Indigenous Knowledge and
Development Monitor, July 2001 Indigenous Knowledge and
Development Monitor, July 2001
Contents IK Monitor (9-3) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2001.
The complete list of addresses of Indigenous Knowledge Resource Centres is updated regularly.
Africa
Burkina Faso
BURCIK
Burkina Faso Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
(Centre Burkinabè de Recherche sur les Pratiques et Savoirs Paysans)
Dr Basga E. Dialla, Director (Correspondent)
INNS, B.P. 5154, Ouagadougou 02
Burkina Faso
Tel.: +226-360 746.
Fax: +226-315 003.
E-mail: emile_dialla@yahoo.fr
Cameroon
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
Ethiopia
INRESC
Indigenous Resource Study Centre
Dr Tesema Ta'a, Director (Correspondent)
College of Social Sciences
Addis Ababa University
P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel./Fax: +251-1-550655.
Ghana
CECIK
Centre for Cosmovisions and Indigenous Knowledge
Dr David Millar, Director (Correspondent)
P.O. Box 607
Bolgatanga
Ghana
Tel.: +233-72-235 00.
Fax: +233-73-235 00.
E-mail: cecik@africaonline.com.gh
(attention Dr David Millar)
GHARCIK
Ghana Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr M. Bonsu, Interim Director (Correspondent)
School of Agriculture,
University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast
Ghana
Tel.: +233-42-2240-9/2480-9.
Telex: 233-42-2552 UCC GH
Kenya
KENRIK
Kenya Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Rashid Aman, (Head)
Mr Patrick Maundu, (Correspondent)
The National Museums of Kenya
P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi
Kenya
Tel.: +254-2-742 131.
Fax: +254-2-741 424.
E-mail: nmk@museums.or.ke
http://www.museums.or.ke
Madagascar
VOARISOA
Observatoire Environnemental
(Ms Marcelline Razafimbelo, President)
Alexander von Hildebrand, Correspondent
P.O. Box 80
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar
Tel.: +261-20-2241228.
E-mail: ecotox@dts.mg
http://www.ecotox-mg.com
Nigeria
ARCIK
African Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Prof. D. Olu Ajakaiye, Director ARCIK
Prof. S.O. Titilola, Coordinator
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER)
PMB 5 - UI Post Office, Ibadan
Nigeria
Tel.: +234-2-810 2904.
Fax: +234-2-810 1194.
E-mail: arcik@niser.org.ng
CIKFIM / FIF
Centre for Indigenous Knowledge in Farm and Infrastructure Management
Dr G.B. Ayoola, Director (Correspondent)
Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy
University of Agriculture
Private Mail Bag 2373, Makurdi
Nigeria
Tel.: + 234-44-533 204/533205.
Fax: +234-44-534040.
E-mail: dragbede@gacom.net
CIKPREM
Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Population Resource and Environmental
Management
Prof. D.S. Obikeze (Correspondent)
Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Nigeria
Tel.: +234-42-770; +234-42-771 911/78.
E-mail: epseelon@aol.com
NIRCIK
Nigerian Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr J.O. Olukosi, Coordinator (Correspondent)
Institute for Agricultural Research
Ahmadu Bello University
PMB 1044, Zaria
Nigeria
Tel.: +234-69-50 571-4 Ext. 4322.
Fax: +234-69-50 891/50 563.
YORCIK
Yoruba Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Prof. Layi Egunjobi, Coordinator
Dr Bolanle Wahab, Correspondent
Centre for Urban and Regional Planning
University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: egunjobi.wahab@ibadan.skannet.com
The address of Dr Bolanle Wahab:
P.O. Box 22182
U.I. Post Office
Ibadan
Nigeria
E-mail: wahab@mail.skannet.com
Sierra Leone
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.
E-mail: fbc.library.fbc@sl.baobab.com
With all the socio-economic problems in Sierra Leone, it has been quite difficult for CIKFAB to stay alive and to cope. The centre had been conducting research on traditional, indigenous practices in selected areas. One topic is the use of indigenous knowledge for treating malaria in Freetown, in western Sierra Leone. CIKFAB director Dr Dominic Ashley has submitted a research report entitled 'Traditional medical practice in the treatment of malaria in Freetown - Western Area of Sierra Leone' for publication in the Monitor.
In addition to its research activities, the centre has been sensitizing the public about the need to preserve indigenous knowledge and practices as part of the cultural heritage of the society. The people involved with CIKFAB fear that this knowledge is rapidly being lost because of the intrusion of foreign cultures. The centre is currently engaged in a nation-wide sensitization programme.
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
Tanzania
MARECIK-tz
Maasai Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Nathan Ole Lengisugi (Correspondent)
Simanjiro Animal Husbandry Vocational Training Centre (AHVTC)
P.O. Box 14288, Total Building, India Road
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255-57-4229/8559.
Fax: +255-57-4229.
mobile 0811 510 229.
E-mail: multicho@habari.co.tz
Zimbabwe
ZIRCIK
Zimbabwe Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Mr Washington Chipfunde, director and contact person
78 Kaguvi Street, New Book House,
P.O.B. 4209, Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel.: +263-4-781 770 / 1.
Fax: +263-4-751 202.
E-mail: bookhous@ZBMT.icon.co.zw
Asia
Bangladesh
BARCIK
Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Sukanta Sen, Director, Correspondent
3/7 Block D. Lalmatia, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Tel.: +880-2-91 323 72.
Fax: +880-2-91 256 81.
E-mail: iard@bdonline.com
BARCIK recently launched a three-year programme for the documentation and conservation of indigenous knowledge, biodiversity and the livelihood strategies of traditional users of natural resources in Bangladesh. The programme is supported by MISEREOR in Germany. Under the programme, BARCIK has set up two village-level resource centres in two agro-ecological zones of Bangladesh. The centres collect and document knowledge and practices in the village. They also organize discussions and provide advocacy and training workshops for the resource-poor villagers. Gardens with medicinal plants are being planted at each centre.
With support from UNESCO-MOST, BARCIK has developed a training manual on Indigenous knowledge and sustainable livelihood that will be used in workshops around the country for development professionals, extension workers, academics, researchers and practitioners.
The latest issue of BARCIK's regular quarterly journal Grassroots Voice is on the subject of fisheries. Copies of this and other issues are available at BARCIK. An annual subscription costs USD 20 including postage.
BARCIK has published two important books: Facing the Jamuna River: Indigenous and Engineering Knowledge in Bangladesh, by Dr Hanna Schmuck Widmann, and The Vision and Visage of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, edited by Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan. Both books can be ordered from BARCIK.
Facing the Jamuna River examines how two groups living and working on the river understand the river and cope with it. The first group lives on the islands locally called chars; the second is a group of European engineers working along the riverbanks. How do the two groups perceive floods and erosion? What knowledge have they developed to predict these events? And which strategies do they use to deal with them? The book describes the worlds of the two groups: their lives, experience and knowledge. It shows that the two socially and culturally different worlds are in fact quite close together in terms of their knowledge of erosion and floods. The book goes on to explore how the local indigenous approach and the engineering approach could be combined to achieving an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and sustainable way to manage the Jamuna River. Price: USD 25; EURO 15 (excluding postage).
The Vision and Visage of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was published by BARCIK in conjunction with the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board. The recent interest in and enthusiasm over the Chittagong Hill Tracts were a reason to seek greater understanding of the life, livelihoods and visions of the people of the area. If this is not done, the zeal and attention for the area will have little prospect of going beyond rhetoric and being translated into a meaningful development intervention. Generally speaking, our understanding of the Chittagong Hill Tracts has been superficial and incomplete. The book is intended to help readers develop a basic yet intimate understanding of the lives of the local inhabitants. The focus is on their daily livelihood strategies, their main demands, hopes and aspirations, and their perceptions on certain aspects of social and political life. The research consisted primarily of interviews with and intensive observation of local people from different walks of life, supplemented by photographs. Price: USD 35.
China
CBIK
Dr Wang Yuhua, correspondent
Floor 3, Building A, Zhonghuandasha
Yanjiadi
Kunming 650034
PR China
Tel.: +86-871-4123519.
E-mail: cbik02@public.km.yn.cn
http://www.cbik.ac.cn or http://www.cbik.org
The International Advisory Board of CBIK met in Kunming to discuss the organization's ten-year strategic plan and five-year work programme. The board members travelled to the field in northwest Yunnan to gain direct and practical insights into biodiversity conservation and the role of IK in rural development. CBIK is now finalizing the planning documents and preparing to draft its annual work plan for 2002. You will find details on our website. We hope to work with various strategic partners and thus to build capacity. Our aim is to develop young leadership, local institutions and community organizations for the purpose of enhancing cultural and biological diversity.
Since 2002 is the UN's International Year of Mountains, the South-East Asian Organization Committee will meet in Lijiang at the end of November 2001 to plan the programme of the III MMSEA Conference in detail. (MMSEA = Montane Mainland South-East Asia.) The organizers hope to achieve not only excellent interaction and excellent exchanges among the participants but also commitments to future collaboration in research and development in the region. The conference is also intended for strengthening existing networks.
In conjunction with III MMSEA, three events are being planned for different parts of Yunnan:
The workshop and the conference will be facilitated by a group of professionals from the region, which will meet in April or May of 2002 to prepare the methodology for encouraging conference and workshop participants to interact creatively.
CBIK is writing two proposals for projects dealing with IK. The first is related to indigenous experimentation and the participatory development of technology, and will involve fieldwork in six pilot areas in Yunnan. The second project will focus on eco-cultural tourism and traditional paper-making. The first one is supported by the German government under its Project on Implementing the Biodiversity Convention, which is being conducted worldwide by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). For this project, which will last two years, CBIK will work with local researchers from seven different ethnic minorities: the Yao, Miao, Hani, Yi, Tibetan, Naxi, and Lisu peoples of southeast Yunnan (Red River), central Yunnan (Chuxiong) and northwest Yunnan (Diqin). The project on ecocultural tourism will be supported by the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO), of the Netherlands. It will be a pilot project in Naxi and Tibetan villages in northwest Yunnan. On our website we will report on the progress of both projects alongside the reports on CBIK's other field programmes.
CBIK, in cooperation with an international editing committee, is preparing a special issue of Etnoecologica on Indigenous ways of knowing. It will contain selected papers from the Cultures and Biodiversity Congress which was held in Yunnan in 2000 under the name CUBIC 2000. Etnoecologica (http://www.etnoecologica.org.mx) is a specialized journal edited by the Institute of Ecology of the National University of Mexico.
CBIK's library has moved into a new space and offers services to local readers from public and private organizations in Kunming. We have a small section with English books and journals on biodiversity, natural resource management, indigenous knowledge, participatory methods, and other subjects. The library urgently needs support as well as donations of books, documents, videotapes and multi-media presentations on biodiversity and indigenous knowledge in order to improve its services.
A team of CBIK trainers worked with the Centre for Integrated Rural Development Research (CIRDR) of Guizhou to train the team of 20 researchers who will take part in a project to study the knowledge systems of the Miao and Dong peoples in Guizhou. The training lasted one week (in July 2001) and dealt with emic research methods in theory and in practice. Fieldwork on natural resource management and indigenous knowledge was done in a Miao village near Kaili. The CIRDR project is funded by the Ford Foundation.
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: ikdfcar@eth.net
http://iias.leidenuniv.nl/host/ccrss/cariks.htm
CIKIB
Centre for Indigenous Knowledge on Indian Bioresources
Institute of Ethnobiology
C/o Dr S.K. Jain, Director (Correspondent)
A-26 Mall Avenue Colony
Lucknow - 226 001
India
Tel.: +91-522-224556.
Fax: +91-522-205836/205839.
E-mail: nbri@lw1.vsnl.net.in
CIKIHR
Centre for Indigenous Knowledge of Indian Herbal Resources
Dr N.C. Shah, Coordinator and Correspondent
MS - 78; Sector D, Aliganj, Lucknow- 226 024
India
Tel.: +91-522-326489.
Fax: +91-522-326489.
E-mail: ncshah65@hotmail.com; ncshah@sancharnet.in;
Dr N.C. Shah, in his capacity as CIKIHR correspondent, visited his hometown of Ranikhet and other places (including Almora, Bageshwar and Nainital) in the Kumaon Himalayas, which is part of the Western Himalayas under the newly established state of Uttaranchal. The Kumaon area is culturally rich and features a number of indigenous dishes prepared from plants common in many parts of the world. Dr Shah sampled some of these dishes and thought it might be interesting to share information about how they are prepared, particularly those based on hemp or marijuana seeds. A cultigen of hemp (Cannabis sativa) is grown throughout the region. Its fibre is used for making ropes, and its seeds are eaten in various ways:
Although hundreds of papers have been published on the chemistry, botany, pharmacology, etc. of cannabis, no one has ever analyzed its seeds as far as CIKIHR knows. If any reader happens to know of a source describing the chemical composition of the seeds, please contact us. Further, the use of cannabis described here is found only in Kumaon and Nepal. If anyone has information on its uses in other countries, this too is very welcome.
Dr Shah has been included on the panel of referees for the new Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, published by the Wealth of India Division, National Institute of Science Communication, CSIR, New Delhi.
Indonesia
INRIK
Indonesian Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge
Prof. Kusnaka Adimihardja, (Director/Correspondent)
Padjadjaran University
Room K-3, JI. Dipatiukur No. 35
Bandung 40132, West Java, Indonesia
Tel./fax: +62-22-250 8592.
E-mail: inrik@melsa.net.id
http://www.melsa.net.id/~inrik
Changes in INRIK's staff were reported in the July issue of the Monitor. The centre would now like to tell readers something about its staffing policy. INRIK operates on a volunteer basis. Staff members are mostly young graduates who need to gain experience before looking for the jobs that will launch their careers. Many of them therefore move through the centre and turnover is high. Since INRIK hopes to broaden its scope to include research and education alongside public service, it views the opportunities offered to the young graduates as a sort of extension of itself and therefore part of the larger INRIK organization. Changes in the administration therefore take place smoothly and naturally.
We thank former staff members Haryo, Erna, Lukman, Oki, Arief, Femy, Budi, Hikmat, Tony, Dade (and others) for their periods of dedication to INRIK and we wish them luck in their new careers. At the same time we welcome new staff members Ira (Indrawardana) and Lizah (Khairani) on board.
INRIK held a one-day roundtable discussion on intellectual property rights (IPR) on 30 April 2001. The successful event was organized in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Padjadjaran (UNPAD), the Faculty of Art and Design of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and the Center of Research and Application of Technology of the Environment Ministry (BPPT). The discussion examined how indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) can be applied for purposes of social and cultural development. There were three main topics: 1) definition of the term 'indigenous knowledge'; 2) the application of indigenous social values that are in accordance with the laws of the state, and the ways that interaction between the two can lead to the regulation of natural resource management; and 3) a review of how intellectual property rights can be used to protect indigenous knowledge systems in Indonesia. INRIK's director, Professor Kusnaka Adimihardja, hosted the discussion, which drew some 30 participants from a variety of multi-disciplinary backgrounds. They included academics, scientists, researchers and representatives of government agencies and NGOs.
The event was meant to encourage the participants to continue to explore, investigate, and map the local knowledge and technology with which people adapt. The effort will result in a systematic collection of IK and eventually a framework for Indonesian IKS. The proceedings of the discussion will be available next year. Please address inquiries to INRIK.
Three staff members of INRIK (Ira, Dade and Lizah) attended the harvest celebration known as Serentaun (Thanksgiving) which was held 2-6 August 2001 at Kampung Ciptagelar in Cicemet village, South Sukabumi, West Java. The event is an annual ritual of the Kasepuhan community. Ciptagelar is a new settlement, located sone 10 km from the former settlement, Ciptarasa in Ciganas village.
The continuously moving settlement of the Kasepuhan is an ancient tradition inherited over generations. It takes place when wangsit, the inspiration to do so, is passed on through the heir or ruler of the Kasepuhan, known as Abah. Traditionally, only around 50 of the original Kasepuhan families move to the new settlement; the rest remain in the old settlement. The aim is to purify the community of all polluting influences that over long years of settlement have grown and developed within the gradually mixed population.
The current leader of the Kasepuhan is Abah Anom. He is carrying on the tradition of moving, as his father did before him. His father, Abah Sepuh, was leader of the settlement in Sirnarasa at Cisolok, about 16 km from Ciptagelar. Since April 2001, resettlement to Ciptagelar has been taking place on the basis of the wangsit received by Abah Anom in the tradition of the elders. The settlement name Ciptarasa means 'to create the feeling', which describes the Abah's vision and feeling about the existence of the community. The name of the new settlement, Ciptagelar, means, 'to realize the feeling'. The Abah's vision is to make everything real for the benefit of the community.
It could be that with the move to the new settlement there will be some changes in the community's social values and daily practices. There may be new systems of agriculture or forest management, for example. This will become evident in the years to come.
From 22-25 August 2001, INRIK participated in the International Conference on Sundanese Culture (ICSC) organized by the Budaya Rancage Foundation. The theme of the conference was Inhabitation of Sundanese cultural values in the global process. Professor Kusnaka Adimihardja presented a paper about the Kasepuhan community in the preserved area of Mount Halimun, South Sukabumi, West Java. INRIK also staged a photo exhibit entitled 'Ritual harvest celebration in Sundanese agricultural societies'. The exhibit showed two groups of communities: the Kasepuhan at Ciptagelar on Mount Halimun and the Cigugur at Kuningan on Mount Ciremai. The groups live in the southern and eastern parts of West Java, respectfully.
INRIK's projects for the years 2000-2004 will involve surveying and documenting local indigenous and technology systems in Indonesia for the purpose of drawing up regional planning models which are based on the local ecosystems (forest, land, seashore, river, and sea) in rural areas. The project that is supposed to precede development of the eastern part of Indonesia will stress IK and a 'bottom-up' approach. INRIK invites all readers who could perhaps play a role in project implementation, whether as researcher or a source of funding, please to contact the centre. (Compiled by Ira and Lizah)
The Philippines
PHIRCSDIK
Philippine Resource Center for Sustainable Development and Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Rogelio C. Serrano, National Coordinator (Correspondent)
Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and
Development (PCARRD)
Paseo de Valmayor
P.O. Box 425, Los Banos, Laguna
The Philippines
Tel.: +63-94-500 15 to 500 20.
Fax: +63-94-536-0132/0016.
Email: rserrano@ultra.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph
IIRR
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR)
Y.C. James Yen Center
Silang, Cavite 4118
The Philippines.
Tel.: +63-46-414 2417.
Fax: +63-46-414 2420.
E-mail: iirr@phil.gn.apc.org
http://www.cav.pworld.net.ph/~iirr/
Sri Lanka
SLARCIK
Sri Lanka Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr D.M.S.K. Ranasinghe, Director
University of Sri Jayewardenapura
Dept. Of Forestry & Environmental Science
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
Tel.: +94-1-854 685.
Fax: +94-1-437 879.
E-mail: hemanthi@lgo.lk
Europe
Greece
ELLRIK
Elliniko Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr C. Lionis, Coordinator (Correspondent)
Medical School, Department of Social Medicine
University of Crete
P.O. Box 1393, Heraklion, Crete
Greece
Tel.: +30-81-394 621.
Fax: +30-81-394 606
E-mail: lionis@med.uoc.gr
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
On 1 January 2002, CIRAN will be integrated into Nuffic's Department for Human Resource and Institutional Development. This Nuffic department directs most of its activity towards developing countries and countries in transition. It aims to strengthen higher education institutions in these countries by helping to increase their capacities for developing human resources and conducting research. The department's ultimate aim is to contribute to cultural, economic and political development throughout the world. To these ends, the department advises government agencies, donor organizations and institutes for higher education and research; manages fellowship programmes and programmes that support inter-institutional cooperation; and works to enhance the international dimension of Dutch higher education.
The integration of CIRAN into this department means that IK activities have become even more central to the Nuffic organization. Since 1992 Nuffic, through CIRAN, has supported the efforts of the international indigenous knowledge network - established at the IDRC-funded international conference on Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development - to get indigenous knowledge placed on the international development agenda and to promote IK as mainstream policy of multilateral and international organizations. CIRAN's specific contribution was to disseminate and improve access to IK information. To this end CIRAN started with the publication of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor in February 1993. In addition to the printed version, an electronic version (Monitor-on-line, also in PDF format) has been available via the Internet since March 1999. The website offers readers access to all back volumes of the journal.
Over the years, IK information management gradually became CIRAN's core business. Its Indigenous Knowledge Information System has made CIRAN an IK clearinghouse. (For the components of the IK Information System, see FOCUS, on the inside front page of this issue.)
After CIRAN becomes part of Nuffic's Department for Human Resources and Institutional Development, it will continue to maintain the products and services of the IK Information System. There will be one major change, however. The journal (Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor) will be transformed into a newsletter with the name Indigenous Knowledge WorldWide (IKWW), which will be published ten times a year. The newsletter will not contain articles. Like the IK Pages, it will focus on news and on the communication of IK information. The reason for publishing a printed newsletter alongside the online IK Pages is so that readers in the developing world who do not have access to the World Wide Web will continue to receive information about IK.
CIRAN's integration into the larger department means that IK has become part of Nuffic's core business: cooperation in higher education and research. As stated in the guest column of this issue of the Monitor, development is no longer the exclusive domain of science and technology. This is why IK is being incorporated into a variety of activities aimed at capacity-building and at strengthening knowledge infrastructure. Since this is the work of the Department for Human Resource and Institutional Development, CIRAN could not have found a more appropriate place.
The activities related to the IK Information System will be continued in the new organizational setting by Mrs Karin Boven, Mrs Anna van Marrewijk, Mrs Elma Leidekker, Mrs Ilse van Cooten and Mr Wietse Bruinsma. Mr Bruinsma will provide technical assistance and Mrs Els de Zwaan will provide secretarial and administrative support.
I, Guus von Liebenstein, will not have an official position in the new setting. I intend to take advantage of the possibility of early retirement, and will be available after 1 January 2002 on a consultancy basis only. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank all those with whom I have had a professional relationship over the years for their support and cooperation. Without your assistance, my staff and I would never have succeeded in making our contribution to the global effort to get IK accepted into mainstream activities.
In the July issue you were informed about the partnership between Nuffic-CIRAN and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST). Together we will serve as IK topic guides for the Indigenous Knowledge Website of the Global Development Gateway (http://www.developmentgateway.org/topic/?page_id=3677). One of the aims of the partnership is to strengthen UNCST's capacity for IK information management. For this reason Mrs Joyce Muwanga of UNCST came to visit Nuffic-CIRAN in August 2001, where she spent two weeks gaining first-hand experience of how to run an IK information system.
CIRAN is now in the process of screening descriptions of IK best practices that have been submitted for inclusion in the UNESCO-MOST database of best practices. The present round is the second, and it is nearing completion. The results of the first round of the project have been published as 27 IK best practices (http://www.unesco.org/most/bpikreg.htm). A questionnaire with guidelines and a format for submitting a case study were distributed within CIRAN's IK network and are also available for downloading from the Nuffic-CIRAN website. After the first internal selection, the case studies will be sent to experts in the IK network who will judge them and advise CIRAN as to which should be added to the collection of best practices.
LEAD
Leiden Ethnosystems And Development Programme
Professor L. Jan Slikkerveer, Director
Ms Diana Bosch, MA, Correspondent
Institute of Cultural and Social Studies
Leiden University
P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-71-527 3469 / 3403.
Fax: +31-71-527 3619.
E-mail: bosch@fsw.leidenUniv.nl
Professor Dr L.J. Slikkerveer, Dr H.W.A. Voorhoeve and Mr. W. Schrader, MD, were invited by Mrs Dr. S. Quah, convener and staff member of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences of the National University of Singapore, to contribute to the conference on Traditional Healing Systems: Negotiating Science and Technology Challenges that was held on 14 and 15 September 2001 in Singapore. This important conference, with participants from Singapore, Japan, China, and the Netherlands, has sought to further assess the analysis of negotiation of science and technology challenged by traditional healing systems at the conceptual, methodological and practical level.
From LEAD, presentations focused on traditional medical systems' response to science and technology: patients and medicines (Prof. Slikkerveer); the challenge of science and technology on traditional couching in Nigeria: local perspectives and potential (Dr Schrader); and advantages versus disadvantages of traditional healing systems in childbirth (Dr Voorhoeve).
In October, Prof. Slikkerveer introduced two working packages on indigenous
knowledge and the use of medicinal plants in the Mediterranean region into the
new MEDUSA research programme on conservation through use of priority wild
species of the Mediterranean, coordinated by the Mediterranean Agronomic
Institute of Chania (MAICH).
Mr M. Chirangi, MA, conducted a mission to Tanzania in September 2001 in medical anthropology and sociology for both his PhD research on 'Informal Health Services' into Tanzanian Policies and Strategies of Health Sector Reform: Challenges and Realities, and for the envisaged International MSc Course in Medical Anthropology & Ethnobotany. Mr Chirangi will be lecturing in the new MSc course in Bandung, Indonesia, by the middle of next year (See also under Courses, studies).
Mrs D. Bosch, MA, gave a presentation on the LEAD Programme and the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor to participants of the international conference 'Independent Eritrea: Lessons and Prospect¹ that was held from July 22-26, 2001, in Asmara (Eritrea), especially to members of the University of Asmara who are working in the field of indigenous knowledge. In addition, she focused on the advantage of making use of telecommunication systems in health care also in conjunction with the use, collection and preservation of local knowledge systems.
Mr Y. Gheneti, MA, who worked extensively in Ghana, will publish his research on local institutions in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of this year.
The LEAD Programme was pleased to welcome Dr H van Wilgenburg, ethnopharmacologist from the Amterdam Medical Centre (AMC), as a new honorary staff member. Dr Van Wilgenburg, who has been working extensively in ethnopharmacology in many developing countries, is going to lecture in the above-mentioned MSc course early next year (See also under Courses, studies).
In October, LEAD held a special meeting to reflect on the publication of the
last volume of the IK&D Monitor in its current form, and on its achievements.
While the initiative to set up a network of individuals and experts working in
the various fields of indigenous knowledge and development, such as human health
care, ethnoveterinary medicine, environment, agriculture, natural resource
management, and biodiversity
conservation and management, was initially taken in 1986 by Dr. D.M. Warren of
CIKARD and Dr L.J. Slikkerveer of LEAD, and while the original IK Newsletter was
distributed from Leiden, the world-wide acknowledgement and potential of IK in
development-related issues has been further substantiated
since the establishment of CIRAN in 1992. Mr G.W. von Liebenstein and his team
have not only developed the newsletter into a professional, semi-scientific
monitor that has served as a special IK-oriented journal,
but they have also established an easily accessible information base that brings
together all relevant activities, networks, publications and websites. All LEAD
members agreed that the input of the Monitor has to a
great extent brought the field of indigenous knowledge systems theory and
practice where it stands today. It is hoped that the expected vacuum of in-depth
information on the progress of IK research and training in the forthcoming
newsletter will be provided for in other scientific journals in the near future.
Latin America
Brazil
BRARCIK
Brazilian Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr A.J. Cancian, Director (Correspondent)
UNESP, Dept. Biologia
14870.000 Jaboticabal, SP
Brazil
Tel.: +55-163-232 500.
Fax: +55-163-224 275.
E-mail: brarcik@jab000.unesp.ansp.br
Mexico
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
Urugay
URURCIK
Uruguayan Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge
Pedro de Hegedüs, Coordinator (Correspondent)
CEDESUR
Casilla de Correo 20.201
Codigo Postal 12.900, Montevideo
Uruguay
Tel./fax: +5-982-308 1603.
E-mail: phegedus@adinet.com.uy
Venezuela
VERSIK
Venezuelan Resource Secretariat for Indigenous Knowledge
Dr Consuelo Quiroz, 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./fax : +58-272-2360 467.
Mobile +58-0166-721152.
E-mail: consuelo@cantv.net
The general coordinator of FUNDATADI, Dr Consuelo Quiroz, in her capacity as VERSIK correspondent, would like to inform readers about three projects currently or recently carried out at the centre (CATADI) and by the foundation.
Contribution of home gardens (conucos) to in situ conservation of plant genetic resources in farming systems. This project has taken place in five countries simultaneously: Cuba, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ghana and Vietnam. It has been coordinated by IPGRI, Rome. Final reports were presented at a meeting in Witzenhausen (Germany) on 17-19 July 2001. The workshop clearly demonstrated a correlation between several socio-economic factors and the amount of biodiversity that is preserved in home gardens. If anyone is interested in more detailed information about the workshop, they should contact Dr Quiroz.
Indigenous Knowledge systems related to traditional food plants. This is a project financed by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICIT).
Education and local development, a project financed by the Universidad de Los Andes in conjunction with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In September 2001, Dr Quiroz attended two workshops in Ottawa, Canada, in connection with this project. One was on participatory monitoring and evaluation. The other was a 'retreat' for advanced facilitators. Both workshops were very useful and offered practical tools for working not only in local development projects but also in research involving local knowledge, since participatory methods are one of the best ways to elicit local knowledge.
Readers interested in receiving more detailed information about these workshops could get in touch either with Dr Quiroz, or directly with Ms Francoise Coupal, Director of Mosaic-net-International, who organized the workshops: e-mail: coupal@mosaic-net-intl.ca. See also the website: http://www.mosaic-net-intl.ca
VERSIK continues to welcome students from all over the world who would like
to do research for their dissertations within the framework of any of the
current projects. They must be proficient in Spanish. For more information,
please contact Dr Quiroz.
Middle East
Iran
RRC
Rural Research Centre Iran
Ministry of Jihad
P.O. Box 14155-6197
Teheran, Iran
Tel.: +98-21-889 7197.
Fax: +98-21-889 1942.
RSIS
Dr M.H. Emadi, correspondent
P.O. Box 37815/36
Mahallat
Markazi Province
I.R. Iran
Tel./Fax: +98-88-632 24754.
E-mail: rrciri@neda.net
The Rural Station for Indigenous Studies (RSIS) has published the next issue of Indigenous Knowledge and Development. This 12-page networking publication has nine pages in Persian and three pages, including the front page, in English. It can be obtained from the RSIS.
A year ago, back in November 2000, RSIS presented a case study at the Asian Productivity Organization's (APO) Multi-county Study Mission on Integrated Community Development (ICD), held in Taiwan (see IKDM 9(1), p. 24). RSIS told how IK research and application had been incorporated into the process of facilitating ICD in Khorhe. The presentation was well received by the participants.
In July 2001, the Khorhe Method (KM) was presented at APO's Working Party Meeting on Resource Management and Development Planning, held in Teheran. The meeting was focussed on the effective social technologies used in various Asian countries for promoting local people's participation in these efforts. KM was presented as a socio-culturally appropriate participatory method by which local communities are empowered by learning about the locally available resources and by making innovative use of what they know.
KM is the outcome of an ongoing process of Systematic Action Research conducted by RSIS in the Khorhe region. An open process of holistic research and interactive social communication with the local people has gradually evolved into a carefully documented method of participatory innovative thinking for local problem-solving. The method can be taught to local facilitators in any rural region socio-culturally similar to Khorhe. KM, as a participatory method, does not require intervention or continuous supervision by development professionals.
In addition to a detailed description of KM and its components, RSIS's presentation at the July meeting included a brief introduction to the process of Systematic Action Research which had led to KM. RSIS's paper entitled 'Participatory methods development: ICD and the intellectual empowerment in Khorhe village (Markazi province, Iran)' will be published by APO later this year as part of a book on resource management and development planning.
One of the discussions at the July meeting addressed a fundamental question in resource management and development planning: 'From whose perspective?' 'Resource management' is the term commonly used by professionals to refer to the utilization or protection of resources. From the local or indigenous perspective, however, 'resource development' would be a more fitting term. There is a lot of evidence from around the world indicating that in many systems, 'utilization' and 'protection' are not mutually exclusive. The cultivation practices of most traditional agricultural systems provide a perfect example. With these practices, soil quality improves with the passing of each year. Or, as is the case with Iran's qanat technology, water resources are 'developed' (increased or improved) through innovative water-harvesting techniques.
By the same token, 'development planning' also needs to be revised. How could local development planning be incorporated into national development policy? In other words, how is the real gap between the local perspective and the national perspective on resources utilization (and other development issues) to be overcome?
Whatever terminology we replace 'development planning' with (maybe 'development management'?), it should promote the notion that it is not practical to view national development planning as a process of creating a blueprint at the centre for development projects and objectives to be implemented across the country. Instead, the new perspective will acknowledge and take advantage of the diversity of perspectives and capabilities on different levels of planning and implementation (including policy, institutional, organizational and local levels). From this perspective, the need for 'participatory management' of development at the local level ('planning with people') is recognized. This would be a practice more in line with democratic traditions and ideals.
In the absence of such discussions and concrete steps towards creating synergy between national policy and local planning, efforts in local community development will be too slow and sporadic to make a difference. The APO-sponsored seminar on the role of local communities and institutions in integrated rural development (10-15 November 2001 in Teheran) is one forum where practical ways to facilitate this synergy may be explored.
North America
Canada
CTK
Centre for Traditional Knowledge
Canadian Museum of Nature
Lynda Kitchikeesic, Executive director
P.O. Box 3443
Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1P 6P4.
Tel.: +1-613-566 4751.
Fax: +1-613-566 4748.
E-mail: Lkitchikeesic@mus-nature.ca
This year as every year, the Centre for Traditional Knowledge (CTK) observed National Aboriginal Day by holding a celebration and learning experience for local children. Traditional knowledge is shared through a variety of activities all day long on June 21st. Inside a teepee village, a medicine woman shows local plants to groups of schoolchildren and explains their uses. Children make tiny birchbark canoes - the traditional means of transportation in Algonquin territory. They also bead necklaces . This year a drum group provided live music and many of the children joined in the intertribal dances in the pow wow circle. Traditional foods were offered, and everybody seemed to like the Iroquois-style corn soup. The event drew about a thousand people to the Canadian Museum of Nature in downtown Ottawa, mainly schoolchildren but also local adults and tourists. Media coverage was excellent. The feedback from this event is always positive and this year was no exception.
In July 2001, materials about the Mali Project were assembled for distribution to the community representatives present at the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) gathering in Penticton, BC. All available documentation and materials were given out and the CTK received many inquiries about the project. Readers might be interested to learn more about the background of the Mali Project. At an earlier meeting, Mali Keating of the elders' council of the First Nation's Environmental Network (FNEN) challenged the CTK on its mandate to collect traditional knowledge (TK). This challenge had a huge impact on how projects are handled - so huge that the project was named after Mali Keating. For example, the project was altered so that communities collect their own TK instead of it being collected for them. So although the funding to follow up the Mali Project did not come through, communities are using this tool to collect their own TK. Unfortunately, we may never know what was done with the documentation, but at least TK is being collected.
Executive director Lynda Kitchikeesik gave a presentation about the CTK and made some excellent contacts around the Americas. These included IEN president Tom Goldtooth, with whom she is discussing the possibility of working together in the Indigenous Caucus of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Article 8j.
In August 2001, the CTK and various partners coordinated a canoeing event for police and Aboriginal youth which used traditional knowledge to bridge the gap between these two groups and to build positive relationships between them. After a water ceremony each police officer was paired with a Native youth to paddle up the river to a traditional feast, where they enjoyed a meal together. The kids were fascinated by the officers and likewise. Here too, media coverage was excellent and Lynda Kitchikeesik spoke live on the local TV news about the need to incorporate respect and understanding of TK into mainstream society.
The CTK is now developing a cultural awareness course for police officers which is aimed at adjusting their attitudes by teaching them about traditional knowledge. The course was scheduled for October but the recent tragedy at the World Trade Centre has stalled the event, probably until January 2002.
United States of America
CIKARD
Center for Indigenous Knowledge for Agriculture and Rural Development
Dr. Shu-min Huang
Iowa State University
Department of Anthropology
318 B Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1050
USA
Tel: +1 515 294 9503.
Fax: +1-515-294 1708.
E-mail: cikard@iastate.edu
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~anthr_info/cikard
ICIK
Interinstitutional Consortium for Indigenous Knowledge
Ladi Semali, Director and Correspondent)
The Pennsylvania State University
257 Chambers Building
University Park, PA 16802, USA
Tel.: +1-814-865 2161.
Fax: +1-814-863 7602.
E-mail: lms11@psu.edu
http://www.ed.psu.edu/ci/ICIK/index.asp
Back to: top of the page | Contents IK Monitor (
9-3) | IKDM Homepage