CIKO

Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organisation
Prof. C.N. Ngwasiri, Director (Correspondent)
P.O. Box 8437, Yaoundé
Cameroon
Tel.: +237-318 076.
Fax: +237-318 076.
E-mail: ngwasiri@camnet.cm
Please note CIKO’s new telephone and fax number: +237-318 076.

CIKO recently completed a project entitled Education of local communities and indigenous people of Cameroon on the risks of biotechnology. The abstract of the project proposal is reproduced here.

‘The purpose of this project is to raise the awareness of the rural inhabitants and indigenous people of Cameroon regarding the existing and potential risks of biotechnology, without depriving them of the benefits of modern biotechnology or of the progressive aspects of their indigenous practices. Today, genetically engineered crops have found their way from local research centres to rural farms in our target provinces. In addition, imported items including engineered grains, fertilizers and herbicides pose real danger to our uninformed and largely illiterate rural inhabitants. Our project will address these issues. For a start, it will be carried out in target villages in the Northwest and West Provinces of Cameroon, and will utilize a combination of workshops, seminars and popular theater to train as well as raise the awareness of opinion leaders, traditional authorities and leaders of civil society. Popular theater, songs and sketches will target the general rural population. In each project village, we will select and train local dramatists whom we shall use in the training and sensitization exercises, which will last twenty days. The project will be carried out by five experts of the Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organization: a rural sociologist, an agronomist, an institutional analyst, a dramatist and an anthropologist. Since the bulk of the farming in the rural areas is carried by women, we will ensure that at least half of the trainees will be women.’

CECIK

Please note the new telephone and fax number of the Centre for Cosmovisions and Indigenous Knowledge: +233-72-23500.

ARCIK

African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Prof. D. Olu Ajakaiye, Director ARCIK (Correspondent)
Prof. S.O. Titilola, Research Coordinator
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER)
PMB 5 – UI Post Office, Ibadan
Nigeria
Tel.: +234-22-400 500.
Fax: +234-22-416 129 or +234-1-614 397.
E-mail: arcik@niser.org.ng

The African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (ARCIK) in Ibadjan, Nigeria, has a new director: Professor D. Olu Ajakaiye. The following is a summary of the extensive report on ARCIK’s activities which he sent to the editor.

ARCIK was established in 1991 as the African regional centre charged with conducting multidisciplinary research and producing documentation on Africa’s indigenous knowledge. Indigenous knowledge (IK) is seen as local knowledge which is unique to particular African societies and groups, and which has been institutionalized and passed down through many generations.

ARCIK was established to serve three purposes:

• to advance the frontiers of knowledge pertaining to IK systems;
• to provide documentation to help researchers and scholars to study African IK systems, and to assist them in their efforts;
• to identify IK systems which can be adapted for the effective management of Africa’s present and future development problems.

Since its inception in 1991, ARCIK has conducted five workshops in collaboration with national and international bodies such as the Ford Foundation and IDRC of Canada. The most recent workshop, held on 11-12 July 1995, was called Practicing conflict management and resolution in Africa. It was organized in collaboration with United States Information Agency for the purpose of discussing the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa. Participants were drawn from the USA, Ghana, and other countries.

ARCIK has already published several books, including Indigenous knowledge systems and practices: Case studies from Nigeria, by A.O. Phillips and S.O. Titilola; and Annotated bibliographies on indigenous knowledge, by ARCIK, NISER.

ARCIK maintains links with IK resource centres inside and outside Africa. These include the Nigerian Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (NIRCIK) at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; the Cameroon Indigenous Knowledge Organisation (CIKO), Buea, South West Province; the Ghana Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (GHARCIK) at the School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast; and the popular Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Rural Development (CIKARD) in Iowa (USA). These links enhance the free flow of ideas about IK, and help to provide universal access to African IK. Since 1993 ARCIK and several Nigerian universities and polytechnics have exchanged information for purposes of research and training with three higher education institutions in Iowa (USA): the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa, and De Moines Area Community College. Through these links, ARCIK has increased its contacts with the world.

ARCIK in the future will continue its primary role of research and the retrieval, storage and documentation of IK pertaining to the social, economic, political, cultural and technological aspects of life of African societies. Specifically, ARCIK will put new energy into its research activities so that it can more quickly feed other IK centres with information on IK in Africa. In order to facilitate its activities, ARCIK has mounted a programme to improve its use of printed and electronic media. This will enable the Centre to benefit more from international cooperation and globalization, for example by acquiring greater access to IK resources around the world.

ARCIK will do what it can to help create a sustainable information society in Africa, and thus to reverse the situation that leaves Africa a perpetual observer of the information highway. The centre is preparing to take part in the World conference on Communication and information scheduled for 2002-2003 as part of the NATCOM-UNESCO programme. Through its various activities ARCIK will also help to establish the social-science information and communication network for West Africa which was proposed to UNESCO and approved in 1993. Right now ARCIK is concentrating on improving its own ICT facilities by the year 2000.

CIKFAB

Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Fourah Bay College
Dr Dominic T. Ashley, Director (Correspondent)
Department of Sociology, Fourah Bay College
University of Sierra Leone, Freetown
Sierra Leone
Tel.: +232-22-7387.

The Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (CIKFAB) reports that Sierra Leone has been in a state of war, with rebel factions within the country, for the past nine years. The situation has greatly affected the functioning and activities of the Centre, as it has made it impossible for CIKFAB to collect information relating to indigenous knowledge and practices, especially in rural areas. However, with peace almost at hand in Sierra Leone, the Centre hopes to get back to work soon. ‘We at the Centre are very anxious to resume activities and to promote indigenous knowledge and practices in the country,’ says CIKFAB director Dr Dominic T. Ashley. Dr Ashley has submitted a paper for publication in the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor. It deals with the need for government and non-government agricultural officers to recognize the importance and value of indigenous knowledge and practices.

BARCIK

Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Sukanta Sen, Coordinator
Prof. M.I. Zuberi, Correspondent
(Dept. of Environmental Science Gono Bishwabidyalay, PO Mirzanagar, Dhaka 1344 Bangladesh)
3/7 Block D. Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Tel.: +880-2-323 622.
Fax: +880-2-815 548.
E-mail: zuberi@bd.drik.net

Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) has been engaged in a number of activities over the past four months (July-October 1999). On 11 September BARCIK held a local workshop in Rajshahi on Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development. The aims were to share experiences relating to the status of indigenous knowledge (IK) in various sectors of rural development, to strengthen team activities at local level, and to enable participants to adopt shared strategies for the collection, documentation and dissemination of IK. The 48 participants included researchers, academics, development workers and practitioners. They discussed the subjects of the presentations:

• ‘IK and sustainable development: the role of BARCIK’
• ‘Irrigation management systems of the Barind Project’, by S.M Abdul Mannan of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority
• ‘Importance of aquaculture for sustainable development of the rural economy of Bangladesh’, by Mr Goal Azam Khan (former Project Director, Department of Fisheries)
• ‘Adivasi culture and IK: a relative thought’, by M.A. Latif, of Partner (a local NGO)
• ‘Farmer’s IK: lessons from the LIFE project’, by Rakibul Hasan, of the CARE–LIFE project
• ‘Rural communities and traditional medicine’, by Md. Mohiuddin, of SACHETAN (a local organization)
• ‘Aqua neem to prevent mosquito’, by SKL. Mohammed Lalon, of Rajshahi NISKRITY (a local organization)
• ‘A comparative study on cultivation of HYV and local varieties of potato’, by Mr Feroz Hossain, of Rural Development Academy (a government institution)
• ‘Status of existing husbandry practices for dairy cattle in the northern part of Bangladesh’, by Samir Kumar Sarker, of Rural Development Academy
• ‘Collection of farmers’ knowledge from a village’, by Dr Mohammed Shahjahan, of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (a government organization).

BARCIK is compiling a report on the workshop for dissemination to the participants and others. BARCIK will hold another five local workshops in October and November 1999. These are sponsored by the UMVERTEILEN Asia Group, Germany.

The findings and recommendations of the local workshops will be presented at the second national workshop BARCIK is organizing for the first week of December, 1999 (see the information under Conferences, p...).

BARCIK is developing a training manual on IK and sustainable development, and intends also to build up a regional team of trainers. The aim of this double initiative is to make the field-level staff of NGOs more aware of the practical use of IK and to encourage its inclusion in development practice and resource management. The manual will suggest practical ways in which indigenous knowledge can be used to help organizations achieve sustainable and appropriate development. BARCIK is now identifying useful manuals and indigenous materials from various sources at home and abroad. Readers of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor are asked to support BARCIK’s effort by sending information or copies of relevant materials and publications.

CIKIB

Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Indian Bioresources
Dr S.K. Jain, Director (Correspondent)
c/o Institute of Ethnobiology
National Botanical Research Institute
P.O. Box 436, Lucknow - 226 001
India
Tel.: +91-522-224 556.
Fax: +91-522-282 849.

The July issue of the Monitor reported that CIKIB director Dr S.K. Jain had been selected by the Society for Economic Botany in the United States to receive the coveted Distinguished Economic Botanist award for 1999. This meant delivering an important lecture in August at the international botanical conference in St. Louis. Unfortunately, an accident made this impossible. Soon after Dr Jain arrived in the United States, he fell and broke his leg. He was in hospital during the conference, following an operation on his leg. It took two months before he could return to Lucknow, where he continues to recover from the mishap.

Indonesia

INRIK

On 16 June 1999 the Indonesian Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (INRIK) at Padjadjaran University held a large, open meeting attended by some 150 persons, including representatives of goverment and non-goverment organizations, scientists, researchers, university students, and local practitioners. The meeting was comprised of two main activities. First, a new book was launched, Petani: merajut tradisi dalam era globalisasi (Farmers: weaving tradition into practice in an era of globalization). Second, a workshop examined the issue of environmentally friendly, sustainable agriculture.

The meeting was opened by the vice chancellor of Padjadjaran University. The keynote speaker at the workshop was Ir Nelson Hutabarat, of the Ministry of Agriculture. The book, edited by Professor Kusnaka Adimihardja, is a compilation of papers written by researchers and agricultural practitioners working in Indonesia. The other contibutors are Drs Bagong Sunyoto (Yayasan Pertanian dan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan / YaPOPB); Dr Bustami Rachman (lecturer, Jember University); Dra Savitri Dyah WIKR, M.A., and Dra Carolina, MSc., (researcher, Indonesian Institute for Science); Dr Herwasono Soedjito, (researcher, Herbarium Bogoriense), MSc.; Drs I Made Legawa, MS., (lecturer, Mahasaraswati University); Professor Indra Wuryatno, S.U., (lecturer, Sebelsa Maret University); Dr Sulaiman Mamar (lecturer, University of Tadulako); and Dr Yunita T. Winarto, MSc., (lecturer, FISIP University of Indonesia).

INRIK at Padjardjaran University is currently working on a project entitled Medicinal plants in Kasepuhan, Halimun. The project is sponsored by CUSO-Indonesia.

There is also collaboration with two partners:

Together with PEMDA Kotamadya Bandung, KODAM III Siliwangi, PKK Kotamadya Bandung dan Jurusan Biologi FMIPA UNPAD, INRIK is preparing a project in Bandung called Bio intensive gardening (BIG), with a pilot project in Kelurahan Jamika.

With Yayasan Pertanian dan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan (YaPOPB), in Jakarta, INRIK is planning a project to study and document the local knowledge and local agricultural technology of the Kisam people in South Sumatra. INRIK and YaPOPB would welcome enquiries from partners who might be interested in helping to realize this activity.

 

CIRAN

Through its INDISCO programme, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is establishing community-based indigenous-knowledge resource centres in the Philippines. ILO-INDISCO recently commissioned CIRAN director Mr Guus von Liebenstein to assist the national ILO-INDISCO coordinator in the Philippines, Mr Domingo Nayahangan, with this process. During a ten-day mission to the Philippines in July 1999, Mr Von Liebenstein consulted the various stakeholders. He began with the leaders of three communities in Bakun (Banguet), Kitaotao (Bukidnon) and Malungnon (Sarangani), with whom he discussed the idea behind such centres. Community-based IK resource centres aim to strengthen the indigenous institutions that manage knowledge, and to empower the communities so that they can be full partners in the process of national development planning in the Philippines. The community leaders pledged to support the resource centres, which will:

• revitalize, preserve, document and advocate indigenous knowledge systems and practices (IKSP);
• strengthen traditional institutions and decision-making mechanisms;
• strengthen the communities’ feeling of responsibility towards their land and
• resources;
• pass on indigenous knowledge, practices and institutions to the next generation;
• prevent unauthorized extraction of valuable, strategic information and data;
• act as equal partners of government agencies and development agencies in the process of planning development.

Stakeholders at the national level were consulted at a meeting held on 13 July in the Danarra Hotel in Quezon City, entitled Multi-sectoral focused group discussion on the establishment of Community IK Resource Centres. The operational follow-up to Mr Von Liebenstein’s visit will depend on the amount of funds that can be raised, but if all goes well the follow-up will include institutional development, training, and the supply of computer and audio equipment. Mr Von Liebenstein also met in the Philippines with representatives of various bilateral and multilateral donors from the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Canada, and the Asian Development Bank.

On 25-30 September 1999, the CIRAN director visited Washington, D.C. (USA) to attend Bank-Fund Expo 1999. This event coincided with the annual meeting of the board of governors of the World Bank Groups and the International Monetary Fund. The large exhibition, with some 40 kiosks, provided information about the products, services and partnerships of the World Bank Group and the IMF. Many presentations made up-to-date use of the latest technologies. The kiosk bearing the sign ‘Knowledge Partnerships for Africa’ was particularly interesting. It featured various tools that facilitate sharing of global knowledge, learning from the client, and helping to improve the quality of services to clients. There were live software demonstrations of ‘Distance learning’, ‘Indigenous knowledge for development’, ‘ICTs and access in Africa’, and ‘Sector knowledge and statistical capacity-building’. Since Nuffic-CIRAN was one of the partners in the original Indigenous Knowledge and Development Initiative, the ‘Knowledge Partnerships for Africa’ kiosk offered Mr Von Liebenstein the opportunity to present information about the IK and Development Network.

On his way back to the Netherlands, Mr Von Liebenstein stopped in New York for a courtesy call on Mr Hans d’Orville, director of the IT for Development programme, which is part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He informed Mr D’Orville about how Nuffic-CIRAN and the World Bank (Knowledge Management and Learning Centre, Africa Region) are together organizing a special event on indigenous knowledge for the second Global Knowledge for Development Conference (GKDII), which will be held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in March 2000 (see the July 1999 issue of IK&DM, p. 20). The IK event will be in the ‘empowerment’ section of the international GKDII conference. UNDP is responsible for this theme. Mr Von Liebenstein also met with Ms Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP manager of the Civil Society, Organizations and Participation Programme. They explored possibilities for cooperation with UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy.

On 13-14 October 1999, Nuffic-CIRAN was represented at the Dare to Share Fair held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague (the Netherlands). The keywords at the fair were ‘participatory and community approaches’, and the focus was on rural development and rural renewal. Because indigenous knowledge is at the heart of participatory approaches, Nuffic-CIRAN used the occasion to present the IK and Development Network with the help of a kiosk and a poster presentation entitled ‘Sharing Indigenous Knowledge’. The fair was opened by the Dutch Minister for Development Co-operation, Ms Eveline Herfkens. The fair and its associated workshops attracted many visitors, including his Royal Highness, Prince Claus of the Netherlands.

Thanks to an extra grant from Nuffic, CIRAN was able to publish a limited, non-commercial edition of Best practices on indigenous knowledge. As readers will know, this joint initiative of Nuffic-CIRAN and UNESCO’s MOST programme is an online database at http://www.unesco/org/most/bpikpub.htm. The printed version has been sent to all contributors and distributed among the IK Network and at UNESCO’s general conference in Paris. At an informal meeting of UNESCO delegates and staff members on 8 November, the CIRAN director gave a talk on indigenous knowledge and sustainable development.

RIDSCA

Mexican Research, Teaching and Service Network on Indigenous Knowledge
(Red de Investigacion, Docencia y Servicio en Conocimientos Autoctonos)
Dr Antonio Macías-López, Coordinator (Correspondent)
Colegio de Postgraduados
Campus Puebla
Apartado Postal l-12
C.P. 72130
Col. La Libertad, Puebla, Pue.
Mexico
Tel.: +52-22-851 442/851 448/851 447.
Fax: +52-22-851 444.
E-mail: mantonio@colpos.colpos.mx

The Mexican Research, Teaching and Service Network on Indigenous Knowledge (RIDSCA) has not published a report in the Monitor since the July 1998 issue. But this certainly does not mean that nothing was happening! We here at Campus Puebla of the Colegio de Postgraduados have continued to carry out what we call ‘normal activities’ related to indigenous knowledge (IK). For example, we have been studying local production technologies and peasant strategies for survival and for the management of natural resources. We are also working on a soils classification, and facilitating regional shows of local seeds. These regional seed shows are very popular. Each year, local seed shows are held in the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán, Chiapas and Puebla. These are concluded each year with a large show, which this year will be held on 4 December in the community of Huejotzingo, Puebla. It will be called the First Regional Agricultural Fair. Farmers have taken part in the planning process, and the Fair Committee decided where the event would be held.

In February or March 2000, RIDSCA will facilitate the third Forum on Indigenous Technologies, where all the speakers are farmers and all the presentations are prepared by the farmers themselves. Academics, representatives of organizations, technicians and other professionals are allowed, but only as members of the audience. This is a forum planned and carried out by farmers.

It has taken some time to get new activities started, but we did it. The line of IK research that has been going on since 1967—even if was not called IK in the early days—has now finally culminated in a graduate course called ‘Indigenous knowledge and traditional agriculture’. It will be taught by Dr Engelberto Sandoval Castro. His e-mail address is engelber@colpos.colpos.mx; fax and telephone numbers are the same as for RIDSCA.

A new line of research began at Campus Puebla in January 1999. The subject is ethno-ecology and it involves not only both research and teaching. The main topics being addressed are ‘Aboriginal peoples’ adaptation to their environments’, ‘Cultural and biological diversity of Mexico and Central America’, ‘Traditional agriculture’, and ‘Domestication and the management of plants and animals’. The professor in charge is Dr Mario Aliphat, an anthropologist with 20 years of experience in teaching and research. Much of his research is focused on the Mayan culture of Chiapas and Tabasco. Every spring (January-May) Professor Aliphat offers a graduate course on ethno-ecology. His e-mail address is mmaliphat@hotmail.com. For the fax and telephone numbers, see RIDSCA.

The IK line of research is funded by several donors, including the Fundación PRODUCE Puebla, Campus Puebla, and the National Council of Science and Technology Ignacio Zaragoza System (CONACYT-SIZA). Farmers are also asked to contribute to the project.

Two new PhDs have joined the teaching and research staff at Campus Puebla. They are Javier Ramírez-Juárez and Fernando López-Alcocer, who are studying peasant strategies for survival in the highlands of Mexico. Their project is called Poverty and sustainability of the peasant agriculture in the mountain range of Tentzo, Puebla, Mexico.

URURCIK

Uruguayan Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Pedro de Hegedüs, Coordinator (Correspondent)
CEDESUR
P.O. Box 20.201
Sayago, Montevideo 12.900
Uruguay
Tel./fax: +5-982-308 1603.
E-mail: phegedus@adinet.com.uy
Please note the correct e-mail address to reach the Uruguayan Resource Centre for Indignous Knowledge (URURCIK): it is phegedus@adinet.com.uy.

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, Núcleo ‘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

The Foundation for Tropical Alternative Agriculture and Sustainable Development (FUNDATADI) is an NGO created by CATADI, the Center for Tropical Alternative Agriculture and Sustainable Development, where VERSIK is located. FUNDATADI is happy to announce that in July 1999 it signed a letter of agreement with the Kellogg Foundation and the University of the Andes (Venezuela) regarding a project FUNDATADI will carry out in Trujillo State (Venezuela).

The project, Educational and local development, will adhere to the UNIR project philosophy. UNIR projects have been implemented in 13 other universities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Their main purpose is to support university extension activities which are oriented towards improving the quality of life of poor rural communities through a participatory process of empowerment. At the same time, these communities function as ‘open classrooms’ where university students and faculty members (future leaders in their own areas) can become sensitized to the major issues affecting these communities. This will make them better able, after a process of ‘action-reaction-action’, to help the communities to find their own solutions. One of the intended products of an UNIR project is adaptation of the university curriculum at different levels. Local knowledge systems represent one of a project’s major concerns since they are considered to be the basis for any knowledge-related activity and/or decision.

Through FUNDATADI and CATADI, VERSIK has continued its ongoing activities involving research and extension:

the study of local knowledge systems pertaining to traditional food plants, which is funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICIT);

analysis of the contribution that home-gardens can make to on-site programmes for the conservation of edible and medicinal plants. This is the Venezuelan component of a project being carried out in five countries (Guatemala, Cuba, Vietnam, Ghana and Venezuela), which is funded by the German government and coordinated by IPGRI, Rome.

VERSIK would like to invite postgraduate students from different disciplines and countries to do their thesis research in the context of one of these projects. We could offer them some support to help defray the costs of food, housing and local transportation. Spanish language proficiency is required. The topics students could work on are very diverse. Possibilities include gender issues, in situ biodiversity conservation, local knowledge systems, the botanic identification of plants (edible and medicinal), and power and empowerment through grassroot movements. We ask candidates to please get in touch with VERSIK’s coordinator, Dr Consuelo Quiroz, before submitting their proposals for consideration.

RRC

Rural Research Centre Iran
Dr Mohammed H. Emadi, Deputy Head
Seyed Babak Moosavi, Correspondent
Ministry of Jihad
P.O. Box 14155-6197
Teheran, Iran
Tel.: +98-21-889 7197.
Fax: +98-21-654 152.
E-mail: rrciri@neda.net

A little over a year ago, the Rural Research Centre (RRC) in Iran sponsored the establishment of a unique rural institution for research and innovation based on indigenous knowledge. This is the Rural Station for Indigenous Studies (RSIS), located in the ancient village of Khorhe in central Iran (Posht-e godar Region, Markazi Province). The station’s research priorities include water harvesting, indigenous values and ethics in work and productivity, veterinary medicine, and food preparation and preservation. Although it has been functioning for only a short time, the RSIS has already become a dynamic centre for IK research and application. Earlier this year, RSIS presented its findings at two international conferences: first at UNESCO’s regional workshop on traditional water harvesting systems, held 1-5 May in Tehran (Iran); and second, at the Asian Productivity Organization’s seminar Farming systems for sustainable development, held 12-19 July in Sri Lanka.

The application side of RSIS activities will be of particular interest to Monitor readers. Currently, the most critical problem in rural regions is the high rate of youth unemployment. The RSIS, with full participation from the local community, has managed to turn IK research findings into real job opportunities.

RRC recently published a collection of essays dealing with IK. Its purpose was to bring this important subject to the attention of academic and other mainstream research institutions as well as to development planning circles. It is very encouraging that the book has thus far been very well received among educators and government officials.

This first volume of the four volumes that are planned features an introduction to basic concepts and concerns in IK research and development applications. It includes essays by foreign as well as Iranian scholars. Work on the second and third volumes has already begun. The second volume will discuss examples of IK from Iran and around the world, emphasizing their potential for application. The key development issues, reflected in the structure of the second volume, will include:

• Creating jobs and raising productivity
• Healing the environment and protecting our health
• Community and participatory local development
• Appropriate education and cultural stewardship

The third volume will feature contributions on research methodology and indigenous epistemology.

CIKARD

Acting director Norma Wolff spent five weeks in Nigeria this past summer. She met with representatives of ARCIK (Professor S.O. Titilola) and YORCIK (Professor Layi Egunjobi and Dr Bolanle Wahab) to talk about relations between the three IK resource centres and about plans for the future.

Accompanying Dr Wolff was Kathryn Patch, an undergraduate student in the anthropology department of Iowa State University, who was the first recipient of the D. Michael Warren Memorial Student Research in Africa Grant. Ms Patch did research on indigenous knowledge involving women’s choices of medical treatment. She worked in the Yoruba area of Nigeria and the Techiman Bono area of Ghana, where Dr Warren carried out his initial research.

While Dr Wolff was in Nigeria, a new publication supported by CIKARD was launched at The Polytechnic, Ibadan. CON/TEXT: Research Reports of the Consortium for Indigenous Textiles and Clothing Research, Nigeria & USA was edited by N.H. Wolff and B. Wahab of YORCIK. CON/TEXT features original research and will be published annually.

Alexander Millen is the new CIKARD graduate assistant. He brings with him experience with the Internet and webpage design. He has taken the lead in redesigning CIKARD’s homepage, and is now responsible for operating the website. Although Mr Millen came to the position with no prior knowledge of indigenous knowledge research, he is eager to learn and to enhance the role of CIKARD in the IK community.

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