Indigenous Knowledge and Communication: Current Approaches

Indigenous knowledge -the knowledge developed by local people and passed down over generations -is a major, untapped resource for development. , Indigenous information is transmitted mainly through indigenous communication channels: indigenous organizations, folk media, traditional education, and so forth. This paper analyzes current approaches to indigenous knowledge, examines the interface between indigenous knowledge and indigenous communication, and explores ways in which indigenous knowledge and communication can be used to promote participatory development. We are becoming ever more aware of the human element in the development equation, as reflected in calls for people's participation in development activities. Central to participation is the concept of indigenous knowledge -local knowledge, specific to a certain place or culture, developed by local people and passed down through the society over generations. Parallel to and interlocking with indigenous knowledge is a system of indigenous communication. This article describes both indigenous knowledge and communication and suggests ways in which they can be integrated into current development efforts. Indigenous Knowledge We can conveniently contrast indigenous knowledge with the "modern," "Western," "international," "scientific," or "exogenous" knowledge generated through universities, research institutes, and private industry. Where international knowledge is (or claims to be) systematic, value-free and not bound by culture, indigenous knowledge is location-specific, value-laden, and closely related to the local culture. Indigenous ("local," "traditional") knowledge is reflected in the massive rice terraces of Banaue in the Philippines, constructed 2000 years ago without the aid of a single theodolite or a single engineer. It is demonstrated by the traditional subak irrigation associations of Bali, in Indonesia, which govern the flow of irrigation water to rice paddies in that island. It is shown by the familiarity of Sahelian nomads with the plants and rainfall patterns of their parched land. It is reflected in the vast range of traditional herbal treatments for both humans and livestock -many of which treatments have been validated through scientific methods -and by the rituals that accompany their use. From an outsider's perspective, indigenous knowledge may be inconsistent, based on superstition, or just plain wrong. But a member of the local culture sees it as logical, useful, and consonant with other beliefs. Not all indigenous knowledge is of ancient origin. Farmers and other local people generate new knowledge every day -through trial-and-error, deliberate experiments to develop and test new techniques, and adaptations to suit a changing economic and biophysical environment (Rhoades and Bebbington 1988). Indigenous knowledge is thus dynamic -not static, as the word "traditional" commonly implies. Indigenous knowledge is central to participation because people make decisions based on their existing knowledge and experience. Development activities that try to impose an outside technology without considering what local people know and do, cannot be participative. Indigenous knowledge and the idea of sustainability are also intertwined. Often it is the indigenous practice that is sustainable, while many "modern" technologies harm the environment or force local people onto an economic treadmill. This is not to imply that indigenous techniques are superior to modern ones. On the contrary, many are actually harmful. But they should be considered nevertheless, since they define what local people know and do -they are part of the local culture. To ignore existing knowledge is not only to ignore a potential major development resource. To ignore it is to ignore local people themselves. Approaches to indigenous knowledge Various underlying views of indigenous knowledge can be identified in the literature. These views are riot all mutually exclusive -indeed, they overlap to some degree. Some individuals lean toward one view without necessarily rejecting the validity of the others. Below are brief stereotypes of seven such views. 1. The Scientist studies indigenous knowledge for its own sake -as an interesting phenomenon that may yield insights into culture (as in anthropological research) or the physical world (as in biomedical research to identify plants that contain hitherto unknown active ingredients for drugs). The scientist views knowledge as something to be shared openly for the betterment of all humankind. 2. The Development Agent sees that farmers and other local people are acutely attuned to their surroundings. They have intimate knowledge of their soils, climates, and markets. Recommendations derived from outside research may not fit local needs and require costly inputs. The development agent recognizes that recommendations are more likely to be useful and sustainable if they are based on existing practices and are couched in terms that local people readily understand. 3. The Facilitator pressures for indigenous knowledge as a resource that local people can use to further their own development. Instead of trying to persuade farmers to adopt technologies developed elsewhere, in this view, agricultural extensionists and other development workers should facilitate farmers' experiments and encourage local people to exchange information. 4. The Conservationist views with alarm the current rapid rates of environmental destruction and biodiversity loss. Traditional, minority societies occupying remote, often forested and mountainous areas, are suffering similar disruption under the onslaughts of environmental destruction, urbanization, and outside culture. The conservationist advocates the protection of these societies and the preservation of their cultures and knowledge in situ. 5. The Political Advocate perceives local people as being suppressed by wealthy, often foreign, elites. This view supports the protection of rights and the end of exploitation. It denies the scientist's ideal of sharing of wisdom for mutual betterment, instead seeing relationships with potential of exploitation. Sanctions must protect the weaker party -for instance by introducing patent rights for indigenous knowledge to prevent their expropriation by outsiders. 6. The Capitalist, by contrast, sees indigenous knowledge as a resource to be tapped by outsiders in pursuit of a profit. Examples of this are the "chemical prospecting" of tropical forests by drug companies and germplasm collecting by crop breeding firms. Both may draw on the knowledge of local people to identify promising sites, species, and uses. The capitalist makes a large investment of knowledge and money in developing, say, a new crop variety from such germplasm. This, it is argued, dwarfs the original local contribution and justifies the firm's patenting of the variety. Aspiring to the scientist's quest for knowledge and free access to information, universities and herbariums are often unwitting partners of the capitalist. 7. The Skeptic views indigenous knowledge at best as amusing, and at worst as dangerous superstition -a barrier to progress. According to the skeptic, indigenous knowledge should be eradicated as soon as possible through education and the modernization process. If only local people were "rational," the skeptic argues, they would recognize the superiority of introduced technologies or new economic forms. Sadly, the skeptic's view is the dominant one among policy makers and government personnel. Indigenous communication Parallel to the concept of indigenous knowledge is the notion of indigenous communication (Wang 1982, p. 3). Indigenous communication channels include folk media such as puppet shows and folk drama, interpersonal communication channels, storytelling, village organizations, markets, discussions at the well and tea house, and other forms discussed briefly below. Indigenous communication systems exist alongside exogenous forms such as the mass media, schools, extension services, firms, banks, postal and telephone services. Together with the exogenous forms, they form the information environment of people in both urban and rural areas. Indigenous channels carry a wide range of messages: entertainment, news, and other social exchanges. Here I will focus on their use to transmit technical information -a topic of interest for development purposes, yet strangely neglected by academics and development professionals alike. Types of indigenous communication As indicated above, indigenous communication can take many different forms. Here are five: 1. Folk media are the indigenous equivalents of exogenous mass media. They include festivals, plays, puppet shows, dance, song, storytelling and poetry (Valbuena 1986). Of the various indigenous channels, the folk media have been most used to support development activities. In Indonesia, India and other countries, puppetry and other folk media have been used to promote family planning and political messages, often with success. 2. Indigenous organizations include religious groups, village meetings, irrigation associations, mothers' clubs and loan associations (van den Akker 1987). These organizations orchestrate much communication: through formal meetings of members, by messages sent about activities and obligations, and through work activities. 3. Economic relationships and service suppliers such as traders, farm input suppliers, and indigenous specialists such as healers and midwives are important sources of information for local people. Market traders provide information on prices, varieties and fertilizer use. Healers explain diseases and treatments. Any society has individuals who are regarded as authorities in their field of specialization. They are potent sources of indigenous knowledge on that topic. 4. Deliberate instruction. When we are children, our parents, families and peers teach us how to eat, how to behave, how to cook, plough and