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Indigenous Knowledge Program - Sub-saharan Africa

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The World Bank's Indigenous Knowledge (IK) programme was developed in order to facilitate the dialogue between local communities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector. This dialogue is intended to help bring indigenous local knowledge into the activities of development partners and to optimise the benefits of development assistance, especially for the economically poor. The programme also works to enable the development community to learn more about the indigenous local practices in communities so as to better adapt global knowledge to local conditions, and to design activities to better serve the community needs. Other efforts include:
  • Developing pilot instruments for the dissemination and application of indigenous local knowledge of development practices;
  • Facilitating the sharing of indigenous practices and innovations among local communities through a South-to-South exchange;
  • Promoting the integration of indigenous local knowledge in the development process; and
  • Establishing partnerships.
Communication Strategies

The programme works primarily through a webpage on the World Bank website that provides resources on IK. These resources include a database on indigenous local knowledge and practices with over 200 case studies, a report on IK for development, and a series of "IK Notes" which present, in some detail, locally-driven solutions to complex issues. The materials are available in the following languages: English, French, Portuguese, Wolof, and Swahili. Videos, which document success stories in applying indigenous practices, are also available for download on the website.

The programme also supported resource centres and development organisations across Africa that focus on the identification and dissemination of indigenous local knowledge and practices. Working with governments and local partners, the programme has also begun to help mainstream the application of IK in World Bank projects and in national development programmes.

In addition, the programme organises seminars and conferences that bring together development practitioners, scientists, and World Bank staff, among others, to focus on building the capacity to facilitate IK exchange. One special area of focus is traditional approaches to healing those with HIV/AIDS.

Development Issues

Cultural Development, Overseas Development Assistance, HIV/AIDS, Health, Agriculture.

Key Points

This programme begins from the premise that, while difficult to codify, IK is unique to every culture or society and is the basis for local-level decision making in areas including agriculture, health care, food preparation, education, and natural-resource management.

Following the GK 97 Conference and in the context of Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa (PICTA), The World Bank agreed to take the lead in this Indigenous Knowledge Initiative.

Editor's note (August 2 2007): There is no longer an Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program at the World Bank. However, the contact (please see below) is available to answer any questions about this now-concluded initiative.

Partners

Partners over time have included: Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), International Development Resource Centre (IDRC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), SANGONet, UNESCO, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks (CIRAN) at Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (NUFFIC), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Interregional Programme to Support Self-Reliance of Indigenous and Tribal Communities through Cooperatives and other Self-Help Organizations (ILO - INDISCO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Global Mechanism of the Convention to Combat Destertification (GM), Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), German Development Cooperation (GTZ), United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Global Research Alliance (GRA), DANIDA.

Sources

IK page on the World Bank website; and emails from Nicolas Gorjestani and Reinhard Woytek to The Communication Initiative on January 19 2007 and August 2 2007, respectively.

Comments

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 00:00 Permalink

This is page was very useful especially in identifying the indigineous ways and behaviour in the fight against HIV/AIDs in Africa in partnership with communities.