IMPORTANCE AND RELEVANCE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

SYSTEM,
IDENTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF ITK,
INTEGRATION OF ITK SYSTEM IN RESEARCH FORMULATION

COURSE: ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION (EXT-601)

SUBMITTED TO: DR. PRADEEP CHAHAL (HAU)

SUBMITTED BY: ERA LAMBA

 INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM - RELEVANCE,
IDENTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION

Long before the development of modern science, humans became the storehouse
of knowledge of their surrounding environment and the useful as well as harmful
plants and animals; thus ensuring their survival. This knowledge was accumulated
and enriched through generations passed on verbally, without any written
document and is called traditional/local knowledge or indigenous environmental
knowledge. Indigenous knowledge or local environmental knowledge is the
knowledge that people have gained through inheritance from their ancestors. Over
centuries, indigenous people around the world have developed their own, locality-
specific knowledge and practice, which is an important part of the lives of the
people. It is a people derived science, and it represents people’s creativity,
innovations and skills.
This knowledge is very different from, western ways of generating, recording
and transmitting knowledge. Learning from indigenous knowledge, by
investigating what local communities know and have, can improve understanding
of agriculture, healthcare, food security education and natural resource
management issues.

DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPT OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

SYSTEM

Indigenous knowledge refers to the multi-dimensional understandings developed

by a culture based on its local environment and its long history of inhabiting that
environment. ‘Indigenous knowledge’ (IK) as a term has emerged over the two
decades to describe the knowledge of a group of people local to a given situation,
sometimes used interchangeably with ‘local’ knowledge [Ellen and Harris 2000].
In the 50’s and 60’s, development theorists considered indigenous knowledge as
counter-productive, inferior and an impediment to development. At present
indigenous knowledge is seen as a pivotal in discussion on sustainable resource
use and balanced development (Brokensha, 1980). The use of the term
‘indigenous’ was popularised by Robert Chamber’s group at the Institute of
Development studies, University of Sussex, in 1979. Coeval understanding and
endorsement of indigenous knowledge is based upon the writings of
anthropologists like Conklin and Lewis. These indigenous knowledge systems
have been variously described as ‘People’s Knowledge’, ‘ethno-science,’ and
‘folk-ecology’ (Barker et al., 1977).

The systematic investigation of traditional environmental knowledge began with a

series of studies on the terminologies that people of different cultures use to
classify objects in their natural and social environments. Early studies by
anthropologists and natural scientists also recorded indigenous knowledge of plant
and animal behaviour. Local interpretations of natural phenomena were often at
odds with scientific explanations (possibly rooted in a spiritual ideology);
nevertheless, they revealed a wealth of underlying empirical knowledge (Martha
Johnson, 1992). Concurrent with these early studies was a rising political pressure
to recognise the rights of aboriginal peoples and a growing environmental
movement searching for alternative approaches to Western science and
technology. This changing social and political climate resulted in a shift away from
theoretical studies to more applied research. Recent emphasis has been on
understanding the ecologically sound practices that contribute to sustainable
resource use among indigenous peoples and ways that this knowledge can be
successfully integrated with the scientific resource management of the West
(Martha Johnson, 1992).

Traditional environmental knowledge gained international recognition through

such documents as the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN et al. 1980) and Our
Common Future (WCED 1987). Both reports emphasised the need to use directly
the environmental expertise of local people in managing natural resources. They
stressed that sustainable management of natural resources could only be achieved
by developing a science based on the priorities of local people and creating a
technological base that blends both traditional and modern approaches to solving
problems (Martha Johnson, 1992).

It also gained international recognition after the United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development (UNCED) held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.
Agenda 21, one of the environmental agreements signed at UNCED, emphasized
that governments and intergovernmental organisations should respect, record, and
work toward incorporating indigenous knowledge systems into research and
development programs for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainability of
agricultural and natural resource management systems. Other international
documents, such as the 1980 “World Conservation Strategy” by the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), also paved
the way for the recognition of the important role played by indigenous knowledge
in biodiversity and human development. The value of indigenous knowledge
systems in facilitating development is now gradually being recognised by
governments and developments agencies. Today, indigenous environmental
knowledge is a growing field of inquiry, both nationally and internationally,
particularly for those interested in educational innovation (Peter Mwaura, 2008).

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL

KNOWLEDGE

The term "indigenous" has prevailed as a generic term for many years, but
depending upon culture and countries various other terms like aboriginals, ethnic
groups, Adivasi, janajati etc. have been used. In many cases, the term "indigenous"
has negative connotations and some nations may choose not to reveal or define
their origin as "indigenous'.

Giving due recognition to the diversity of indigenous people, an official definition

of "indigenous" has not been adopted by any UN-system body. Instead the system
has developed a modern understanding of this term based on the following criteria:
• Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies.
• Strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources.
• Distinct social, economic or political systems.
• Distinct language, culture and beliefs.
• Form non-dominant group of society.
• Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems
as distinctive people and communities.
(Source: Alan, R. Emery and Associates (1997) Guidelines for Environmental
Assessment and Traditional Knowledge. A report from the Centre for
Traditional knowledge of the World Council of Indigenous People, Ottawa,
Volume 23. )
Indigenous knowledge is rather complex and variety of terms have been used to
describe and define this unique stock of knowledge and expertise held by the
indigenous communities. These have included such terms as “local knowledge,”
“traditional knowledge,” “indigenous traditional knowledge,” “indigenous
technical knowledge”, “traditional environmental knowledge”, “indigenous
environmental knowledge”, “rural knowledge”, “traditional ecological
knowledge”, “folk knowledge, ethno-ecology, ethno- science, peoples’ science
and so forth. Nonetheless, all these terms gives a common idea based upon similar
issues, and are often used interchangeably to refer to the knowledge belonging to
various local communities. Indigenous knowledge can be defined as a body of
knowledge built up by a group of people through generations of living in close
contact with nature (Johnson, M. 1992). A broader definition is that indigenous
knowledge is the knowledge used by local people to make a living in a particular
environment (Warren, D.M. 1991). Local knowledge is not only a traditional or
rural or alternative form of knowledge, but is in principle a universal mode of
knowledge and knowing (Antweiler Christoph, 2004).

1) D. M. Warren, a leading academic in indigenous knowledge and

development, defines indigenous knowledge as “unique to a given culture
or society” (1991). A society’s uniqueness stems in part from the uniqueness
of the local environment and the conditions it presents. Therefore,
indigenous knowledge is founded on the relationship between humans and
their unique natural environment.
2) Chambers (1983) defined it as “a cumulative body of knowledge generated
and evolved over time, representing generations of creative thought and
actions within individual societies in an ecosystem of continuous residence
with an effort of coping with the ever changing agro-ecological and socio-
economic environment.
3) According to Grenier (1998) it is “the unique, traditional, local knowledge
existing within and developed around specific conditions of women and
men indigenous to a particular geographic area”.
4) According to Johnson (1992) Traditional Ecological Knowledge is defined
as: “a body of knowledge built up by a group of people through generations
of living in close contact with nature.
5) “Indigenous Environmental Knowledge (IEK) as defined by Tiu (2007) is
“the accumulated knowledge and skills of indigenous people and their
relationships with the environment”.
6) Wang (1988) defined ITK as “the sum total knowledge and practices which
are based on people‟s accumulated experiences in dealing with situations
 and problems in various aspects of life and such knowledge and practices
are special to a particular culture.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIGENOUS/TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Features of indigenous knowledge are (World Bank, 1998):

• Local in that it is rooted in a particular community and situated within

broader cultural traditions; it is a set of experiences generated by people
living is those communities. Separating the technical from the nontechnical,
the rational from the non-rational could be problematic. Therefore, when
transferred to other places, there is a potential risk of dislocating indigenous
knowledge.

• Tacit knowledge and, therefore, not easily modifiable

• Transmitted orally, or through imitation and demonstration. Codifying it

may lead to the loss of some of its properties.

• Experiential rather than theoretical knowledge. Experience and trial and

error, tested
in the rigorous laboratory of survival of local communities constantly
reinforce indigenous knowledge.

• Learned through repetition, which is a defining characteristic of tradition

even when
new knowledge is added. Repetition aids is the retention and
reinforcement of indigenous knowledge.

• Dynamic i.e Constantly changing, being produced as well as reproduced,

discovered as well as lost;
though it is often perceived by external observers as being somewhat static.

• It is culture and context specific and is a way of life embedded in

community traditions, rituals, practices, relationships and institutions.

Other definitions that should be considered:

1) Local knowledge (LK) is a collection of facts and relates to the entire system
of concepts, beliefs and perceptions that people hold about the world around
 them. This includes the way people observe and measure their surroundings,
how they solve problems and validate new information. It includes the
processes whereby knowledge is generated, stored, applied and transmitted
to others.
2) Traditional knowledge (TK) implies that people living in rural areas are
isolated from the rest of the world and that their knowledge systems are
static and do not interact with other knowledge systems.
3) Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is indigenous or local knowledge
and is the body of knowledge or natural history built up by a group of people
through generations of living in close contact with nature, which through
trial and error they have developed an understanding of the ecosystem in
which they lived. TEK includes a system of classification, a set of empirical
observations about the local ecology, and a system of self management that
governs resource uses such as hunting, trapping and fishing. .
4) Ethnic-ecology is the study of local or native people’s interaction with the
environment in which they live and work, including their perceptions, use
and management, and knowledge. Sub-disciplines of ethnic-ecology include
ethnic-biology, ethnobotany, ethnic-zoology, and ethnicpharmacology
[Sources: Warburton and Martin (1999)]

SIGNIFICANCE AND RELEVANCE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Indigenous environmental knowledge is considered as human capital of mankind,

tremendously affecting various aspects of life. It influences the socioeconomic
well-being of a nation and plays an important role in sustainable management of
its resources and the environment. Thus, indigenous knowledge is crucial for the
survival of many indigenous communities and the conservation of biodiversity.
According to Michael Warren (1991) indigenous knowledge helps the indigenous
communities in decision making at the grass-root level. “Solution-seeking
behaviour is based on indigenous creativity leading to experimentation and
innovations as well as the appraisal of knowledge and technologies introduced
from other societies,”
Indigenous people can provide valuable input about the local environment and how
to effectively manage its natural resources. Scientists now recognise that
indigenous people have managed the environments in which they have lived for
generations, often without significantly damaging local ecologies (Emery, 1996).
Thrupp also notes that indigenous knowledge empowers local communities,
contributes to development and increases self-sufficiency (Thrupp, L.A. 1989).
Indigenous food production and preservation systems, for example, contribute
significantly to food security.

RELEVANCE OF INDIGENOUS/TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN

FOLLOWING SECTORS

• Agriculture, knowledge related to crop selection, intercropping, planting

times.

• Animal's husbandry and ethnic veterinary medicine, knowledge of

breeding strategies, livestock characteristics and requirements, plant uses
to treat common illnesses.

• Pastoral systems — herd movement; range evaluation and monitoring;

animal breeding and production; traditional fodder and forage species and
their specific uses; animal diseases and traditional ethnic veterinary
medicine.

• Use and management of nature resources , knowledge of soil fertility

management, sustainable management of wild species.

• Health care, knowledge of plant properties for medicinal purposes.

Community development, common or shared knowledge provides links
between community members and generations; and

• Poverty elevation, knowledge of survival strategies based on local

resources.

• Water: traditional water-management and water conservation systems;

traditional techniques for irrigation; and use of specific species for water
conservation.

• Soil: soil conservation practices; the use of specific species for soil
conservation; and soil fertility enhancement practices.
• Plants: as a source of wild food, building material, household tools,
personal uses (dyes, perfumes, soaps), fuel wood and charcoal, medicinal
purposes.
• Wildlife: animal behaviour, habitats, uses.

(Source: adapted from Grenier, 1998; and Matowanyika, 1994)

RELEVANCE OF IK TO CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

• Locally appropriate: IK represents a way of life that has evolved with the
local environment, so it is specifically adapted to the requirements of local
conditions.
• Restraint in resource exploitation: production is for subsistence needs
only; only what is needed for immediate survival is taken from the
environment.
• Diversified production systems: there is no overexploitation of a single
resource; risk is often spread out by utilising a number of subsistence
strategies.
• Respect for nature: a ‘conservation ethic’ often exists. The land is
considered sacred, humans are dependent on nature for survival, all
species are interconnected.
• Flexible: IK is able to adapt to new conditions and incorporate outside
knowledge.
• Social responsibility: there are strong family and community ties, and with
them feelings of obligation and responsibility to preserve the land for
future generations (Source: Dewalt, 1994).

IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Importance of IK lies in it’s contribution of indigenous knowledge to local

empowerment and development, increase the self-sufficiency and strength
selfdetermination (Ulluwishewa 1993). Indigenous people can provide valuable
input about the local environment and ways to manage the natural resources
efficiently.
• Indigenous knowledge provides problem-solving strategies for local
communities, especially the poor. Indigenous knowledge represents an
important component of global knowledge on development issues.
 • Indigenous knowledge is an underutilised resource in the development
process.
• Learning from indigenous knowledge can improve understanding of local
conditions.
• Understanding indigenous knowledge can increase responsiveness to
clients.
• Adapting international practices to local conditions can improve the
impact and sustainability of our work.
• Investing in disseminating indigenous knowledge can help to reduce
poverty.
• Sharing of Indigenous Knowledge within and across communities can
enhance cross-cultural understanding

THEMATIC FEILDS ASSOCIATED WITH INDIGENOUS

KNOWLEDGE

1. Environmental knowledge, environmental cognition. Examples of

environmental knowledge would be knowledge on the occurrence of useful
plants in a region, or knowledge of the natural risks associated with people using
them (Oliver-Smith 1996 as a recent overview).

• Knowledge on the natural environment (e.g. plants, animals, ecosystems,

natural disasters) classification systems for plants, animals, soils, water and
weather empirical knowledge about flora, fauna and inanimate resources
and their practical uses worldview or way the local group perceives its
relationship to the natural world.

• Knowledge on the anthropogenically modified environment (e.g. risks,

“management “of tropical soils, agro-ecological knowledge)

• Knowledge on the social and political “environment” (neighbourhood

groups, structures of the dominant group, state structures, development
projects)

2. Livelihoods: resource management knowledge and the tools, techniques,

practices and rules related to pastoralism, agriculture, agroforestry, water
management, gathering of wild food and fishing.
3. Health: (medicinal and health knowledge, information on traditional health
practices-ethnomedicine, ayurveda, unani, siddha etc., diagnosis and therapy).
It includes knowledge about diagnosis, therapeutic and healing capabilities.

4. Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK) includes local knowledge about

irrigation systems and strategies or methods for tropical soil management and
conservation.

5. Local Governance: Organisational and management knowledge including

knowledge on conflict management (legal knowledge), and common property
resources etc.

6. Knowledge on persons, structures and relationships within the own society

(social cognition). Knowledge about Indigenous Traditions, local cultural
practices, stories, narratives and others.

Source: Antweiler, christoph. 2004)

APPLICATION OF INDIGENOUS/TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Natural Resources management

Today, the world is facing an ecological crisis and this has led to recognition that
how indigenous knowledge can help in sustainable management of these crises.
The traditional ways of life of these indigenous people have made them capable of
surviving the frozen lands of Arctic to the blazing hot sun in the deserts of Sahara
without deteriorating the environment surrounding them and sustainably
maintaining the ecological balance. They use their archaic knowledge of flora and
fauna and other resources to carefully manage the utilisation of various natural
resources with minimum wastage and and to coexist alongside it.

Sustainable Social Relationships

Man is a social animal and cannot live in isolation. Intimate social relations and
cohesion has been the main reason of survival for people in indigenous tradition
and culture. The cooperation and mutual support has led to a harmonious
relationships among groups and thus ensuring stability for the community.
Natural Remedies and Medicine

Indigenous societies have classified specific characteristics of various plants,

animals and other living species; many of these are yet to be identified by botanists
and entomologists. For example, in Philippines Hanunoo tribe have identified
more plant species than the scientists in the same area. It is believed that nearly
70% prescription drugs were discovered following the leads of indigenous
medicine. Ayurveda, Unani, Naturopathy etc have their roots in indigenous
traditional medicinal knowledge.

Indigenous Knowledge and Conservation of Environment

There is a need of cooperation between traditional knowledge and modern science

to protect and conserve the environment. The acceptance, support and
empowerment of local knowledge is must to enable the indigenous people to
participate in the decision making process and finding solution to various
environmental problems and biological crisis.

IK in the traditional non-chemical agriculture

The yield plateau of crops in Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and other
states strongly indicate that there is a disturbance in our natural resources
management and the present practices are not conducive to sustainable agriculture
(Deb, 1994). Another major cause of concern, particularly in the core Green
Revolution belt, has been the decrease in genetic diversity of major HYV crops,
which has increased the potential danger for sudden widespread loss of crops from
unknown / uncontrollable diseases (Maji and Bhattacharya, 1994). Due to intensive
agriculture practices, desertification, deforestation etc. have caused the depletion
of natural resources. Thus, sustainable agriculture involving sustenance of our
agricultural systems should be the major emphasis for all technological innovations
involving land and water use so that there is no adverse effect on the biological
productivity of the resource base in the long run (Deb, 1994). Thus, the indigenous
traditional practices especially in soil conservation, water management, pest
management and nutrient management are some of the best examples of non-
exploitative and pollution free agriculture. IK is also at the base of ZBNF and
organic farming.
IK in Development Projects

Development projects cannot offer sustainable solutions to local problems without

using local knowledge (Warren, 1991). To ignore people ’s knowledge is almost
to ensure failure in development. indigenous technologies can be used in the
development projects rather than sourcing western technologies. IK is based upon
the principles of self-sufficiency, independence and selfdetermination as it meets
it’s need via local sources and people are more familiar with the traditional ways
and practices rather than to choose from the foreign alien technologies. The use of
local resources and indigenous available skills can be very beneficial for the
developing nations as it will drastically reduce the cost of importing western
technologies and will also lead to a more participative, harmonious and sustainable
development of the nation.

Essential for maintenance of the genetic diversity

The community have developed the indigenous knowledge system to conserve and
utilise the biological diversity of their surrounding. The recognition of the
creativity of the traditional communities is essential for the conservation of
biodiversity as well as conservation of intellectual diversity against climate
change, overexploitation and other environmental crisis (Jena, 2007).
CHALLENGES TO INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

IK is neglected and endangered

Grenier (1998) observed that IK is stored in people’s memories and activities and
is expressed in stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, dances, myths, cultural values,
beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language and taxonomy, agricultural
practices, equipment, materials, plant species, and animal breeds. IK is
transmitted orally, thus making it vulnerable to modern rapid cultural changes
and leading towards the path of extinction. Also, it is not properly recorded and
documented thus, threatening its very being.

IK is not well managed

The European Commission on Preservation and Access noted that IK is not well
preserved. The norm of the day is to record and maintain codified knowledge that
is produced in laboratories and research institutions therefore, leaving no room
for IK in this modern system of recording and maintaining knowledge.
Collecting IK is a costly, tedious and time consuming process thus, making it
difficult to tap on this information for efficient sustainable use.

Limited access to IK

Access to the indigenous information collected so far is very limited because it is

not well organised in terms of being indexed and abstracted (UNESCO 1982).
This partly explains the underutilisation of IK in development projects. In
addition, the lack of marketing strategies can also account for the low levels of
use of IK (Dewalt 1994).

Unwillingness to share IK

Sometimes indigenous communities are not ready to share their knowledge due
to certain reasons such as; their isolation from the dominant society. They are
also apprehensive, if they would be given due recognition for their knowledge.

IK is not always accurate

According to Kalland (2000), nomadic hunters and gatherers who are not tied to
any specific resource base may not have a conservation ethic. Thus, indigenous
knowledge is not immune to limitations and is often not appropriate in all
circumstances.
Blaikie et al. (1992) distinguishes five common trends that are challenging
indigenous knowledge systems:

1. Areas of very rapid population growth, or a concomitant reduction in

resources caused by external pressures may require adaptations of new
agricultural technologies to increase food production and diversify
livelihoods. All these adaptations require the rapid learning of new skills. In
this situation local knowledge would have to develop, and adapt very
quickly, to respond to the new challenges. High population density and
reduced field sizes often lead to a reduction in crop diversity in favour of
main staple crops. High-yielding crop varieties have been promoted for
decades in response to growing populations. No consideration has been
given to the potential negative effects on agro- biodiversity and local
knowledge.

2. Circumstances in which rapid immigration to a particular area has meant

that the repertoires of knowledge for agricultural/pastoral production and
environmental conservation, are out of focus with a new set of opportunities
and constraints. The socio-economic structures, creating this knowledge,
may also face fracturing and contradictory additions as new migrants arrive.
Resettlement programmes provide one example of these circumstances.
People find themselves in a new situation, where their local knowledge is
no longer relevant. For instance, the crops brought with those resettling may
not be adapted to the new environment, or new livestock diseases may
threaten existing local veterinary practices. These types of shocks can lead
to the complete loss of existing local knowledge.

3. Disasters and other extreme events cause a disjuncture, both materially

and culturally. The knowledge system frequently suffers a shock. Such
instances are both opportunistic as well as limiting. A relevant example
in Africa is HIV-AIDS, where local knowledge may regain importance
as a local-level strategy to combat food insecurity. Or its existence may
be threatened because many people possessing the knowledge are lost to
the disease.
 4. There are other processes of slower moving environmental changes such as
climate change, widespread deforestation or land degradation, that
challenge the resilience and adaptability of local knowledge systems. For
instance, criteria for crop variety or breed selection have to adapt to the
changing environmental conditions. Then, an innovation and adaptation
process must take place to adjust the system to arising challenges. Many
examples exist of how farmers manage to adapt their practices and
knowledge to changing environments, often the result is greater diversity.
5. Rapid commercialisation and economic shocks may also undermine local
knowledge. The marketing of local products in a global market will
necessarily disconnect the product from its related knowledge context. The
focus on commercial agricultural activities will replace local practices and
threaten the local knowledge base. For example, in a Bamana village (Mali),
local vegetable production was challenged by commercial gardening
practices. This competition led to a reduction in local vegetables grown and
the decreased involvement of women, who were previously responsible for
this activity. With the decline in crop diversity, the importance of local
knowledge has been reduced (Wooten, 2003).

WAYS TO PROTECT THE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Raising Awareness

Community should be sensitized about the potential and benefits of IK in

development. A conducive environment is must for the indigenous people to share
their indigenous knowledge freely and fearlessly. Various campaigns can be
organised to encourage local people to share their traditional methods. the
intellectual property rights of these indigenous communities should be
acknowledged and upheld. People should be encouraged to be proud of their
knowledge.

Documentation

IK is essential for development, it must be gathered, organized and disseminated

in the same systematic way as western knowledge (warren et al. 1993). Community
IK databanks can be made to include the local content and also this can be
circulated in books, news, magzines etc.
Digital Libraries

Apart from documentation ways to preserve the IK should also be given due
recognition. These libraries will promote the use of IK in today’s digital world and
IK could be made readily available to masses via marketing strategies. The
information in these libraries should be properly indexed and catalogued and
coherent multimedia should be made available for easy browsing and searching of
information.

Identifying the IK Specialists and Capacity Building

Proper training should be given to the IK specialists and make them familiar with
the process of documentation and also dissemination of the information.
Specialists should be trained enough to recognize the developmental needs and
apply the best possible indigenous practices to the situation hand for a holistic and
sustainable development process.

Recognising and Establishing the value of IK

Various stakeholders, specialists and local people all should work together
harmoniously to make IK cost efficient and socially viable. Also, standards and
practices should be developed to accomodate IK according to the needs. people
should be made well aware of the strengths and weakness of IK and also it’s value
and significance in the non exploitative and sustainable of development.

IDENTIFICATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF IK

Current interest in IK is overwhelmingly driven by research into sustainable

development practices in developing countries and the scientific community’s
concern about loss of bio-diversity of species and ecosystems, and the future
implications of that for the whole planet. The convergence of humanitarian and
scientific interests is leading to a scramble to document this knowledge in
electronic databases so it can be firstly preserved and secondly, shared and utilised.
Indigenous environmental knowledge encompasses the practices, rituals,
experience of the indigenous people which they apply in their daily routines to
improve their lives. IK is the most important component of a nation’s knowledge
system. To ignore people’s knowledge is almost to ensure failure in development
(Brokensha, 1980). Since indigenous knowledge is essential to development, it is
often suggested that it must be gathered and documented in a coherent and
systematic fashion (Brokenshaw, 1980; Warren, 1995). According to the 1998/99
World Bank Development Report, it is the knowledge and not merely that is
responsible for holistic social and economic development. Therefore, developing
nations especially working to uplift their masses from poverty cannot ignore IK
and they need to include these traditional practices in their model of development
to make it justifiable and a sustainable model of development and growth.

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE ANALYSIS - METHODS AND PROCESS

In today's concept of IPR regime, it is all the more imperative to document and
protect our valuable ITK for posterity. In the context of agricultural
sustainability, ITK is also required to be properly documented for the benefit of
researchers, planners and development officials. Validation of ITK is a logical
step to qualify and quantity effectiveness of the practices. Suitable modifications
of the local practices, through research and development will help to develop
appropriate and acceptable technologies that are more suited to our farming
situations. Considering this, a Mission Mode project on Collection,
Documentation and Validation of Indigenous Technical Knowledge was
launched in 2000 by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) under the
National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) with the following objectives:

 Identify, collect, classify and document ITK and its variants in different agro-
climatic regions in respect of production systems, farming systems and
situations;

 Catalogue and characterize the information for developing a data base;

 Ascertain the propensity of the extent and level of use of various ITKs by the
farmers in the management of various farming systems;

Validation of ITK though a quick screening method and through formal

experimentation, wherever needed; and

 Evolve a mechanism to protect property rights and facilitate the process of

sharing the benefit by the farming community.
A. TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF IDENTIFICATION AND RECORDING
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Planning is the foremost step in recording IK. The planning stages are:
• Background research: identify area/people to plan with, review of
secondary sources of information.

• Develop rapport with local people: build a positive relationship based on

trust.

• Jointly identifying problems and opportunities, and agreeing on what will

be done.

• Develop draft project proposal: set goal, objectives, methodology.

• Meet with local leaders and people to fully disclose plans of proposed
research and obtain permission to carry out the project. A village meeting
is a good approach.

• Reformulate proposal based on feedback from community.

• Select methods and prepare for each thoroughly.
• Field data collection and analysis with these local people: it is suggested
that local people be trained as facilitators to carry out the field research.
• Jointly evaluating and re-planning activities.
(Source: Warburton and Martin 1999)

Techniques of Recording indigenous knowledge:

Participatory rural appraisal(PRA) is the leading method to assist the research

and documentation of IK. PRA is a top-down approach that promotes
involvement of local people with minimum interference from outside.
Participatory Rural Appraisal and knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP)
surveys are used for analysis of the situation, problem diagnosis, finding out
alternative solutions, planning the course of action, monitoring, evaluation and
feedback [ Ajeigbe HA, Dashiell K. ].There is no one size fits all approach for
choosing the method of research but it depend on number of different factors
such as: cultural-context, geographical context, type of knowledge and
information required, objectives of research, community relations etc. The
chosen techniques should also be flexible enough to be altered according to the
demand of the research project.

TOOL no. 1 Interviewing

• Informal interviews

• Unstructured interviews

• Semi-structured interviews

• Structured interviews

• In-depth interviews

TOOL no. 2 Group discussions

Discussions with groups of six to 15 knowledgeable community members
covering one or several topics. The purpose is to generate information, to build
consensus, to validate information gathered by other means, or to clarify
information in documents lacking detail. Group discussions can also help the
facilitator learn local terms and concepts that might have no direct equivalent in
the outsider's language. Group discussions foster participation and partnership in
information gathering and analysis and generate information beyond what can be
gleaned from interviews.

TOOL no. 3 Mapping

It is a method for collecting information on where certain resources or features
are located. The purpose is to help identify and analyze the distribution of and
the relationships between specific resources or features. The maps can show
topography, soils, water, forest products, property regimes, land use (including
where food is gathered), ecosystems, socio-economic data such as location of
indigenous health practitioners, location of medicinal plants, common diseases,
ritual sites, location of traditional birth attendants, and more.
TOOL no. 4 Historical comparison

Describes conditions, techniques, and practices in different time periods. The

purpose is to determine changes. Can be useful if no baseline data are available.
Historical comparison raises awareness of changes, helps reveal IK from
previous times, helps explain changes in practices, and in the process, highlights
advantages and disadvantages of specific practices.

TOOL no. 5 Matrix

A method for listing items and recording their characteristics. Items such as
livestock species or crop types are listed in rows and their characteristics, such as
fodder requirements or yield and uses, are recorded in columns. The purpose is to
help reveal the characteristics and qualities of listed items, and in the process,
reveal the preferences of local people. This can enable communities and program
managers to make informed decisions. Matrices help identify preferences,
priorities, trends, or specific categories from the respondents' point of view. They
can show the availability of resources, their advantages and disadvantages, and
people's opinions regarding usefulness.

TOOL no. 6 Seasonal pattern chart

A pictorial representation of village life throughout the year. The purpose is to

highlight the interrelationships of variables and the timing of activities. It can
help a community identify annual events, or combinations of events, which pose
challenges and those which hold opportunity. It allows a community to identify
not only the interventions necessary to address problems, but also helps with
scheduling—from planning and implementation to assessment. Preparation of a
seasonal pattern chart can help discern the week- to-week, month-to-month,
season-to-season activities of a community—its annual cycle—which in turn
can reveal much about a people's perception of time. Important events can be
recorded and lean and plentiful periods identified. The choice and description
of discrete events (especially in the case of disease) draw out local perceptions
of causation.
TOOL no. 7 Transect

It is a method of collecting information about major land-use zones within a

community. Involves walking or driving along a carefully selected path that cuts
across the main geographic features of a community or territory to compare main
features, resources, uses, problems, and opportunities of different zones. The
purpose is to provide a picture of how natural resources are managed and used by
a community, and to help identify the problems and opportunities inherent to
each zone. A transect walk is a useful tool for tapping local people's knowledge
about land use, natural resources, soil types, problems, and possible solutions. It
can yield a wealth of information on IK which might be overlooked by other
data-gathering methods, especially if the informants classify and record the
information.

TOOL no. 8 Institutional Mapping (Venn diagrams)

A participatory method that uses small circles of paper to identify community
institutions (both traditional and external) and the nature of their relationships
with each other. It is sometimes called ‘chapati diagramming’ because the circles
of paper look like chapatis. The purpose is to identify and establish relationships
between a community and its environment (both internal and external). These
relationships are presented in such a way as to highlight the relative importance
of particular relationships.

(Source: Grenier 1998)

Other methods that can be used in ITK collection are: field observation; SWOT
analysis; surveys; Delphi method; critical incident analysis; brain storming; rapid
rural appraisal; case studies etc.

B. DOCUMENTATION

Why we document ITK ?

1. Economic, social and political factors are gradually uprooting many such
untapped resources from their native habitats resulting in loss and erosion of
very rich indigenous knowledge.
2. Rapid pace of acculturation / urbanization has tremendous influence on the
lives of indigenous communities.

3. Modernization has resulted into loss of their peculiar culture and heritage.

4. The knowledge survives through word of mouth particularly among the old
generation. Documentation of their vital knowledge on different subjects is
necessary before the old generation passes away.

5. Documentation has great practical utility in almost every activity of human life
such as health, animal health, livestock management, food, agriculture, timber,
dye, religious ceremonies, shelter etc.

6. It provides useful clue for planning projects for conservation of biological

diversity, sustainable uses of natural resources, indigenous health practices etc.

7. The data is the intellectual property of the informant (individual or

community). Benefit sharing should be there when data will be used for raising
any benefit.

(Girach, 2007)

Types of documentation

1. Documenting large variety of practices without scientific validation.

2. Documenting prevalent practices and comparing them with traditional

ones.

3. Documenting the practices/details of experimentation on a specific aspect

and understanding the various linkages.
4. Documenting the practices evolved to mitigate specific problems of
farming or for sheer survival under conditions of ecological and economic
stress.

5. Documenting practices that had evolved in response to specific external

interventions
Methods and Techniques

 Notes

 Photos

 Audio-recordings

 Video-recordings

C. Testing and Validation : method and techniques

1. Prepare a list of all the collected ITK practices

2. Decide the continuum for rating the rationality of ITK with specific
weightage.

CONTINUUM WEIGHTAGE
Very rational 5
Rational 4
Undecided 3
Irrational 2
Very irrational 1
3. Send the list of ITK practices to experts for their opinion and judgement on
each practice.

4. Calculate the weighed mean score of individual practices.

5. Select practices above mean score as rational.

VALIDATION OF FARMER EXPERIMENTS BY DEVELOPING

EXTENSION PROGRAMMES :

Indigenous knowledge systems form the basis for informal experimentation of

farmers. The factors which influence farmer experimentation are:

 Ecological: innovations that result due to interaction among crops, soil,

and climate

 Historical: a major happening such as crop failure or year of glut or

scarcity

 Serendipity: a practice discovered by farmers accidentally

 Economical: Farmers innovate new practices taking advantage of

government subsidies for flood and drought relief activities.

Validating farmer experiments is an extension process in which SMSs encourage

farmers to replicate their own experiments in their own environment in
order to:

 Understand experiments in the socio-cultural and agro-ecological

environments

Determine the impact of the experiments on productivity, profitability, and

sustainability of the agricultural system

The various steps involved during the process of validating farmer experiments
are:

 Understand the rationale behind farmer experimentation.

 Recording the mode of conducting experiments.

 Identifying farmers' evaluation criteria.

DIFFERENCE AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN WESTERN

KNOWLEDGE AND IK

Wolfe et. al 1991 compared the two in this way:

WSTERN
INDIGENOUS
SCIENTIFIC
KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE
Relationship subordinate dominant
Dominant mode of
intuitive analytical
thinking
oral
literate
Communication teaching through doing and didactic
story telling
holistic reductionist
subjective objective
Characteristics experimental positivist

Data creation slow/inclusive fast/selective

short term linear
short term cycles
cycles
Prediction recognises the onset of
poor long term
longterm cycles
prediction
spiritual- includes scientific inexplicable
Explanation hypothesis, theory and laws

ecological genetic and

hierarchical
Biological classification inclusive- internally differentiating
differentiating
(Source: Ole Henrik Magga, 2005)
One fundamental difference between these two ways of knowing is that the
sciences seek information, which is transferable to any spatial or social situation
(immutable mobiles), i.e. which is not context-bound. As a result, scientists know
a great deal about small sections of reality. By contrast, local knowledge systems
seek specific knowledge spatially and are situation-bound, i.e. context bound
information (DeWalt, 1994: Murdoch and Clark, 1994). In contrast to science,
local knowledge occurs in some cases in the form of magic, and it lacks its own
philosophical expression or knowledge (Knight, 1980). Various other contrasting
features exist between two primarily based upon methods of acquiring
knowledge and its practical application. Nevertheless both the system of
knowledge attempts to make the world comprehensible to human senses.

However, in this regard Abdel Ghaffar Ahmed (1994) states that neither
indigenous nor scientific knowledge should be over glorified. Instead, the right
mix of the two knowledge systems can help to enhance the prospects for
sustainable food production in rural areas. “Both are attempts to make sense of
the world, to render it comprehensible to the human mind. Both are based on
observations and on generalisations deriving from those observations” (Berkes et
al, 1995). “Problems of resource management relate not only to physical
planning and efficient deployment of modern input delivery systems, but also
includes the local communities and their readiness to accommodate change”
(Salih, 1992). There is a necessity of creating a system that promotes a two-way
flow of information between indigenous and modern knowledge. “The least that
can be said is an idea borrowed from the people, developed by the agronomist
and returned to the people again is much more likely to be adopted than
something totally alien to the culture” (Richards, 1975)

INTEGRATION OF ITK IN RESEARCH FORMULATION

Blending of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge: Issues and Strategies

Agricultural research for the most part has been highly discipline-oriented in our
country. Normal science generates packages, whereas resource-poor families
engage in farming as a continuous performance. Research station technologies
have focused primarily on attaining high yield of target crops. The introduction
of modern technologies through the application of chemical fertilizers,
agrochemicals, machinery, and modern methods of irrigation in developing
countries was a departure from traditional agriculture and has led to pollution and
land degradation. In addition, lack of relevance to small farm conditions was
found to be one of several constraints in the station research technologies.
Therefore, during the process of technology development, farmers' informal
experimentation is usually not considered as a source of innovation. In spite of
increased coordination between research and extension through periodical
extension-scientific workers' conferences, it is found that farmers' innovations are
not considered while conducting on-farm research trials. On-farm trials
conducted by researchers and extension worker mostly concentrate on crop
varietal comparison, fertilizer response, and testing of different packages of
practices for different crops. In contrast, farmers experiment on alternative
coping strategies to avoid extreme conditions such as droughts and floods,
diversified food production techniques such as intercropping and border cropping
in order to broaden their food and fodder requirements, and adjusting their
sowing and harvesting periods to meet the local market demand are commonly
ignored.

In many cases, agricultural researchers and extension functionaries are not aware
of local classification systems of farmers regarding soils, crops, livestock, and
other natural resources. A case study conducted by the International Crops
Research Institute for Semi- Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Shirapur, a South Indian
village, showed that the indigenous soil categories of farmers were more accurate
than the formal system in stratifying the soils into groups for analysis and
provided improved bases for indexing variations in land quality. In addition,
indigenous soil types are considered better for long term sustainability of the soil
structure and soil fertility. Because soil analysts in soil testing laboratories
(STLs) are not familiar with the indigenous classification, their fertilizer
recommendations may not fit in with the local soil categories. Another case study
conducted in Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu State showed the indigenous
classification of rice varieties is based on criteria such as water source, cropping
season, crop duration, and grain quality. The village extension workers
disseminate information on the seed varieties recommended by the researchers to
the farmers. These extension decisions are reflected in the types of seeds made
available through the seed multiplication units. Although several varieties
suitable to semi-arid zones of Tamil Nadu are adapted to severe drought
conditions, most of the varieties being encouraged through the agricultural
extension system are suitable only in resource-rich environments such as those
with an assured supply of irrigation. The indigenous, locally adapted varieties of
rice are no longer as easily available.

Farmers are mainly seen as the recipients of technical messages but not the
originators of either technical knowledge or improved practice. The technical
messages concentrate mostly on seed-to-seed packages of practices for different
crops grown in the region. Resource conservation strategies such as watershed
management, agro-forestry, and soil conservation rarely form part of the
technical messages. The reasons can be enumerated as:

1. Lack of understanding of traditional agriculture which further leads to a

communication
gap between promoters and practitioners giving rise to myths;

2. The accomplishments of farmers often are not recognized, because they

are not recorded in writing or made known; and

3. Poor involvement of farmers and their organizations in integrating,

consolidating, and disseminating what is already known.

Strategies

Keeping these potential constraints in conventional transfer of technology, a

conceptual framework for incorporating indigenous knowledge systems into
agricultural research and extension has been developed with the following salient
features:

1. Strengthening the capacities of regional research and extension organizations;

2. Building upon local people's knowledge that are acquired through various
processes such as farmer-to-farmer communication, and farmer
experimentation;

3. Identifying the need for extension scientist/ social scientist in an

interdisciplinary regional research team;

4. Formation of a sustainable technology development consortium to bring

farmers, researchers, NGOs, and extension workers together well ahead of the
process of technology development;

5. Generating technological options rather than fixed technical packages;

6. Working with the existing organization and management of research and

public sector extension
7. Bringing research-extension-farmer together at all stages is practically difficult
considering the existing bureaucracies and spatial as well as academic
distances among the personnel belonging to these organizations. Hence,
utilizing the academic knowledge gained by some extension personnel (subject
matter specialists) during the process of validating farmer experiments;

8. Outlining areas that research and extension organizations need to concentrate

on during the process of working with farmers.

9. Understanding that it is impractical to depend entirely on research stations for

innovations considering the inadequate human resource capacity of the
regional research system.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BY INCORPORATING ITK INTO

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

Indigenous Technical Knowledge Resource Centres (ITKRC)

Establishing a National Indigenous Technical Knowledge Resource Center forms

the starting point for the entire framework of incorporating indigenous
knowledge systems into agricultural research and extension. The resource
persons in the national indigenous knowledge systems resource center will
provide training on the methodologies for recording indigenous knowledge
systems. The functions of this centre are:
1. Provide a national data management function where published and
unpublished information on indigenous knowledge are systematically
documented for use by development practitioners;

2. Design training materials on the methodologies for recording indigenous

knowledge systems for use in national training institutes and universities;

3. Establish a link between the rural people of a country who are the
originators of indigenous knowledge and the development community;

4. Facilitate the active participation of rural people in the conservation,

utilization, and dissemination of their specialized knowledge through in
situ knowledge banks, involvement in research and development activities,
farmer-to-farmer training, and farmer consultancies; and
 5. Act as a two-way conduit between the indigenous knowledge-based
informal research and development systems and formal research.

Inter-Disciplinary and Multi-Disciplinary Approach

The regional research stations are responsible for developing agricultural

technologies related to disciplines such as plant breeding, agronomy,
entomology, soil science, and plant pathology; but in most of the cases there is no
social scientist or extension scientist working in these stations. Social scientist
can play a key role in linking the research mandates with those based on farmers'
perceptions. So, incorporating social scientists in an interdisciplinary research
team will bring farmers' perceived needs and problems into the research agenda.
Such research programmes should be carried out with following components:

 Identifying problem (s)

 Problem prioritization with active participation of the farmers, local

people etc.  Recording relevant indigenous knowledge systems w.r.t
specific problems

 Formulating research project incorporating the indentified ITK as a major

component

 Conducting Participatory On-Station Research (POSR) or On-Farm

Farmers Oriented Research (OFFOR)

 Evaluating the effectiveness of the ITK including additional benefits

 Testing the research output in farmers’ fields

 Technology validation

 Technology refinement (if necessary)

 Technology demonstration / popularization

Sustainable Technology Development Consortium (STDC)

The purpose of a sustainable technology development consortium is to bring

farmers, researchers, extension workers, KVKs and NGOs representatives
together in order to classify the identified problems and indigenous knowledge
systems and set research agendas based on them. In the consortium, research
should be represented by all scientists of the research centres and agricultural
universities, extension should be represented by regional-level extension workers
and SMSs and NGOs by their representatives. Complementary linkages between
NGOs, researchers and extension workers encourage interaction among many
sources of technical innovation to arrive at dynamic technological options.

CONCLUSION

Traditional knowledge has developed over a course of period and passed on from
many generations. Indigenous knowledge is very important for the harmonious
and sustainable development without deteriorating it. A healthy blend of
indigenous traditional knowledge and modern western science is required to
make ITK a valuable asset for the overall well-being of the community. There is
a long way to concretize and validate the existing indigenous knowledge. The
proper identification, documentation and validation of indigenous knowledge
through various agricultural extension services will lead to a tremendous
development in the overall agricultural process thus, helping the agricultural
dependent economies and making agriculture a remunerative activity.

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