, should prove extremely useful.
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RIDSCA
Under the title 'Regional knowledge and survival strategies', the first
conference of peasants was held as planned at Campus Puebla (Mexico), on 9 and 10
September 1997. One of the principal results was that 93 papers were presented by 81
farmers. Of the 40 people at the meeting who did not present papers, 15 were farmers and
25 were faculty members and students at Campus Puebla of the Autonomous University of
Tlaxcala and the Autonomous University of Puebla.
The conference was chaired by M.D. Miguel Angel Tapia-Medina. Dr Abel Muñoz gave a welcoming address, and Mr Nabor García explained the objectives of the meeting.
The presentations were organized into four groups:
At the end of the meeting, the best presentation was selected from each group. The topics of the four best papers were peach production, goats as livestock, cheese production, and a model for a peasant organization. The proceedings of the conference are available (in Spanish only) and will be sent either by post or e-mail to anyone who requests them from the RIDSCA coordinator.
The farmers who took part in the conference are enthusiastic, and urge that another meeting be held next year.
On 24 and 25 September 1997, RIDSCA held a meeting at Campus Puebla under the title 'Advances in research, 1993-1997'. The purpose of the meeting was to allow several working groups at Campus Puebla to present their research results pertaining to indigenous knowledge, peasant studies, traditional agriculture, women and development, local production technologies, and backyard livestock. Altogether 103 papers were submitted. They were all presented at the meeting, organized into eight groups. In the group of regional development, the main topics were:
As of early October 1997, 70 papers had been submitted for presentation at the 10th National Forum on Teaching, Research and Extension in the Rural Environment, which was to be held at the end of the month.
One of the main results of the dynamic process underway at Campus Puebla is that after
January 1998 it will be possible for students working on a master's degree or Ph.D.
within the Strategies for Agricultural and Regional Development Programme to specialize in
indigenous knowledge and traditional agriculture. Students from Mexico as well as from
abroad will be able to enrol at Campus Puebla to study this subject.
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VERSIK
VERSIK has sent a proposal to several national and international funding agencies, but
has not yet received any definitive answer. The proposed research project is called
'Local knowledge systems, agrobiodiversity and gender. Case: traditional food plants
in Trujillo state, Venezuela'.
VERSIK recently approached the Latin American chapter of the Kellogg Foundation, and there might be a possibility of getting a grant from them. In November, VERSIK coordinator Dr Consuelo Quiroz, together with Professor Tadeo Salcedo, will visit a project in Honduras which the Kellogg Foundation is funding. It is a community project quite similar to the one proposed by VERSIK. The main purpose of the visit will be to exchange information and to learn from the people coordinating the project. On the basis of their experience, VERSIK might get new ideas which could be incorporated into a new proposal for the Kellogg Foundation.
The coordinator of VERSIK participated in an international conference on agricultural extension, which was held in Cuba on 7-10 October 1997. (See also the notice under Conferences.)
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