IK Monitor Articles (9-1)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, March 2001

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Antyodaya, conserving indigenous knowledge and bridging global divides

M.S. Swaminathan

Dr M.S. Swaminathan holds the UNESCO-Cousteau Chair in Ecotechnology and is Chairman of the Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India. In Pondicherri, the Foundation has set up 20 bio-villages and ten knowledge centres - information villages designed to provide insight into ecotechnology and the fusing of traditional technologies and frontier science.

Ecologists talk about our common future, while information technologists tell us that our planet has become a global village. We know that the future of our planet is bound up with ecology. Unfortunately, it is also very divided economically, with too many people living on a daily income of less than two US dollars a day. These are the people who are most hurt by violence and social unrest, and by the numerous intra-country mini-wars. Poor nations and the poor all over the world bear the brunt of the negative impacts of the increasing demographic, economic, gender, genetic and digital divides.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) advocated the antyodaya ('unto the last') pathway, which focuses attention on the poorest person in all developmental planning and action. This path leads to a sarvodaya society (i.e., a society characterized by high social synergy, where one person's progress is not at the cost of another person's well-being). In a sarvodaya society a 'win-win' situation prevails for all, because there is equal concern for intra-generational and inter-generational equity. Technological push and ethical pull go hand in hand.

Drawing inspiration from indigenous knowledge and customs, Mahatma Gandhi advocated the concept of 'trusteeship', with regard to both money and knowledge. He wanted the wealthy to hold their surplus wealth in trust, as it were, and use it for the public good. Similarly, he wanted those with specialized knowledge and skills to share them with the illiterate and the less fortunate.

Tribal knowledge of plants and tribal taxonomy are examples of such specialized knowledge. In spite of the growing recognition of the economic, ecological and spiritual value of traditional wisdom and materials, we find that even today the primary conservers of biodiversity and holders of indigenous knowledge remain poor, while those who use their knowledge and material in breeding and biotechnological enterprises are rich. Not everyone seems to be aware that the prefix 'medicinal' in front of a plant name refers to the intellectual property of some person or group who first identified its medicinal properties. And yet commercial enterprises act as though these are phenomena which just happen to occur in nature.

Today, there are several parts of the world where indigenous knowledge and technologies are systematically chronicled, where the germplasm conserved by tribal and rural women and men is being collected, through in situ conservation on farms, and ex situ methods such as 'sacred groves'.

What our planet really needs, however, is concurrent action to recognize and reward the conservers of biodiversity and the holders of traditional knowledge for their invaluable contributions. All nations should adopt - in both letter and spirit - the ethics and equity provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Farmers' Rights concept of the FAO. This is the antyodaya pathway to an equitable and just human society, ensuring harmony within our spaceship earth. Our experience in rural Pondicherry indicates that bridging the digital divide also helps to bridge the gender, genetic, economic and demographic divides.

By imparting a pro-nature, pro-woman, pro-poor and pro-livelihood orientation to information and skill empowerment, the self-esteem of rural and tribal women is increased, the need for limiting population size to capacity of the ecosystem is better understood, and the economic benefits of conserving and enhancing the genetic resources of the community are more equitably shared. By recognizing the value of indigenous knowledge and development, and by integrating it with frontier science and technology, we can conserve both dying wisdom and genetic resources under threat of extinction, thus ensuring a better present and a better future for our global village.