Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa : An Overview
Recent reports document that the failure of projects in Africa over the past twenty years happened because local people's involvement and control were thought to be part of the goal of development, rather than the process of development. Many...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1998/10/439639/indigenous-knowledge-systems-sub-saharan-africa-overview http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10837 |
| Summary: | Recent reports document that the failure
of projects in Africa over the past twenty years happened
because local people's involvement and control were
thought to be part of the goal of development, rather than
the process of development. Many people and groups
throughout Africa strongly believe that positive new
development can happen, but only if the people themselves
stay in control of their resources, economies, and culture.
This capacity for local control only happens, however, when
people are allowed to internally work from, expand, and
change their own institutions and knowledge systems. Thus,
the opportunities surrounding initiatives to bring together
indigenous knowledge systems and natural resource
conservation are immense - however, so are the dangers. It
is the intent of this article to briefly define some of the
dangers so that they may be avoided, and define some of the
opportunities so that they may be more thoroughly and
solidly developed. To accomplish this, the article briefly
outlines some issues which seem to contain strong elements
of both danger and opportunity. |
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