Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, March 1999

Contents IK Monitor (7-1) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | (c) copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1999.

Indigenous Knowledge Resource Centres - News

The complete list of addresses of Indigenous Knowledge Resource Centres is updated regularly.

Cameroon
CIKO

Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organisation
Prof. C.N. Ngwasiri, Director
(Correspondent)
P.O. Box 8437, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Tel./fax: +237-31-80 76.
E-mail: ngwasiri@camnet.cm

CIKO is happy to announce that our Yaoundé office is now fully equipped with telephone, fax and e-mail. The phone and fax number is +237-31-80 76 and the new e-mail address is ngwasiri@camnet.cm. Communication between our offices should henceforth pose no problem.
The installation of the e-mail and other office equipment was made possible by an agreement between CIKO and the World Bank which was signed last October by Mr Reiner Woytek, who visited Cameroon in connection with the World Bank pilot programme to collect IK best practices in Africa. Under the agreement, CIKO is to provide ten case studies within six months from 1 November 1998. Summaries of the case studies will be included in the Bank's database, and CIKO will publish full versions (1500-2000 words) in journals of its choice that have at least regional circulation. All of the case studies require fieldwork, which is now being carried out.
The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the World Bank also envisages CIKO establishing an IK database and working to create a regional IK centre for the Central African Sub-Region.
On a very sad note, we lost Dr Jerome Ambe, CIKO's sectoral coordinator for agriculture, on 2 November 1998. Like the late Professor Michael Warren, Dr Ambe attended the 13 th IPP Congress at The Hague (the Netherlands) in July 1995. Also like Professor Warren, he worked on the IK proposal which was drafted during the congress. Even their cause of death was the same: thrombosis. (The next issue of the IK Monitor will carry Dr Ambe's obituary.)
CIKO has informed Ms Ingeborg Krukkert of CIRAN that the centre will be happy to contribute to the UNESCO-MOST database of best practices related to indigenous knowledge. We are very hopeful that with the collaboration which we have started with the World Bank, we will be able to move forward in our efforts to propagate and share Cameroonian IK with the rest of the world.

Kenya

KENRIK
Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Rashid Aman, Correspondent
The National Museums of Kenya
P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel.: +254-2-742 131.
Fax: +254-2-741 424.
E-mail: raman@AfricaOnline.co.ke

Dr Mohamed Isahakia, who has been director-general of the National Museums of Kenya and acting director of KENRIK, has now been given the more challenging post of permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Works. He has been replaced as director-general by Dr George Abungu.
All correspondence to KENRIK should now be directed to Dr Rashid Aman, Director of Research and Scientific Affairs. He is the one who is directly responsible for KENRIK's affairs. Dr Aman's direct e-mail address is Raman@AfricaOnline.co.ke.

South Africa

SARCIK
South African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Alwyn Dippenaar, Executive Director
(Correspondent)
The Institute for Indigenous Theory and Practice
P.O. Box 2355, Somerset West
7129 South Africa.
Tel.: +27-21-854 3299.
E-mail: alewijn@iafrica.com

In November 1998 Mr Reiner Woytek of the World Bank paid a visit to SARCIK to discuss possible ways of cooperating in the World Bank IK Initiative for Africa. After this visit, we are really busy getting our centre to become more active in ways of sharing our knowledge and experience with others.
As from 1 November 1998, Mr Mornay Pretorius has joined the SARCIK team and he will play an important role in the future of SARCIK as programme manager. Mr Pretorius plans to go to Germany and the Netherlands in the course of 1999. During that visit he will meet with various roleplayers in the world of indigenous knowledge and sustainable develoment. A visit to CIRAN and meeting with Mr Guus von Liebenstein has also been planned.
Ms Arina de Villiers, research consultant to the Institute for Indigenous Knowledge, has also become more actively involved in the research programme of SARCIK. Ms De Villiers' involvement will focus on indigenous decision making processes and community participation in decision making.
This year, among other things, SARCIK will focus its attention on indigenous knowledge in local government service delivery processes, planning and decision making.

Bangladesh

BARCIK
Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Sukanta Sen, Coordinator
Prof. M.I. Zuberi, Correspondent
3/7, Block D, Lalmatia, Dhaka -1207
Bangladesh.
Tel.: +880-2-913 2372.
Fax: +880-2-815 5348.
E-mail: iard@bdonline.com

On 7 February 1999 BARCIK held its monthly discussion meeting and open dialogue in Dhaka (Bangladesh). This time the theme was 'Food security' and the meeting was chaired by Dr Abdul Quddus, member of BARCIK. Mr Syed Masiul Hasan, advocacy officer of ActionAid Bangladesh, presented a paper focusing on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and food security as well as on the implications of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS) for food security. BARCIK is planning to hold a series of regional workshops on Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development starting in March 1999. The aims of the workshops are:
- to share experiences regarding the status of indigenous knowledge in various sectors of rural development;
- to strengthen local-level team activities;
- to facilitate the sharing of strategies for the collection, documentation and dissemination of indigenous knowledge.

BARCIK hopes that these regional workshops will find ways to raise public awareness of the need for Bangladesh to use its own natural resources and indigenous knowledge, and to reduce its dependency on imported technology.
BARCIK is now preparing its second national workshop, the main theme of which will be Documentation and application of indigenous knowledge. The workshop is planned for September 1999.
The third issue of Grassroots Voice was published in mid-December 1998, and the first issue of 1999 is expected at the end of March. (For more information on Grassroots Voice, see Publications)

India

CARIKS
Centre for Advanced Research on Indigenous Knowledge
Systems Dr Jan Brouwer, Director
Ms S.L. Meenu, Correspondent
P.O. Box 1, Saraswathipuram
Mysore -570 009
India.
Tel.: +91-821-542 467.
Fax: +91-821-542 459.
E-mail: cariks@bgl.vsnl.net.in

CARIKS is about to join the Internet. The centre has its own e-mail address (cariks@bgl.vsnl.net.in) and will inform Monitor readers as soon as the website is ready. CARIKS director Dr Jan Brouwer participated in an international seminar on Indo-Portuguese history, science, technology and culture (15 th to 18 th century), that was held in New Delhi (India) on 7-11 December 1998. Although history is not a main concern of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, readers of this journal will be interested to hear that the concept of indigenous knowledge is recognized as relevant in fields far beyond technology and development. The seminar examined topics related to science, technology and material culture from the perspective of cultural interaction, exchange and assimilation--subjects mainly of interest to anthropologists and historians. From an indigenous-knowledge point of view, the final technical session was the most interesting, however. Spread over two days, this session covered theoretical issues, language, food, and architecture. Three theoretical papers provoked lively debate: Dr Manuel Lobato's (Lisbon University) discussion of European perceptions of the nature and culture of the Maluku Islands (Indonesia) in the early modern period; Dr Bhaskar Mukhopadyaya's (Calcutta) examination of the question of 'the other'; and Dr Brouwer's contribution 'Indigenous knowledge and cultural interaction'. Dr Mukhopadyaya argued that at least in Bengal, the parameters of contact or interaction were not determined by any cognitive superiority of the West. He focused on the cultural construction of the pre-modern European 'other' in Bengali culture, and called for a historiographic revision of the conventional ideas about the Portuguese impact in Bengal. His argument was in line with that of Dr Brouwer, who pointed out that cultural interaction is also an interaction of knowledge systems. Based on the axiom that 'thinking' precedes 'doing', he argued that acceptance or rejection has its roots in the conceptualizations of the local knowledge system. His analysis of case studies of corruption, Christianity and conversion in 16 th century Goa showed that understanding of the concepts behind practices on either side of an encounter leads to an understanding of the interaction. He questioned the conventional use of the term 'conversion'. The issue then is whether conversion of faith, for whatever reason, is also a conversion of world view and perception. The debate following this paper concluded with agreement that more attention should be given to the links between technology and mentality. Dr Brouwer's plea for serious study of oral tradition received particular support from conference participants who study navigation and shipbuilding.
Dr Brouwer also participated in an international seminar called Maker and meaning: Craft and society, which was held in Madras on 23-25 January 1999. For a report of that conference, please see Conferences.

Indonesia

INRIK

Indonesian Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge
Prof. Kusnaka Adimihardja, Director
(Correspondent)
UPT Inrik-Unpad
Ruang K-3, JI. Dipati Ukur 35
Bandung 40132, West Java
Indonesia.
Tel./fax: +62-22-250 8592.
E-mail: inrik@melsa.net.id
http://www.melsa.net.id/~inrik

In November 1998, INRIK's team completed a survey in the Ciamis Regency of West Java province to identify the potential for further development of the home-based palm sugar industry. The survey was conducted in cooperation with the West Java Planning Development Bureau (BAPPEDA).
In December 1998, INRIK's team completed a survey in Serang Regency, West Java Province, to assess the level of participation by community members in local development projects initiated by the government and other agencies. This project was carried out in cooperation with Padjadjaran University's Public Service Institute.
Professor Kusnaka was a facilitator at a regional meeting of traditional (Adat 1) communities in Java, which was held in Bogor on 9-12 February 1999. The meeting was organized by LATIN (Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia), YLBHI (Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia) and the Telepak Foundation as preparation for the National Congress of Traditional (Adat) Communities, which was held on 8-14 March 1999 in Jakarta.
On 7-9 February Arief Mohammed of INRIK-UNPAD spoke at a workshop entitled Indigenous knowledge and local wisdom, organized by Yayasan Semesta Biru and held in Yogyakarta, East Java.
INRIK is currently undertaking a project to map the customary land of the Kasepuhan people. This project is sponsored by the KEHATI Foundation.
INRIK recently assembled a collection of papers from various Indonesian researchers for a book entitled Petani: merajut tradisi dalam era globalisasi (Farmers: weaving tradition into practice in an era of globalization), which will be published by Humaniora Press with the help of funds from the Ford Foundation. INRIK is also planning to publish the proceedings of the workshop on indigenous knowledge systems and development that was held on 14 September 1998 in Bandung (see IK&DM 6(3) ).
INRIK has initiated discussions with the NGO Lembaga Tropis Alam Indonesia in order to develop a programme that will support capacity-building among the Indonesian NGOs, researchers and Adat communities which are working to protect the intellectual property of indigenous people in Indonesia.
INRIK would welcome enquires from potential sponsors who are interested in research on ethnomedicine and the cultivation of medicinal plants in the Gunung Halimun area of West Java.

1 An 'Adat community' is a community with a system of customary law.

The Netherlands

CIRAN
Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks
Mr G.W. von Liebenstein, Director Nuffic-CIRAN
P.O. Box 29777, 2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands.
Tel.: +31-70-4260 321.
Fax: +31-70-4260 329.
E-mail: ciran@nuffic.nl ikdm@nuffic.nl
http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/index.html

CIRAN is currently updating the database that provides a map of expertise in the area of indigenous knowledge and development. Data is now being processed which came in on questionnaires that were sent to Monitor subscribers and to the IK specialists in the CIRAN database. The IK database will now be split in two: one part with names and addresses for the mailing list, and a second part with information describing the expertise available within the network. The second part especially will increase the benefit of network membership, making it easier for members to contact each other for specific purposes. CIRAN will also search the database any time specific expertise is sought for consultancy purposes, or when help is needed with the presentation and/or assessment of an IK 'best practice'. The Monitor editor uses the database to find experts to referee articles or write book reviews.
Because the database is useful only if it is up-to-date, we ask that Monitor readers and other members of the CIRAN network send us their changes of address. This also saves the time and expense of wasted communication. Any additional information regarding your expertise which you think would add to the value of the database is of course most welcome. This helps us to meet external requests for specific IK expertise.
Updating the database is preparation for the creation of a complete IK information system, which will include an IK website. We hope that the integrated website will soon be operational, and will let you know when it is.
CIRAN continues to work with the World Bank as a partner in the Indigenous Knowledge for Development Initiative, which is aimed at collecting and disseminating information on IK and at facilitating the exchange of information among communities. This World Bank initiative has funded the efforts of three African IK resource centres to conduct research on IK practices and to prepare syntheses. In order to facilitate exchanges of information through the global IK network, five more IK resource centres in Africa were given funds for improving their capacity for electronic communication and networking. The World Bank initiative will also support the organization of a conference on IK in Africa in late 1999.
CIRAN's cooperation with UNESCO will result in the presentation of IK 'best practices' for inclusion in the UNESCO-MOST database , and in a joint UNESCO-CIRAN publication.
Future cooperation with the ILO-INDISCO programme will focus mainly on the establishment of community-based IK resource centres. The concept of community-based IK resource centres was discussed during the ILO-INDISCO donor meeting and planning workshop which took place in November 1998 in Davao City, the Philippines. The report on the workshop is in the process of finalization. It will include the full text of a paper Mr Guus von Liebenstein, director of CIRAN, presented on the integration of indigenous knowledge systems and practices into the development process.
In December 1998 CIRAN held an internal brainstorm session on the post-Silang phase of the IK network. As many readers know, the global IK network was first set up at an IDRC-funded international conference on indigenous knowledge and development which was held in 1992 in Silang, a town near Manila, in the Philippines. This conference was the birthplace of what is now a worldwide IK network, and there the first steps were taken to establish IK resource centres in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Canada and the U.S. Participating in the December 1998 brainstorm session were three visitors from Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Germany. A number of key issues were discussed, including the process of collecting, storing and disseminating information related to IK; the process of networking and identifying the actors involved; measures to promote active networking; the role of CIRAN as a clearing house for IK; and the role of information and communication technologies (ICT). These talks prompted us to draft an Action Plan, which we will soon be sending out for external comments.

Venezuela

VERSIK
Venezuelan Resource Secretariat for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Consuelo Quiroz, National Coordinator (Correspondent)
Centre for Tropical Alternative Agriculture and Sustainable Development (CATADI)
University of The Andes, Nœcleo 'Rafael Range'
Apartado Postal # 22
Trujillo 3102, Estado Trujillo, Venezuela.
Tel.: +58-72-721 672.
Fax: +58-72-362 177.
E-mail: consuelo@cantv.net

VERSIK is happy to announce that one of several projects that we had submitted for funding was recently approved. This is the project Local knowledge and biodiversity conservation of traditional food plants. The process has taken two years and the official contract has not yet been signed, but it is now certain that the National Council for Science and Technology (CONICIT) will provide funding. The project involves participatory research to rescue and promote the renewed use of traditional food plants which for one reason or another have been replaced by 'modern' foods that are usually less nutritious. The project is framed under the philosophy of local development, and we will also take care to draw women into the project, since they are usually the ones who take care of these plants.
The coordinator of VERSIK asks Monitor readers who are also working in this area to to get in touch with us so that we can share results, information, references, etc. We also invite graduate students who might like to do a dissertation in ethnobotany, anthropology, rural sociology, or another field to get in touch with us about the possibility of doing their own research project as part of ours.

United States of America

CIKARD
Center for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural Development
Dr Norma Wolff, Associate Director
319 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011, USA.
Tel: +1-515-294 9503.
Fax: +1-515-294 1708.
E-mail: cikard@iastate.edu nhwolff@iastate.edu

We are updating and expanding the CIKARD website. Work is progressing, but it could be that the website is sometimes down. We are also busy compiling a list of organizations throughout the world that have contacted CIKARD and are actively engaged in collecting or applying indigenous knowledge. Many of these organizations are at the grassroots or local-government level and do not have access to the Internet.
In Ghana, plans have been made to build the Bono Cultural Village Museum in Techiman town in honour of CIKARD's late director, D. Michael Warren. The museum will serve his wish that the heritage and indigenous knowledge of the area be preserved. The Techiman Traditional Council has procured the land and enough funds have been raised in the local community to begin the building project. The museum's exhibits will focus on indigenous practices, beliefs and artifacts. Quarters for visiting scholars are included in the plans, so that researchers interested in exploring the indigenous knowledge of the area and making contact with colleagues in the Bonoman Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BORCIK) can be accommodated.
CIKARD staff members continue their research activities. Acting director Norma Wolff will be in Nigeria and Ghana in the summer of 1999 to visit the IK centres and to expand her research on the indigenous knowledge of rural and urban Yoruba craftspeople.
Bob Mazur, CIKARD's associate director, is continuing to study livelihood strategies in rural areas of central Mozambique during post-war reconstruction. He is linking local methods of agricultural production and non-agricultural income-earning activities with population mobility, food security, and child health. Parallel research in urban South Africa (the metropolitan areas of Cape Town and Johannesburg), which was initiated in 1995, will be continued in 2000.
Justin Kehoe, CIKARD graduate assistant, is planning to carry out summer research in Antigua (Guatemala), where he will document the activities of indigenous craftspersons working with jade, mainly to make jewelry.

In late April 1999, CIKARD will host the visit of Mogege Mosimege, the manager of Indigenous Knowledge Systems, of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa.

ICIK
Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge
Ladi Semali, Director (Correspondent)
The Pennsylvania State University
257 Chambers Building University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Tel.: +1-814-865 2246.
Fax: +1-814-863 7602.
E-mail: lms11@psu.edu
http://www.ed.psu.edu/ci/ICIK/index.html

ICIK director Mr Ladi Semali has co-edited a book which has recently been published: What is indigenous knowledge? Voices from the academy. Readers will find a brief description of the book under 'Preview: Important new books'. The intention of What is indigenous knowledge? is to challenge the academy and its 'normal science' with the questions indigenous knowledge raises about the nature of our existence, our consciousness, our knowledge production, and the 'globalized' future.

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