Column

LINKING LOCAL AND GLOBAL WISDOM

By Guus von Liebenstein

Guus W. von Liebenstein is director of Nuffic-CIRAN, The Hague, the Netherlands

During the decade of its existence, the Monitor - by offering a platform for debate and for an exchange of information on the potential of indigenous knowledge (IK) - contributed to a growing appreciation for IK among development professionals. Although the pace of acceptance was slow, we can say that as we enter the 21st century, development is no longer the exclusive domain of western (global) knowledge. In the second half of the 1990s, we saw IK enter the mainstrain of activities and initiatives undertaken by developing countries and by the international donor community, UN agencies, and most recently the World Bank (1998). IK was on the agenda of the first conference devoted to global knowledge for development (GK97), held in Toronto, Canada, and even more prominently on the agenda of the second conference (GKII), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2000. The final action plan of the GKII Action Summit and Forum includes a strong endorsement of the Indigenous Knowledge programme and specifically calls for the identification, development and dissemination of local knowledge in various forms, including local languages. It also calls for developing strategies for using indigenous knowledge in development.

We have also seen growing interest and appreciation among scientists. The body of scientific publications grew over the last decade and no doubt underlies the recommendation of the UNESCO-ICSU World Conference on Science (Budapest, 1999) that traditional knowledge be integrated into science.

Nevertheless, western (global) knowledge - knowledge generated in schools, universities, research institutes and industrial firms -- still dominates development thinking. This knowledge gradually spread over the developing world as the dominant system shaping politics, values and careers - a system that places great emphasis on the exclusive contribution of western knowledge (i.e., science and technology) to development. Indigenous knowledge systems were considered inferior and were denied a role in development. As a consequence, indigenous knowledge was classified as non-scientific and treated as contrasting with western knowledge. Many development professionals and academics in Asia, Africa and Latin America share this science and technology bias, which in itself is not surprising. Education patterns have tended to favour recruitment from urban areas and from wealthier rural families. Members of local elites were educated in the North or in a scientific tradition copied from the North. As a result, the scientific and technological research undertaken in developing countries is concerned mainly with phenomena and problems derived from western cultural concepts. Colonial powers imported western science and technology in order to sustain economic systems that exploited resources primarily for the world market. The knowledge was thus beneficial only to the colonial powers. This colonial heritage persists to the present day in the form of scientific ideals, in the ways that research assistance is given, and in the imitations of western patterns of prestige.

Fortunately the situation is changing as decision-makers in developing countries are seeing more and more examples of how IK can be put to good use. They are beginning to realize that IK is the largest single resource not yet mobilized for the developing enterprise. It is a powerful asset that many developing countries possess.

An important way to incorporate indigenous knowledge into mainstream society is to integrate IK into the formal education system at all levels, but particularly in higher education. Integration into higher education and research will result in the validation of indigenous knowledge and will thus help it more quickly to assume its proper place within the overall knowledge infrastructure.

Already there are promising initiatives to integrate indigenous knowledge into higher education. These have emerged to some extent from the discussion that underlies recent debates and publications. At a national level there is an initiative to establish within the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) a coordinating unit for the purpose of integrating IK into national development. This initiative, part of the Kampala Declaration on the contribution of IK to the eradication of poverty, will also focus on incorporating IK into curricula at all levels of instruction, including higher education.

In South Africa there are interesting initiatives to integrate IK into national development and the education sector. The University of the North-West (Mafikeng) has launched new, accredited undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). The University of Natal is working on a special programme on IK and biodiversity, and the Department of Pharmacology (Faculty of Health Sciences) of the University of Cape Town is including traditional medicine in its programmes of research and curriculum development.

The Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor has been instrumental in monitoring recent developments in the field of IK. Through this monitoring process and through its missions to developing countries, Nuffic-CIRAN has seen at first hand more and more efforts to incorporate IK into the mainstream activities of education and research. In all cases, without exception, these efforts would be greatly enhanced if human resources and institutional capacities could be built up and strengthened.

Many donor-funded programmes are aimed at improving knowledge infrastructure as a vehicle for development. The impact these programmes will have on developing countries will be greater if these programmes to strengthen human resources and build up institutional capacity cover the whole spectrum of knowledge for development. In other words, capacity-building should include IK. The reason for this cannot be stated too often: development is no longer the exclusive domain of science and technology.

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