This issue of The Soul Beat looks at the role of communication in harnessing local knowledge in Africa. The edition covers a range of project descriptions, strategic thinking documents and materials related to local knowledge specifically in the fields of agriculture, sustainable development and health.

From the SOUL BEAT AFRICA partnership - Soul City and The Communication Initiative

...African choices...critical voices...crossing borders...African stories... *** Subscribe to The Soul Beat - http://www.comminit.com/africa/soul-beat-subscribe.html or e-mail Seipati Fountain sfountain@comminit.com *** EXPERIENCES http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences.html 1. LinKS Project This project is a regional programme working in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, that aims to enhance rural people's food security and promote sustainable management of agrobiodiversity. The project is called LinKS, because it explores the linkages between the crucial issues of local knowledge systems, gender roles and relationships, food provision, and the conservation and management of agrobiodiversity. LinKS aims to strengthen the capacity of institutions in the agricultural sector to apply approaches that recognise men and women farmers' knowledge in their programmes and policies. It does this through training, research and communication and advocacy. LinKS is administered by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/Pds82006/experiences-3950.html Contact Dr. Sachin Das linkstz@africaonline.co.tz OR Estevão Filimão Estevao.Filimao@fao.org OR Dr. Patricia Musi faolinks@agric.uniswa.sz 2. Traditional Knowledge and Community Healthcare - Nigeria Organised by the Fantsuam Foundation, this programme involves drawing and building on the health knowledge possessed by local people, especially women. Specifically, the project works with women in rural Nigerian communities in order to understand various traditional healthcare practices and introduce best practices and safer techniques for selected treatments. The purpose of the project is to produce a written catalogue of traditional medical wisdom, the content of which is largely generated by local people. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2447.html Contact John Dada johndada@fantsuam.com 3. Sahel Oral History Project - Africa This project by the UK-based SOS Sahel is an oral history project that took place in eight African countries in an effort to record the culture, history, and environment of the Sahel through the recollections, experiences, and perceptions of its people. The aim was not only to record indigenous knowledge but also to develop a practical methodology which could then be incorporated into development planning, project implementation, and evaluation. By talking with - mostly ageing - farmers, pastoralists, refugees, and others, researchers hoped to gain a better understanding of traditional land-use practice, land tenure, farming and pastoral systems, the causes of desertification, and other aspects of Sahelian life. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds092003/experiences-2134.html Contact Siobhan Warrington Siobhan.warrington@panos.org.uk AND otp@panos.org.uk OR Risha Chande risha.chande@panos.org.uk 4. Desertification 2002 - Southern Africa Organised by the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN), this regional network works to halt the spread of southern African deserts and enhance rural livelihoods. The purpose of the project is to provide a forum for the exchange of knowledge between scientists, development practitioners, and dryland community members; to generate an understanding of the value of linking local knowledge with scientific research; to interpret and disseminate information; and to offer working examples of community action. It does this by linking communities, field practitioners, governments, and scientists through a website, conferences, workshops, training, and community exchanges. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2291.html Contact info@drfn.org.na 5. Community Documentation of Indigenous Knowledge - Kenya Implemented by the Kyanika Adult Women Group (KAWG), this two-year project aimed to conserve the diversity of Kitete - a bottle gourd that is found in virtually every aspect of the Kamba people's traditional and cultural life - and its associated indigenous knowledge. The project involved the collection and sharing of knowledge about the Kitete through resource centres. Here, recorded materials, documents, and a collection of Kitete samples and seeds are available for use by members of the local community and others. Other activities include storytelling by elders - sharing myths, songs, dances, riddles, poems, and drama as well as listening to taped materials, looking at photographs, watching videos and reading written reports. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2282.html Contact Yasuyuki Morimoto y.morimoto@cgiar.org 6. Indigenous Knowledge Program - Sub-saharan Africa The World Bank's Indigenous Knowledge (IK) programme aims to facilitate dialogue between local communities, NGOs, governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector. This dialogue is intended to help bring indigenous/traditional knowledge into the activities of development partners and to optimise the benefits of development assistance, especially for the poor. The programme works primarily through a website that provides resources on IK such as a database on indigenous/ traditional knowledge and practices with over 200 case studies, a report on IK for development and videos, which document success stories in applying indigenous practices. The programme also supports over 15 resource centres across Africa that focus on the identification and dissemination of indigenous/traditional knowledge and practices. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2331.html Contact Nicolas Gorjestani ngorjestani@worldbank.org OR Reinhard Woytek rwoytek@worldbank.org 7. Aang Serian - Tanzania Aang Serian, which means "House of Peace" in the Kiarusha language, is a non-profit cultural organisation that aims to promote and protect indigenous knowledge. It focuses on education in an effort to raise the self-esteem of young people, to empower them to work together for a peaceful future, and to promote environmentally and socially sustainable development. The organisation has established a community college with a curriculum covering indigenous knowledge. They also undertake research in collaboration with other NGOs and have formed an international network of organisations that work to improve education for indigenous peoples while simultaneously preserving and promoting indigenous knowledge. http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds32003/experiences-2233.html Contact aang_serian@hotmail.com OR Gemma Enolengila enolengila@yahoo.co.uk OR Yunus Rafiq mrafiq@indiana.edu OR Bob Webzell bob@webzell.co.uk STRATEGIC THINKING http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking.html 8. Grandmothers Promote Maternal and Child Health: The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems' Managers by Judi Aubel This article looks at the importance of community elders as knowledge providers in the context of child health. The results of experiences in Asia and Africa illustrate how change can be brought about from within indigenous knowledge systems when key actors in those systems, i.e. the indigenous knowledge managers, are involved in deciding if and how to combine global knowledge with traditional knowledge. http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1846.html 9. The Utilization of Indigenous Knowledge in Range Management and Forage Plants for Improving Livestock Productivity and Food Security in the Maasai and Bargaig Communities of Kibaha by Nelson Kilongozi, Zabron Kengera and Samwel Leshongo By examining how the Maasai and Barbaig communities have traditionally cared for their livestock and environment, the report suggests ways to sustain indigenous knowledge and incorporate this with conventional, 'scientific' techniques of livestock care and land management. The authors recommend that policymakers and development workers should continue to recognise, identify, validate and document indigenous pastoral techniques and integrate them into conventional management approaches for pastoral land and should encourage knowledge sharing among the pastoral communities to allow them to expand their existing knowledge. http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1902.html 10. Gender, Local Knowledge, and Lessons Learnt in Documenting and Conserving Agrobiodiversity Research Paper No. 2006/69 by Yianna Lambrou and Regina Laub This paper explores the linkages between gender, local knowledge systems, and agrobiodiversity for food security by using the case study of LinKS, a regional FAO project in Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania over a period of eight years. The project aimed to raise awareness on how rural men and women use and manage agrobiodiversity, and to promote the importance of local knowledge for food security and sustainable agrobiodiversity at local, institutional, and policy levels. They did this by working with a diverse range of stakeholders to strengthen their ability to recognise and value farmers' knowledge and to use gender-sensitive and participatory approaches in their work. http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1828.html 11. Indigenous Management of Wetlands: Experiences in Ethiopia by Alan Dixon Using the case study of a wetlands project in Ethopia, this study discusses how the stability of wetlands has been undermined by development initiatives that ignore indigenous knowledge. The study states that while neither indigenous nor scientific knowledge alone can solve the problems of development, they can be complementary sources of wisdom in wetland management. The research recommends that maintaining an effective network for sharing local knowledge and experimenting with new techniques should be a key principle of sustainable wetland management. In addition non-governmental organisations and donors should introduce reviews of varying local knowledge, to support these networks. For example, they could organise meetings between members of the wetland farming community to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different management techniques. http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1390.html 12. ICTs in Namibia's Communal Area Conservancies by Carol Murphy and Sandra Slater-Jones This article describes the use of participatory GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in Namibia's Communal Area Conservancies. The approach used by the Conservancy Programme, according to the authors, is innovative in not only capturing local knowledge of an area through participation of local residents, but in improving the spatial accuracy of maps through a geo-referencing procedure. The procedure involves village mapping workshops and careful recording to capture indigenous knowledge with regard to local area names, the spatial location of resources such as grazing, cropping and useful plant species, as well as wildlife sightings and movements. http://www.comminit.com/africa/strategicthinking/st2005/thinking-1400.html MATERIALS http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials.html 13. Toolkit I: Capitalising on Local Knowledge - Methodological Overview & Case Studies by Noel Oettle and Bettina Koelle This Toolkit is designed to give decision-makers in government and donor agencies an overview of the concept of community-to-community knowledge exchanges, as well as practical approaches to their use in developmental processes and programmes. The volume contains case studies from Africa that aim to illustrate the successes achieved with the approach as well as the challenges faced during implementation. http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2006/materials-3054.html 14. Toolkit 2: Capitalising on Local Knowledge - Guidelines for Implementation by Noel Oettle and Bettina Koelle This Toolkit is designed to provide practical guidance in designing and implementing community-to-community exchange visits. It is intended for practitioners and service providers who wish to implement knowledge exchange processes. It is also aimed at students and development professionals who would like to better understand how the methodology is implemented. http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2006/materials-3055.html 15. Unleashing the Power of Knowledge for Meeting MDGs and Sustainable Development in Africa Fundamental Issues for Governance by Jacques L Hamel The paper critically reflects on the notion of knowledge, African knowledge, African knowledge economies (AKEs), African knowledge societies (AKSs) and African knowledge policies for sustainable development. Its purpose is to contribute to sustainable development thinking in the African region and open a new front in the development discourse. http://www.comminit.com/africa/materials/ma2005/materials-2534.html LINKS http://www.comminit.com/africa/links.html 16. Tanzania Indigenous Knowledge Database This is a database that has been established to enhance sharing and dissemination of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) information, experiences and practices in Tanzania. http://www.comminit.com/africa/links/linksngos/links-1645.html 17. Creating & Exchange of Local Agriculture Content (CELAC) This Ugandan organisation aims to develop agricultural content from rural farmers for dissemination through digital technologies, radio, and print. http://www.comminit.com/africa/links/linksngos/links-1709.html *** To view archived editions of The Soul Beat Newsletter see http://www.comminit.com/africa/soul-beat-archives.html Subscribe to The Soul Beat Extra - your e-journal focussed in each alternate month on Community Radio or Edutainment. If you would like to receive the Soul Beat Extra on Community Radio or Edutainment please contact Seipati Fountain sfountain@comminit.com We would love to hear from you: Please send us your comments by going to http://www.comminit.com/africa/comments.html or email Anja Venth aventh@comminit.com For more comments on the Soul Beat Africa website see http://www.comminit.com/africa/comments_aboutus.html *** . *** A. Wanjira Munyua National Coordinator, Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa (CATIA) Association for Progressive Communications (APC) alice@apc.org http://www.apc.org http://www.catia.ws